Barbara

I'm so happy for his improvement. In the podcast I sometimes record for Chelsea Brasil it's a known fact I'm no fan of his attacking contributions... but lately I've been conceding time after time - giving him a few MOTM votes in the show - that he isn't as limited attacking as I first assumed and maybe his lack of productivity/return is related to other things rather than lack of talent. When he's playing well, he's a joy to watch although I'm not entirely convinced about this ongoing obsession people have that he's a completely different player in the middle (I've watched matches of him playing there where he was absolutely frustrating - someone with a better memory would probably be able to name a few and he's had very good matches in the wing as well). The thing that probably detracts the most from his game is being a wingback to cover for Iva (still some of the things he does in the attack shouldn't happen when he has the ball). A lot has been said about Hazard carrying us when everyone else bar Terry (even though even JT had a small and short drop of form a couple of months ago), but another player that also rose when everyone went down is Willian. He has a hand in our scrappy results while playing below par. I hope he improves his attacking return - which isn't only about assists and goals. He still needs to catch certain runs and passes that despite obviously the best option and many times not even a difficult pass, he goes for the wrong option. He's a player on his prime and he's been here for two years, I think no transition applies to him anymore, so while I admit being wrong about his limitations, I still wait him to make better decisions, regardless if they're an assist or a goal, his decision making needs improvement and that has little to do with the defensive work he has to put on. Still a player I appreciate much more now than I thought I would.

Premier League Table

Since it fits their views and opinions... also, people were exaggerating saying Soton were relegation candidates (but not surprising based on what they normally assume/predict) ... I do think Koeman did great and exceeded the expectations and I'm inclined to believe he'll get it. Jose doesn't care about it though and will bag home the award that really matters.

yeah, let's put his every single mistake in 90 minutes of football under the microscope so maybe we could be convinced he didn't change our style completely and only when his own form dropped we looked so lost and uninspired. In the same breath let's all agree Coutinho has done much more than Fabregas and has way less deficiencies in his games (assisting seems one of them)... the things those journalists write. He played better some recent matches, but still not to the level of the first half of the season. His level dropped considerably, it's undeniable. It's also undeniable he led us for months in the competition we're about to be crowded champions. He has his shortcomings, but the improvement and quality his bring is much bigger and makes up for it. Bitter people are just that, bitter.

“Arsenal recorded one shot on target in their two league fixtures combined against Chelsea this season.”— BBC Sport 'nuff said

Drogba has been beyond useless for a while now... which is why I supported the lineup we came with. He destroys every play that passes through him #sad

I knew there was a reason for me to have that thrilling feeling before the match.... I think we did must better than we have recently attacking wise. If we had a proper striker we've been dominating even further. Maybe Mourinho will see this and see that we can play this way in big matches - or at least against Arsenal LOL

actually it isn't only Cesc... our passing has been off so far in some moments we could set up good attacks

Cesc seems to be feeling the harsh reception because his passing has been awful

RAMIRES!!!!!!! WTF? And people say we aren't playign well. I can't with some of you and Willian

Oscar is trying hard.... but poor thing... hasn't been enough, he doesn't have the instinct which means we need to involve Hazard more. I'm surprised at how little we've involved him so far.

we're playing well, but we're still missing the reference in the attack. Maybe the boys will figure it out with more minutes, but we're playing better than them... without a striker

It may have not been a pen, but it was far from a dive...

so close!!!!!!

No Fabregas as #9, please. I just hope Oscar and Hazard risk some shots, I want Oscar to play a bit higher than Eden so they can try to link up. When he's on his good days, Oscar has smart movement. Let's hope he is, but I'm much more excited for this match. It feels like it's going to be a thrill. I'll be cursing in 20 minutes from now, but the Fabregas song left me worked up LOL

it's like expecting oranges to come from pineapple bushes. They're immature, childish, think they're smart and really bad at their trolling. I roll my eyes at them and laugh at their expenses more than they annoy me. Actually they can only annoy me when I'm having a really bad day.

yeah, I get that... it's funny because people voted on him probably because they were protecting their team's best performers by avoiding to vote into potential rivals. Thing is he's done nothing, he influenced nothing, but it's nice to talk about him. If he was a Chelsea player he'd be slated even further than Oscar, Willian and Ramires are, I have no doubts. It's just because he isn't. The standards for non-Chelsea players is completely different.

He didn't have a good season... he had a good couple of months - which surprises me you'd say that. Until December he had basically done nothing. So he has a cute screamers scored, didn't create anything relevant for his team, but people say he has had a good season. In 5 months of football he had 2 assists, ELEVEN key passes in more than 1100 minutes of football. Then this year he had 30 key passes and another 2 assists along with a few screamers... in nearly four months of football and over 1200 minutes of football. The 30 key passes in 1200 minutes almost look decent. But this guy is supposed to be a #10 - one that many rate around here. I watch him since he's 16 and I've never seen nothing beyond potential. He hasn't showed any consistency yet, he's young, but I don't see big leaps of development in the years he's spent at Inter and Liverpool. While both teams look a shadow of what they used to be, you'd expect him to have developed further. He hasn't assisted one goal since January!!!!! To say a guy like this, who's played over 2300 minutes of football, had 27 starts had a good season despite offering so little in stats and influencing Liverpool's play so little too is particularly rich coming from people that love to stress how more attacked minded, creative and decisive #10s should be. And that's not a dig, it's just I don't get the standards some of you use... but let's just say he's had a good season because he can finish from the edge of the box and has a couple of dribbles and flicks on his pocket. Okay then...

My goodness.... good thing we actually don't need the result. we don't have any available strikers upper side: will we see long range shots then? We seriously lack them

top, just top. Fabregas song is class

Squawka Football @Squawka · 1h 1 hour ago There are 23 players in the Premier League this season to have created more chances than Philippe Coutinho (45). But for the PFA and some people on this forum, this guy is something special. I wonder what the other 23 are then... edit; although they got the wrong info, according to their own site, he's created 41, not 45

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.