Barbara

ITA The thing is I think that's just next in his development, and it's going to be quite natural, not something he will develop, but will just happen. For the kid to start influencing big matches, he needs to influence matches in a consistent basis, something he didn't do yet until this season. He would influence a match or two and be a non-factor in the following one or two. A few times last season when we needed him the most in matches we couldn't break down the opponents' defense, he'd dribble without influencing or would just disappear (and I mean league games, not even UCL). This changed completely and now he's taking matters into his own hands match after match. And then which kind of match that is won't be relevant anymore, because he's developed into just making things happen when the whole team depends on his geniality, it's becoming second nature to him, and that's something people don't think much. Influencing matches is like a habit someone develops and once they start doing it constantly, it's only a matter of time (and occasion coming) for them to influence big, knock-out matches. If it's a habit, you just do it because you have the tools and skills and I think that's the point Eden just reached. It's only a matter of a time for those matches to be here and he start to impact them as well. He's been nearly flawless in the last few months and I'm completely happy and proud of how he developed this season. I won't be surprised at all if next season because of a goal scored by him, an assist or a play he created by himself we take higher flights in UCL. He's ready for that now imo, which is why I don't worry if he will do it or not. I think up until last season he didn't have the ability to do it consistently and could do it once by luck or something - which I was okay with, the kid is still developing. I think he's now ready to influence any and every Chelsea match and it'll be a joy to watch (which doesn't mean he won't have an off day once in a while, or even a small/short bad patch of form, even the myths people love to mention in this thread have failed to influence important matches. With the amount of talent Argentina has had the last few years, it's criminal that Messi didn't take matters into his own hands and led them to win a WC - which will always be a dent in his claim to be the best player ever. He may be the best club player ever, with a system and a team built around him, with every single player brought and developed with the skills to offer him the best chances to shine with his incredible and rare talent, but he failed with a generation that wasn't that bad (8 years ago yes, but the last generation of Argentinean is a very good one). So yeah, I'm happy with Eden. It doesn't really matter if he's better, equal or worse to Robben, Neymar, Ribery and who else people want to compare. The only thing that matters is that he's progressed immensely this season, he wears Blue, just got a new contract and will be even more deadly comes next season. All those players - from present and past that people mention on this thread are or were great in their own way. Some will value certain things/skills over others and that's why there are so many different opinions. I'm just happy we have such a special player playing for us and I don't see him leaving any time soon (if not at all).

Mourinho to Wenger: If defending was easy, you wouldn't lose 3-1 to MonacoMourinho saying truths every day. I love his approach regarding the Voyeur.

what, Wolfsburg didn't beat Napoli? Color me surprised. Can't Barcelona and Bayern lose to each other? Hate both with a passion.

THANK YOU!! It's so hard to find a reasonable post here that doesn't come from the shallow, no analytical, emotions soaked perceptions. Wolfsburg manager said a month ago that when Kev agrees with things he's great to work with, but that when he doesn't he's difficult. He probably didn't like to have defensive responsibilities, showed it in training and Jose just sent him to the bench. Throughout the whole saga, Mourinho always rated him, but it was clear Kev didn't like the philosophy, and that's why he wasn't used to his potential. Maybe another manager would have given him the free role he wanted so bad, but between giving it to him and Hazard, I'll pick Eden every day of the week. We can't afford to give this role to two of them (I guess no premier League team can really). When time comes, I think Eden will have a free role soon. No ones questions his quality as a playmaker, but I don't think he'd be as successful here under any manager unless he was given the Mata role. But if you don't give it to him I get the impression he sulks.

I wonder how many years to come people will bring Atletico's and PSG's matches up... they just can't let go

I'd rather him to be our 3rd option as well, but he said in the video bove that he'd rather play first team football than be on the bench. Now this is something I think it's totally up to him to decide,although José can be really persuasive when he wants... so who knows? Remy and Costa had their fair share of injuries this season, Drogba played a lot of football and I think that'd be nice for Bamfordinho, but at the same time, what if next season both Diego and Loic stay healthy (which I also hope)? It's a tough call, I'd stay at Boro if they're promoted if I were on his shoes.

