Barbara

you definitely have a point in this whole second paragraph - something I haven't come to think yet. It was so clear for me that he had to interrupt his plans in December and adopt a more defensive and passive approach because we couldn't deliver what he wanted, that I've never thought maybe that was his provisional plan (the first tactics, up to december). Maybe his plans were to give some stability and go from there. You may be right about that and I hope we start producing a more polished football. As for Cesc, I don't know where Mourinho wants to play him. He's something between Oscar and Mata both ways: defensively and offensively. He's not as creative or has an amazing vision as Mata, but he's way better than Oscar on both. He's not completely inapt defending as Mata, but he works no closer as hard as Oscar defending and isn't as good tackling. He may be an answer, but I'm still holding hope we'll play a 4-3-3 with both Cesc and Oscar in the midfield. They can alternate a lot there and show their best skills and assets, making up for each other's shortcomings. It could be Cesc + Willian too. I'm a bit obsessed with us playing a 4-3-3 instead of the boring, predictable and repetitive 4-2-3-1, but definitely Cesc can be played as #10 as well. Great points all around.

some people implied we haven't announced him yet because his fave numbers - 19 and 9 - are already taken and we could be possibly waiting to decide on Ba's and Torres' situations in order to announce him, what doesn't seem reasonable imo...

He's probably on vacation, there's no reason for him to interrupt his vacation to run some medicals... also he's expected along with Cahill at July 20th (to check in) and to train at the 21st. We'll probably announce him close to that date, on Saturday or even Sunday. I don't think he could fail some medicals (although Valdez just did). I don't think the numbers are the problem, as Pasalic and Zouma didn't have numbers, did they?

perfect post I can't wait until July 21st - when he's set to join the pre-season. Like Alex, I haven't been this excited about a signing since forever, lol. I was pretty excited about Matic, but Cesc is another level

I don't get where the idea he doesn't want to play here and would leave in a free transfer came from. The only article I read was Lukaku spouting his usual bullshit. The day he becomes as good as he thinks he already is, it'll be a blessing for the club he plays for, the problem is if he'll ever get to that level as the only thing he seems to miss - according to him - is Champions League football. And LOL forever at him assessing Pipita's career. I don't see Mourinho keeping him. His personality (at least his big mouth) is extremely annoying and he doesn't live up to his own assessment of himself, he isn't half good as he thinks he is. I don't remember ever seeing a case of a player saying so much shit so often. He's 'special'. All it took him was a goal and an assist in ET and boom, the kraken's mouth attacked again. It seems he doesn't ever learn. Back to Courtois though, he doesn't seem to be the same way. Yeah, he's talked a lot at the end of the season about coming back to Chelsea, staying at Atletico and a few other possibilities. His tone was different and he's earned most things he was asking. Unlike Lukaku, that's a guy who's already a La Liga champion, a Europe League champion, with an impressive record and one of the best keepers in the world. As a top player, it's only natural he wants to play. Keepers aren't like field players that can get minutes every match if they're benched. Benched keepers barely have any playing time and that would completely affect his progress. Still he handled things way classier than Lukaku and I don't agree with comparisons.

