Journalists who work for large publications don't tend to write their own headlines. 

36 minutes ago, PloKoon13 said:

Journalists who work for large publications don't tend to write their own headlines. 

Well, some f**ker wrote it.

8 hours ago, Gol15 said:

Both will leave for free in the summer if no new contracts get signed.

Right, I understand but that wasn’t my question. I was referring to them signing pre-contracts with other clubs - sooner rather than later, and of course that would mean leaving for free in the summer.

11 hours ago, Slojo said:

Good news is, we'll finally have someone who can take consistently good set pieces. 

We can train that out of him. 

I'll cheer when he's signed the contract.

12 minutes ago, Valerie said:

I'll cheer when he's signed the contract.

A formality at this point.

Quote from the Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/feb/14/hakim-ziyech-chelsea-ajax-mesmerising-talent-who-is-not-afraid-to-speak-his-mind

“Ziyech will never forget the support Doufikar offered and still invites him to Amsterdam for games. Doufikar, asked what has turned Ziyech from a good Eredivisie player into a world beater, says: “He has learned not to always put on his smoking jacket, but sometimes his overalls.”

Certainly Ziyech has added hard work to his eye-catching talent. He is no longer just a flair player. He makes more runs, he contributes heavily to the defensive work and always urges teammates to keep going, even at 4-0 up.”

6 hours ago, mwblue10 said:

Right, I understand but that wasn’t my question. I was referring to them signing pre-contracts with other clubs - sooner rather than later, and of course that would mean leaving for free in the summer.

They may do that as well if they want. Though Lampard said both still might have a future at the club, not sure what is happening.

2 hours ago, rtwelch said:

Quote from the Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/feb/14/hakim-ziyech-chelsea-ajax-mesmerising-talent-who-is-not-afraid-to-speak-his-mind

“Ziyech will never forget the support Doufikar offered and still invites him to Amsterdam for games. Doufikar, asked what has turned Ziyech from a good Eredivisie player into a world beater, says: “He has learned not to always put on his smoking jacket, but sometimes his overalls.”

Certainly Ziyech has added hard work to his eye-catching talent. He is no longer just a flair player. He makes more runs, he contributes heavily to the defensive work and always urges teammates to keep going, even at 4-0 up.”

I really enjoy some metaphors some people choose to use. Fantastic

Some of you guys really live in a parallel universe. Adaptation to Premier league, pace issues, physicality issues, language barrier... I am starting to think some of you had spent last few years in a cave. Premier League is not unique, it's not more difficult or something special in terms of the above nonsense the media like Sky or BBC are trying to sell us. Players like Aguero, Costa, Mata, Silva, KDB, Salah, Suarez, Yaya Toure, etc etc - they come and they immediately start the domination. If you can put some names here really turned out to be failures - that's not "Premier league" thing, that's the particular player's fault. There is only one British type of  player to have some influence on the League since Rooney - Kane. And he's won jack, so its still questionable his so-called influence. So please stop it...

Players from Germany, Holland, Spain, Portugal - they have absolutely, positively  no problems to come and dominate. Premier League hasn't been Premier League for more than 10 years. It's 2020 and it's unbelievable most of you guys are still buying this sh*t.  It sounds cute, but it's a bona fide pile of poop.

Edited February 15, 20206 yr by Droopy

50 minutes ago, Droopy said:

Some of you guys really live in a parallel universe. Adaptation to Premier league, pace issues, physicality issues, language barrier... I am starting to think some of you had spent last few years in a cave. Premier League is not unique, it's not more difficult or something special in terms of the above nonsense the media like Sky or BBC are trying to sell us. Players like Aguero, Costa, Mata, Silva, KDB, Salah, Suarez, Yaya Toure, etc etc - they come and they immediately start the domination. If you can put some names here really turned out to be failures - that's not "Premier league" thing, that's the particular player's fault. There is only one British type of  player to have some influence on the League since Rooney - Kane. And he's won jack, so its still questionable his so-called influence. So please stop it...

Players from Germany, Holland, Spain, Portugal - they have absolutely, positively  no problems to come and dominate. Premier League hasn't been Premier League for more than 10 years. It's 2020 and it's unbelievable most of you guys are still buying this sh*t.  It sounds cute, but it's a bona fide pile of poop.

Yeah we all know youre Bulgarian and hate anything English/British. It puzzles me how the hell you ended up on a Chelsea forum.

