On 28/04/2026 at 04:34, C3blue said:

A sign of the times, bunch of weak, woke, w**kers. Do we think Lampard played all those consecutive games without a cut or a bruise.

JT played every minute of every prem game at 35 when we won the league in 2015, imagine the medical team telling him to sit this one out. Imagine JM allowing them and that was just 10 years ago. And they don’t even tackle anymore. God I’m getting old.

I mean, sure that was nice, but those same decisions made by Mourinho (then exacerbated by Conte) prematurely ended the careers of Fabregas and Cahill. Mourinho's attitude towards the medical staff also precipitated one of the all-time terrible club bustups. Yet Robben was sold by the club because of his repeated injury and absences or big games, even though Mourinho wanted to keep him and excused his unreliability. More recently, Chilwell and James repeatedly tried to return from serious injury, facilitated by a procession of managers desperate to save their jobs, resulting in permanent career-altering effects.

Terry reckons he was only 100% fit for five games in his career. Except those comments, made twice on two podcasts, were in the context of explaining that competition for places in the Abramovich era was so high, and he was so anxious about being replaced, that it made him play through injury. It would be very generous to assume that it had no impact on his performance, there were plenty of low points for Terry during that time and were it not for his off-field influence he would have been done at Chelsea by 2015.

These discussions about 'soft' modern players are absolutely hilarious, especially where Terry or Drogba are brought up as some sort of paragon, because you can search this very forum to see that both of them were repeatedly called 'soft' in comparison to those that came before them. Terry cried FFS. It is the sporting equivalent of "kids these days", a complaint that dates back at least to Ancient Greece.

Terry literally played with fractured ribs and Drogba played with malaria...... Christensen in 2021 didn't want to play because he had stomach cramps. 😂

Not having this woke nonsense that players today aren't soft relative to the 2000s.

Edited April 29Apr 29 by Sconnie Blue

You guys seriously forgot we basically lost a year of good Hazard performances from 2015-2016 because he was forced to play through injuries by Jose? We ended up 10th in the league and trophyless.

I appreciate the moments where players sacrificed their health for the team but it shouldn't be a common thing. Reece James will retire and spend decades of his life almost disabled. Batistuta said he played through injuries at times that after his retirement he had episodes of wanting to amputate his legs because it hurt so bad.

Survivorship bias isn't always a good thing.

I had to listen to my Dad talk about his day (chopper Harris et el)he had to listen to his talk about his day(WW2).

Every generation tries to make their kids lives easier which in turn makes them a little softer, especially in the western world.

Probably why the best heavyweights in recent years have come out the eastern block….. a much harder up bringing than any ghetto in America.

We have grown men in this country who can’t/wont handle raw meat. Think criticism is abuse and throw baby tantrums when they don’t get their own way.

It’s the way of the world,the easier our lives get the softer we become. These players a pampered from an early age and it shows… no point denying it.

13 minutes ago, Deino said:

You guys seriously forgot we basically lost a year of good Hazard performances from 2015-2016 because he was forced to play through injuries by Jose? We ended up 10th in the league and trophyless.

I appreciate the moments where players sacrificed their health for the team but it shouldn't be a common thing. Reece James will retire and spend decades of his life almost disabled. Batistuta said he played through injuries at times that after his retirement he had episodes of wanting to amputate his legs because it hurt so bad.

Survivorship bias isn't always a good thing.

There really is 0% chance of that happening where the likes of Gusto, Neto, Cucurella etc are concerned.

21 minutes ago, Deino said:

You guys seriously forgot we basically lost a year of good Hazard performances from 2015-2016 because he was forced to play through injuries by Jose? We ended up 10th in the league and trophyless.

I appreciate the moments where players sacrificed their health for the team but it shouldn't be a common thing. Reece James will retire and spend decades of his life almost disabled. Batistuta said he played through injuries at times that after his retirement he had episodes of wanting to amputate his legs because it hurt so bad.

Survivorship bias isn't always a good thing.

Hazard isn’t the best example considering he was practically assaulted every match day and still held strong. Not one of our current wingers could endure just one match of the tackles Hazard went through every week without being sidelined or wanting to be subbed off. Their behavior tells as much.