I didn't mean now, I meant back then, I was illustrating that even when he was having his best moment for us, being the player that carried us for a couple of moments, people were criticizing him and Mourinho because Mata should have a captive place in the team, after all he was the player of the season two times in a row. That's why I said yesterday that the expectations fans have from a #10 and Mourinho are different and that's what creates some complaints. Mourinho may replace Oscar in the #10, but unless we have the best #10 in the world, and Hazard's no where in the team, unless Eden becomes the best #10 in the world, he won't allow a magician like Mata that offers amazing attacking tools and only that. He talked about it many times, he's said with all words that Oscar (the first half of the season Oscar) had all he wishes in a #10. If he's replacing Oscar because Oscar can't carry on, it'll be by a Oscar 2.0, unless he changes completely his mind and that imo, includes letting go of Hazard or moving Hazard to #10. Mourinho isn't willing to have two defensive-free or defensive-inapt attackers in his team and he's willing to give as much freedom as possible to Hazard - who is his star. That was the reasoning then, that might continue to be the reasoning now and I meant back then Mata widows were throwing all stones at Mourinho and Oscar because they couldn't accept the choice made by the manager. I didn't mean anything about Mata widows now, especially because it's been almost a year since he was displaced, over six months he was sold, nobody mourns so long, do they? My point with Madmax is that Oscar has always been criticized. Some times more intensely, some times less intensely. It seems fair for him to be criticized now, more than fair actually, but he's always been regardless of the situation and I know that because I read the whole topic when I joined. Hazard has been spared lately (not in the WC it seems), but his first season here was also marked by a lot of constant criticism. It's a forum, people speak their minds, and are quickly to jump to whatever conclusion they want. In times of football games of all kinds and teams streaming money, people want their clubs to be FIFA or Football Manager. If a player doesn't have all that set of skills, or doesn't produce a constant development and progress, then there's something wrong. I've been a football fan for nearly 30 years. I've been on internet talking about it for 15. It's not something that only happens here, but everywhere. People aren't satisfied, they just aren't, and as some people keep saying here, everyone is brave (and smart, and basically a football PhD) behind their computer screens. It didn't use to be like that and I worry if that won't be transfered to the fans that go to matches. The amount of stick Hazard, Oscar, Schurrle, Salah (without even touching a ball for us) got here is unbelievable. Check Schurrle's thread from november-february/march - don't remember exactly when he came back to the team after working on his body. It never changes. While some criticism for bad form and performance is more than normal and natural, people get carried away too easily and dismiss and write off players with the speed of their blinks - of course not everyone does it, but a lot of people do. Also Messi and Ronaldo created this idea that players at age 23 should already be world class players, owning the world. It's annoying. There's no patience, there's no maturity, there's no sense assessing players these days. Fast food generation even for football players, I want the best and I want it now. If you aren't the best, you'll be replaced in 5 seconds. I even agree in Oscar's case, 5 months of bad form is worrying and should be addressed more seriously than a short stretch of bad games, but at least don't write a 22yo career's off as if he's a lost case. He may turn out to be a flop, nobody here can say that now. It's just like the Diego Costa thread today where I read a poster PROMISING US that Costa would fail here. WTF is this shit? So now people can make promises about a player's future, decide who are going to become greats and who won't, where they should end up. A lot of future tellers, and like someone also asked in Costa's thread, can I have the lottery numbers in Brazil please? Or to know where some of my decisions will take me in 10 years from now? Thanks in advance (and that's not towards you).

well then maybe I don't read those threads enough because Oscar has been getting stick since he's here and even when Mata was displaced and he was playing well there were people - Mata widows as I call them - crying rivers about him displacing Mata and how that was unacceptable or foolish by Mourinho. Of course, others were praising him, but Oscar - like Hazard - has always been criticized. I get that the most talented prayers hold more expectations from the fans, but read this topic from start (I did it when I joined, as well as Hazard's). He's always been questioned for one reason or another. Although everyone else is. It's like Choulo quoted Lamps, a player is as good as his latest match. Which means only Azplicueta is exempted from criticism I suppose. Either way, he should perform better - I think that most of us agree with.

Mate, I'm a 'big fan' of yours around here, even nominated you for the British member of the year, but you've been a bit different since the WC started. First of all, I didn't mean you wanted him to fail, second of all, why should anyone give a fuck? I'm not even sure *I* would give a fuck. I care about Chelsea first and foremost. I've defended David Luiz even more fiercely around here and the moment he was gone I couldn't even wish him good luck for real because I don't like PSG. I move on from players as quick as I click the link of the club's announcement of their departure except in cases like Frank Lampard or Javier Zanetti - who are indeed club legends. That's the kind of thing I can't get over, but Oscar? As much as I love the kid, if he doesn't live up his potential my only sorrow will be not having made as much money with him as we could have if we take too long to sell and don't capitalize. I don't get your sudden change tbh, and that's not only about Oscar - although it's somewhat very noticeable about him. When the season ended you didn't say half of the bad things you've said during the WC and really, I'm sure you're smart enough to know a WC shouldn't be taken into consideration in a player's career. If that's the case we need to sign new AMs asap because except Schurrle, Hazard, Oscar, Willian were far from impressive. You know WC form isn't to be taken into context. I don't need - or even want - to know why you changed so much, I just feel about it. Of course, I still respect your opinion - your entitled to have one - but something seemed to have hit a nerve with you or something. Hope you're back to what I consider normal soon - even when people were dismissing you for the way you approached English players or even the foreign fans, I didn't think it was a bad thing, just you being proud of your people or wanting to be. Nothing wrong with that - but I can't recognize you lately.

