Stingray

Or the Spaniards more likely. The belgians have played much more on the flank. I don't see him as a rival at ALL. I see him as a bright young exciting talent and i am anxiously waiting fo him to do a NT set of performances in blue. What or who made him play more on the flank last year (maybe blocking his breakhrough?). Not Hazard, but Mata. So yes. Let's talk Spanish now.

Welcome back, Bitee

Schurrle is sick and Lamps is out

Did you just miss the ENTIRE discussion before your troll post, mate?

Will donate as well as soon as I am home! Every bit will help!

Because he is blocking Oscar's number 10 spot

I agree. And its not being negative, having criticism, not knowing he is played out wide a lot, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. ...... He will be brilliant I am confident, but he isn't there yet. He went missing too much last season. Shouting out he is god's greatest gift to the footballing earth is simply premature. I swear it feels like there is a Fatwa on nuanced talks/constructive criticism about Oscar

I shat my pants laughing with parts of that article. Seems a hagiography article! 'Torres goalscoring dried up with the arrival a Ba. Before that he could play pressure free" What??? He was utter shit. Only scoring 7 meaningless goals against weaker opposition. What did the writer eat? Pure LSD?

Thats not an unpopular opinion

It is a Manu fan :-)

Darker than dark. Pink dark noone dares to go ... Darth Choo Choo mastered the secret art of pinkness! 'Shudders in fear'

Ok if you say so And I've been thinking about this padawan thing. Aren't padawans jedi in training? Since you know... DARK SIDE RULES.... shouldn't I be an apprentice then? /nerdmode Yes .... Yes!! My apprentice! My right hand!

Don't be such a pussy, padawan! It was for the ManU fan. My John is much more esthetically pleasing btw so no complex here, baby :-)

Of course ... I had him in my sig myself for almost a year. Still ... I think he should bring more next year (so does Hazard imo) but it seems a touchy subject for some to debate on. Plus: you said it correctly 'when he puts that yellow shirt on'. This is Chelsea for me - not the brazilian NT - no offense to the brazilian guys on here Meanwhile it seems ok now to doubt Mata - in spite of his performances this season - for some. Double standards at least here! That is all i am saying.

Good work Jim. It is flying on my ipad. Fastest i have had it on this device.

Bullshit indeed. They say the same about Kompany, Agger, Vermaelen, Vertonghen .... What are they gonna do ... Buy all the EPL CB's

I disagree ... I think Youri is a top talent. The Anderlecht youth coordinator seems to think the same putting him in the same league of talent as Kompany and Lukaku (and Musonda). They probably know more than we do. I am not saying Chelsea should buy. But it would be daft not to keep an eye on him. Myself: i am completely hooked on he guy. What a player .... (I am from Lokeren so you know he demolished my home team like a boss).

He said: "I've noticed it's usually a few Belgium posters that slag off players to prop up their compatriots" That is bullshit. I called his bluf to say where and when. It is one thing to be - normally biased - another to it being 'usually the belgians that slag off other players to prop up their own'. I don't accept that when its bullocks. Ive had people posting that stuff or a year now - and 'i find the belgian population on here (@weckerz, @hamilton, @mediator, @tiwaz, ....) very, very level headed. Edit: even @skipper is ok, even though he is dutch. He liked this post after all !

I love the fact noone on Redcafe says anything about KDB (or Van Ginkel/Essien/Schurrle). They just go on about our team not having any reinforcements .... Except some maybe about Lukaku. I just hope he volleys a screamer from 25 meters right in there. That will show them.

I am so curious about this one! i expect Mata to start .... I would love to see him KDB and Lukaku mix it up. Van Ginkel, Essien would be tasty in midfield. Also Luiz is back !

Happy birthday Blueschick! Especially for your birthday some birthday entertainment! Brought to you by String Emil! Europes hottest piece of hunkyness!

I do get where you are coming from like @choulo19 does and I have said similar things during the season (especially when the Hazard versus Oscar thing was going on). For me he is a guy with very high potential, but he hasnt put his foot down yet for Chelsea to merit the label of world class talent. It is possible we are biased because we dont see enough of the Brazilian league - the reverse however is also true. There can be a bias just because he is Brazilian and a 10. If I see @barbara calling him her 'BB' ... No offense Barbara, but that screams bias just as much as when I go overboard on KDB because I am belgian and from Ghent like KDB is. Also, some of the Oscar defenders on here also think in the same breath Mata doesnt deliver enough - see the Mata thread for that. I simply cannot get my head around this double standard. I know this is an impossible comparison, and it is one I am not willing to make. But just ...... How can anyone downplay Mata's performance while 'upplaying' Oscar's. I just don't get that. So, while we can safely assume he is an amazing talent, he still has a lot to prove here. We will see when and if he delivers. All the rest is speculation and sophistry. Or as some say .... The proof of the pudding is in the eating (the same applies to Hazard and KDB, mind you ....)

why would he be loaned to zulte if he just broke contract with them and wanted to play at a higher level? Out of cuntishness ...