Eden Hazard

[Blue Traveler 256]

You forgot the part about 'weelchairs or whatever you are in' to one of our oldest members. You should be banned tbh.

Imagine and replace 'weelchair' with gay, nigger, .. Same stuff. But you cannot see that, cant you little Chorizo?

Lovely to see you try and wiggle out of it.

You twist a word like a Belgian twists an interview!

That statement was not directed at any one! end of!

[lionsden 4,689]

Not at the level of José Mourinho, for sure, even if you had been coached by freaking Bob Paisley or SAF, they aren't at the level of José Mourinho. I'll save these posts and next year we'll talk about it.

[Stingray 9,441]

You twist a word like a Belgian twists an interview!

That statement was not directed at any one! end of!

Yes Ayatollah!

[Greyco 143]

We had some tragic perfomances with Benitez, remember City home and away, Soton home, Reading away, etc...

The 6-0 trashing against Arsenal isn't a memorable moment, the 2-0 against PSG, the win at the Etihad, the win at Anfield, the torres winner in the last minute against City, fuck me, the supporter of this club have eaten so much caviar that now when we have tuna, it's not good enough, we should be all grateful that we have something in our mouth (metaphorically ofc).

Bayern under Heynckes took time to take a shape, Barça under Guardiola is one in a million, Rodgers took a year to shape his team, why not give that time to José ? I personnaly don't care about the style, I support the club not the style of football, we could play like QPR (god forbid) that i wouldn't care. Don't worry about sponsors (top 5 revenues in the world football), upcoming stars (Hazard joined us when we played some of the worst football ever (CL 2012), and fans comes and go. We have one of the best fanbase in the world sport, more than 300.000.000 fans.

You clearly haven't been reading what I've stated earlier. It was the club's intention to play a more attractive style of football. Hence they signed Hazard and Mata. Hazard even alluded to it when he signed his contract here, that he had spoken with Abramovich and he liked the way the club saw the future with the young attacking talent they were signed or just had signed. That was a major selling point of the club in trying to persuade him to opt for Chelsea instead of all the other suitors. After 1 year where Chelsea tried to employ this new philosophy it all has been thrown out of the door. Key players for that philosophy have been moved on and we're building again towards the same style. What style I prefer has nothing to do with it, and I don't understand why you even brought it up in the discussion.

A lot of supporters keep mentioning how far off the title Chelsea were last season and the CL failure as reason to discard that new path the club chose for. Well, Liverpool were even further off and this season the were able to turn it around while being admired for their style. I find it a real shame we gave the Hazard-Mata relationship on the pitch only a single season. A season were the squad clearly lacked a Matic and an undisputed manager which influenced the performances.

I tend to visit a lot of other football boards and last season rival fans were incredibly jealous of the trio Oscar-Hazard-Mata and looking at potential transfers to rival that trio in the future because it had them scared. This season you had to look very hard to find something positive about our play.

ps: I actually completely forgot about that Arsenal game, I can't even recall one goal..

[lionsden 4,689]

And we aren't the only who has problem against the opposition defend deep, some others teams doesn't seem to have a problem with them because they have very good strikers.

So It's because they have good strikers and not because they were able to break down the resistance of oppositions that defend deep with crisp interchange, incisive, accurate passing, overlapping runs, sharp, intelligent movement and so on. let's just attribute our inability to create clear cut chances against parked defences on the lack of world class strikers shall we.

[sutro 1,026]

A storm in a glass of water, yet we have 20 pages of people flaming at eachoter.

This forum will go in a complete meltdown the day Eden is leaving the club

[bluesman2610 1,417]

Again Eden said what he had to say and so did Mourinho.. Let that be all.. I say we let the manager manage and the player just play they have already gotten over it and you lot 3 days later still making a huge deal of it...

At this rate we should sell some of the support the way this thread has been recently

[The Skipper 20,609]

Wow, the last few pages have shown that there are quite a lot of disrespectful people on here.

[The Skipper 20,609]

Firstly i've done nothing related to world of football.

Second i never "proclaimed to be an expert" merely just reminding people they should stop sounding like an expert and think they know it all unless they contributed real thing to this field of sport with real credentials!

This is very contradictory, considering Jose didn't even play football consistently at a professional level before entering management here. Guess Jose isn't an expert either then, and Maradona is a world class manager because he was a very intelligent footballer... Very strange statement.

Also, you don't even know everyone on this forum on a personal level, so it's very naive of you to think that no one on here has any sort of credentials in football.

[darrus 422]

This is very contradictory, considering Jose didn't even play football at a professional level before entering management here.

Guess Jose isn't an expert either then.

Actually he did play. Off the top of my head, the only top coaches without playing experience would be Arrigo Sacchi and AVB which makes them rather rare exceptions.

On the other hand, many successful footballers were complete fail as coaches and/or pundits which proves that experience is not everything.

Back to the topic - I hope we won't have another round of arguments if Hazard doesn't start tomorrow. I also hope that he's not starting just to prevent the rumors even if he's still not recovered from injury.

[The Skipper 20,609]

Actually he did play. Off the top of my head, the only top coaches without playing experience would be Arrigo Sacchi and AVB which makes them rather rare exceptions.

On the other hand, many successful footballers were complete fail as coaches and/or pundits which proves that experience is not everything.

Back to the topic - I hope we won't have another round of arguments if Hazard doesn't start tomorrow. I also hope that he's not starting just to prevent the rumors even if he's still not recovered from injury.

Yeah, I edited my post before you replied.

[Henrique 9,133]

For me its a disgrace that we end the season without Mata, Hazard and Oscar future in doubt, while Mourinho is praising Ramires, Cahill and Ivanovic, and the attacking players Mourinho likes most is Willian, because of his defensive work rate.

Is this really happening?