I liked your post just because of this.You made me choke in the middle of a coughing. I agree with you that he shouldn't be excused from performing from now on, it's his complete dismissal that is exaggerated imo. Also he's very young, mate. He's been frustrating to no end, bad for real, but there's nothing that should lead us to believe he shouldn't be given another chance - as many implied here. If he's had a split season - half bad/half good (he wasn't out most of December as I thought, my memory failed me and he still played on a good level - not great), it means it was a 50/50 situation. The least I think we should give him is the benefit of the doubt. I just compared the Torres and the Ramires situation to his in the season review thread - maybe I'm being generous, hopeful, or just wishful thinking, but I don't think we can put a 22yo of his technical quality in the same bracket we put Torres and Ramires... but we can agree to disagree, after all, all those things are simply opinion. I just feel sometimes reading this thread that some people seem eager to see him flop. He's been given excuses so far and I don't think new ones should be overlooked (and I can already predict two excuses: he's damn tired again, he's been battered emotionally by the 7x1 humiliation). But it's not our problem as a club if he's under those circumstances. We aren't a charity organization, if he can't pick up the pieces and start progressing again (I agree he stagnated or even regressed in his development), it's time we move on. But the chance needs to be given imo.

But one of the reasons WC can't be looked at is exactly because of physical issues. I was going to write that in my first post, but I tried to keep it short (you're new here, but me trying to keep posts short is a wonder in itself ). How can we evaluate players in a tournament after a whole season, with the top players in the world - meaning they played tons of minutes with their clubs? Some are battered, others recovering from injury, other are playing on high motivation and others are rested as they were subs for the clubs (and maybe even for the NTs). Even Schurrle who had a great WC imo, I don't judge him for that. I think he's been better for us than for Germany in all honesty. My point was actually, WC shouldn't be used to define a player's quality. Some will excel there with the extra motivation of defending their countries. How many WC wonders have we witnessed? When I put Cesc and Costa there I just meant our confirmed new signings (I consider Costa confirmed, the guy's on vacation, he won't go to London or have people with him in the middle of nowhere in Brazil to run some medicals) didn't show much (Cesc barely had chances to start with). I think you gathered my main point though: he should be criticized and we should demand much better from him, but there's a lot of exaggeration here. When played in the right position (something that didn't happen for Brazil), he can be awesome. I can't believe people forgot so easily what a start of a season he had. HE should get stick for the second half of the season, but there are so many things that can have affected him - the WC in his home country being one of them. I don't like when players neglect their clubs because of their NTs, after all it's their clubs that pay their wages, but sometimes they can't deal with everything involved. He's young and a WC in his country is something very emotional to any Brazilian player. He couldn't handle the anxiety imo, but I don't think he purposefully didn't give us his best so he'd save himself for the WC. He just couldn't handle it. His mistake, we paid for it, he should be blamed for it, but I can also understand what happened. I haven't really been following the repercussions at this point anymore, but I haven't seen a lot of bad stuff towards him when I was. There was criticism about his role - but it was mostly on Scolari, although some pundits thought Oscar should continue to do his defensive contribution AND be a #10. I'm not sure if that's even attainable. I'm watching the season review as Choulo suggested - didn't know we had a link for download until now and I've been keeping an eye on him. I invite anyone here to look his positioning for Chelsea (I've just passed 30' mark) and for Brazil in the WC. It doesn't compare. He played as a pivot player in a coward approach by Felipão. And he's been poor - except for his tackling. Two true facts. @CHOULO19, I followed your advice to watch the season review - not because of Oscar, but because I was dying to watch it. Thanks for that and, man, in all honesty, hopefully without any bias, but how can people watch what this boy did for 4 months and just decide he has no future here and some even saying nowhere else? There's too much quality and talent in the final third for him to a fluke. He may never reach his full potential, but the kid is good, all he needs is some damn consistency. Backheels, dribbles, amazing finishing, quick pass turned assist, quick reaction, good vision. Everything is there, he just needs to carry on.