On 13/02/2020 at 21:41, Davey Baby said:

 

I find it really interesting that this guy's Moroccan, or his parents are Moroccan, and Mahrez is from neighbouring Algeria, and they're so similar in style. I remember watching Queresma and thinking it must be a Portuguese thing, as many of the things he does are so reminiscent of Ronaldo, even if he's a far inferior player. It's just interesting how you can often tell a player's nationality by their style. Could Messi be anything other than Argentine? I don't think so. Ronaldinho. Had to be Brazilian. Mahrez and Ziyech also have incredibly similar physiques. I know Mahrez is more of a dribbler and may be faster but they're just so unerringly similar.

I notice this too with players from ‘my’ neck of the woods: former Yugoslavia, as I know quite a lot about the football. It was more obvious back when it was Yugoslavia, and there really was a playing style (they were known as the “European Brazilians”). Has been eroded to an extent by globalisation but still see parallels now. Kovacic and Modric have obvious similarities discussed on that thread. It’s one prototype.  You then have the supremely skilful attacking mid/winger/striker master dribbler  in the dzajic / savicevic / prosinecki mould (sadly haven’t seen one of these for a while). Then the attacking / box to box midfielder with skill to burn, an eye for goal and superb shooting technique : jugovic/boban/stankovic/rakitic. Also compare THAT Stankovic CL goal with the Rakitic CL one from last season. Could even take the comparison across the Balkans - Hagi and Stojkovic really similar type of player. Obvs just thinking out loud. You could say Prosinecki was very similar to Cruyff, and Hagi/Stojkovic to Maradona. But there’s something in this I think. 

3 hours ago, Droopy said:

Some of you guys really live in a parallel universe. Adaptation to Premier league, pace issues, physicality issues, language barrier... I am starting to think some of you had spent last few years in a cave. Premier League is not unique, it's not more difficult or something special in terms of the above nonsense the media like Sky or BBC are trying to sell us. Players like Aguero, Costa, Mata, Silva, KDB, Salah, Suarez, Yaya Toure, etc etc - they come and they immediately start the domination. If you can put some names here really turned out to be failures - that's not "Premier league" thing, that's the particular player's fault. There is only one British type of  player to have some influence on the League since Rooney - Kane. And he's won jack, so its still questionable his so-called influence. So please stop it...

Players from Germany, Holland, Spain, Portugal - they have absolutely, positively  no problems to come and dominate. Premier League hasn't been Premier League for more than 10 years. It's 2020 and it's unbelievable most of you guys are still buying this sh*t.  It sounds cute, but it's a bona fide pile of poop.

I think that players such as Lampard, Scholes, Beckham, Giggs, Terry, Shearer, Rooney all influenced the league and they are all different and unique. Rooney was just between the older generation and newer, right now England has a totally new generation of players that will influence the league for sure in the future.

This is why I don't buy this nationalistic rhetoric here...Player A is from one country so it must be that country that can produce a particular type of a player. Give me a break, no wonder there is so much talk about racism and stuff like that.
If anything it's this type of bullsh*t that makes football full of prejudice, I don't like that as long as a player is for example from Argentina, his value is automatically higher than of a player that is from Mexico or Uruguay...and don't get me started with Brazil that has had so many overrated players but just because they are from Brazil they get these amazing transfers and opportunities.

It's like we have Kovacic that is by all means just a squad player but somehow he's under this "stigma" that he's just as good as Modric only because they are from the same country, it's ridiculous really. The best players to come out from a whole different country to the Premier League have been most probably Henry, Drogba, Ronaldo, Aguero - all of them played during the same period as the mentioned British players so it's all just a matter of a new generation that simply needs more time in order to settle in the historical terms, even if some of the very best players have been from abroad the league was always a healthy mix of domestic and foreign talent.

 

On 14/02/2020 at 13:59, Munkworth said:

We can train that out of him. 

Something about football that I don't think I will ever cease to enjoy is the deranged fury evoked from English people whenever someone takes a short corner.

1 hour ago, PloKoon13 said:

Something about football that I don't think I will ever cease to enjoy is the deranged fury evoked from English people whenever someone takes a short corner.

I don’t mind a short corner, it’s the ones that fail to clear the first defender that piss me off to no end. I call it the Willian special. 

5 hours ago, Munkworth said:

I don’t mind a short corner, it’s the ones that fail to clear the first defender that piss me off to no end. I call it the Willian special. 

How he has ever been allowed to take corners when Mount is on the field I have no idea.

So ma I reading some post correctly, is he been written off already?? [emoji2365][emoji2365][emoji2365]

The board is dammed if they do dammed if they don't.....

16 hours ago, coco said:

Yeah we all know youre Bulgarian and hate anything English/British. It puzzles me how the hell you ended up on a Chelsea forum.

I think he has a point here though, I've always felt the Premier League has been massively overrated for years. 

