Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2016

kev1.3s

hullaballoo wrote: »

I'm happy with the result but you'd have to query why Guus didn't make use of the bench. A couple of them were completely gassed out there for the last half hour and only Oscar is brought on for Hazard? Pedro nearly died out there fs!

Did you see the bench? I'm all for giving the youth a chance but that wasn't a game for RLC Traore or Kenedy let alone Miazga.

irishguitarlad

kev1.3s wrote: »

Did you see the bench? I'm all for giving the youth a chance but that wasn't a game for RLC Traore or Kenedy let alone Miazga.

You have a point but i dont think kenedys inexperience would have cost us much on the wing. Its an important position but a cock up there isnt as serious as a cock up in say centre back,also was remy on the bench?

hullaballoo

kev1.3s wrote: »

Did you see the bench? I'm all for giving the youth a chance but that wasn't a game for RLC Traore or Kenedy let alone Miazga.

Any time I've seen Traore and Kenedy, I've never had a reason to doubt their ability in big games. RLC can be a little more temperamental but each one of them is better than a Pedro who's too tired to move.

Killinator

hullaballoo wrote: »

Any time I've seen Traore and Kenedy, I've never had a reason to doubt their ability in big games. RLC can be a little more temperamental but each one of them is better than a Pedro who's too tired to move.

It should've been obvious to Guus, we were getting murdered on the right as Pedro, who did very well, hadn't the energy left to track back after constantly busting his gut closing down, which left Dave over exposed.

GavRedKing

So, a good loss, not every day you can say that.

Does Guus shuffle the pack for the City game? I dont think he will eing honest but I can see for Rahman starting the game.

GavRedKing

Apparently chelsea fans in the away end were ter gased by "accident" from the French police inside the stadium.

great bunch of lads. :pac:

cowboyBuilder

Lovely to see Mikel score, he's one of the all time greats.

lol at the PSG fans celebrating.

The competition is a joke.

Only one team will be winning this competition for the next 5 years in a row minimum.


Zzzzzzzz snoozefest.

Good bit of exercise for the lads today tho ...


All in for the FA Cup ...

gosplan

cowboyBuilder wrote: »

Lovely to see Mikel score, he's one of the all time greats.

lol at the PSG fans celebrating.

The competition is a joke.

Only one team will be winning this competition for the next 5 years in a row minimum.


Zzzzzzzz snoozefest.

Good bit of exercise for the lads today tho ...


All in for the FA Cup ...

Nah, they'll be hard to stop this year but lots can change quickly.

Panthro

GavRedKing wrote: »

Apparently chelsea fans in the away end were ter gased by "accident" from the French police inside the stadium.

great bunch of lads. :pac:

I blame Mikel...
If he hadn't scored, the fans wouldn't have celebrated, and the poleece wouldn't have had to act.
Dam you Mikel!

hots

Thought we played pretty well in parts, but it shows how bad we've been at times this year that that seemed good.

Baba was very good, azpi struggled a bit but tbf it's going to take a bit of time to learn to be a normal full back again, I thought cahill and Ivan were poor tbh, cahill constantly panicked near ibra playing him onside and Ivan seemed to struggle positionally too at times, again understandably.

Haz was good for a patch, pedro was excellent until he gassed, Willian did well, fab the same and Costa was unlucky not too score but disappeared in the second half. When Ivan isn't at right back we have no kickout options for tbo at all.

No idea why Guus hates subs. Even two academy players could have ran around instead of Pedro and Costa at the end... Still, in a decent position now, would be great to sneak through!

grumpymunster

Much improved performance last night might give us a chance of winning the FA Cup if we continue in taht vain.

I can only hope Hazard was lacking match fitness in the second half, he was OK first but woeful second. Can't see PSG wanting to buy him after that sadly but we live in hope. I can understand to some degree why Traore was kept on the bench but at least Kenedy should have relieved Pedro who was obviously wrecked. Good case for RLC as well to close it out, at least Matic back for the second leg that stupid booking may have been costly last night.

Cahill is all for the birds I am afraid at this level, thought Ivan was OK Dave caught out of position once or twice but also a lot of really excellent work. Baba has to stay in the team now full stop really, full of energy, not phased in the least, skilful not sure what more he can do. If JT is fit for the second leg I do hope we see Dave, JT, Ivan, Baba that actually would give us a chance I think. If Cahill plays they will score for certain.

