I still miss the three amigos days, Hazard, Oscar and Mata. 

9 minutes ago, Bluesince66 said:

I still miss the three amigos days, Hazard, Oscar and Mata. 

I enjoyed watching them too, some great interplay.

1 hour ago, Strider6003 said:

I enjoyed watching them too, some great interplay.

Your right, some of the movement was special, 

2 hours ago, Strider6003 said:

I can't recall much of Schurrle's impact yet certainly agree about Oscar's work rate benefiting the forwards and his good build up play in this regard.

Agree about the runs behind too and thinking about Willian with his short bursts of brilliance does this start just when Hazard is crocked?

Yes, every time. Willian and Hazard have never been in form at the same time. Willian is basically a cheap mans Hazard which is unfortunate. 

3 minutes ago, Total-Football said:

Yes, every time. Willian and Hazard have never been in form at the same time. Willian is basically a cheap mans Hazard which is unfortunate. 

Perhaps or maybe we are fortunate to have both and they step up when the other is not in top form.

1 minute ago, Strider6003 said:

Perhaps or maybe we are fortunate to have both and they step up when the other is not in top form.

But its better if both are on form at the same time. Otherwise, we find ourselves in a situation where at our very best we will always have one offensive player out of form. I think that's why Pedro was preferred to Willian last season and is a big part of why our attack is a bit blunt this season.

10 minutes ago, Total-Football said:

But its better if both are on form at the same time. Otherwise, we find ourselves in a situation where at our very best we will always have one offensive player out of form. I think that's why Pedro was preferred to Willian last season and is a big part of why our attack is a bit blunt this season.

Agree though what we don't know is if when they are both fit, they have instructions to play tactically different as opposed to when just one is playing.

 

13 minutes ago, Strider6003 said:

Agree though what we don't know is if when they are both fit, they have instructions to play tactically different as opposed to when just one is playing.

 

The problem is, if they both are told to play their natural game, they will be doing the same job and one of them becomes redundant. This harms the attack as the balance is out and its not optimising efficiency. For example, imagine two sides fighting each other, each with three men. One side has one short range hand to hand fighter and two mid range spearmen. The other side has one short range fighter, one mid range spearman and one long range archer. The second side has a much better chance of winning compared to the first as all members have abilities that compliment and cover for each other compared to the other side. This allows greater manoeuvrability and more diversity in what they can do tactically.

Sorry about the weird analogy, I was struggling to explain myself in a way that was effective and easy to understand.    

I feel sorry for Hazard this season, i think some of the criticism is unwarranted.

He had no pre-season, and was recovering from a broken ankle. As soon as he returned, he was our best attacking player and our player of the season until late February.

He has had 1 dip in form all season and he get's heavily criticised.

He has been asked to play up front on his own many times this season, especially when Morata was injured and out of form, something Hazard can't actually do well. He doesn't have a striker's instinct to play up there on his own, it's not his game.

He has been asked to play in a 3-5-2, a formation where we have two attackers on the field and with Hazard once again playing out of position. Again, he can't do it well, not many players could play well in a formation with only two attacking players on the field and in an unnatural position. He was still our best player on the field in this formation though.

He keeps getting compared to Messi and Ronaldo, but why? Throughout his career people have said he will never get to their levels so why do people still keep comparing him to them? Stop comparing him to two players that are at levels we will probably never see again in our lifetimes.

7 hours ago, Bluesince66 said:

I still miss the three amigos days, Hazard, Oscar and Mata. 

It was great 1 in 4 games, but ultimately led to us being too narrow and predictable. 

7 hours ago, Bluesince66 said:

I still miss the three amigos days, Hazard, Oscar and Mata. 

I miss the days of Duff and Robben flying down the wings, with Drogba in the middle and Gudjohnsen and Lampard supporting them from midfield.

1 minute ago, Zeta said:

I miss the days of Duff and Robben flying down the wings, with Drogba in the middle and Gudjohnsen and Lampard supporting them from midfield.

Great days

God we have had some fantastic players in the past

20 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I feel sorry for Hazard this season, i think some of the criticism is unwarranted.

He had no pre-season, and was recovering from a broken ankle. As soon as he returned, he was our best attacking player and our player of the season until late February.

He has had 1 dip in form all season and he get's heavily criticised.

He has been asked to play up front on his own many times this season, especially when Morata was injured and out of form, something Hazard can't actually do well. He doesn't have a striker's instinct to play up there on his own, it's not his game.

He has been asked to play in a 3-5-2, a formation where we have two attackers on the field and with Hazard once again playing out of position. Again, he can't do it well, not many players could play well in a formation with only two attacking players on the field and in an unnatural position. He was still our best player on the field in this formation though.

He keeps getting compared to Messi and Ronaldo, but why? Throughout his career people have said he will never get to their levels so why do people still keep comparing him to them? Stop comparing him to two players that are at levels we will probably never see again in our lifetimes.

I don't buy this. 

Hazard was asked to play as a lone striker, and yes that was a tough ask but he could have done better at it with a better attitude.

