Kevin de Bruyne

[hamad138 190]

Grass is always greener and more potent on the otherside. If he had stayed at Chelsea there is an equal chance he may have been absolutely terrible.

One bad game and mou would have benched him for 2 Months

[Tomo 21,681]

There shouldn't be any feeling of regret. We all knew how brilliant he was. Only Mou didn't see it.

No actually he did see it, we all did.

This weren't like Matic were we let him go blindly, Mou acknowledged the guys a really good player, but what could we have done? he is at his best as the main man, with Eden around he wasn't getting that role anytime soon.

He is half the player when he is merely a support player, if he stayed that's exactly what he would have been, it would have been selfish of us to do that, so we sold him and let him spread his wings so to speak.

Im happy he's doing well however for as long as Hazard is still on our payroll, I won't be annoyed about him doing it elsewhere.

[Stingray 9,441]

Grass is always greener and more potent on the otherside. If he had stayed at Chelsea there is an equal chance he may have been absolutely terrible.

I know. But still, it only needs a little tweak in the context of Chelsea to also instill confidence in our (new) players. I said this when Mou arrived: his approach in handling players is special and his tactical handling is quite directive. It tends to favour the experienced/robust. I would adore Mou bringing up some of our youth/new younger players. Make them grow.

Ps: I love how KDB has punched through now though.

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

He is half the player when he is merely a support player

I still need to see some proof for that theory. In my eyes this is just something everyone keeps repeating because they heard it somewhere.

[Spike 12,049]

I know. But still, it only needs a little tweak in the context of Chelsea to also instill confidence in our (new) players. I said this when Mou arrived: his approach in handling players is special and his tactical handling is quite directive. It tends to favour the experienced/robust. I would adore Mou bringing up some of our youth/new younger players. Make them grow.

Ps: I love how KDB has punched through now though.

As things stand, De Bruyne would be a godsend on either wing. His offensive abilites far outstrip Ramires, Oscar and Willian. Coincidently three Brazilians; a nationality famed for it's flair and attacking nous. Shame that those three tend to fall under the grafting and grinding archetype. Now grinders are useful at times, but they aren't the type of players that necessarily turn the tides of a game and produce game winning moments. Sure all three have done that in the past but not at a consistent level that would make them reliable. They'd be better as hockey players...40 seconds shifts of explosive energy.

Oscar is by far the most frustrating. He has shown glimpses of otherworldy ability. His performances against Juventus speak louder than words but I can't remember a recent performance worthy of such praise.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

Mata had even better stats when playing in the PL for us. Look where he is now.

Not saying the same is going to happen with KDB. But he's gone now, wish him luck and support current Chelsea players.

[Stingray 9,441]

As things stand, De Bruyne would be a godsend on either wing. His offensive abilites far outstrip Ramires, Oscar and Willian. Coincidently three Brazilians; a nationality famed for it's flair and attacking nous. Shame that those three tend to fall under the grafting and grinding archetype. Now grinders are useful at times, but they aren't the type of players that necessarily turn the tides of a game and produce game winning moments. Sure all three have done that in the past but not at a consistent level that would make them reliable. They'd be better as hockey players...40 seconds shifts of explosive energy.

Oscar is by far the most frustrating. He has shown glimpses of otherworldy ability. His performances against Juventus speak louder than words but I can't remember a recent performance worthy of such praise.

I agree 100% Jake. But it remains a question:

Is our archetype wrong - maybe with a mismatch by our player assembly (i do tend to think our mental make-up as a team isn't quite there yet) ?

Then it is a Mou issue. I want him to be a transformational leader - the kind of manager that changed and bettered players. Its crazy, but i'm not there yet with Mourinho.

So, what do .....

[zolayes 14,489]

I agree 100% Jake. But it remains a question:

Is our archetype wrong - maybe with a mismatch by our player assembly (i do tend to think our mental make-up as a team isn't quite there yet) ?

Then it is a Mou issue. I want him to be a transformational leader - the kind of manager that changed and bettered players. Its crazy, but i'm not there yet with Mourinho.

So, what do .....

you will be better when you get a BLUE HAT

[Fernando 6,376]

We reaaaaaally should have kept him ..... Crap.

Even thought there's some thing I don't agree with Mourinho I thought and still think that the sell was the right thing at that time.

However I would think that our club would be smart enough to include a buy back or even a first buyer refusal clause in there.

Now that was sheer stupidity from the club as a whole!

Sturridge and no buy back clause on KDB has been the two biggest stupid mistakes of the club in a long time.

[zolayes 14,489]

SEEMS we got rid of a lot "not good enough" who seem to be doing well elsewhere

[MCM4PR3Z 410]

Just did what he is doing the entire season. Inter was 0-1 in front, then he took his team by the hand with 2 goals and an assist. 3-1. It starts to feel like normal, but it's just sick again.

[zolayes 14,489]

Just did what he is doing the entire season. Inter was 0-1 in front, then he took his team by the hand with 2 goals and an assist. 3-1. It starts to feel like normal, but it's just sick again.