Watched the game on BT I have to wonder who dresses Owen in the mornings as I am fairly certain he is not capable of doing anything that complicated himself. His comments for the Cavani goal were as stupid as you would expect from him, I am so glad it was picked up in twitterland. Sky Redknapp aside actually have decent commentators even if I would not agree with them a lot of the times and disliked them as players, but Rio and Owen are pathetic.

peteeeed

grumpymunster wrote: »

Much improved performance last night might give us a chance of winning the FA Cup if we continue in taht vain.

I can only hope Hazard was lacking match fitness in the second half, he was OK first but woeful second. Can't see PSG wanting to buy him after that sadly but we live in hope. I can understand to some degree why Traore was kept on the bench but at least Kenedy should have relieved Pedro who was obviously wrecked. Good case for RLC as well to close it out, at least Matic back for the second leg that stupid booking may have been costly last night.

Cahill is all for the birds I am afraid at this level, thought Ivan was OK Dave caught out of position once or twice but also a lot of really excellent work. Baba has to stay in the team now full stop really, full of energy, not phased in the least, skilful not sure what more he can do. If JT is fit for the second leg I do hope we see Dave, JT, Ivan, Baba that actually would give us a chance I think. If Cahill plays they will score for certain.

Watched the game on BT I have to wonder who dresses Owen in the mornings as I am fairly certain he is not capable of doing anything that complicated himself. His comments for the Cavani goal were as stupid as you would expect from him, I am so glad it was picked up in twitterland. Sky Redknapp aside actually have decent commentators even if I would not agree with them a lot of the times and disliked them as players, but Rio and Owen are pathetic.

owen comparing the result to a par in golf was a new low

i think hazard ran out of steam as did pedro , willian is a duracell bunny .
baba showed what he is capable off

GavRedKing

Theres a few positives to take from last night but that kind of game against that kind of opposition and we were in for the whole game yet we s**t the course against Watford and West Brom? Makes ya wonder what the hell the players be doing for the "lesser" games.

I seen the extended highlights, Rahman was good, solid in the tackle, quick, good eye for a pass, he didnt panic and his ball in for Costa deserved a goal, it was a vital stop from Trapp as the game was swinging our way after PSG dominated the opening exchanges.

I think I said it here last night but Guus really is afraid of the subs bench a few players out on there feet last night and he only makes one sub. Cesc, Mikel, Pedro all looked like they were beat, Costa had run himself into the ground too.

The bench had RLC, Kenedy, Traore, Remy, all capable of coming on and doing a job. I taught Pedros effort at the very end had gone in also, given he was knackered, it was about the best he could come up with. Just look at PSGS bench from last night, they brought on Cavani, Rabiot and Pastore and we brought on Oscar.

Actually, on that, Oscar if he was braver and a bit quicker coud have latched onto a chance soon after he came on.

Anyway, that kind of result and performance will stand to us as we face City at the weekend who arent as good as PSG, IMO. I'd echo what was said about Rahman, if he can have a good game against the likes of PSG, he has to be given the nod at LB again, I dont see the point in risking JT if hes anyway sore. Keep the same back four, maybe draft in Miazga to replace Ivan or Azp and adjust accordingly as both have them rarely get a break.

Given its our last chance at silverware though, I dont think Guus will make too many changes but I'd love to see Kenedy, RLC or Traore start this game too. Pato is likely to be invovled from the bench bt I'd prefer to start him.

The team I want to see is

Courtois
Azp Miazga Cahill Rahman
Matic RLC
Willian Oscar Pedro
Pato

Begovic
Ivan
Cesc
Hazard Kenedy
Costa Traore

GavRedKing

Ivanovic after last nights game :

We lost concentration in the end and left it a little bit open.