When playing in a 3-5-2 he was essentially playing as a 9.5. Striker with freedom to roam which is a perfect position for his skills and desire to have nothing to do with defending.

Hazard simply hasn't had the drive or the will to play up to his potential in any position whatsoever. He's not willing to take risks and attack defenders and not willing to create beyond making a pass or flick. When is the last time he drew a penalty? That should be a regular occurrence for a player of his ability.

Hazard IMO is thinking of Madrid. His heart may not even be here at this point. 

On 4/15/2018 at 02:07, Total-Football said:

Hazard has very good off the ball movement. He makes really good runs when in form and is very good at finding space between the lines to penetrate. Its understandable why he is played further forward as he makes such good incisive moves in the half space between centre back and fullback. His problems currently are clearly less to do with utilisation and much more to do with his own inconsistencies and mentality.

He's also brilliant at getting the game flowing and attacks going (didn't meant to rhyme), which is why I think he's better playing deep and getting the ball as much as he can. I think he's playing way too far forward and he doesn't score enough goals to make me think him running away from the ball is a good idea. Although he's still an excellent creator of the ball make no mistake about it, and if we were actually half as clinical as a Premier League team should be then he would've easily had his assists tally doubled this season. Instead, everyone just likes to miss chances.. Weird season. 

Pretty sure he will stay here for good.

He is 27 years old now, and for the fee he would command, Madrid wont touch him IMO.

I think they will either go for Kane, or Salah, if they dont go for Neymar, but i genuinely don´t think they will come for Eden. The time has passed for that IMO

It looks like he has played his way out of a Real Madrid transfer. Turns out playing poorly causes teams to lose interest in your. 

Dont forget the world cup though, a few really good games from him and it might change.

16 minutes ago, jack_super_class said:

Dont forget the world cup though, a few really good games from him and it might change.

Thing is De Bruyne is now the focal point for the Belgians. We all know Perez will be after a couple of Galactico signings next season, but I just can’t see it being Hazard. Madrid also don’t usually go big on players over 25. 

If we ever had a manager who played attacking football and we got some actual attacking player around Hazard we would see his true potential.  I agree with some of the criticisms about him: he is too passive, he slows play, etc.  The problem is though he is asked to do so much more than any of the other big players in the world.  Just taking Liverpool for example with Salah.  Salah is given incredible freedom to just stay up top and run at defenders or behind them constantly.  All game. He has no responsibility to drop deep and carry the ball from defense to attack.  He is given no responsibility to hold up the ball.  His sole function is to attack.

When Mourinho was here Hazard was actually tasked with coming back and putting in a major defensive shift.  Then after doing all that he is supposed to be our best creator as well as best goal scorer.  Well who is supposed to supply Hazard?  Himself?  There's a reason why every team we play surrounds Hazard or man marks him, and it's because Chelsea needs him to do everything to have a chance at winning.  

Under Conte he has a little more freedom to roam when he's not asked to play as a false 9 with his back to goal. But even still he needs to do pretty much everything.  If we could get some players around him to help support him I think he could really improve his attacking numbers.

A few on a different forum (a few Liverpool fans) reckons Hazard has lost his spark a year or two ago, he’s still scoring but he’s not quite the same anymore. 

I agree to an extent but I still think he’s invaluable and only needs the right manager to have him firing on all cylinders. Imagine him under Klopp or Guardiola for example.

 

 

3 hours ago, dansubrosa said:

A few on a different forum (a few Liverpool fans) reckons Hazard has lost his spark a year or two ago, he’s still scoring but he’s not quite the same anymore. 

I agree to an extent but I still think he’s invaluable and only needs the right manager to have him firing on all cylinders. Imagine him under Klopp or Guardiola for example.

 

 

Let's hope he makes them eat those words on Sunday then.

9 hours ago, dansubrosa said:

A few on a different forum (a few Liverpool fans) reckons Hazard has lost his spark a year or two ago, he’s still scoring but he’s not quite the same anymore. 

I agree to an extent but I still think he’s invaluable and only needs the right manager to have him firing on all cylinders. Imagine him under Klopp or Guardiola for example.

 

 

One thing I've noticed about Eden is that he doesn't seem as quick anymore. Has anybody else noticed that or is it just me?

Last season, he was brilliant but so was Costa until Feb. Kante, Luiz & Azpilicueta were also brilliant.

I think it's because he literally carried us in 14/15 which made him look much more superior. I don't think he's not as a good, I just think everyone else has caught up.

 

11 hours ago, JMaher94 said:

One thing I've noticed about Eden is that he doesn't seem as quick anymore. Has anybody else noticed that or is it just me?

Last season, he was brilliant but so was Costa until Feb. Kante, Luiz & Azpilicueta were also brilliant.

I think it's because he literally carried us in 14/15 which made him look much more superior. I don't think he's not as a good, I just think everyone else has caught up.

Too much weight on his shoulders since Costa left.

Partly down to him being the only regular in our mix n match attack.

 

The most frustrating thing for me is he can be so much better. Our recent managers and tactics really hasn’t suited him.

Hopefully we will get an attacking minded manager this summer and Hazard will flourish next season.