Closed Roma v Chelsea

[Chelsea? 892]

So last season those 9 goals and 16 assists were imaginary then ?

no, he had those stats during the half he performed.

[Barbara 15,149]

he played similar to this half the time last year. Eden's hype is more potential than quality. Similar to Oscar.

I don't think it's fair to say Eden is hyped out of potential instead of quality after everything he did for us last season. Oscar is more debatable, but Hazard has been amazing for us.

The thing is motivation is built up by many aspects - some on a conscious level, some on a subconscious level. I'm sure Eden is trying very hard to impress Mourinho. Everyone in the world of football knows that Mou is a coach that will demand a lot from his players and that only the best will play in his team - especially when it's a new project and he doesn't have yet identified the guys he won't touch in the team. So I have no doubts Eden is trying to do show his best, but he can't help himself. He needs the thrill of official competition to run his engine. I don't think he'll ever be impressive during friendlies and pre-season matches. Neither do I think we need him to be.

Haven't watched Roma at all over the past year other than the Cup game.

Should this be a fairly comfortable victory?

They're much worse than Milan and about the same level as Inter - although Inter seems so poor these days that maybe Roma is slightly better. Did you watch those matches?

edit:

If Mourinho is starting his best team and Mata and Luiz can start the match (they were training with everyone else today), there are two formations I would prefer. One for 4-3-3 and other for 4-2-3-1. Those would be my starting XI against Hull. I don't favor one formation over other, it's just if we decide to start Kevin, I think 4-2-3-1 suits him better and if we decide to play 4-3-3, it suits Oscar better.

Cech

Ivan - Luiz - Terry - Cole

Ramires ----- Marco

Oscar

Mata --------------- Hazard

Torres

Cech

Ivan --- Luiz --- Terry --- Cole

Ramires ----- Marco

Mata ----- Kevin ---- Hazard

Torres

if Mata is out, I'd have KDB on his place in the 4-3-3 and Schürrle in the 4-2-3-1, and if Luiz if out, I'd bring Ivan to the CB and would have Azpili in the RB

I still think Moses is more a super-sub than a starting XI guy. In addition to him I would also bring Lamps for the second half and Lukaku. Only those three subs.

Edited August 9, 2013 by Barbara

[DJames 729]

An 8am (local time) match

[Chelsea? 892]

Not saying Eden wasn't great - I'd pick him over any other player except messi n ronaldo- I'm Jst saying every aspect of his game is overrated here on the site. He has average finishing, average passing and his dribbling isn't that much better than Moses's. Hazard is special because he can get past players and he has pretty good vision. He's like Mata with better pace and slightly less vision

[Stingray 9,441]

Not saying Eden wasn't great - I'd pick him over any other player except messi n ronaldo- I'm Jst saying every aspect of his game is overrated here on the site. He has average finishing, average passing and his dribbling isn't that much better than Moses's. Hazard is special because he can get past players and he has pretty good vision. He's like Mata with better pace and slightly less vision

Ok .... Lol!!!!

[Christacinto 137]

my birthday too ,,,a few years before yours ,,,have a great day on Sunday

Cheers, mate! If you had been living near Antwerp I'd have bought you a drink for sure or we should've watched the game together!

Have a great one yourself; memento mori, carpe diem! And on to a fantastic year of football...

Edit: pardon me good sir, I just saw how respectable your age is on your profile , so I believe that merits a slightly different phrasing from my part

Have you been a Chelsea-fan all your life? Enjoy the day with your loved ones and have a fantastic health this year! If you ever come to Antwerp,

I'll definitely buy you a drink!

Edited August 9, 2013 by Christacinto

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Not saying Eden wasn't great - I'd pick him over any other player except messi n ronaldo- I'm Jst saying every aspect of his game is overrated here on the site. He has average finishing, average passing and his dribbling isn't that much better than Moses's. Hazard is special because he can get past players and he has pretty good vision. He's like Mata with better pace and slightly less vision

The only thing he is average at is his finishing, to say he has average dribbling is absolutely shocking.

[magic weeds 446]

another 1AM kick off on a work night? Meh, I'll give this a miss thanks.

Well, I believe its on a sunday (Saturday midnight + 1hr) .

[Mouri_Matic 560]

The only thing he is average at is his finishing, to say he has average dribbling is absolutely shocking.