Yes Branna, you left Cavani spin off you while you admired Di Marias chip pass. :rolleyes:

duploelabs

Just goes to show that if we have two proper full-backs on the field we can play proper football

GavRedKing

duploelabs wrote: »

Just goes to show that if we have two proper full-backs on the field we can play proper football

Now all we're short is to have two proper CBs and we're golden. :pac:

hots

duploelabs wrote: »

Just goes to show that if we have two proper full-backs on the field we can play proper football

It might make us vulnerable at the back but it's definitely the way forward. 2 Proper full backs and Fabregas (or similar) beside Matic/Mikel (or similar) completely changes the way we can play. With the hardworking types we favour further up the pitch (Oscar, Willian, Costa, even Pedro to an extent) there's no reason you can't open up a little bit more behind them.

grumpymunster

I would bite the bullet next season go with JT, Ivan & Cahill as back up and main back 4 of Dave, Happy, Christensen, Baba. We may have to give Borussia Mönchengladbach a few bob to get Christensen back a year early but cheaper (and I would say better) than Stones. Someone needs to grow a pair and sit Aina down and get a new contract signed. There are not many centre halfs out there we can sign they seem to be something of a rare breed at the minute but even though inexperienced that would be solid (I know Aina is a right back but he is going to be class).
It is so annoying that we sign the likes of Papy and then get shot a few months later without ever seeing the cut of his jib. He seems to have done very well since joining a struggling Bremen team it is a disgrace he only got a few seconds against Reading was it in the Capital One cup. Given how bad our defence has been most of the season he should have had a run. Look at Baba big game last night, hostile atmosphere up against world class players and he showed why he was defender of the year in Germany last season. He could easily have gone in January with people saying he was not up to it whatever.
Varane and the like would be lovely but it is not going to happen, we need to start to focus on next season very soon (at least in the league).

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

I would bite the bullet next season go with JT, Ivan & Cahill as back up and main back 4 of Dave, Happy, Christensen, Baba. We may have to give Borussia Mönchengladbach a few bob to get Christensen back a year early but cheaper (and I would say better) than Stones. Someone needs to grow a pair and sit Aina down and get a new contract signed. There are not many centre halfs out there we can sign they seem to be something of a rare breed at the minute but even though inexperienced that would be solid (I know Aina is a right back but he is going to be class).
It is so annoying that we sign the likes of Papy and then get shot a few months later without ever seeing the cut of his jib. He seems to have done very well since joining a struggling Bremen team it is a disgrace he only got a few seconds against Reading was it in the Capital One cup. Given how bad our defence has been most of the season he should have had a run. Look at Baba big game last night, hostile atmosphere up against world class players and he showed why he was defender of the year in Germany last season. He could easily have gone in January with people saying he was not up to it whatever.
Varane and the like would be lovely but it is not going to happen, we need to start to focus on next season very soon (at least in the league).

Its looking more likely JT wont be kept regardless so Zouma is the only CB at the club that will be starting and with his injury he might miss 6-8 weeks of the new season, depending on how his recovery goes. I'd rather keep the money Everton are looking for stones and go forward with Christansen and Zouma.

Aina is a concern though, if he does up sticks and leaves it could see a few of the top academy prospect follow suit.

I think Solanke, Brown, Baker and Nathan are all staying at Vitesse next year, well thats what the news frm Vitesse is, theyed like to keep them all.

grumpymunster

Think you may be correct re JT, but even at that Ivan was so much better then Cahill last night at CB his lack of pace is not so much of an issue once he gets a bit of game time there.

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

Think you may be correct re JT, but even at that Ivan was so much better then Cahill last night at CB his lack of pace is not so much of an issue once he gets a bit of game time there.

Cahill needs JT next to him, grated so too does Zouma and Luiz before him but Cahill looks nowhere near the level Zouma can eventually reach so dropping him is good for us.

Roy Hodgson the other night on MOTD said it was bad Zouma got injured but Chelsea wouldnt miss him as Cahill is an excellent replacement. I couldnt have disagreed more. I'd be much happier to have Zouma in that back line than Cahill or Ivan, especially at CB.

grumpymunster

Yea saw that MotD but then thought Hodgson would have no option but to say that.

Looking at how we can play in some parts of some games really does ramp up the frustration levels when you see how poor this PL season is, we had to defend a bit at times but some our our counter attacking play was excellent. Fluid movement and sharp passing what a shame.

Lukker-

The only thing with playing Baba is Terry gets exposed much more. Id keep him there for now though.

I thought Cahill and Ivan had solid games last night considering Mikel left them fairly exposed at times.

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

Yea saw that MotD but then thought Hodgson would have no option but to say that.

Looking at how we can play in some parts of some games really does ramp up the frustration levels when you see how poor this PL season is, we had to defend a bit at times but some our our counter attacking play was excellent. Fluid movement and sharp passing what a shame.