I think there are valid criticism and assessment and a lot of knee jerk reaction too. Reducing his good games for us to 10 is at least better than 2-3 that I've read before, but I still think is an exaggeration. He had a great strike of months for us at the beginning of the season, we didn't play only 10 matches then. He had a difficult season at age 22 - while is natural to criticize him for that and demand better next season and even call it 'make or break' for him here, some around here just completely trash him and already decided his whole career, at how mediocre, useless, bad, horrible, bla bla bla he will be. Those are knee jerk reactions. Reacting to his bad season is natural and expected, the lengths many go are unnecessary and too much. Again, to analyze his form in the WC we should know what role he was asked to play by Scolari. Also if the WC is the referential, God help us with Cesc and Costa... or with Hazard, Oscar, Azpilicueta (he had a really bad match in one of Spain's) and everyone else whose name isn't Schürrle or Courtois. Those were the only Chelsea players that truly had a good WC imo (can't remember Cahill). Everyone else was either average or plain bad.

hahahahahahaha, you just made me laugh for real, mate. Sometimes even I can't read my own posts, which is why the grammar goes to hell as I don't have the patience to read them over after I finish writing them. I've been trying hard to write less of them though I've been failing miserably - but hey, I'm a girl, being objective isn't in the nature

Love you too. But you're a top lad, funny, smart, great football knowledge, nice (your fave compliment LOL), cool, fair in your assessments, and the list goes on and on. Your absence only made the heart grow fonder. Everyone likes you (or should), so liked member seemed right and international because you aren't British. There, reason against me now

I'm a beard lover... sport a beard and you'll have my attention and more likely my love. But what.the.actual.freak.is.this Iva? and why is it so much darker than his hair?

haven't seen it before, first of all, thanks for the mentions. Now my turn (I suck choosing people, I love nearly everyone, lol I wanted to have more than 2 in some categories, and the same person in more than one category, but to make sure I've mentioned everyone I distributed them in some Best football knowledge: @The Skipper, @remains of the dayBest general knowledge: @Stingray, @Fulham BroadwayBest newcomer: @Daniel1980, @ (I'd say Mohammed again, but I already have him in two other categories, so honoring others newcomers I think added a lot of qualityBest article writer: @, the kid from Dubai - his new member name is impossible to remember - he wrote a lot of scouting articlesBest graphics and videos producer: @yuvala, @AmelsBest staff member: @, @CHOULO19Funniest forumer: @Rmpr, @Ainsley HarriottMost-liked forumer: @Dion, @Wisest forumer: @CHOULO19, @Mohammed SeifMost controversial: @Henrique, @lionsdenBiggest contributor: @remains of the day, @Jason,British Member of the Year: @The only place to be, @TomoInternational Member of the Year: @Dion, @Mohammed Seif Sorry I didn't mention some, but I could go on and on, a lot of top people around here

When the team didn't answer, he had to take a step back in the tactics. The kind of football Benitez had working here can only be perceived as better if you think that Mata had a free role and therefore we were more creative, but as a team we were weaker, didn't present any threat to big teams and struggled to beat medium teams, the difference being we actually won 1x0 a few times, but there's no comparison between Mourinho's work and everyone before him since Carlo left. We actually had a competitive team, that yeah wasn't effective at all in the attack, but how is it Mourinho's fault that we have 20 shots during a match with 6 on goal as we did a few times. I was blaming managers just yesterday and I think there were flaws in Mourinho's first season, but I think we also have a chronic problem in the attack. It seems like Hazard created tons of chances (towards the end of the season he didn't create as much as the middle of it), so while Mourinho should drill more attacking plays, our problem was mainly players not putting as much heart against small sides as they did against big sides. I cursed those matches where we seemed uninterested, lacking commitment from players who just didn't put a lot of effort because it was Stoke or Sunderland.... On Oscar, I'm not sure Mourinho has the same opinion as most here (I stand somewhere in the between) that his #10 should be the most creative while lacking work rate (and let's be real, nobody has energy to excel in both because it's demanding physically, also your brain can't be reset every 30 seconds). Unless he's changed his ideas from last season, he wouldn't have let go of Mata if he was expecting his #10 to be the same most of you expect. So while I read all those endless posts about how creative Oscar should be, I'm not sure Mourinho wants much more from him. I'm positive he wants him better than he was from january-may because he was terrible, but I think people are deluding themselves dreaming of having a new Mata playing under Mourinho... I want Oscar to improve offensively (and even in general), but I don't dream of him becoming the #10 you guys dream of and honestly, I don't think Mourinho does either. Mourinho's counter-attack teams - even with Özil - attack much more from the flanks rather than the middle. I think Mourinho values a lot the amount of tackles Oscar gets in the attacking half, which helps a lot a counter-attack team. Which doesn't justify or even entitles Oscar to play as bad as he has lately. I just think there's an expectation around here that probably doesn't have much space in Mourinho's mind. He wants Oscar to play better in general - has said he had issues the last few months, but seeing how Oscar was his golden boy in the first months of the season - when Oscar was in general playing much better, but wasn't as creative as some want him to be, I think Mourinho wants him to play like those 3-4 months for a whole season. I'd like some slight improvement in his creativity from those initial months.