Exactly my previous point... he was sent there for a reason, Mourinho had him trained under one of his disciples. In my book this means Mourinho either has plans for him or saw him above others in case he was unsure. I'm positive we won't sell now and as his contract ends next season, I think we'll offer a new one and loan him one more year

He may be smart, but at this point his career is at the club's hands as we have a contract. He counts as HG, he's promising, he's young. I think chances are he'll get a contract extension and a loan. I don't see us selling at all. I know Juan has inside info from the man himself, but not even Patrick is completely in control right now and honestly, there has been a lot of reports about how José likes the kid. Karanka is one of Mourinho's trusted people, he sent him there for many reasons. I think Mourinho may see a future for him or the very least hasn't formed an opinion yet. Even if Mourinho and the player want to go, the board will want to milk as much from it as possible. Very good striker, homegrown, the pricetag will sky rocket even if he isn't cut to do it here. I don't see us selling him this summer at all.

I doubt it... I'd make a bet on it. He won't be sold.

yes, he played 25 up to December and 15 this year. I don't know if it's fair to expect him to keep an average of 21 goals involved in 25 matches and I feel some people (clearly not you) were expecting him to keep that up. The record of 20 assists a season (EPL only) shows it is difficult to reach, it's just above the average of 0.5 assists per match and up to December he had 0.68 which is insane. Of course, we expect him to do much better than the 0.26 he has this calendar year, but I think after Hazard (who especially picked up when everyone went down) I think the man who has the most important contributions in our potential title and dominating campaign is Cesc. It's not only about his direct contribution (the same way Hazard at first was contributing in the building up of our goals more than assisting or scoring), but how he effectively changed our style. And this has only been his first season. I have very high expectations next season about our overall play, about Cesc, Eden and others. I think we'll be a joy to watch for most part. If we're able to enter the new year playing really well and just have a mild (and acceptable imo) drop of level, I'll be more than content.

His finishing which always looked neat has been a nightmare lately. He's missed some sitters recently that had me pulling my hair off. I again blame it on confidence (lack of it) and when I say this I'm not giving him an excuse, I'm actually demanding him to find a way to build confidence from something, somehow... if he doesn't start building confidence, he'll never be better than an average player (as I believe most of his inconsistency lies on his lack of confidence - and some of it lies on the physical demands he can't cope with). I think a player like him should end the season with 15 goals and 15 assists to justify his place in the team, but a double digit return of assists isn't bad imo (and he's only one away from it) it's the goals and the overall passing that has been terrible.

I actually meant the squad. I think Ramires is quite the useful squad member. He doesn't play in my starting XI unless both Willian and Oscar are in really bad shape. An average Willian or Oscar still starts ahead of Ramires for me.

FA credited the goal to Costa, so you have to count. There's no denying he isn't the same, but he isn't as bad anymore as he was coming from injury. I think a healthy Cesc would have slowed down some, but not as drastically as he did after the injury. Still he's contributed directly or indirectly to many important goals in the last couple of months in addition to those stats you provided. Yesterday was just another example of that. He isn't the same, but he is in ascending form.

some people are begging for it. Others are literally asking you to provide posts. Then you do they call you pathetic. Logic here is based on quantum physics.

I had fun doing it... and you gave me exactly the kind of response I expected. My biggest fun? I didn't remember in your posts you said we should revisit it in a few months or at the end of the season. PRI.CE.LESS. You said his general passing isn't really good. If you want to say that isn't the same as saying average passer okay... It's semantics really. Average is something that isn't good or bad, just a 5 or 6. People called you on that, but back then when no one could be proved right or wrong about his career at Chelsea, you didn't try to correct anyone saying it was absurd for you to say he was good at something so difficult and not good in something so simple as passing in general. Back then you didn't try to make your post look like you weren't degrading his general pass, you stood by your own words and even challenged us to revisit the topic a few months later or at the end of the season. Now that we had, that's the kind of answer you provide. As I said, completely expected. The first four quotes are for my amusement and to prove another part of what I said in my original post today. All things you've been right in your firm and superior views of football. You had more posts about this subject somewhere. You even concluded saying you wouldn't say anything else about it because people were picking on you. You said in other threads I won't look for. Admitting for their mistakes is a beautiful quality not many people have. Now putting the blame over other people, well, let's say this is the average reaction - but imo this average reaction isn't really very good, but that's only my opinion.

LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL Is 8 months enough time to revisit it? btw your last answer were to mine and other posts I quoted along. Yep, definitely the context. You were wrong even about his haircut. Just admit your own words, man. Everyone has a chance of being wrong about their opinions, even more their predictions. At least you said you hoped he proved you wrong. He did just that

he does - but isn't there a context? Wasn't he injured? Didn't he stay some time in the sidelines and have ever since slowing walking toward his best? I'm not saying it didn't happen, I'm just questioning this is a sacred rule that rinses and repeats every new season. People stopped bringing up the 'don't play big matches' because he's played well in some of the big matches we played this year... the same will happen if he has a healthy second half of season. The thing is many times he doesn't. I thought he'd have here this season because he said we 'fixed' his long-term injury and played without pain for the first time in years. I didn't count with one of our own players injuring him (and Remy, lol), but of course, that's a risk any player is subjected to. I'm not denying what happened, I'm denying the rule and the fact people don't analyze the context.

I said very early last season, and I'll repeat. I see a lot of young Lampard on Marco. I hope he develops well because I see a lot of potential. I love the long range shots, I love the way he makes the transition. I really hope it works out the best. He's an update to both Mikel and Ramires imo - as it is - although I'd still keep Ramires in the team. He could be a good backup for Matic.

tbh the problem is us, we should stop giving certain kind of posts any credit - as even attention counts as credit - because they clearly don't deserve it. ITA with your post though

shhh.... we can't let the myth die that he can't perform in big matches or second halves. Why are you trying to sneak a doubt in such well cemented convictions? I think he's heading to his best form again. Yesterday was a step down the last couple of matches imo, but the body gets tired over time and the preciseness of the pass, what his brain tells his feet to execute isn't as it used to be anymore at this point. He isn't a dribbler, he's a passer (I still laugh when I remember @Styles tried to convince us over and over again Cesc is an average passer, LOL - which fits just well with most of his views anyway), his vision is incredible and he sees a pass and a play seconds before the ball even reaches him, but for him to execute that pass with the precision he did early in the season his body has to be as sharp as possible. It happens to any player with this set of skills. I think what put a damper on him was the Terry injury in January. But you can see he's getting back to his usual the last month or so. Also as the COC goal was finally given to Costa, it means the assist is now Cesc's, right? and what an assist that was I can't wait for him to do some magic next weekend - and God, I think I want it more than anything else at this point. Let's just push the dagger deeper in the arse's little hearts.

