On 10/3/2016 at 20:00, reparto corse said:

Lets see what happens once Hazard is sold. The same people who say he belongs in one category with Neymar Suarez Bale and so on will be the ones saying how sh*t he is and that he wont be missed. You can bet your house on that.

 

Just delusional.

 

Mourinho said this and then he's gone out of Stamford. 

9 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Neymar.. One of the most inconsistent players in the last year or so..

Many Barca fans were unhappy with his performance for a lot of last season. 

 

6 hours ago, IliyaKrostin said:

For me it is. 

La Liga - battle between Barcelona and Real Madrid, Atletico are on their way to the top as well.

Bundesliga - Last time Bayern Munich lost the league?

Seria A - Last time Juventus lost the league?

League 1 - Last time PSG lost the league?

Premier League is the real tournament, every team can beat the opponent, doesn't matter if he's on the top. 

What you are saying is that the Premier league is the best because the top teams aren't very good. If Barca, Bayern or Real were in the premier league the would win comfortably. 

In 2013 Man City won the league, they looked strong when they played in the league but when they came up against top teams this is what happened. 

 

3 hours ago, kiwi1691 said:

 

What you are saying is that the Premier league is the best because the top teams aren't very good. If Barca, Bayern or Real were in the premier league the would win comfortably. 

In 2013 Man City won the league, they looked strong when they played in the league but when they came up against top teams this is what happened. 

 

Didn't boss is though did they? 

Edited October 5, 20169 yr by DonAntonio

1 hour ago, DonAntonio said:

Didn't boss is though did they? 

That's his point. That our top teams aren't top teams in Europe. Only at domestic level. 10 years ago we were getting 3 teams in the champs league semis. Now we're lucky to get 1 through to the Quarter Finals

That is one way of looking at it, another way is that our league is tougher, and doesn't have a mid-season break, which causes our top teams to underperform in Europe as they can't trounce the rest of the league 6-0 with their reserve team, as Real or Barca or Bayern can.

How did we do it before then? Our league has always been competitive and we've never had a winter break. But our record in europe was always very good until the last couple of seasons. I think it's just a lack of quality and experience. City is the only squad in our league that can match the top teams, and they don't have great european experience as a group, or individually.

Depends what you think of as best. Do you think having the best team in europe makes your league the best, or having a league where over 80% of the matchups are competitive. What the PL might lack in european superpower it makes up in a more balanced quality structure.

The TV numbers answer what people prefer. And vastly more people are watching Liverpool - Spurs than the spanish 4th and 5th teams. 

Edited October 5, 20169 yr by Stim

Good morning.

 

 

It also depends where you live, hè Stim.

 

20 hours ago, JMaher94 said:

 

Lets be honest, no one plays well for Belgium. KDB isn't great for them either.

Correct.

But that has nothing to do with their qualities, JMaher94.

The Belqium squad had some other problems. Hope it's over now.

15 hours ago, IliyaKrostin said:

Hazard is a world class player, just wait for it. I will start from the most important thing, Hazard has played under 5 different coaches, every coach expected from him to do different things, but none of them gave him a freedom like Messi and Ronaldo have. Mourinho was using him more on tracking back than attack and still Hazard was our best player, scored goals and won us the title. There is a big plus, but also a minus, when I look at Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar, Bale, how many of them are tracking back?

Hazard is playing in the best league in the world, strongest league in the world, what Neymar is doing in La Liga he won't do in PL. At the moment, Hazard doesn't show his world-class form, but it's matter of time. I agree that he won't reach Messi's and Ronaldo's level, but he will get close.

First part, ok.

Second. Don't know, IliyaKrostin. Not sure.

I think Hazard is definitely the same quality of player that Neymar, Bale, Reus and Aguero is, but i think he lacks something vital that they possess, i don't think he has the same drive as they do.

On his day, Hazard is unstoppable, but far too often he doesn't put in that same effort. I mean, look at him against Tottenham and Liverpool at the end of last season, he looked really up for those games and gave everything for the team. But these performances aren't the norm with Hazard, they have actually become pretty rare. This is the Hazard we want to see on a regular basis, and there is no reason why shouldn't be seeing it. We don't want to see this player that has a good game every so often and then jogs around in other games, slows down our attacks and plays a 5 yard pass backwards to a team mate. We want to see the player that scares the life out of defences by running at them with pace, amazing close control of the ball, dribbling ability and lethal finish. That is the Hazard we want to see, that is the Eden Hazard we got so excited about seeing when we signed him, but i just don't feel that we are seeing enough of it from him. So far he has been a mixed bag this season. In the opening games he looked really up for it, but since the last international break he hasn't been playing at the same level.

He himself has admitted that it's enough when he get's a goal or the team is a goal or two up. I actually think this is a massive shame, i think he should be looking to push himself as much as possible. If Hazard ever leaves Chelsea, i want to feel that we got the absolute best out of him, i would hate to see such an amazingly talented player like him leave us and us fans wondering what could have been.