I meant Brazilian media because you mentioned Brazilian media in your post and I corrected you on that. Haven't checked foreign, but saw some of it on ESPN. He was one of the many players that could have marked Müller... why it was his exclusive responsibility when he was where most opponents were? I mean he could have done a better job - so could Gustavo, Dante or anyone else there. Then again why is it Luiz's fault alone? As I said, Luiz plays with more freedom for Brazil and people just accept that. I know that style is unacceptable for many of you and I respect that, but we don't mind much. As I said he was the only player - along with César - spared by Brazilians (although many didn't spare anyone, but the only villains I see around on Twitter, FB, TV is Felipão and then Fernandinho). At the end of the day that's all that matters. Why should they care about what others think of them? Brazil doesn't see Luiz as a villain, but the closest to a hero, even today. have we ever showed any pattern, organization, tactical response or even a system throughout the whole WC? Of course the 7x1 is mostly on the players - the circumstances that led it to that are all on Felipão. Sorry to disagree, but should they start producing any football they haven't at all in this tournament when they finally faced an opponent that 1) wasn't afraid of us; 2) was actually good (sorry, but Mexico and Colombia aren't what I call good, just motivated and didn't even believe much they could win). There's a lot of merit to the German side here that shouldn't be ignored, But Brazil was a shame through and through with only the first half against Colombia and some moments against Chile salvageable. Good thing we've said as much before today. Also, lol, have you been following Chelsea since Ancelotti left and before Mou came? Because we basically provided a field research about how a manager can fuck with a team. AVC (edit: oops, typo, AVB) wherever he goes? The list could go on and on.

His post-match interview - that one in the pitch - was heartbreaking. I just saw it. But his mixed zone interview was somber. Luiz is very emotional, but he's also very resilient, he'll be ready as new Saturday, I'm positive. Actually you're absolutely wrong. As far as the channels I've been watching, Luiz and César are the only praised - or spared - players - ESPN and social media. Fernandinho was to blame in 2 of the first 3 goals, that's it. Luiz didn't guard position at the third (or fourth, can't remember), but that's Luiz and the match was already lost, as we didn't have any idea what to do after the second - reason why in the next 4 minutes another 3 goals were scored. Anyway, the idea I get from those places is that Luiz isn't being trashed at all. Brazilians love him and his commitment, they can overlook mistakes that aren't even being put on him, but mostly on fernandinho.

my personal assessment: he needs to be played in the position more fixed for him to develop further. It seems Mourinho knows he likes the #10 best, and Mourinho's tone seemed supportive imo, so I think he'll be given another chance. While I think he deserves another chance, I'm afraid the 7x1 may affect him much longer than the expectation about the WC did. He seems somewhat frail to deal with some certain kind of emotions. I think he isn't ready to be our #10, the question is if we the fans and Mourinho are willing to give him a chance to grow. I think he's showed more than just a few glimpses of the quality he could offer as a #10, I don't know if he can consistently do those things and there's only one way to know. I agree it's make or break at Chelsea. Maybe even if he fails here he could succeed in the position in a league such as the Spanish (can't imagine a team that would be good for him and that would want him) or even at PSG. I don't also write Italy off - but I'd like him to have another chance with us, in a season where the team is more stable. The question is: is Oscar emotionally stable enough to take that chance? I have no idea.

Luiz was somber after a while. He gave an extensive interview in the mixed zone. You don't do that if you haven't started dealing with this and most Brazilian players skipped the mixed zone - between them, Oscar.