I am so happy to see him do well ... perhaps one day we will re sign him

[Oscar 441]

Mata had even better stats when playing in the PL for us. Look where he is now.

Not saying the same is going to happen with KDB. But he's gone now, wish him luck and support current Chelsea players.

Lukaku also scored some crazy amount of goals for everton and west brom and look where he is now.

I personally like KDB as a player, but to think his stats at wolfsburg would translate over to chelsea is a complete ridiculous idea. Even in belgium, KDB flourished and Eden was invisible. What makes you think that those 2 can work well together?

KDB needs to be the man, like Mata, however, at chelsea he was never going to be that player because the man is another belgium player.

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

Lukaku also scored some crazy amount of goals for everton and west brom and look where he is now.

Actually, as of yesterday, Lukaku scored as many goals as he did last year. 16 in total. Ok, not that many in the PL, but still.

He won the last three European matches for his team and I think they have an actual chance of winning it.

He's not as good as he was last season, but he didn't do as bad as everybody thinks he did. The whole team is a bit less this year.

[kellzfresh 7,226]

Grass is always greener and more potent on the otherside. If he had stayed at Chelsea there is an equal chance he may have been absolutely terrible.

If he was at Chelsea, he'll probably be defending and we'll all complain of his lack of ability

[hamad138 190]

The problem is de bruyne outperforms hazard on national team all the time.

In Belgium they call hazard wanna be and de bruyne is the hero

[ILoveLamp 270]

The problem is de bruyne outperforms hazard on national team all the time.

In Belgium they call hazard wanna be and de bruyne is the hero

Not sure that's entirely accurate...

[Blue Colored Sky 1,807]

Let's keep in mind that in September 2013 we had 6 AMs for 3 positions. I thought at the time that will be a good number to operate. Now we have only 4 AMs for those 3 positions and Cuadrado has a rarely look in ! Talking about rotation ...

Mourinho is allergic to rotation. He has phobia about that. So please don't throw false epithets towards Kevin. It's evident that 6 AMs is about 2 guys too much for our manager so I'm sorry but at that time for 2 guys fate was fatal. Even if we had 6 world-beaters 2 of them would be left at bay.

What hurts me the most is an open verdict that Kevin didn't train much, that he was messing around. That's not Kevin ! He is always one of the most hard-working guys on the pitch, usually covers the most grounds. He's brilliant team player. People making him some kind of a prima donna, I don't know where thinking that he has to be main man came from. LOL. There's ZERO evidence that's the case. I think if Arda Turan was at Wolfsburg people also would call that, because yes. I saw enough of Kevin to know that he will fit in so many teams like a glove, Atletico for example with his work rate.

BTW that comparison with Mata is funny. Mata never ever had physical traits to run up and down the pitch and he never worked on that really. While Kevin works his socks off in every match and has physicality, nice pace and stamina, to do that.

Oh, I would forgot. "BUT HE WAS SHIT AT SWINDON !!" I tell you what, Mourinho is brilliant man to man manager for some players but he's also a master of berefting a confidence of players who he doesn't play. Salah, Schurrle, KdB, Mata they never ever in their careers looked so low on confidence, without desire for football. Look at Salah for example, forget about goals and assists, what he's done in only one month is that he's taking players on again. He has 35 take ons already and he ALWAYS avoided a dribbling here. He was always choosing pass instead of dribbling and now he has a confidence back and he dribbles towards players like he's done against Chelsea many times. Coincidence ?

And for your information, Mourinho is like he is. He doesn't change. He has many things that are wrong like setting his side not to lose, retreat when leading etc. also treating some players and ripping their confidence off but he's also brilliant in so many things. That's why I don't want to say that Mourinho was wrong about Kevin. But I'm also expecting that people stop saying that KdB was at fault. He's got 395 minutes here, he was 22 at the time in the new league. He didn't get a taste for a Premier League for 4 months here. We signed 30m player for his position at the last day of the window. Surely enough to spare Kevin ?

Lastly, Mourinho clearly said that KdB is extremely talented player. He was always saying that talent there is huge. Even in November and December when the memory about Kev was disappearing he kept saying that. The only promise he didn't keep was giving him a chance in the Christmas period. In early December he said that every one will be used and said that players he didn't use are ready for that. Kevin played one game vs Sunderland in the League Cup and that was that.

Anyway, there's a reason why he designated Kevin for an opening match. Kevin showed in the pre-season and in that first game that he clearly can operate within a team with brilliant link-up play. What Mou said about Kevin in July :

"So we believe it is not an important injury and hopefully it isn't because the kid is a fantastic player and is showing to you match after match and showing to me in training that he is going to be a key man on the pitch."

Then we bought 30m man for his position.

I was hoping at his sell that we include first refusal at least, but Wolfsburg is too big to agree to that. Can we resign him ? Well, Mourinho clearly accused Kevin of something while Kev said that's a plain wrong. Personally would love that.