Eden Hazard

[chelsealukas23 79]

his link up play and movement has really surprised me, look at 5:09 that's a great example for it. If he does this with the likes of Oscar and Mata they will play him in. It's the Barca type of player, very clever and defenders just cannot handle it by any means.

I agree but They must learn defense with good agressive press.

[uzairblue 22]

He was great against ac milan the ref didn't give fouls on hazard that were so obvious !! But it was a pre-season match so let it go Here is some skills by hazard http://www.footballhighlight.net/?p=35754

[The Skipper 20,609]

As I said he always looks to dribble first almost instinctively. He can always do so on the wing, but he will find dribbling very hard in the center especially against teams that defend in numbers. Even he realized that in yesterdays match and started to drift out wide in the last 15 mins after only managing to create a single chance through the middle (The foul he got on the edge of the pen area at the start of the second half)

Care to explain why you think otherwise instead of just stating that it's not true?

Aguero at City starts in the hole. He's not really known for setting up people is he? Nasri and Silva flank him but their positions aren't set in stone.

We could potentially do the same with Mata - Hazard - Oscar. Positions aren't set in stone, ala totaal voetbal. City have shown it can work to a devistating effect at times e.g. their 6-1 win at Old Trafford.

Hazard would essentially take up the Aguero role. It's possible.

[Jack Uzzi 54]

What about Ramires who played on the right last season and who shouldn't be left out imo? Will there be a central role for him this season?

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

What about Ramires who played on the right last season and who shouldn't be left out imo? Will there be a central role for him this season?

Its a conundrum Robbie will have to solve. Leaving Rami out seems odd, but leaving Mata, Hazard or Oscar out seems odd too. We have a wealth of options but we'll have to see who are the more prominent features. Also Marin and potentially Moses/Hulk/Schurrle could be coming in so its going to be a difficult task to pick his best midfield, never mind his best 11.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

Really think we should switch to a 4-3-3, the only one it potentially hurts is Mata but he's good enough to still be very effective on the wing.

Cech

Ivan - Luiz - Terry - Cole

Ramires - Mikel - Oscar/Lamps

Mata - Torres - Hazard

Even if Mata drifts inside, which he will and should Ramires is more than capable at covering for him.

[Chelsea? 892]

Really think we should switch to a 4-3-3, the only one it potentially hurts is Mata but he's good enough to still be very effective on the wing.

Cech

Ivan - Luiz - Terry - Cole

Ramires - Mikel - Oscar/Lamps

Mata - Torres - Hazard

Even if Mata drifts inside, which he will and should Ramires is more than capable at covering for him.

I like it. Mata will be our RW but really be given 100% roaming lincense, like he did for Spain.

[Jase 43,479]

Really think we should switch to a 4-3-3, the only one it potentially hurts is Mata but he's good enough to still be very effective on the wing.

Cech

Ivan - Luiz - Terry - Cole

Ramires - Mikel - Oscar/Lamps

Mata - Torres - Hazard

Even if Mata drifts inside, which he will and should Ramires is more than capable at covering for him.

Not sure if he will be as effective playing on the right as he is on the left. AVB played him on the right a couple of times IIRC last season and he didn't exactly shone in those games.

[Ollie 4,400]

i think the ideal scenario is to use Hazard and Mata on the wings because Hazard is right footed and Mata is left, if they interchange and keep swapping every now and again, that will cause defenders nightmares. Hazard is a LW by trade but he's right footed, same as Marin. I'd like to see Ramires in the double pivot with Mikel and i'd like to see Oscar as the man in the middle of the 3. I think that would be best all round, just a shame it might take a while to test it out.

Until Oscar comes, Mata should be out wide with Hazard with Marin in the middle. Hazard, as has been mention, has the trickery and unpredictability to be a good LW for us. Even tho he's mostly going to cut inside, he's good enough on the ball to beat players even if they know where he's planning to go.

[Naked Mole Rat 437]

Torres

Mata Oscar Hazard

Ramires Mikel

Speed

Creativity Intelligence Explosiveness

Heart Control

I like that actually. So far, I've been saying Ramires on the wing, but with Lampard and Mikel, our double pivot is so sluggish. I would probably move Hazard to left, Oscar to right, Mata to centre, but I guess that doesn't really matter as they shouldn't be confined to their positions anyway.

[DDA 9,937]

i think the ideal scenario is to use Hazard and Mata on the wings because Hazard is right footed and Mata is left, if they interchange and keep swapping every now and again, that will cause defenders nightmares. Hazard is a LW by trade but he's right footed, same as Marin. I'd like to see Ramires in the double pivot with Mikel and i'd like to see Oscar as the man in the middle of the 3. I think that would be best all round, just a shame it might take a while to test it out.

Until Oscar comes, Mata should be out wide with Hazard with Marin in the middle. Hazard, as has been mention, has the trickery and unpredictability to be a good LW for us. Even tho he's mostly going to cut inside, he's good enough on the ball to beat players even if they know where he's planning to go.

