2 hours ago, Sparkz said:

Looking forward to him getting back into full flow. Been waiting long enough to see MPH all in action

Pedro in form would be my prefered choice as well, because he is more direct and has better movement off the ball compared to Willian. However Willian is in much better form atm. I would also like to see a 3-5-2 with Kante-Fabregas-Bakayoko in midfield and Hazard-Morata as our attackers.

4 hours ago, Deino said:

I'm not saying he's regressed, just that he's less confident on his left than he used to. Ofc I think he can turn it around and he's yet to be fully fit. 

I don't see how saying he's weaker on his left atm after an ankle injury = he's sh*t. It's just a confidence issue at the end of the day which is typical for anyone recently recovering from injuries.

He hasnt played (properly) yet and you are suggesting he changes his game permanently based on something you have "seen". Of course we are going to jump on you! 

7 hours ago, benjsross said:

He hasnt played (properly) yet and you are suggesting he changes his game permanently based on something you have "seen". Of course we are going to jump on you! 

When did I say that? I said it'd be good if he added another weapon in his arsenal, how is that changing his style of play?

Be nice if he marked his comeback with signing a new deal

Quick question, wtf was the foul at 2:37 given for???

 

3 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Quick question, wtf was the foul at 2:37 given for???

 

What was the foul for ? f**k all, that's what. 

The game was frustrating, but that was the one moment where i actually shouted in anger. The ref knew Hazard was away. Hazard had the ball under control, the Arsenal defenders were caught on their heels, and Hazard was a second or two away from running through on goal. The ref bottled it, it was a 50/50 challenge which Hazard won. It was going on all game too. Any 50/50 we won, it was a foul to them, every 50/50 against us that they won, it wasn't a foul. Once again, the inconsistency of a referee was a big talking point. I'm tired of it to be honest, it's happening game after game after game. 

3 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

What was the foul for ? f**k all, that's what. 

The game was frustrating, but that was the one moment where i actually shouted in anger. The ref knew Hazard was away. Hazard had the ball under control, the Arsenal defenders were caught on their heels, and Hazard was a second or two away from running through on goal. The ref bottled it, it was a 50/50 challenge which Hazard won. It was going on all game too. Any 50/50 we won, it was a foul to them, every 50/50 against us that they won, it wasn't a foul. Once again, the inconsistency of a referee was a big talking point. I'm tired of it to be honest, it's happening game after game after game. 

I did exactly the same. Shouted out at the TV - "That's BOLLOCKS Ref"!! Just as well he didn't ref last seasons game as he probably would have given a foul against Hazard on the way to his wonder goal.

 

3 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Quick question, wtf was the foul at 2:37 given for???

 

Completely idiotic decision. These refs really need to be held accountable.

think this guy is ready for a start? I do

On 15/09/2017 at 22:56, Argo said:

I actually believe we are only truly starting to come out of the transition we fell into during Carlo's second season, and it would have been a truly painful one had it not been for this man, in my opinion. Apart from 15/16 he has carried the team above there actual level every single season he has been here. His first season he lifted a squad that was Europa level into the CL places. His second and third season's he lifted a top four challenging squad close to the title and to a title win respectively and last season we were probably the 4th best team on paper and won the league, yes Conte worked miracles but even he could have only done so much without Eden.

Give him a blank cheque and im not even joking i would give him Neymar esque wages if that's what it will take. 

I would disagree here, we went through a painfully long transition after Carlo, the boards were completely negligent just signing Ramires & Benayoun that season when we had all of our key players in their 30's. 

AVB set us back quite a bit, Di Matteo got all the signings but didn't know how to utilise them, Rafa scrounged out a season. Then Mourinho took 1 season to build a good team and he did that, I would say that was the transition over with. But Mourinho failed on getting upgrades, he didn't want to improve the side he wanted to keep the same side and work with that side two games a week. His 3rd season he left us in the complete sh*t, now I probably shouldn't say that because we don't truly know who makes these decisions, same for Carlo, AVB & Di Matteo. 

But Conte has worked absolute miracles, saw a world-class ball-playing defender in David Luiz who completely transitioned and made the back 3 possible. Turned Victor Moses into a first-team player and arguably one of the best RWB's in the world. Signing Alonso who no one rated, to begin with (go back to the early pages of his thread) and turning him into one of the best attacking LWB's, highly underrated on the ball. The Kante signing was a superb grab, everyone was in for him and we got him despite our terrible season beforehand. I could go on & on really, but it's that good, what Conte has done has really put us back to the top, football can be very fickle as we all know but with the market of today & FFP we could have been in a disaster, completely setback, I'll never forget last season & hopefully not this one. I'll certainly never forget what Conte did for us. 

 

Honestly, I think this is a brilliant summery of everything that's happened. Agree with every single point here. Very well put, too. (Clapping emoticon thing should go here, but I'm too lazy for that!)

Ancelotti's final season...

... It was bad...Watching the man look on helplessly as those aged players plodded along chasing shadows with Ramires looking like Hazard because he was the only one in midfield who could break into a sprint.

His recovery has been smooth and quite fast. Fantastic performance and really showed his class today. Griezmann was an afterthought compared to him

49 minutes ago, Slojo said:

I would disagree here, we went through a painfully long transition after Carlo, the boards were completely negligent just signing Ramires & Benayoun that season when we had all of our key players in their 30's. 