Thats the most annoying thing about this season, Leicester have been fantastic but at our best last year we'd have been about 6-9pts clear at this stage if we carried our form over. We can and we have tried to dissect al thats happened this year but anyone outside of the club will have no idea how we made such a balls up of the defence of the title. I did say retaining it was a near impossibility before we even got to the summer but the collapse was astounding whihc makes displays like last night even more jaw dropping.

The players eem to turn it on when it suits them or they get a bit of fire in the belly and not everyone of them has that desire. It looks that with every passing week, the players just gave up on Jose and played with a fear, Guus has loosened the reigns a little and we're still undeafeted in the league which is good as its pushed us away from looking over shoulders in 12th.

Lukker- wrote: »

The only thing with playing Baba is Terry gets exposed much more. Id keep him there for now though.

I thought Cahill and Ivan had solid games last night considering Mikel left them fairly exposed at times.

What Rahman has to do and has to command, is to become a FB that occupies the RW and RB with his surging runs forward, Cole was exceptional at it he never stopped moving, he was a very attacking FB and it didnt really expose JT because he was giving everyone on the right something to think about it, that came with his reputation that teams used to stop the route to goal for us/

If Rahman can push on and form a partmership with our LW that side of the pitch can become yet again a key area for us, Azp, as you said does the defensive work better than most FBs around and offers great protection and a decent outlet but hes not a natural there, Rahmans ball to Costa showed what we lack from there since Cole left, a threat.

We could have lept Van Aanholt or Bertrand and saved 20million but Rahman has shown serious promise with Augsburg and hes been capable when playing with us too so hopefully hes the heir to Coles throne that we've been looking for.

Oranage2

Is it fair to say Costa just stopped playing under Jose?

GavRedKing

Oranage2 wrote: »

Is it fair to say Costa just stopped playing under Jose?

With each week it looks like it.

Someone, cant remember who on one of the American streams, said Jose tried to sell him in the summer because he didnt like his attitude towards partying and showing up late to training or styaing over his extended leave.

He did come back from pre season about a stone over weight so I can see why Jose would want to f**k him out over that if it was the case.

Lukker-

It's easy just to say he stopped playing.

There's always more to it though, if you look at his output he was one of the hardest workers during that period, he'd chase down everything, try and get the team up for it. He wasn't getting into goal scoring positions though and any top striker will tell you that they tend to not get in those positions when their confidence is low.

Nearly every other players confidence was low at the time too, it's just easier to point to Costa because it's easy to correlate lack of goals to not playing. If it's Mourinho's job to give confidence to the players, Mourinho didn't manage Costa as much as Costa didn't play for him.

Lukker-

So if Conte was to become our next manager how do people think we might line-up?

He was an absolute tinkerman for a whole at Juve, experimenting with loads of formations, 4-3-3, 3-3-4, 3-5-1-1 etc before finally settling on a 3-5-2 which became his favoured. He likes to play 2 pure strikers and wingbacks instead of wingers.

Without accounting for the movement transfer wise and using his favoured approach we could see something like this next season:

---

Courtois

---

----Ivan--Terry/Cahill--Zouma
Dave

---

Baba

---

Matic--Fabregas

---

---

Willian/Hazard

---

---

Costa----Pato

---

We are a bit heavy AM wise, interesting to see does he change his approach, 3-5-2 hasn't had a whole heap of success in England yet.

GavRedKing

Lukker- wrote: »

So if Conte was to become our next manager how do people think we might line-up?

He was an absolute tinkerman for a whole at Juve, experimenting with loads of formations, 4-3-3, 3-3-4, 3-5-1-1 etc before finally settling on a 3-5-2 which became his favoured. He likes to play 2 pure strikers and wingbacks instead of wingers.

Without accounting for the movement transfer wise and using his favoured approach we could see something like this next season:

---

Courtois

---

----Ivan--Terry/Cahill--Zouma
Dave

---

Baba

---

Matic--Fabregas

---

---

Willian/Hazard

---

---

Costa----Pato

---

We are a bit heavy AM wise, interesting to see does he change his approach, 3-5-2 hasn't had a whole heap of success in England yet.

I'd say he'll go 4-3-3 as we've enough options to pull it off

We've plenty of wingers, Kenedy, Hazard, Willian , Pedro who are all capable of operating as a 3.