I have pretty much expressed the exact same desire for RDM to go with this set up in the 4-2-3-1 thread. It just makes sense to go with Mata on the left wing and Hazard on the right with Oscar playing in the middle under the same number 10 role he has been playing for Brazil. This way we can play all three precocious talents within the same line-up without either of them being put out of position even though I know some may say Mata is now a CAM let's not forget where he been learning the trade for most of his previous professional career.... the wing. I hate to even think about leaving Ramires out of the starting line-up but given the amount of games we have to play these days I don't see it as leaving anyone out considering squad rotation and I agree with you too Ollie on this one, play Ramires next to Mikel in this 'double pivot' role. Everyone saying how they want a ball winning defensive midfielder and a playmaker well i think we already have them in the shape of Mikel and Ramires.

[Hutcho 8,443]

I have pretty much expressed the exact same desire for RDM to go with this set up in the 4-2-3-1 thread. It just makes sense to go with Mata on the left wing and Hazard on the right with Oscar playing in the middle under the same number 10 role he has been playing for Brazil. This way we can play all three precocious talents within the same line-up without either of them being put out of position even though I know some may say Mata is now a CAM let's not forget where he been learning the trade for most of his previous professional career.... the wing. I hate to even think about leaving Ramires out of the starting line-up but given the amount of games we have to play these days I don't see it as leaving anyone out considering squad rotation and I agree with you too Ollie on this one, play Ramires next to Mikel in this 'double pivot' role. Everyone saying how they want a ball winning defensive midfielder and a playmaker well i think we already have them in the shape of Mikel and Ramires.

I totally agree with the:

Torres

Mata Oscar Hazard line up as i think when we have all our players back that has got to be the best 4 we have to fill those positions... The 2 DM's are harder roles to fill... Based on the pre-season so far i agree we haven't looked our best with Mikel and frankie in those roles, however, when we have that 4 at the top they will be able to do the vast majority of the attacking and oscar etc can be the ones to dictate play... In pre-season with the exception of Hazard and Marin we have looked pretty stale up the top, which has probably led lampard to go forward more to dictate play and make something happen, as Raul merieles, Lukaku and Ramires have been pretty ineffective in those more advanced roles. So simply put, our weakness in the centre of midfield could be a direct cause of our lack of options in attack, which when we loose the ball leaves spaces in behind, where lampard has made forward runs trying to dictate the play... Ramires in the double pivot is something we haven't seen so far in pre-season, so is definately something we should try out as Ramires' ability to run and his stamina should be suited, but i just don't think we should rule out the Lampard and Mikel partnership just yet... Definately think we should stick with mikel as we saw his talent and his age is still in his favour.. And my main reason is that Lampard for me has a much better range of passing and whilst doesn't have the speed or pure stamina, could mean that ramires may be more useful in a player to come on and boss the midfield in the latter half of the game with his pace etc...

And finally i totally agree with the highlighted section, as this season could be one of our longest ever, and rotation will be extremely key, so just because they don't start the first game doesn't mean we don't need them, as the strength of squad is the only thing that will mean we can challenge for everything we enter...

[Santiago. 1,500]

Really think we should switch to a 4-3-3, the only one it potentially hurts is Mata but he's good enough to still be very effective on the wing.

Cech

Ivan - Luiz - Terry - Cole

Ramires - Mikel - Oscar/Lamps

Mata - Torres - Hazard

Even if Mata drifts inside, which he will and should Ramires is more than capable at covering for him.

Thank You. That is our best starting lineup, but replacing Romeu with Mikel as Romeu has bags of potential and Oscar slowly making his way to the starting 11. Don't think there is a better option.

[Ollie 4,400]

After his first season, we all saw Ramires as a CDM. He's a B2B midfielder that covers so much ground and has so much energy, he's perfect to stay deep-ish and stop & start moves. Only from the 2nd half of last season we saw his influence as an attacking player but that doesn't necessarily mean he is an attacking player, he can do pretty much any job you ask him to do. I see him as a work horse that can win the ball and start attacks with his pace.

Football is a team sport which means all the players have to play in positions that will benefit the team and not just themselves. Hazard, Mata and Marin are all wingers that can play CAM. Oscar is plain and simply a CAM. Ramires is more a CM that can play CAM and CDM like Lampard. For the team purpose, the strongest team i feel would be this although admittedly i've never seen Hazard on the right hand side. He just seems to have the ability to do a job great job there.

Mata - Oscar - Hazard

Mikel - Ramires

Mata and Hazard can swap, Marin can come on and change things again. Lampard is gettng older, i can't see him playing much more than 20 league games next season, we have to look to the future now. This team is the future.

[HRiver 1,512]

Mata - Oscar - Hazard

Mikel - Ramires

Tbh I'm not sure whether that midfield would work with Ramires as CDM. I think that Lamps should still play there alongside Mikel. We need strength and leadership in midfield, and Lamps possesses these qualities.