Agreed. When he said he had AVERAGE PASSING AND NOT AS GOOD AS MOSES IN DRIBBLING I GOT TO LOL. Average passing what? Sure maybe not Xavi/Iniesta master class but still ''good'', you don't get the most assists in BPL with ''average'' passing. Then there is the comparison to Moses, hahahaha. That is like saying Benteke got finishing skill as good as RVP. Ridiculous.

[Pacquiao 1,834]

I think we will start this team

Cech

Azpi - Ivanovic - Terry - Bertrand

Mikel - Van Ginkel

De Bruyne - Oscar - Hazard

Ba

I think Mikel, Bertrand and Ba will start as they didn't get any minutes against Madrid.

Edited August 9, 2013 by Pacquiao

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Game will be played on my birthday so am expecting every Belgian on the pitch to score at least once with a final score of 6-0. Anything less and I'll be disappointed!

Let's bring back Courtois for this one game and put him up front for you

[NiclasCFC 2,582]

I think we will start this team

Cech

Azpi - Ivanovic - Terry - Cole

Mikel - Van Ginkel

De Bruyne - Oscar - Hazard

Ba

I think Mikel and Ba will both start as they both didn't get any minutes against Madrid, and Bertrand will play the whole 2nd half.

Bertrand will get 75 minutes in this match, Source: ChelseaTV

[didierforever 7,349]

hazard is a great player and has the POTENTIAL to be one of the best, but he DOES get a lot of hype/exxageration on here. the fact that he got 11 motm votes for the real madrid match and 13 motm votes in the ac milan match tells us about our blue-tinted attitude towards him.

for me, he has had an average pre-season at best and this game he should step it up and play like he would play a pro-game. with moses performing the way he is, kdb having a good pre-season i would choose moses-oscar-kdb rather than kdb-oscar-hazard trio for the hull game.

time for hazard to step up and show his AWESOMENESS and CLASS.

as for the match, i really dont know what mou is going to do. LAMPS looked in some dire need of some game time. so dont know if lamps will start or we ll start with the probable team for the hull match or mou will play the members who dint play against rm (mata, mikel, ba).

Edited August 9, 2013 by didierforever

[Pacquiao 1,834]

Bertrand will get 75 minutes in this match, Source: ChelseaTV

ok so Bertrand will start as well then.

[Christacinto 137]

Let's bring back Courtois for this one game and put him up front for you

One thousand likes for you good sir and a bottle of champagne for the lot of ya!

[Mouri_Matic 560]

hazard is a great player and has the POTENTIAL to be one of the best, but he DOES get a lot of hype/exxageration on here. the fact that he got 11 motm votes for the real madrid match and 13 motm votes in the ac milan match tells us about our blue-tinted attitude towards him.

for me, he has had an average pre-season at best and this game he should step it up and play like he would play a pro-game. with moses performing the way he is, kdb having a good pre-season i would choose moses-oscar-kdb rather than kdb-oscar-hazard trio for the hull game.

time for hazard to step up and show his AWESOMENESS and CLASS.

as for the match, i really dont know what mou is going to do. LAMPS looked in some dire need of some game time. so dont know if lamps will start or we ll start with the probable team for the hull match or mou will play the members who dint play against rm (mata, mikel, ba).

Lampard is pass it, he will pop up with a goal or two here and there but he won't have a big role to play anymore, wouldn't even surprise me if this is his last season with us and he seems to begin to pick up more injury these days so it is a bad sign for him.

I agree about Hazard too, even though I myself quite like him many people are making it out as if he is already top 5 best winger in the world when I am not sure he even makes top 10, he like Lukaku got potential but again not WORLD CLASS YET.

[Pizy 18,928]

@Barbara- Yes, I watched the Inter/AC games. If they're anything like Inter quality wise than this should be a pounding.

Edited August 9, 2013 by Pizy

[Stef 15]

Not saying Eden wasn't great - I'd pick him over any other player except messi n ronaldo- I'm Jst saying every aspect of his game is overrated here on the site. He has average finishing, average passing and his dribbling isn't that much better than Moses's. Hazard is special because he can get past players and he has pretty good vision. He's like Mata with better pace and slightly less vision

Can someone see the contradictions in these sentences or is it only me??? Damn this is so stupid, hilarious.

[Stats 7,147]

I am sure Schurrle will start this match. Did not start the last two and he will be eager to impress Mourinho.

[Mouri_Matic 560]

Mata must start surely? He been benched for most of the games here since his comeback from the break and he hasn't contributed anything so time for him to find his feet again. Actually since this is the last game before BPL starts next week I am pretty sure Jose will play his strongest side ahead of next week, experiment time is over.