6 hours ago, Coxy15 said:

That's his point. That our top teams aren't top teams in Europe. Only at domestic level. 10 years ago we were getting 3 teams in the champs league semis. Now we're lucky to get 1 through to the Quarter Finals

Meaning Munich... we beat them the year before and in 2013 we had them beat in the super cup then through it away, point was I agree that they could do it to other English clubs and the standard dropped like you said but not us, we were England only serious hope in the CL for the past few years. 

On 10/4/2016 at 22:52, kiwi1691 said:

 

What you are saying is that the Premier league is the best because the top teams aren't very good. If Barca, Bayern or Real were in the premier league the would win comfortably. 

In 2013 Man City won the league, they looked strong when they played in the league but when they came up against top teams this is what happened. 

 

Strongly disagree with this. They do so well in Europe because they can afford to rotate their entire team all season, in the premier league they would have to play their best players all the time twice a week. fatigue would set in and they'd either drop off in the league or be less competitive in Europe.

4 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Strongly disagree with this. They do so well in Europe because they can afford to rotate their entire team all season, in the premier league they would have to play their best players all the time twice a week. fatigue would set in and they'd either drop off in the league or be less competitive in Europe.

I have to disagrre. If this was the case then psg should be a finalist every year.

For me, city dont have the know how of Champions league. A lot of times, they have looked tactically inept by mancini  (plying aguero and dzeko up top at camp nou). Other times, they have looked miles below the likes of barca, bayern because, well they are.

Fatigue might be an issue, but people make it to be a massive thing. PL is the same as it was in late 2000s where 2/3 PL teams were semi-finalists. Right now, the PL teams simply lack quality

5 minutes ago, didierforever said:

I have to disagrre. If this was the case then psg should be a finalist every year.

For me, city dont have the know how of Champions league. A lot of times, they have looked tactically inept by mancini  (plying aguero and dzeko up top at camp nou). Other times, they have looked miles below the likes of barca, bayern because, well they are.

Fatigue might be an issue, but people make it to be a massive thing. PL is the same as it was in late 2000s where 2/3 PL teams were semi-finalists. Right now, the PL teams simply lack quality

In the late 2000's the 'lower' premier league teams didn't have such good squads though. Look how much lower premier league teams have improved recently with teams like Stoke and West Brom being able to splash £30m on a player. Bound to make games harder for the top teams. 

2 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

In the late 2000's the 'lower' premier league teams didn't have such good squads though. Look how much lower premier league teams have improved recently with teams like Stoke and West Brom being able to splash £30m on a player. Bound to make games harder for the top teams. 

Fair enough but do you think the top PL teams are as good as the top PL teams in 2000s?

Chelsea's DD, Cole, Duff, Essien, Lamps, Maka, Cole, JT, Gallas/Ricky, Ferreira, Cech

United's Rooney, Cr, Tevez

Those were the BEST teams in the world and hence were a minute away from playing back to back CL finals. Currently, I cant find a single PL team with that quality

On 10/5/2016 at 13:40, Jonty said:

That is one way of looking at it, another way is that our league is tougher, and doesn't have a mid-season break, which causes our top teams to underperform in Europe as they can't trounce the rest of the league 6-0 with their reserve team, as Real or Barca or Bayern can.

 

FA seriously need to scrap one of its minor tournaments if they want to get tougher in Europe.

12 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

In the late 2000's the 'lower' premier league teams didn't have such good squads though. Look how much lower premier league teams have improved recently with teams like Stoke and West Brom being able to splash £30m on a player. Bound to make games harder for the top teams. 

 

PL is more bankable than other leagues, I guess. How they will fare against European giants is a different matter.

 

Hmmm

 

https://www.chelseafc.com/content/cfc/en/homepage/news/boilerplate-config/latest-news/2016/10/internationals--hazard-hits-the-target.img.png

 

 

Edited October 8, 20169 yr by Scott

On 04/10/2016 at 20:06, Rusty-Man said:

The French league is absolute garbage and shows no bearing on a players ability.

Yeah good luck spotting any quality in that league.

Good job we looked elsewhere for players of the calibre of Cech, Zouma, Essien, Papy (ahem), Drogba, Azpilicueta...

On 5/10/2016 at 13:23, Stim said:

Depends what you think of as best. Do you think having the best team in europe makes your league the best, or having a league where over 80% of the matchups are competitive. What the PL might lack in european superpower it makes up in a more balanced quality structure.

The TV numbers answer what people prefer. And vastly more people are watching Liverpool - Spurs than the spanish 4th and 5th teams. 

 

Maybe the word 'Popular' would be more fitting to describe your version of 'The Best'...  If your main formula is the tightness competition within the league, championship would surely come on top, no?

EPL used to be the best, I can only agree so much but now, while it still remains the most popular, it's not the best..  

 

Of all the transfer stories I have ever seen re. Hazard, tonight's is the worst as the sun claim we are willing to offer hazard to Juventus plus cash for Bonucci...fcuk me

A laughable transfer rumour about Hazard for Bonucci, just to show one doesn't need much to make up rumours these days. I reckon he will leave in 3 years time with a huge transfer fee, but not with some dodgy player exchange deal.