Please, at least try to see a few inches ahead of your nose (common expression in Portuguese, I don't mean to be offensive, just for you to try to see the bigger picture instead of the tiny pixels right in front of your eyes) what do you think we're doing here? With the players we have, it's easy to play attacking football. Our both pivot players are very good on the ball, one of them has one of the best visions in the sport. They combine with Hazard, the third or so best player in the world and second in terms of raw talent and dribbling. Willian and Oscar when playing around those players and with more of a free reign showed that they can shine some too. We have one of the best attacking FB in the world - who I fully expect to see next season displacing Azpili (of course Mourinho won't drop Iva). We have some very prolific strikers and you know how I'm so sure about it? Because I saw this bunch of players working some magic for four months in a row. You know what we didn't have yet? Nerves of steel, winning against adversity, scrapping results. How do I know that? Looking back to last season when our very limited squad (technically) could have won simply because of the geniality of our manager. But we came short because our players - most of them - weren't winners yet, didn't know how to deal with small teams challenging them to score against their parked buses. What we're forging in those players now is much more important, long term, base-forming and a step to dominance than simply playing attacking football. And you know why? Because we already showed we know how to play attacking football for four months. Why did we stop? For a series of reasons my fingers already know how to type without any command from my brain: players got injured, dropped form, got tired. As a team we lost intensity and guess what? For a team as new as we are this season (the key players only arrived this season) it wasn't unexpected at all they'd lose intensity and wouldn't be able to go through their first season playing together full throttle. and do you think those teams built their identity from night to day, like you want us to do? It was years working in the same philosophy - regardless of the manager - years getting the right players to fit exactly their style and the right moment when most of those players peaked. Go do some research about Bayern and find out their onwer interviews saying it took them around a decade to come up with the team after they decided to go to Barcelona and study how they built their identity. United had the same manger for nearly 3 decades. Those things don't come overnight as you are demanding them to happen. We don't have the identity yet, we're building it. For it to happen, said identity needs to be drilled over and over again throughout a few seasons, the right players have to come in, most of said players have to reach their peak, the team must evolve in all areas - not only knowing how to attack and one of those areas is mentally - which was our big downfall last season. That's what they're learning now. We aren't simply grinding results, we're grinding character and winner mentality in those players. Hazard is evolving in a beautiful way and while I see some buffoons saying imagine what he would do in an 'attacking team' I prefer to see that he's adding so many more things to his already obvious and incomparable talent. Cristiano isn't anywhere as talented as Messi, actually in terms of raw talent I think Eden is also ahead of him. But I read yesterday the guy has scored 50+ goals in ALL his seasons at RM. He works hard, he learned a lot of things to compensate his inferior talent. Eden is learning a lot of things maybe he wouldn't learn sitting in a team like Barcelona. That makes him a more complete player and those things won't make him unlearn how to dribble, how to play his football. He's paying a price right now, and isn't as free as he probably wanted to play, but he'll end up a more complete, a better player with nerves of steel. Everybody - especially the Belgians - can say this kind of mentality wasn't natural for his personality. It's a tough way the kid is taking and it just makes me prouder of him. I have maybe doubts in those two years if he had it in him to change a little bit his laid off personality and develop this killing instinct - not exactly to score or assist - but to step up and decide matches and influence matches anyway he can and make the team win. That's priceless in a young talent development imo. So I think unlike some geniuses here, he may feel actually very blessed and lucky to be playing in a place with a manager that are taking him from his comfort zone and helping him to maximize his talent. Nothing can contain his talent, his dribbling, his quality, not even the so-horrible-defensive--coward style you and others here believe we play. Why should we jeopardize winning talents to build the identity? Football players are mostly motivated by titles. Mourinho is experienced and incredibly smart. He knows for the identity to be fully developed it has to be built with titles too. If he gave up on titles and went on just thinking about the identity the owner asked him to create, he'd have a difficult time motivating players because beautiful football without titles put a damper into any developing identity... Winning is as important as drilling the identity. If you stop doing one or the other, you could end up never reaching your goal. Those players in their vast majority are people who haven't studied to become professional players, such as people do for most careers in the world. They don't have career coaches, psychologists working on a personal level with them. They have managers that more often than not, don't stay around long enough, they have the club staff, not their own. Their university is the club they play, and for them to learn things, to evolve beyond their talent, for them to reach new heights, it has to come with titles otherwise they'll feel compelled to go somewhere else where they can win things. this is sports, not academic careers. When we're ready, when all those factors I mentioned and a few more (chemistry, time, the remaining players, the more adequate bench, the talents we're nurturing in the academy under Mourinho's tutoring), we won't be giving up the identity every now and then, but said identity has to be fully developed and implemented for it to happen. a couple of people already addressed this part of your post - which I disagree even further than the above parts I answered to, but this post is already big as it is, maybe in another occasions we could have a deeper talk about the myths, the truths and the lies about the first years under Roman (especially during and post Mourinho). It's more of the same case of turning a person into a saint just because they died. It seems natural to human race to overlook major flaws after something/someone dies. I'm sure psychology has a name for it and there must be numerous studies supporting it.

but people should be able to tell parking the pass and allowing possession as two different things. We gave them the ball, but we limited their actions with it. We had average of 30% of possession, but I read Seb saying in his twitter account that most of our possession was in their half... the same place where the outstanding majority of their possession was: in their own field. So while we had the ball we were mostly in the attack while they were passing backwards and to the sides because we limited them. No bus was parked, it was a tactical plan that worked very well even if we didn't look amazing. Also I think Ivanovic had a very good match defensively... I don't know how he made those players look above their level. The title is the only thing that matters now, if people are patient enough, better football will come with time because it needs to be nurtured, you just don't set up a team from night to day, especially if you have long term domination as a goal.

yep. been reported by a few different sources

Way too soon for such a comparison, but if he continues to develop as the more optimistic of us expect, maybe he could be very useful. And if there's one thing we missed this season was Lampard's presence at the edge of the box, his goals from long range and someone to make opposition worry about his shots. I still have hope Oscar could - despite all his limitations - develop into an useful player for us. The guy seriously needs to work on his confidence issues though. I feel like if he works on them, his inconsistency will drop considerably.

How opposition sees us How TC see us: "Ah, the usual shitty tactics, with shit manager, and saved by Hazard who shouldn't be in the middle of such shit"