5 hours ago, PloKoon13 said:

 

You called?

Brilliant haha

8 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

Hazard isn't the only player in the league that has this problem though. The top players are always getting kicked all over, but they fight through it. I do agree that he needs more protection though. He more often than not get's the foul, but the fouls are so cynical, the refs should be booking these players. The top players are being punished for being better than other players in this league, it's always been this way. No wonder why they tend to bugger off to Spain in the end. It's not like i want the Premier League to be soft like La Liga, but it's damn frustrating watching the top players constantly getting hacked down.

Sometimes I feel like good football is actively discouraged in the Premier League. In my humble opinion this is even the reason the Premier League has dramatically fallen behind the La Liga and the Bundesliga.

26 minutes ago, PythonLu said:

Sometimes I feel like good football is actively discouraged in the Premier League. In my humble opinion this is even the reason the Premier League has dramatically fallen behind the La Liga and the Bundesliga.

But it hasn't. Sure the top players happen to play at either Barca or Real Madrid but the league isn't that good or competitive. Even less so the Bundeliga.

We can't moan about players like Hazard not getting enough protection. ALL the best players get targeted and fouled and free-kicks / penalties & cards usually follow. It's how it's always been and there's no reason to change it. We all love to see great tackles but when those tackles aren't quite legit they will get punished.  

18 hours ago, brakeit said:

Most of Ronaldo dribbles is towards the goal, most of Hazard is sideway. You forgot how easy Ronaldo was passing through opponent, when he was playing for United. In Real the style is different, and slightly his position and they are more direct, so thats why he doesn`t pass so much on opponent. But he score a lot more.

Hazard have better dribbling then Ronaldo, but at high speed passing the opponent, Ronaldo is better, or was better, cause he is 32 after 1 month ...

Not to mention how more effective Ronaldo is ...

But you can think whatever you want.

Basically Hazard is just a Belgian Mikel.

1 hour ago, PythonLu said:

Sometimes I feel like good football is actively discouraged in the Premier League. In my humble opinion this is even the reason the Premier League has dramatically fallen behind the La Liga and the Bundesliga.

His form has dipped from the high standards he set himself at the beginning of the season but he's still contributing. 

Definitely an off day for him against Hull, he wasn't finding much space and kept throwing his arms up in the air after getting tackled etc. 

That said, I won't bet against him to be on top of his game against Liverpool, those are the sorts of games he thrives on. 

2 hours ago, PythonLu said:

Sometimes I feel like good football is actively discouraged in the Premier League. In my humble opinion this is even the reason the Premier League has dramatically fallen behind the La Liga and the Bundesliga.

What gives you that impression?

The fact Bayern have won the last 3/4 Bundesliga's would suggest otherwise, teams like Leipzig, Hoffenheim and Hertha populate the top 5, those three would be lower mid table at best in our league.

La Liga has 4 teams of note - Barca, Real, Sevilla and Atleti - who are comparable and maybe slightly better than our top 4, however the other 16 teams in that league position for position would be worse than ours.

Therefore I would say based on overall strength of teams both leagues are still behind the Premier League.

1 hour ago, Nibs said:

But it hasn't. Sure the top players happen to play at either Barca or Real Madrid but the league isn't that good or competitive. Even less so the Bundeliga.

We can't moan about players like Hazard not getting enough protection. ALL the best players get targeted and fouled and free-kicks / penalties & cards usually follow. It's how it's always been and there's no reason to change it. We all love to see great tackles but when those tackles aren't quite legit they will get punished.  

I feel like the emphasis in English football is on physique rather than skill as opposed to other countries. I also happen to disagree that it is just Barca and Real. I believe Sevilla and Atletico have won the Europa League between themselves five times in the last six years even though English greats like United and Tottenham have participated. Of course the Champions League is dominated by Barca and Real, but look at the bigger picture: In 2016 there were three Spanish teams, two Germans and one English side in the quarter finals. In 2015 there was no English team at this stage. In 2014 there was us and City and the others had as many or more participants. 2013 is the same as 2016. Maybe it's just me, but I am worried the Premier League is falling behind. I am from Germany and whenever I watch German TV, they don't take it seriously anymore.

And sorry I should have mentioned the national team, too. The Germans and Spaniards are a different category altogether when compared to the English side. In fact you can count France and Italy in there, too.

23 minutes ago, Batshuayi said:

What gives you that impression?

The fact Bayern have won the last 3/4 Bundesliga's would suggest otherwise, teams like Leipzig, Hoffenheim and Hertha populate the top 5, those three would be lower mid table at best in our league.

La Liga has 4 teams of note - Barca, Real, Sevilla and Atleti - who are comparable and maybe slightly better than our top 4, however the other 16 teams in that league position for position would be worse than ours.

Therefore I would say based on overall strength of teams both leagues are still behind the Premier League.