Edited April 29Apr 29 by Sconnie Blue

33 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Hazard isn’t the best example considering he was practically assaulted every match day and still held strong. Not one of our current wingers could endure just one match of the tackles Hazard went through every week without being sidelined or wanting to be subbed off. Their behavior tells as much.

Absolutely, what made Hazard great wasn’t only his ability but his willingness to take a whack and get up and go again.

He never hid, always wanted the ball and was brave. And there are still some players like that today don’t get me wrong but then there are players who are out for 3weeks with a blister.

On 28/04/2026 at 02:34, C3blue said:

A sign of the times, bunch of weak, woke, w**kers. Do we think Lampard played all those consecutive games without a cut or a bruise.

JT played every minute of every prem game at 35 when we won the league in 2015, imagine the medical team telling him to sit this one out. Imagine JM allowing them and that was just 10 years ago. And they don’t even tackle anymore. God I’m getting old.

Same Terry that had 2 injections everyday during that season

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/terry-i-had-have-daily-inections-a-year-under-mourinho

21 minutes ago, C3blue said:

21 minutes ago, C3blue said:

I had to listen to my Dad talk about his day (chopper Harris et el)he had to listen to his talk about his day(WW2).

Every generation tries to make their kids lives easier which in turn makes them a little softer, especially in the western world.

Probably why the besBut yweights in recent years have come out the eastern block….. a much harder up bringing than any ghetto in America.

We have grown men in this country who can’t/wont handle raw meat. Think criticism is abuse and throw baby tantrums when they don’t get their own way.

It’s the way of the world,the easier our lives get the softer we become. These players a pampered from an early age and it shows… no point denying it.

It's happening to Reece, Palmer and Estevao in real time.

Also plenty of the heavyweight boxers from the old days end up with neurological problems, back problems, dementia or CTE.

Just now, Sconnie Blue said:

Hazard isn’t the best example considering he was practically assaulted every match day and still held strong. I don’t think any of our current winners could endure just one match of the tackles Hazard went through every week without being sidelined or wanting to be subbed off.

If he did, our 2015-16 season wouldn't have been the disaster that it was and he would have played longer instead of ending his career at 29 in his dream club playing for his dream manager constantly injured. Of course, he also was a player who never treated himself like proper athlete and relied 100% on talent alone.

--

I get it, I too want our players to give it all for the badge, die for the sport and squeezing every ounce of their talent for our entertainment but there's a line that I just can't cross when it comes to people taking proper care of their bodies even if it means losing because pushing it leads to worse consequences anyway. You do you

2 minutes ago, Deino said:

If he did, our 2015-16 season wouldn't have been the disaster that it was and he would have played longer instead of ending his career at 29 in his dream club playing for his dream manager constantly injured. Of course, he also was a player who never treated himself like proper athlete and relied 100% on talent alone.

--

I get it, I too want our players to give it all for the badge, die for the sport and squeezing every ounce of their talent for our entertainment but there's a line that I just can't cross when it comes to people taking proper care of their bodies even if it means losing because pushing it leads to worse consequences anyway. You do you

Tbf Hazard suffered the same career ending injury that retired Van Basten.

9 minutes ago, Deino said:

Same Terry that had 2 injections everyday during that season

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/terry-i-had-have-daily-inections-a-year-under-mourinho

It's happening to Reece, Palmer and Estevao in real time.

Also plenty of the heavyweight boxers from the old days end up with neurological problems, back problems, dementia or CTE.

If he did, our 2015-16 season wouldn't have been the disaster that it was and he would have played longer instead of ending his career at 29 in his dream club playing for his dream manager constantly injured. Of course, he also was a player who never treated himself like proper athlete and relied 100% on talent alone.

--

I get it, I too want our players to give it all for the badge, die for the sport and squeezing every ounce of their talent for our entertainment but there's a line that I just can't cross when it comes to people taking proper care of their bodies even if it means losing because pushing it leads to worse consequences anyway. You do you

Not sure what you’re trying to prove here…. Other than my point.

We were talking about players(young men in general actually)being softer today than previous generations. Not exactly an extreme belief. Nobody is saying it was better or that people should cripple themselves just that it was tougher and that a lot of modern day players wouldn’t have made it back then, rightly or wrongly.