Its the CM where we'd have serious issues, we'd need another top CM to sit beside Matic and Cesc or play RLC, we do need a powerhouse in there though as it seems like Matic has lost his ability to play football.

The defence nearly picks itself but could still do with a proper CB, if we're losing JT. Going on this squad my 4-3-3 would be

---

Tbo

---

Dave

---

Zouma

---

JT/New CB---Baba

---

New CM----Cesc

---

Matic

---

Willian

---

Costa

---

Hazard

Lukker-

GavRedKing wrote: »

I'd say he'll go 4-3-3 as we've enough options to pull it off

We've plenty of wingers, Kenedy, Hazard, Willian , Pedro who are all capable of operating as a 3.

Its the CM where we'd have serious issues, we'd need another top CM to sit beside Matic and Cesc or play RLC, we do need a powerhouse in there though as it seems like Matic has lost his ability to play football.

The defence nearly picks itself but could still do with a proper CB, if we're losing JT. Going on this squad my 4-3-3 would be

---

Tbo

---

Dave

---

Zouma

---

JT/New CB---Baba

---

New CM----Cesc

---

Matic

---

Willian

---

Costa

---

Hazard

Yeah probably right. 4-3-3 with overlapping fullbacks like when Carlo was manager could be beautiful.

I think Cesc will do well under him, Pirlo had a class resurgence under him playing the regista deep lying playmaker. I think Matic is slowly coming back to himself but we're still likely to sign some competition as I think Mikel is likely to leave.

Conte usually likes to have have 1 defensive mid, 1 play maker and 1 box to box.

The box-to-box is the main conendrum. RLC is the obvious choice but I think how he adapts to Conte and if he's willing to put in the miles on the pitch will determine whether he makes it or not with us. Oscar is another possibility, he certainly has the engine but maybe less so the physical frame. I've heard Conte is a fan so he'll most likely be kept. Apart from Pogba who is probably Madrid/Barca bound there is a lack of box-to-box midfielders available.

kev1.3s

Lukker- wrote: »

It's easy just to say he stopped playing.

There's always more to it though, if you look at his output he was one of the hardest workers during that period, he'd chase down everything, try and get the team up for it. He wasn't getting into goal scoring positions though and any top striker will tell you that they tend to not get in those positions when their confidence is low.

Nearly every other players confidence was low at the time too, it's just easier to point to Costa because it's easy to correlate lack of goals to not playing. If it's Mourinho's job to give confidence to the players, Mourinho didn't manage Costa as much as Costa didn't play for him.

That's Bull, he simply wasn't interested in playing for Jose full stop! The bib incident and general behaver coupled with his almost instant improvement in form after Jose's departure are pretty clear signs to me he was undermining the manager.
I'm delighted he's scoring again but for me he's the poster boy for what went wrong and whilst I'm sure he'll go on to score lots of goals but for me I won't hold him in that high a regard.

GavRedKing

kev1.3s wrote: »

That's Bull, he simply wasn't interested in playing for Jose full stop! The bib incident and general behaver coupled with his almost instant improvement in form after Jose's departure are pretty clear signs to me he was undermining the manager.
I'm delighted he's scoring again but for me he's the poster boy for what went wrong and whilst I'm sure he'll go on to score lots of goals but for me I won't hold him in that high a regard.

The thing with Costa id though, now, hes our most dangerous player again.

Theres no doubt he acted up under Jose for the last few weeks but so did Hazard, as I said, Costa is now at least scoring and setting up goals and in general, being back to his best.

While we've Hazard whos done sweet FA since Jose has gone. I dont think Hazard is 100% yet and hes probably reigning himself in to make sure hes right for the Euros but his attitude stinks to high heaven, I'd be gladly shot of him in the summer.

With Costa, at least hes busting his bo**ocks now for the cause.

Its a shame, for whatever reason that both fell out with Jose but only one of them is playing like we know he can and poor Cesc got labelled with those two earlier too when he was just playing bad.

GavRedKing

Lukker- wrote: »

Yeah probably right. 4-3-3 with overlapping fullbacks like when Carlo was manager could be beautiful.

I think Cesc will do well under him, Pirlo had a class resurgence under him playing the regista deep lying playmaker. I think Matic is slowly coming back to himself but we're still likely to sign some competition as I think Mikel is likely to leave.