[Chelsea? 892]

Blue Traveler, on 03 May 2014 - 4:18 PM, said: Firstly i've done nothing related to world of football. Second i never "proclaimed to be an expert" merely just reminding people they should stop sounding like an expert and think they know it all unless they contributed real thing to this field of sport with real credentials!

no, the popular opinion on this forum is correct over 90% of the time. People here have watched this sport for years, their opinion is as valid as any other 'expert'

[Hamilton 2,120]

Is this still not over?

Arrghhh, a hattrick today and we are all good friends again..

[didierforever 7,349]

Is this still not over?

Arrghhh, a hattrick today and we are all good friends again..

dude, even if he scores a hat-trick. and then after the 3rd goal, he runs to jose and hugs him. people will STILL find a way to critisize one or another. specially some shit-stirrers like the poster a couple of posts above you who have no better job than to write posts which gets everyone riled up.

[Blue Traveler 256]

This is very contradictory, considering Jose didn't even play football consistently at a professional level before entering management here. Guess Jose isn't an expert either then, and Maradona is a world class manager because he was a very intelligent footballer... Very strange statement.

Also, you don't even know everyone on this forum on a personal level, so it's very naive of you to think that no one on here has any sort of credentials in football.

Are you for real?!!

Your statement is ludicrous on the face of it.

That's a very simple comment i made if it's baffles you so much there is no point continuing this argument.

Jose, AS A MANAGER, MANAGED ALL OVER THE EUROPE - WON ALL KIND OF TROPHY THERE IS ERGO HAS THE CREDENTIALS! THE REAL ONE! you per se WATCH football on regular bases never played it never managed it no pedigree whatsoever ergo......!

It's really that simple.

[toojunk 19]

Yesterday L'Equipe wrote that he's going to PSG. Today El Mundo writes that he's off to Barcelona.

Says it all really.

[SoulTaker 46]

I tried to stay cool but this is just too much. I might -and probably will- say too much myself and I'm doing it knowingly so I'll take any blame moderator think I deserve. I'm sorry about that in advance.

Jose, AS A MANAGER, MANAGED ALL OVER THE EUROPE - WON ALL KIND OF TROPHY THERE IS ERGO HAS THE CREDENTIALS! THE REAL ONE! you per se WATCH football on regular bases never played it never managed it no pedigree whatsoever ergo......!

It's really that simple.

So WHO the hell are YOU to judge people ? People on any forum might hide behind pseudonym but in no way does it means that they haven't done MORE for the community and the world than anyone will ever do and even less does it means they do not deserve RESPECT. Stop acting like you know anyone just because they're some " anonymous " on the web.

People like you do more harm than any good they'll ever bring to Mourinho's name. As shameful as it could get from a supposed fan.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Mourinho also should (I dunno, maybe he is!) focus more on build up play and less on counter-attacking football.

Just exemplifies how you don't understand football and see these as mutually exclusive.

Counter-attacking play will always be part of this team's philosophy as a first-phase attack. Do you know what that is? Teams transitioning from attack to defence leave gaps, and we will always look to exploit these gaps with our pace.

The key is the next phase if this counter breaks down. That's where we've been poor and that has a lot to do with our strikers' movement. Eto'o's has been terrible at this and just seems to stand there. Torres always seems to drift to the edge of the box and Ba probably has the best movement in the box which is a woeful indictment of our options.

So it's become fashionable for people like lionsden to not even contend this point, but try and diminish it by suggesting that strikers really aren't that important. This is hogwash of the highest order. A dangerous striker puts defenders on their heels and creates space between the lines for midfielders to operate in - that lack of space has killed us. The lack of a threat at 9 is the reason teams can double-team Hazard.

It's why people like you should have some patience when 'assessing' the tactics Jose employs. He doesn't have the requisite parts yet. Just look at the transformation the acquisition Matic made to our midfield and use your imagination to think what difference a striker might make to our attack.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

So it's become fashionable for people like lionsden to not even contend this point, but try and diminish it by suggesting that strikers really aren't that important. This is hogwash of the highest order. A dangerous striker puts defenders on their heels and creates space between the lines for midfielders to operate in - that lack of space has killed us. The lack of a threat at 9 is the reason teams can double-team Hazard.

I also think we should look to the possibility of playing a flat 4-4-2 next season as an alternative formation next season. Certainly, the arrival of Matic gives us more flexibilty from a tactical point of view. The amount of kilometres he covers in a game, blocks and interceptions, and his general reading of the game is what makes him a fantastically reliable player in this system. I seem to remember Jorge Jesus even using a 4-4-2 when Matic's influence on the side began to grow.

Just look at the teams that have scored the most goals this season. Man City play with two up top, Aguero and Dzeko/Negredo. Liverpool play with two up, Suarez and Sturridge regardless of the system, be it 4-3-3, 4-4-2 (diamond), or the 3-5-2 Rodgers was using earlier this season. These are the two highest scoring teams in the league. During our double season under Carlo, when we broke the goal-scoring record, we played many games with both Drogba and Anelka up top, with Lamps at the tip of the diamond. Drogba and Lampard had their best seasons ever that year. Ferguson's great Man United sides played with two strikers. Either with Cantona/Hughes, Andy Cole/Yorke, Rooney/van Horseface and so on.

Those sides were almost always the highest scoring team in the division. Nowadays, a lot of teams have gotten to conservative with it and want to overcrowd the midfield area. Perhaps it's time we use this system as an alternative (or even the main system) against ultra-defensive teams at The Bridge.

We can do that to, especially with the personnel we (potentially) have. Can you imagine a 4-4-2 with Costa and Lukaku up front, Hazard on the left, Willian right and Matic holding midfielder? That screams power, pace, skill, technique, we can go long, we can go short...... we can score more goals and win more matches.