Bundesliga is ridiculous, Bayern are normally over 10 points clear at this point. Robbie Savage would win the league over there with Bayern. Leipzig have been brilliant though.

La Liga is a difficult one. How can anyone compare the teams from the lower end of the leagues from the Prem and La Liga? 2 leg matches well then English teams would hold the advantage in my opinion with simply the weather and pitches over here.

Looking at the top 6 teams in the Prem I actually don't think any of those teams are of a high quality. It makes the league more exciting but the quality is lower. I look at a team like Liverpool and that defence, surely they can't win the league. I don't rate Arsenals team but how late goals change a season. 

The top 6 teams from the prem would beat La Ligas best 6 but that doesn't mean the prems are of a high quality. Barca and Madrid would smash our top 6 teams. Can't say the same of Chelsea and Arsenal against La Ligas top 6.

20 minutes ago, PythonLu said:

I feel like the emphasis in English football is on physique rather than skill as opposed to other countries. I also happen to disagree that it is just Barca and Real. I believe Sevilla and Atletico have won the Europa League between themselves five times in the last six years even though English greats like United and Tottenham have participated. Of course the Champions League is dominated by Barca and Real, but look at the bigger picture: In 2016 there were three Spanish teams, two Germans and one English side in the quarter finals. In 2015 there was no English team at this stage. In 2014 there was us and City and the others had as many or more participants. 2013 is the same as 2016. Maybe it's just me, but I am worried the Premier League is falling behind. I am from Germany and whenever I watch German TV, they don't take it seriously anymore.

And sorry I should have mentioned the national team, too. The Germans and Spaniards are a different category altogether when compared to the English side. In fact you can count France and Italy in there, too.

Its very difficult comparing leagues. It's abit like F1 and comparing drivers like Vettel and Hamilton, no one actually knows which one is better till they are in the same machinery but until that point which will never happen you tend to defend the driver your associated with, but like football and the league/team your associated with.

Good stats from the European competitions, not to be negative but I expect those sort of of numbers as I don't see the quality at a high level. Just my opinion though.

37 minutes ago, PythonLu said:

I feel like the emphasis in English football is on physique rather than skill as opposed to other countries. I also happen to disagree that it is just Barca and Real. I believe Sevilla and Atletico have won the Europa League between themselves five times in the last six years even though English greats like United and Tottenham have participated. Of course the Champions League is dominated by Barca and Real, but look at the bigger picture: In 2016 there were three Spanish teams, two Germans and one English side in the quarter finals. In 2015 there was no English team at this stage. In 2014 there was us and City and the others had as many or more participants. 2013 is the same as 2016. Maybe it's just me, but I am worried the Premier League is falling behind. I am from Germany and whenever I watch German TV, they don't take it seriously anymore.

And sorry I should have mentioned the national team, too. The Germans and Spaniards are a different category altogether when compared to the English side. In fact you can count France and Italy in there, too.

Too many factors to consider to conclude this off European competitions. Bayern/Real/Barca etc. can afford to rest players throughout the season against teams not in the top 2 or 3, whereas in the prem you have tough opposition every week leading to a burn out. In turn making it more difficult in the Champions league (The FA don't help with their scheduling most of the time).

 

Its very rare that an English team goes all out to win the Europa league and usually just field youngsters as there is no incentive to win it. Football clubs are businesses at the end of the day so why win the Europa league to qualify for the champions league when the top 4 in the prem is much more important and reaps a much higher financial reward. 

 

National teams is simple. The premier league has an abundance of money so splashes the cash on flashy names from various countries attracting the best players to the league. We can't afford to throw our young English players into games against 'lesser' teams because there are no easy games in the prem. Bayern and Barca can afford to throw a young local lad into their team against most of the league and still comfortably win. Helps the national team in the long run obviously. 

Better get back on topic.

Imagine not having him in the team .........

 

 

2 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Too many factors to consider to conclude this off European competitions. Bayern/Real/Barca etc. can afford to rest players throughout the season against teams not in the top 2 or 3, whereas in the prem you have tough opposition every week leading to a burn out. In turn making it more difficult in the Champions league (The FA don't help with their scheduling most of the time).

 

Its very rare that an English team goes all out to win the Europa league and usually just field youngsters as there is no incentive to win it. Football clubs are businesses at the end of the day so why win the Europa league to qualify for the champions league when the top 4 in the prem is much more important and reaps a much higher financial reward. 

 

National teams is simple. The premier league has an abundance of money so splashes the cash on flashy names from various countries attracting the best players to the league. We can't afford to throw our young English players into games against 'lesser' teams because there are no easy games in the prem. Bayern and Barca can afford to throw a young local lad into their team against most of the league and still comfortably win. Helps the national team in the long run obviously. 

