Champions of England [2015-2016]

[Arnau]

They would have lost Courtois then

 

[chygry]

You guys truly made a huge mistake of letting Cech go and bringing in Begovic

Huge mistake? Begovic is a fantastic backup keeper to have. What is your point exactly? That Chelsea's poor form is because of Begovic? I can't believe I even wrote that sentence, since it sounds absurd. The whole team is playing badly. Your post sounds like Begovic is the scapegoat.

They should have signed a new centre-back in the summer, and no one knew that Fabregas would begin with his poor second half of the season form right away as the season kicked off. Also Hazard has been poor so far (I've noticed it so often that whenever he has the ball he has lots of defenders on him and his teammates don't make any runs to draw defenders away), Diego Costa can't stop his antics on the field which gets him banned all the time and so on.

As I've discussed with Sir Didier, I agreed with him regarding the facts that Cahill should be sold. Someone like Stones or Varane should be brought in to fill the cap in defence. Also a player like Pogba or Verratti to replace Fabregas in the midfield wouldn't exactly do any harm. Perhaps they can reach some kind of a deal with Juventus which would involve Oscar moving there and Pogba the other way plus cash obviously. I personally rate Verratti higher than Pogba, though.

Also my own thoughts are that Ivanović is past it which lead to Azpilicueta playing in his natural position again, but I don't see Baba Rahman ready to be a starter yet on the left flank. To be honest Stoke's goal last evening came from his mistake since he went too forward and failed to track back and lost his man. Should've kept Filipe Luis who is absolute class.

And obviously we have no idea what is happening behind the scenes with Mourinho and the dressing room, and how it is affecting the team chemistry.

And Arnau is right about the Courtois thing.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Maybe Mourinho will manage Bayern when Pep leaves

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Also, it seems so absurd that people were comparing Hazard to Robben and Ronaldo and guys like that for the last couple years. He isn't even as good as Douglas Costa.

 

[chygry]

Well Hazard is just out of form, and it kind of seems that teams have figured him out in the EPL. Meaning how to stop him, maybe a move to a more technical league would benefit him and his development. But you cannot deny the fact that Hazard was sensational during the last season for Chelsea. Obviously there is something happening behind the scenes at Chelsea that we don't know about which is affecting everyone's performance. From the manager to the last player on the bench.

Oh and ShiftyPowers Douglas Costa has been phenomenal for you guys. I'd even dare to say that he's the best signing of the season overall. The guy has got everything talentwise - extreme pace, fantastic on the ball and trickery, is always consistent and able to produce an end product from attacks (how many assists has he gotten already?), can be a goal scoring threat you name it. It doesn't take a genius to say that when Ribéry finally gets fit he has lost his place in the starting XI completely. The depth that you guys have is ridiculous. I'm expecting him to move away for another pastures somewhere in UAE, Qatar or MLS in the summer. What a quality replacement Douglas Costa has been for him! I believe we were interested in signing the guy from Gremio back in 2009 or 2010, but it didn't happen.

Oh and one player I'm interested about and haven't seen much of is Kingsley Coman. How is he doing for Bayern and what kind of player he is? And is he just on loan from Juventus or is there an option to buy him as well? All I know is that he's quite talented and one for the future.

 

[Mandieta6]

Also, it seems so absurd that people were comparing Hazard to Robben and Ronaldo and guys like that for the last couple years. He isn't even as good as Douglas Costa.

Hazard has had more and better games at a higher level than Costa has so far in his career. This is pure recency effect. I guess Ronaldo was shit because of his Milan period, too.

 

[Mus]

Diego Costa's problem during the game.

https://vine.co/v/eL9uWD6mUJl

Guess the old British shower didn't work out so good for Shawcross

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Hazard has had more and better games at a higher level than Costa has so far in his career. This is pure recency effect. I guess Ronaldo was shit because of his Milan period, too.

That you've seen, anyway. Douglas Costa wasn't born July 2015. He was part of some great Shakhtar teams.

Your Ronaldo comparison is INCREDIBLY dishonest. Ronaldo was 30 at Milan, Hazard is 24 and seemingly has trouble scoring when the ball isn't on the penalty spot.

 

[Mandieta6]

It's still less than half a season of bad form (within a team that is playing way bellow expectations anyway) vs several years of top-level performance.

At Shakhtar Costa would have at most played 5-6 matches at the level of difficulty Hazard played every other week. This is akin to the stupid 'oh look, in the last 3 matches Bendtner has scored 3 times the goals Messi and Ronaldo have' comments that take advantage of small smaple sizes and performances that go against the norm. Only those are made in jest and you are being serious.

 

[Arnau]

The comparation with Cristiano is accurate, both are invisible.

 

[Arnau]

Happy birthday Sir Calum

 

[Sir Didier Drogba]

Thanks, you are only the second SGer to wish me happy birthday (first was chyrgy)

 

[Pogba4Now]

how old r u? I am estimating 31.

 

[Mus]

Diego Costa looks horrible

 

[Mus]

Even despite scoring it looked bad

 

[Mandieta6]

Just tuned in. Kennedy is playing LB which is weird, but he is pretty big for a winger so it could work. Haven't seen him challenged so far. Hazard has looked pretty good, at least he's involved and his teammates are giving him the ball in bad positions and under duress and he's solving most of those situations quite nicely. That's why I think he's so good when he's on form. He has the ability to retain possession or create opportunities from situations when I am sure he is about to lose the ball or not get to the ball.

 

[Mandieta6]

That was such a good move by Matic. FIFAesque, shame he didn't finish it better.

On trhe counter you saw an instance of the sort of growing pains Kennedy will have to go through if he's to become a fullback.

 

[Mus]

Imo Kenedy was excellent, best fullback on the pitch, tired a bit at the end though

 

[Xaviesta]

Fabregas performance vs Tottenham

http://lockerdome.com/manunitedfans/6169471278657601/8253727270259987

 

[kp41]

Not saying Cesc was superb but that's a retarded video, he had 53 passes with 70% accuracy ... he worked well defensively.