GhostOfDembaPast

This is a message saying goodbye to all you good people. Please accept my sincerest apologies for any ill feeling or disrespect caused by any of my posts, including this one. Having spent quite a bit of time on this forum of late, I feel somewhat that I am in a way obliged to remind myself and all that ife is too short and too important for these things. As funny as it sounds, typing this to 'strangers' on this strange thing we call the internet, I have over the past couple of years become familiar with some of you here, having read and replied to a lot of the posts. I guess all that is left to say is goodbye, and Good luck. May you all be granted the good that you seek in life and may the Creator (God, Allah, Dieu) bless you all.

You have to wonder whether the boos had a part in his turnaround as well as the above :) Form-change coincides with it.

I thought (hope) that the Ramires extention was done to retain his value in the market.

A bit of patience. Couple of goals and everyone will be singing his praises again. Make the top 4 for CL (or win the damn thing!), add a couple of big names and keep Hazard. Enough doom-mongering and negative speculation!

Traore, Bamford please. I'll take an actual striker instead of impersonating midgets, thank you.

At this point, I really feel like Ramires should not be a starter at all in this team. Only when there is a need for a bit some energy in the middle of the pitch and they're getting overrun should he come on. He's done well overall. Many trophies, medals and happy memories shared with the fans but I hope he leaves in the summer and finds a new challenge for himself. The same with Iva. It's becoming a constant theme, highlighting their negatives pretty much every game and it shouldn't be so.

Ramires. So poor. Has to go in the summer.

Well, wherever he came from, we know he didn't come from the bottle.

If the Man Utd rumours are true, hope the club goes in for him, too.

About time. Don't know why they waited so long. All the controversy that goes on that can be resolved (or at least decided with as much accuracy as possible) all in a few moments.

https://youtu.be/6jOCntRm4xk

Ideally, you want to see a Reus, isco, Griezmann level player added, but if Falcao is off, I'd take a cut-price Berahino very gladly. Wing or strike, pacy, tricky, scores goals and is English. Berahino Hazard (on form) Willian Costa. Should get a few goals.

Scoring goals, making goals, no added dramas. If he keeps this up, what's to complain about?

That's mine. (Interestingly, exactly half of the outfield players are left footed.) Ah. Just remembered Djilobodji. Cahill and Papy in central defence instead of Zouma.

Unless he absolutely makes it clear he wants out then, no. I like Bale, but he's tainted with Tottenham stench and he might, like others have said, have peaked. With Bale's style that is more physical and related to athleticism, he might wane quicker than Hazard.

He's left footed but he whalloped that in with his right at 1:04. Great strike.

Oumar Niasse. Never heard of him. Senegalese striker who plays for Lokomotiv Moscow. Being linked for 15m to a few English clubs including Chelsea. http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jan/04/lokomotiv-moscow-oumar-niasse-premier-league

Sorry. This isn't the right thread I know. But this needed to be posted. Some memories could do with a bit of refreshing. Goal Machine You only need to watch the first few minutes. Passing ability (I wouldn't call him 'playmaker' but we'll let the video decide it) Tribute:

I disagree. One has that crucial ability to pull off a cheeky wink and say 'ooh-lala'.

Mata was undisputedly the best player during those pre-Jose years mentioned. Forgive me for saying so, but you speak very dismissively of a player who performed feats that no ever midfielder had ever performed or will probably ever perform. Lampard was supremely consistent, very intelligent, had the mental attributes of a true champion, a leader. He was always involved in goals and chances whenever he played, either through scoring, assisting, making key passes, set peices, etc. If anything, most of the team's good play went through Lampard. Just because he wasn't a dribbler and wasn't foreign doesn't give anyone any right to speak of him in that way. He scored an insane amount of goals from MIDFIELD, made an insane amount goals, made the team click, forced the issue when needed and calmed the play when needed. How many times did he come up with match winners and important goals when there was no one else? He scored tap in's, wonder goals, freekicks, pens under pressure, all on the biggest stages and season after season, over and over and over. You can talk about Hazard and what he has achieved thus far, but will he be burnt out in a few years? What will he be doing when he is in his 30s? All that and we haven't even mentioned the professionalism and example he would have setv for others and the youth and his influence behind the scenes at the club. I think the very person he is being compared to would probably echo those feelings himself, if we are to go by his words and interviews. And as for today's grotesquely bloated transfer fees where unproven youngsters are being bought for 35m and 40m, a prime Lampard would imho easily cost 80m+ if fees were measured on footballing value alone. Maybe some of the feeling towards Hazard is a little unwarranted, but I hope we can keep Frank Lampard out of that.

Who knows? Maybe being a family man has given him something a little extra he never used to have. Would caused an almighty explosion of confused emotions if he were to make a costly error next game. We've seen it before with everyone quick to point out his various shortcomings when things go wrong. We'll probably see it again, though I'd like to think not. If he's playing well, he deserves to be in. I love Matic and I will probably keep making excuses for him, but he has played himself out of the team. On form, he is majestic. Seeing him win possession, hold off a player, weave through the pitch with an odd level of gracefulness and slide through pinpoint passes, it is a true pleasure. Hope he gets back to ii soon.

Embolo looks to have a bit about him just going on those highlights, but I'd rather see Traore given a few games instead. Also, if the plan is to bring in Teixeira and sell Remy... What happens when we discover the former needs a 'bedding in' period, having been playing in the Ukrainian League? You're shipping out a 'proven' Premier League level striker for a relative unknown quantity, even if he has been playing Champions' League football and has very good stats for Shakhtar.