Sure, lots of factors. But I would argue that trophies are the most important one, followed by how close you get to win one. If the Premier League can't keep up, which it can't, then the style of play, the schedule, everything is its own fault. 

To me it's a no brainer, they're all better across the entire spectrum. Most teams there are unlucky to have teams like Bayern or Barca compete with them as they add an entirely new layer of quality to it. They're teams that have no counterpart in the Premier League, I am afraid. The Premier League isn't much "more competitive", either. It's just that we don't have a team that can match the class of Barca or Bayern. We have five or six Atleticos, Dortmunds etc followed by an abrupt decline in quality, but that speaks against the Premier League rather than in its favour :) 

 

13 minutes ago, PythonLu said:

Sure, lots of factors. But I would argue that trophies are the most important one, followed by how close you get to win one. If the Premier League can't keep up, which it can't, then the style of play, the schedule, everything is its own fault. 

To me it's a no brainer, they're all better across the entire spectrum. Most teams there are unlucky to have teams like Bayern or Barca compete with them as they add an entirely new layer of quality to it. They're teams that have no counterpart in the Premier League, I am afraid. The Premier League isn't much "more competitive", either. It's just that we don't have a team that can match the class of Barca or Bayern. We have five or six Atleticos, Dortmunds etc followed by an abrupt decline in quality, but that speaks against the Premier League rather than in its favour :) 

 

You do realise almost every foreign star that comes here talks about how competitive the premier league is to other leagues they've been in. 

 

Quote a handy quote from one of our own players today:

 

"This title is very difficult to win. The Premier League is probably the best, the strongest, more competitive [than what I experienced at Barcelona] and for me it would be a dream to win this title.”

"Is it harder to open up a gap here than in Spain? Yes. It's difficult and different but this is a good moment for us."

-Pedro; Source: London Evening Standard

 

I suppose you know more than an actual player that has played in both leagues though don't you?

6 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

You do realise almost every foreign star that comes here talks about how competitive the premier league is to other leagues they've been in. 

 

Quote a handy quote from one of our own players today:

 

"This title is very difficult to win. The Premier League is probably the best, the strongest, more competitive [than what I experienced at Barcelona] and for me it would be a dream to win this title.”

"Is it harder to open up a gap here than in Spain? Yes. It's difficult and different but this is a good moment for us."

-Pedro; Source: London Evening Standard

 

I suppose you know more than an actual player that has played in both leagues though don't you?

Sure, and Oscar said money wasn't his motivation when he moved to China.

I don't know more than players, no, but I don't believe everything either. :)

Having said that, you seem to be taking things personally now and I think I know why. It's better to stop this discussion.

6 hours ago, PythonLu said:

Sometimes I feel like good football is actively discouraged in the Premier League. In my humble opinion this is even the reason the Premier League has dramatically fallen behind the La Liga and the Bundesliga.

The premier league is miles better than the bundesliga. 

Any more posts off topic will be deleted.

I think if you asked Eden Hazard which league is the best he would say the PL.

10 minutes ago, Andy North said:

I think if you asked Eden Hazard which league is the best he would say the PL.

Pretty much. It's a much better league than the bundesliga. I think only la liga I'll grudgingly admit, is head and shoulders above everyone.

13 minutes ago, Andy North said:

I think if you asked Eden Hazard which league is the best he would say the PL.

Do you know him then?

13 hours ago, PloKoon13 said:

 

You called?

Haha well played.

What i was referring more to is one day there's a chance we might see a full back who gets 7-10 goals a season along with 10-15 assists (think Marcelo on speed) and when that day does come it wouldn't surprise me if people look at fullbacks and say they aren't doing enough because they only score once or twice a season.

Another point to expand is Robben with us, he "only" scored 19 goals in 105 games with us, i can't recall anyone ever saying he wasn't doing enough or his mentality wasn't right. Eden has scored 62 in 228 so his goal ratio is better than Arjen's by almost two games, yet he's apparently not doing enough, should be scoring more and has a sh*t mentality. Also to add to that Robben had a more complete team around him and was a lot more selfish, Hazard will only shoot if the chance is on.

That's what i mean by Messi and Ronaldo's freakishness goal stats has ruined the mean, ten years ago if a winger had the goal record Eden does he would have been idolized. Infact look at Ronaldinho's stats at Barcelona, his goal record was on average early 20's every season, marginally better than Hazard who averages late teens.

Edited January 24, 20179 yr by Argo

6 hours ago, coco said:

Better get back on topic.

Imagine not having him in the team .........

 

 

 

It would be horrible.

Sell him he's no good he can't perform consistent ...

18 hours ago, PloKoon13 said:

 

You called?

 

The best!! 

Hazard as Chelsea's greatest player ever according to Joe Cole? What do you think?

 

http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/758344/Joe-Cole-Eden-Hazard-Chelsea-greatest-ever-player-news-gossip