As for the heavyweight comment, thats hilarious. Do you think blokes who knock their nuts out all their lives on building sites don’t get bad backs or dementia even with all the health and safety that goes on today?They just don’t get £100’s of millions and world wide adulation.

I suppose we could all sit in padded rooms wrapped in cotton wool but that would make us even weaker than we have become.

When I see players pull out of tackles or not want to receive the ball cos their terrified of being tackled I lose a little respect for them as a player and a man and in my day those players never made the team cos they had no arsehole and weren’t up for the fight.

1 hour ago, Deino said:

Same Terry that had 2 injections everyday during that season

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/terry-i-had-have-daily-inections-a-year-under-mourinho

It's happening to Reece, Palmer and Estevao in real time.

Also plenty of the heavyweight boxers from the old days end up with neurological problems, back problems, dementia or CTE.

If he did, our 2015-16 season wouldn't have been the disaster that it was and he would have played longer instead of ending his career at 29 in his dream club playing for his dream manager constantly injured. Of course, he also was a player who never treated himself like proper athlete and relied 100% on talent alone.

--

I get it, I too want our players to give it all for the badge, die for the sport and squeezing every ounce of their talent for our entertainment but there's a line that I just can't cross when it comes to people taking proper care of their bodies even if it means losing because pushing it leads to worse consequences anyway. You do you

Most of us would give anything to be a highly paid professional footballer. Many of us have played loads of football throughout our lives at whatever level and we still run the risk of suffering the consequences - bad joints, arthritis, even risk of dementia. So I am sure these players on £100k+ a week weigh up the pro's and con's and gladly accept the risks with the very high rewards.

No-one is asking our players to die for the badge and play through bad injuries. I just expect them to earn their money and not make fools of themselves by play-acting and feigning injury.

4 hours ago, C3blue said:

Not sure what you’re trying to prove here…. Other than my point.

We were talking about players(young men in general actually)being softer today than previous generations. Not exactly an extreme belief. Nobody is saying it was better or that people should cripple themselves just that it was tougher and that a lot of modern day players wouldn’t have made it back then, rightly or wrongly.

As for the heavyweight comment, thats hilarious. Do you think blokes who knock their nuts out all their lives on building sites don’t get bad backs or dementia even with all the health and safety that goes on today?They just don’t get £100’s of millions and world wide adulation.

I suppose we could all sit in padded rooms wrapped in cotton wool but that would make us even weaker than we have become.

When I see players pull out of tackles or not want to receive the ball cos their terrified of being tackled I lose a little respect for them as a player and a man and in my day those players never made the team cos they had no arsehole and weren’t up for the fight.

13 hours ago, Valerie said:

Oi leave my arse out of it.

4 hours ago, C3blue said:

Oi leave my arse out of it.

Ian Hutchinson was the only player booked during the infamous 1970 FA Cup final replay between Chelsea and Leeds United. Played with the refereeing of today, all the players would have been sent off. Football was certainly a contact sport back then. The pitches are perfect, no longer the mud baths of yore. The players have therapy (physical and mental) and special diets (no chips, fags and booze). And yet Cole Palmer (his favourite food is "chippy" chips) plays with the swagger of a kid playing football in the street and that is what the fans respond to. And so. . .I forgot where i was going with this.

If that 1970 cup final was played today it would be classed as a small war.

Surely there is a balance somewhere. We shouldn't put in danger the long term health of players, no matter how tough the game was "back in my days", safety at work is a right we workers have achieved through the years. But also, a niggle shouldn't be an excuse to miss a game, and the rotation policy of the board and SDs is just basically wrong and not helping the team to get going.

On 29/04/2026 at 14:51, Nibs said:

even risk of dementia.

I think this is a huge factor in the dearth of modern players that are good in the air ... at both ends of the pitch. A reluctance to head the ball due to fear of dementia in later life. Lots of legal and media noise in recent years to drive this behaviour (similarly in rugby).

Enzo's winner certainly a contender for the Chelsea Goal of the Month.

Nottingham Forest just showed how badly you bottled this game Leeds.

Should be you trying to figure out how to stop City but you blew it.

19 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Nottingham Forest just showed how badly you bottled this game Leeds.

Should be you trying to figure out how to stop City but you blew it.

Was obvious the occasion got to Leeds.