I can proudly say I've been in love with this guy since day 1. So I'm not joining any momentary bandwagon. I still the remember the tons of stick he's received from almost everyone here not when he joined - when many were misled by that stupid stats of most missed chances - but when he struggled in his first EPL season. Yeah, so the same bandwagon that is now praising him will ask him to be sold to PSG if he struggles again... or just asking him to be endlessly benched. Yeah, at first it was about his attitude off pitch, but I was soon in love with his attitude on pitch as well, even before realizing the tactical options he offers. Flawless movement, great runs, very good vision, good decision making (between passing and shooting, although sometimes he goes for the odd shot), and he works for team and executes exactly what the manager asks from him. He isn't our most talented player, not even among our best, but his will and attitude combined with his movement he more than makes up for not being the best dribbler, but he passes by his opponents in a simple way, without fancy dribbles (nothing against them) or passing by a half a team (he's never double marked), but he's effective and he is still very young, not that much experienced and could end the week with a WC champion medal *dead*. There's nothing not to love about him - bandwagon or not - and I hope he only grows. He can improve his finishing, and he will, age is by his side and he has just the right frame of mind to be a winner. Everybody from Germany was sparing themselves in the second, but Schürrle was giving his all attacking and tackling for his life, following Marcelo, Bernard and who else was in his side. Nothing spectacular defensively, but a lot of intensity. What else can you ask? I hope his 'supporters' stick around when/if the bad patches come again and judging his age they're not that unlikely to come a couple of times, I do hope he only grows from now because he's going to walk back to Cobham in cloud 9 - even if Germany doesn't win - because he had a great WC imo and so did Germany. If they don't win the final, not only they leave the SF curse behind and it feels progress, they'll also have the 7x1

I think he must be feeling like: 'I did my best, sacrificed myself, played in a position or a role that I don't normally play and that was for nothing'. I think he's been poor for months for us, but he's been executing his Scolari's role down to a T, but the heartbreaking part is that he made little runs, stopped and took steps back, as if remembering where he should be. He didn't play like a AM - much less a CAM - in any match for a considerable span of time. He was wasted. That doesn't exempt him from being bad for Chelsea for months, but he did exactly what was asked from him for Brazil. Paulinho for fuck sake had more freedom to go forward than Oscar had. I think Oscar was sacrificed by a coward approach, by an obsolete manager and system (if there was a system at all). Manager that admitted in his press conference that he trained with the wrong team to mislead the media because the trainings were open. What sort of amateurism is that? Who the fuck does that? But I'm really worried if he's going to recover from this blow. He seemed completely lifeless, broken, without ground at the end of the match.

THANK FUCK GOD FOR MOURINHO!!!!!!! You made my day, Chou Chou because although I was rooting for a Germany win, I didn't sign in for an humiliation. I came here to say it was sad to watch the kid so lost. I kept my eyes on him a lot of times... he was the sacrificial lamb. It's sad. I was heartbroken. The inapt tactics by Felipão killed him... he wasn't good offensively, and he was a clinical defensively, but he was killed by the system, I nearly cried - for real. who said he was played like that? From the field view, believe me, he wasn't. He was lost in the system, something between what he did before and trying to react. He didn't play Neymar's role at all, I'm not sure how that's up to discussion, much less an assessment.

This guy was the best player individual presentation I've seen live (then again didn't watch that many matches in loco), now I know what you guys keep talking about.

there's a reason I decided to stay out of this thread. I knew it would be coming. People seem to be so fickle these days. Some of the same mouths worshiping him as if he was the second coming a few days or weeks ago are certainly among the ones saying how horrible he is. I don't even need to read it to know, although of course, there are many level headed people here as well. I agree with you though. He's been okay in the WC as well as the Belgium side. Both have been extremely overhyped and overrated before the WC. I may have expected results wise a bit more from Hazard, but I didn't expect much better from Belgium results wise, so I don't get the overreaction now that the obvious became true. It's Hazard's first WC, he's a player known for his laid back attitude. I didn't expect him to become someone else with blood in his eyes like an enraged bull in the ring. That's not who he is. I'll dare to say again he's the kind of passive player - knowing some will have my head for that. But he's the quiet type, not the extra-motivated, I'll make this my backyard and show the world how awesome I am. I'm not slightly disappointed with him - a bit with Belgium as I expected at least better matches in the group stage, but Hazard was okay and expected (performance wise). just to clarify my instance. That's not the kind of passive I'm talking about. If anything his game is very aggressive and active. It's his personality I'm talking about. He's a quiet guy, who doesn't show that extra motivation to prove anything to anyone. As I said in my last post here, I think if there's one manager capable of helping Eden become what he can be is Mourinho. He's a great motivator and he'll help Hazard to be ambitious (that's not even the word, but I can't think of the right one now, the opposite of the laid back attitude)