Katyusha

We couldn't have done this without Hazard

Honestly & unfortunately Mane & Sterling have been doing what Hazard does, better than Hazard does it, this season.

Looking real world class fellas.

I pity the team that ends up in the Virgin Stadium.

He's just not. Hazard on his best isn't near Suarez on his best, Aguero on his best, Bale, and others. Even Douglas Costa at his best is as good as Hazard's ever been, and Douglas Costa like Hazard is certainly not so good that only Messi & Ronaldo are better than him. This is absurd. It makes me imagine the decent portion of Liverpool's fans saying the same about Coutinho.

Every single season, we expect 5+ 'bad' games from Hazard. Not every single season, has anyone ever expected that, from Messi, Suarez, Aguero, Terry, Scholes, Thiago Silva, Pirlo, Iniesta, Kalou, truly world class players. You are not world class if you're not consistently the best or there about. If inconsistent players with loads of talent could be considered world class then Di Maria, Pogba, Cavani and Reus would be labeled 'world class', which simply isn't true. They're great players, some of the greatest, as is Hazard - but not in that upper echelon. He can still become world class though; he doesn't need to raise his output to become-so, only increase his consistency, which may just happen in the next few years.

I fell to the point of begging we sign Crouch since we were playing that hoof-the-ball game constantly. I remember plenty of people calling for us to just use one of our youth strikers, I think it was the now-terrible Feruz.

Mitroglou, Aspas & Modeste have higher goals per 90 ratio in their respective leagues than Costa. Not to mention the fact they all recieve the ball less than he does... would hardly call Costa great when stats like those are out there... Stats are probably the worst thing you could've brought up. Stats can convince people that the sky is green and that the moon landing didn't happen. The discussion was; who, this season, is outperforming Hazard/at the same level; all of the players I listed are. So let's talk about that, not who's technically on paper according to the stats on WhoScored the better player. If we want to reduce this to a discussion of wingers only, let's start with how Ribery, Robben and Douglas Costa have all been better than Hazard, despite being 3 wingers competing for 2 spots. None of them are 'goal getters', so it's fair.

I didn't write 3 paragraphs about Dybala, so to highlight that opinion of yours as-if that's anything to do with the point i'm making, or what anyone else is talking about, is silly as hell. However, the difference is Dybala does more than he was expected to - Hazard does less. If you want an individual conversation about Dybala vs. Hazard we can have one, but don't reduce my post and invalidate it by homing in on that.

That restricts things when you consider the Premier League has never been weaker in terms of the quality of players spread amongst the top teams. So it won't really prove anything; we don't have any true world class players here, we have players just under that bracket, and out of those, here are some more consistent (this season only) than Hazard - Kante, Luiz, Sanchez, Mata, Ibrahimovic, and Fabregas when he gets on the pitch too. (Consider too, these players have been better despite 2 or even 3 of them already being past their peak.) Outside of the PL in the same bracket of just under WC, but outperforming Hazard, we have the likes of Griezmann, Neymar, Dybala. Bale is also far superior based on just this season, even with less games. He's had huge direct impact consistently, and not consistently faded in and out. But I don't know what this point proves. However, that's a bunch of players who play to at least the same standard that Hazard has this season, yet are far less on-off-on-on-on-off-off-on-off-on-off-on with their form. So yeah, that's *not* including the world class players of the world, which Hazard is certainly not a part of (Messi, Suarez, Kroos, Thiago, Lewandowski, Robben.) We LOVE the guy - but he isn't world class. He is not the player we all thought he had the potential to be, at all. It's like he's fulfilled 65% of that potential we imagined, and yet that may be him at his best. World class? No. The most exciting player we've possibly ever had? Sure.

I agree. Now there must be 2 trolls in here. Ake is fine. He is ok. He is a footballer. But is he transcending the art of defending? No. And if we aspire to be the best, we must acquire those or mould those who show that they're aiming to be the best. Ake is aiming to be a solid footballer and that's fine, great, well done, but we need a bit more than a jack of all trades who doesn't necessarily exceed in any area of his game particularlly. I do consider him one of 'ours' though, because we got him when he was 15/16. A better player than RLC, Chalobah, Solanke, Abraham too I think. But he isn't near the leagues in which Musonda, Dasilva, Christensen could be playing in. I'm happy to keep using him as a squad player, but to say he's shown anything in his career yet that screams starting material for a top side would be a blue-tinted lie.

I'd say I'm moved, but can a deity really be moved? Are we not everywhere?

Don't make me do same with you... In the first post you quote, I don't elaborate on the depths of how his post is wrong, like stated, and yet even If I choose to in the future, I'm not held at ransom to not do-so, so I just ight. Next part you've quoted - I'm referring to a different comment, in a different post, attacking his failure to read my posts thoroughly. I fail to see me discrediting an opinion, like I said he shouldn't do, so, still waiting for the hypocrisy you're highlighting to show up. 3rd - If you can't discern sarcasm, and the difference between thoughtful posts which just spring into 'ARE YOU MOURINHO IN DISGUISE?' out of nowhere, I may have to ask you to add me to ignore. Thanks for the hyperbole though, you're adding a lot to what was supposed to be a discussion about players. Top lad I just hope your next 30 thousand posts are more insightful, or more interesting.

I watched every single game he played alongside the Musonda's/Abraham's/Boga's/Christensen's for 2 seasons I think, at least the games CFC broadcasted. When he didn't score a goal, he wasn't doing anything special, just making the average runs expected of any decent striker. When he did score a goal, it was more often than not just a regular old goal, after regular old play, after given a regular old chance. He showed nothing special like those around him did (even Kiwomya looked the better talent.) Abraham had strength & determination, Musonda & Boga had the skill and next-level awareness, Izzy Brown had eyes which never left the bottom corner of the goal, but Solanke had 0 qualities of note. There was only hype because he was part of an otherwise great team being one of the few English players. (there's no coincidence RLC gets the same praise, yet wouldn't be touched with a 10ft pole if he was Romanian or Mexican.) The only English players we've had in our youth in the past 5 years worthy of our first team (Abraham remains to be seen) are John Swift (that's where we're criminal, in wanting more English blood, in wanting a replacement for Fabregas when we need it, yet ignoring a guy who plays like Xavi) and Jay DaSilva, the 1 other supreme talent in our youth who's also English, and easily good enough to start 10 games a season for us in the local cup matches. And I base that on him 2+ years ago, nevermind 2 years of development in the future. *edit - Just seen we let John Swift go. Holy sh*t. Our best ever generation of youth are all going down the drain, just as we refused to admit it would while they were dominating the likes of Barcelona's youth. Sickening. He's seemingly one of the Championship's best players this season, for Reading who're pushing for promotion. Idiotic from Emenalo, the number 1 guy in regards to authority over our youth.

I think the compensation will more realistically be 5m, then his 50k a week will take the deal up to 8m for the first year in terms of what Liverpool shell out on him. L'Pool surely only want him because he's English. They're thinking, if this guy was a decent English striker for one of the best youth teams in the past decade, he must be worth taking a punt on especially since we could rub it in the face of our rivals and keep our 'identity'. They can't have been convinced by any of his senior performances, so the way they're potentially judging whether or not to sign him is hilarious. It's even more hilarious if they ARE judging it on his senior performances.