Conte usually likes to have have 1 defensive mid, 1 play maker and 1 box to box.

The box-to-box is the main conendrum. RLC is the obvious choice but I think how he adapts to Conte and if he's willing to put in the miles on the pitch will determine whether he makes it or not with us. Oscar is another possibility, he certainly has the engine but maybe less so the physical frame. I've heard Conte is a fan so he'll most likely be kept. Apart from Pogba who is probably Madrid/Barca bound there is a lack of box-to-box midfielders available.

I reckon Pogba will be Citys main target this year, theyre seriously lacking a good CM of any calibre as with Toure you never know what youre going to get and Fernando(inho) are both useless.

duploelabs

GavRedKing wrote: »

I reckon Pogba will be Citys main target this year, theyre seriously lacking a good CM of any calibre as with Toure you never know what youre going to get and Fernando(inho) are both useless.

Well Toure is out the door with the arrival of Pep, put your house on it

Lukker-

kev1.3s wrote: »

That's Bull, he simply wasn't interested in playing for Jose full stop! The bib incident and general behaver coupled with his almost instant improvement in form after Jose's departure are pretty clear signs to me he was undermining the manager.
I'm delighted he's scoring again but for me he's the poster boy for what went wrong and whilst I'm sure he'll go on to score lots of goals but for me I won't hold him in that high a regard.

If he wasn't bothered about playing then why get upset and thow up his bib when he get's subbed off?

By that logic, no player was playing for Jose save for Willian. Even Azplicueta was having a poor season.

So out of the very long list of players, do you think they were all playing bad collectively to get him sacked?

It's a collective effort, Costa isn't going to score goals if the rest of the team are playing sh*t.

GavRedKing

duploelabs wrote: »

Well Toure is out the door with the arrival of Pep, put your house on it

100%, probably to China or wherever the money is good.

kev1.3s

GavRedKing wrote: »

The thing with Costa id though, now, hes our most dangerous player again.

Theres no doubt he acted up under Jose for the last few weeks but so did Hazard, as I said, Costa is now at least scoring and setting up goals and in general, being back to his best.

While we've Hazard whos done sweet FA since Jose has gone. I dont think Hazard is 100% yet and hes probably reigning himself in to make sure hes right for the Euros but his attitude stinks to high heaven, I'd be gladly shot of him in the summer.

With Costa, at least hes busting his bo**ocks now for the cause.

Its a shame, for whatever reason that both fell out with Jose but only one of them is playing like we know he can and poor Cesc got labelled with those two earlier too when he was just playing bad.

Totally agree on Hazard, Oscar came out in an interview this week to say he loves Chelsea and London and he wants to stay at Chelsea for as long as possible, Oscar isn't as talented as Hazard but he's the kind of player that we want. As far as I'm concerned Hazard isn't welcome with his stinking attitude.
The least he could do is play well to get us a good transfer fee but it seems he couldn't even be bothered to do that.

kev1.3s

Lukker- wrote: »

If he wasn't bothered about playing then why get upset and thow up his bib when he get's subbed off?

By that logic, no player was playing for Jose save for Willian. Even Azplicueta was having a poor season.

So out of the very long list of players, do you think they were all playing bad collectively to get him sacked?

It's a collective effort, Costa isn't going to score goals if the rest of the team are playing sh*t.

There was obviously a pretty bad atmosphere across the whole team which we will probably never understand but Costa was one of the ring leaders.
I actually do believe there was a section of the squad that were actively trying to get Jose the sack so therefore I believe that those players who we contribute to there vast wages with match tickets shirt sales ect ect have actually chosen to let us down this season and thats something I can't forgive.

GavRedKing

kev1.3s wrote: »

Totally agree on Hazard, Oscar came out in an interview this week to say he loves Chelsea and London and he wants to stay at Chelsea for as long as possible, Oscar isn't as talented as Hazard but he's the kind of player that we want. As far as I'm concerned Hazard isn't welcome with his stinking attitude.
The least he could do is play well to get us a good transfer fee but it seems he couldn't even be bothered to do that.

We'll still demand mad money for him.

He'll have what, 4 years left on his current deal at the end of the season?

The club hold all the cards in this instance. I'd love if the new manager could turn his form around but its upto Hazard to want to improve too.

If he does have his eye elsewhere, good luck to him, if not, he has a serious amount of work to do.