4 hours ago, Brutos said:

So ma I reading some post correctly, is he been written off already??

The board is dammed if they do dammed if they don't.....

People are writing him off? I've not seen anything like that but I've only read half the thread. 

I think he's a fantastic signing, shame it couldn't be done in January but at that price I can't have any complaints, it's really good business. 

18 hours ago, Droopy said:

Some of you guys really live in a parallel universe. Adaptation to Premier league, pace issues, physicality issues, language barrier... I am starting to think some of you had spent last few years in a cave. Premier League is not unique, it's not more difficult or something special in terms of the above nonsense the media like Sky or BBC are trying to sell us. Players like Aguero, Costa, Mata, Silva, KDB, Salah, Suarez, Yaya Toure, etc etc - they come and they immediately start the domination. If you can put some names here really turned out to be failures - that's not "Premier league" thing, that's the particular player's fault. There is only one British type of  player to have some influence on the League since Rooney - Kane. And he's won jack, so its still questionable his so-called influence. So please stop it...

Players from Germany, Holland, Spain, Portugal - they have absolutely, positively  no problems to come and dominate. Premier League hasn't been Premier League for more than 10 years. It's 2020 and it's unbelievable most of you guys are still buying this sh*t.  It sounds cute, but it's a bona fide pile of poop.

The differences between the leagues is that the PL referees are all over the place with their stance on fouls. So the "physicality" aspect isn't exactly true but some players do get away with fouls. Like Son's overturned red card or some of the things that the Ashley Barnes can get away with and etc.

1 hour ago, Slojo said:

I think he has a point here though, I've always felt the Premier League has been massively overrated for years. 

A team in Spain won the CL 3 years straight, even beating Klopp's Liverpool.

On 14/02/2020 at 10:51, Snedger said:

For f**ks sake, what is it with modern football journalism. Clearly written by someone who doesn't like Chelsea, the BBC article headline is

33 million quid. 'Big' money signing? Really? Our keeper, yes, a big money signing. 33 million today. That's probably below average for a signing by a Premier league side. I know it's not really important, but this trend that even the BBC, let alone the Daily Mail, can't just report news without having to put a twist in there to paint a picture that suits the journalists agenda. It's half what we paid for Pulisc. It just is not a big money signing anymore. So why say that? Is it because the perception that Chelsea buy everything whilst Spurs and Liverpool just sign local kids playing in the park?

f**k me, how anybody can read such an innocuous headline and, rather than feeling positive that we signed such a highly-regarded player, decide to take such offence, is beyond me.

BBC's online 'journalism' is mostly terrible now anyway, with a lot of the articles appearing to be tossed off by work-experience kids.

Edited February 16, 20206 yr by bluedave

On 15/02/2020 at 04:50, rtwelch said:

Quote from the Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/feb/14/hakim-ziyech-chelsea-ajax-mesmerising-talent-who-is-not-afraid-to-speak-his-mind

“Ziyech will never forget the support Doufikar offered and still invites him to Amsterdam for games. Doufikar, asked what has turned Ziyech from a good Eredivisie player into a world beater, says: “He has learned not to always put on his smoking jacket, but sometimes his overalls.”

Certainly Ziyech has added hard work to his eye-catching talent. He is no longer just a flair player. He makes more runs, he contributes heavily to the defensive work and always urges teammates to keep going, even at 4-0 up.”

I think that is probably what has kept him in Holland so long were the questions on his character. Ten Hag seems to have got him to try on the overalls and they suit him well.

As I've said though it's all about adaption. One thing to do this in the CL or Eredivisie where fouls are given freely. Another to do it in the Premier League where you have to be knocked off your feet to be fouled and can be kicked relentlessly. That is the big challenge. I do worry about our trend of buying waifs. I would like us to sign some more robust characters to avoid us becoming Arsenal 2.0 

8 hours ago, Slojo said:

I think he has a point here though, I've always felt the Premier League has been massively overrated for years. 

The league is overrated ? or the players ? or the clubs ?

And who does this 'overrating' ? And how is it overrated ?

TV figures, and average attendance figures suggests it is the most popular league in the World.

8 hours ago, Deino said:

The differences between the leagues is that the PL referees are all over the place with their stance on fouls. So the "physicality" aspect isn't exactly true but some players do get away with fouls. Like Son's overturned red card or some of the things that the Ashley Barnes can get away with and etc.

The PL is only physical until someone touches Harry Kane. Never seen a player get so many soft fouls, even by european standards. Half of Spuds strategy is to give him the ball in a good set piece position and just wait for the ref to step in.

Edited February 16, 20206 yr by Vagabond