AVB set us back quite a bit, Di Matteo got all the signings but didn't know how to utilise them, Rafa scrounged out a season. Then Mourinho took 1 season to build a good team and he did that, I would say that was the transition over with. But Mourinho failed on getting upgrades, he didn't want to improve the side he wanted to keep the same side and work with that side two games a week. His 3rd season he left us in the complete sh*t, now I probably shouldn't say that because we don't truly know who makes these decisions, same for Carlo, AVB & Di Matteo. 

But Conte has worked absolute miracles, saw a world-class ball-playing defender in David Luiz who completely transitioned and made the back 3 possible. Turned Victor Moses into a first-team player and arguably one of the best RWB's in the world. Signing Alonso who no one rated, to begin with (go back to the early pages of his thread) and turning him into one of the best attacking LWB's, highly underrated on the ball. The Kante signing was a superb grab, everyone was in for him and we got him despite our terrible season beforehand. I could go on & on really, but it's that good, what Conte has done has really put us back to the top, football can be very fickle as we all know but with the market of today & FFP we could have been in a disaster, completely setback, I'll never forget last season & hopefully not this one. I'll certainly never forget what Conte did for us. 

 

I would still say 14/15 was a transition of sorts propped up by Eden and the Cesc and Diego novelty. Mou didn't have an answer on how to get a solid attacking stragedy with the player's so went out and got two finished articles to do the creating and the scoring. We still had an highly flawed side and that showed big time in most big games even if we remarkably didn't lose any bar at WHL. 

This is the first season since 08/09 i feel we have the resources to compete with Europe's best beyond ultra defensive tactics, and funnily enough tonight was our best European away performance since Hiddink's Anfield masterclass that very season.

27 minutes ago, Argo said:

I would still say 14/15 was a transition of sorts propped up by Eden and the Cesc and Diego novelty. Mou didn't have an answer on how to get a solid attacking stragedy with the player's so went out and got two finished articles to do the creating and the scoring. We still had an highly flawed side and that showed big time in most big games even if we remarkably didn't lose any bar at WHL. 

This is the first season since 08/09 i feel we have the resources to compete with Europe's best beyond ultra defensive tactics, and funnily enough tonight was our best European away performance since Hiddink's Anfield masterclass that very season.

Yeah, I kind of agree with you, we weren't that great in Europe under Mourinho but there are plenty of ways to beat teams. We certainly didn't dominate PSG away but we stopped them in the first half, the second half it went tits up and we lost 3-1. 

Then we won with the 2-0 at home and were outclassed against a very very strong Atletico Madrid at the time who won the league. So I don't think we were awful but we weren't great. As for Eden Hazard, I thought despite the freedom he had he was more inconsistent last season than he ever was under Mourinho in his first two seasons. This probably belongs in the unpopular opinion thread but I thought last season especially the latter half of the season he went quiet in a lot of games. Although we did see the best-attacking performance we got from Hazard in his career, this season we should get a better one. But in the title-winning season under Mourinho Hazard was immense, he carried the full team, almost every goal went through his play. 

But I do prefer this Eden Hazard, the Hazard who has freedom, it's unfair to not utilise him correctly, the lad has so much talent that it's very rare to see and he still has a lot of years left in him. 

Crap in Europe...........

3-5-2 has to be the way forward when he is fit. Unless we are defending a lead in the dying embers of a game no more of this getting him to defend rubbish. Let the midfield and wingbacks support our back 3. Let Eden have a free role to let him do what he does best.

 

10 hours ago, axman2526 said:

3-5-2 has to be the way forward when he is fit. Unless we are defending a lead in the dying embers of a game no more of this getting him to defend rubbish. Let the midfield and wingbacks support our back 3. Let Eden have a free role to let him do what he does best.

Agreed. Most importantly, it helps in getting thru 2 of our best academy products - Tammy (as a striker option) and RLC (supported by Baka and Kante)

Joe Tweeds back at it again, I highly recommend reading this brilliant article. 

https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2017/9/28/16380178/antonio-conte-352-eden-hazard-free-role-analysis

On Fri Sep 29 2017 at 06:00, enigma said:

 

The guy is similar to Djokovic 

Eden needs to come out wanting to murder everyone on the pitch the way he did against Atletico right from the first minute. I can feel it. He's going to step into the next level this season.

On 29/09/2017 at 02:30, enigma said:

 

 

Hahahaha what artist !!!

Conte was spot on, Hazard need to stop being so contend with his goals, instead putting teams away. He got the ability, I believe he just never pushed himself to go the extra yard.

6 hours ago, icecoolguy22 said:

Conte was spot on, Hazard need to stop being so contend with his goals, instead putting teams away. He got the ability, I believe he just never pushed himself to go the extra yard.

It's this casual, carefree attitude he often displays that... Gets me sometimes. Dawdling on the ball, slowing play to a standstill. The man has pace and ability and drive to completely bewilder his opponents but he just loves to fanny around with the ball half the time. 

I know. He's a truly special talent and has carried Chelsea for at least a couple of seasons in terms of goals and creating chances, but he can and ought to be better, I can't help but feel. 

Mentioning him in the same breath as Messi and Ronaldo is ridiculous. As good as he is, he is nowhere near that.

Just not ruthless enough to be better than what he is right now.