He, like Costa, came back a good stone over weight too which is something I genuinely cant believe from a professional footballer. Ya, go and enjoy your summer holidays but dont go doing the dog on it and leaving yourself no time to get back upto speed and in shape for the new season.

One thing watching the Ronaldo film/documentary is how professional he is in his approach to rest, recovery and keeping himself in prestine condition.

That drive and hunger is something Hazard seriously lacks, hes got all the talent in the world but he seems happy to be at a level, where hes a few steps below the very elite when, given his talent, he could be up rubbing shoulders with them.

Maybe a change of scenery will do him good, he'll score for fun in France and Spain too but if he went to Madrid and performed like he has for us this year, he'd be sold within 12months.

SureYWouldntYa

GavRedKing wrote: »

I reckon Pogba will be Citys main target this year, theyre seriously lacking a good CM of any calibre as with Toure you never know what youre going to get and Fernando(inho) are both useless.

I'd be surprised if Thiago didn't follow Pep to City, followed him to Bayern and they'll need some new midfielders if they're going to play a Pep style

Lukker-

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

I'd be surprised if Thiago didn't follow Pep to City, followed him to Bayern and they'll need some new midfielders if they're going to play a Pep style

Pep has a gentlemans agreement not sign any Bayern players.

I can definitely see him going for Pogba and possibly Busquests too, I don't know if Fernando or Fernandinho are going to cut it for him.

Lukker-

Wouldn't it be gas if we won the Champions League and United won he the Europa League?

That would mean only first and second get Champions League.

It'd be great if Spurs and Arsenal/City finished 3 and 4th.

GavRedKing

Lukker- wrote: »

Wouldn't it be gas if we won the Champions League and United won he the Europa League?

That would mean only first and second get Champions League.

It'd be great if Spurs and Arsenal/City finished 3 and 4th.

I think and I could be wrong, that 3rd and 4th would have to go through the qualifiers. I think theyed still get places.

I mentioned it the other week actually as a crazy scenario that what would UEFA do if England had 6 teams in the UCL.

duploelabs

GavRedKing wrote: »

100%, probably to China or wherever the CAKE is good.

FTFY

kev1.3s

I'd Love it if we were to knock spurs out again.

GavRedKing

kev1.3s wrote: »

I'd Love it if we were to knock spurs out again.

That would be priceless, I only realised what happened when we actually won the thing and it made it even sweeter.

Lukker-

As much as I'd love to deny Spurs or Arsenal, I think City would be the team I'd like to deny most. I've nothing against City themselves but I can't stand Pep and his holier-than-thou attitude.

Go forth and win the passing in the Europa League my son.

Lukker-

Salah having a good game vs. Madrid.

Shame he never got a chance really, he's one of the fastest players going, would be amazing from the bench. He could certainly have started for us this season at times too.

GavRedKing

Lukker- wrote: »

Salah having a good game vs. Madrid.

Shame he never got a chance really, he's one of the fastest players going, would be amazing from the bench. He could certainly have started for us this season at times too.

I dont think hes good enough TBH, his end product for us was abysmal, he couldnt finish his dinner and rarely hit the target.

Still though, we probably got rid of him too quickly but I've high enough hopes for Kenedy.

grumpymunster

I doubt very much at this stage Hazard will be with us next season, a shame in a way he is a talented player but good riddance in many ways too. He is paid an awful amount of money and he certainly has a responsibility to his employers, never mind the supporters. Still first off we need a manager seems to be boiling down to Simeone or Conte with the Conte story being the more believable at the moment (I do not believe for a second Simeone has told AM he is off in the summer).

I would like to see RLC being given a chance in midfield along with Matic (who I will assume will start playing football again next season after his years sabbatical) and Cesc, I would also like to see Oscar given a run there I really think he could do a job.

Do we need to buy players? That for me depends how this season pans out, CL is gone for 2016-17 will we make the Thursday night league thats very debatable at the minute. If we don't I would give Ania a big ball of money and do what ever is needed to get Charly back from Spain and Christensen back from Germany. If we only have domestic football to worry about what we have is more than good enough to qualify for a CL place in season 2017-18 assuming Hazard is the only player we lose - and we can always give United ST£5m to get Mata back when Jose takes over . This gives the new manager a long time to plan a way forward and should build up one hell of a lot of money for whatever is then needed to get us back at the top table in football.