The past players and staff thread

[Dwmh]

2 hours ago, JaneB said:

Drop Dead Gorgeous 🤪

You are too kind

[Ham]

3 hours ago, JaneB said:

Drop Dead Gorgeous 🤪

I honestly thought you meant she was now with David De Gea 🙈

[JaneB]

33 minutes ago, Dwmh said:

You are too kind

You’re welcome 😉 

[JaneB]

9 minutes ago, Ham said:

I honestly thought you meant she was now with David De Gea 🙈

Oh pay attention Ham 🙄

 

 

[Bison]

Sometimes I'll come across a Hazard video and just feel sad we will likely never have somebody this talented ever again. 

Crazy to think he was 21/22 years old during that season. And here we are in 2024 making excuses for players older than he was then, hoping they 'figure it out' and magically learn how to play all of a sudden. 

Edited January 15 by Bison

[paulw66]

17 hours ago, Bison said:

Sometimes I'll come across a Hazard video and just feel sad we will likely never have somebody this talented ever again. 

Crazy to think he was 21/22 years old during that season. And here we are in 2024 making excuses for players older than he was then, hoping they 'figure it out' and magically learn how to play all of a sudden. 

but you said yourself, we are unlikely to see a player this talented again.......which makes comparisons elsewhere as pointless. If you want / expect all of our current and future 22 year olds to be as good as Hazard was at that age, then you might spend the rest of your life being very disappointed. 

 

[chara]

2 hours ago, paulw66 said:

but you said yourself, we are unlikely to see a player this talented again.......which makes comparisons elsewhere as pointless. If you want / expect all of our current and future 22 year olds to be as good as Hazard was at that age, then you might spend the rest of your life being very disappointed. 

 

The thing I noticed from the clip was the difference in the positioning and awareness of the other players in any one situation...Eden's individual brilliance is enhanced by some exceptional assists as well as his assists to others...I appreciate the nature of such highlight reels but for all the defenders in the area at times the lack of massed Chelsea ranks mixed in glares out and great timing runs and positioning  the likes of we don't see too much of...again a highlight reel but stands out for me.

[Ham]

3 hours ago, paulw66 said:

but you said yourself, we are unlikely to see a player this talented again.......which makes comparisons elsewhere as pointless. If you want / expect all of our current and future 22 year olds to be as good as Hazard was at that age, then you might spend the rest of your life being very disappointed. 

 

We only got him due to perfect timing. 

He was pimping himself out just after we won the CL.  

 

[Dwmh]

3 minutes ago, Ham said:

We only got him due to perfect timing. 

He was pimping himself out just after we won the CL.  

 

We bought every single talent within De Visser's mobilised scooter range from Benelux that year and the next.
Courtois, Kdb, Lukaku, Hazard (just over the border in Lille) plus Willian and Oscar.  And Azpi!.  probably a few more I forgot.  We went on a rampage like the new lot have done paying 10% more than any other bidder.  Smart move because the whole market moved afterwards.  Almost all of them were successes, if not at first with us.
Of course it made it a lot easier having Drogba, Cech, JT, Lampard, Mata, Mikel and a few others in the squad to keep it stable.
And they sent out anyone who wasn't playing on loan while keeping the adults for the manager to use.
 

[Ham]

53 minutes ago, Dwmh said:

We bought every single talent within De Visser's mobilised scooter range from Benelux that year and the next.
Courtois, Kdb, Lukaku, Hazard (just over the border in Lille) plus Willian and Oscar.  And Azpi!.  probably a few more I forgot.  We went on a rampage like the new lot have done paying 10% more than any other bidder.  Smart move because the whole market moved afterwards.  Almost all of them were successes, if not at first with us.
Of course it made it a lot easier having Drogba, Cech, JT, Lampard, Mata, Mikel and a few others in the squad to keep it stable.
And they sent out anyone who wasn't playing on loan while keeping the adults for the manager to use.
 

De Visser has nowt to do with scouting Hazard as he was THE next big thing and all of the top clubs including City and RM wanted him.  

We were chosen from his suiters. 

We didn't pay 10% more for him.  We paid the £32m which had been touted around for months. 

 

[Dwmh]

33 minutes ago, Ham said:

De Visser has nowt to do with scouting Hazard as he was THE next big thing and all of the top clubs including City and RM wanted him.  

We were chosen from his suiters. 

We didn't pay 10% more for him.  We paid the £32m which had been touted around for months. 

 

+ (according to SAF) the £6m for his agent.
I think the point is that no one else paid that price for months, then we did.
ditto many other players.

[Proud-Blue]

 

[Mark Kelly]

32 minutes ago, Dwmh said:

+ (according to SAF) the £6m for his agent.
I think the point is that no one else paid that price for months, then we did.
ditto many other players.

From memory Hazard chose us not us choosing him. 

He waited until we won the Champions league and then decided. 

What we paid, which was not a massive amount didn't enter into it. 

[jasonb]

14 hours ago, Proud-Blue said:

 

Good material for a spoof song, 

Don't cry for me Jose Mourinho ala don't cry for me Argentina.

We have seen it several times with Mourinho, always builds a strong fan base and then he goes again somewhere else. 

[paulw66]

33 minutes ago, jasonb said:

Good material for a spoof song, 

Don't cry for me Jose Mourinho ala don't cry for me Argentina.

We have seen it several times with Mourinho, always builds a strong fan base and then he goes again somewhere else. 

The FA should boot Southgate and get him in 

[Bison]

22 hours ago, paulw66 said:

but you said yourself, we are unlikely to see a player this talented again.......which makes comparisons elsewhere as pointless. If you want / expect all of our current and future 22 year olds to be as good as Hazard was at that age, then you might spend the rest of your life being very disappointed. 

I don't expect anybody to be the next Hazard to be fair. But I also don't expect a 23 year old signed for 60m to play like a non-league winger.

[My Blood Is Blue]

Love this story from Joe Cole…

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2NUgFwRyuw/?igsh=MThjZTdvczhleW10MQ==

[Bison]

20 years old. We didn't have to wait five years for him to learn how to play football like people are proposing with a certain 60m winger. 

[paulw66]

55 minutes ago, Bison said:

20 years old. We didn't have to wait five years for him to learn how to play football like people are proposing with a certain 60m winger. 

The obsession is getting a bit weird. 

1. Not all players develop at the same time (as previously discussed).  Rooney (for example) was a man at 16. Michael Owen was done by 25. You could go on and on.

2. The background of these two specific players couldn't be more different in terms of footballing education

3. Nobody (quite literally) is suggesting we should wait 5 years for Mudryk to deliver. Plenty of people (myself included) have been prepared to give some grace 

[Dwmh]

1 hour ago, Bison said:

20 years old. We didn't have to wait five years for him to learn how to play football like people are proposing with a certain 60m winger. 

20 years old and picked by Mourinho?   Not possible.
You'll be telling me next JM had picked a 19 yo CF in a CL final a few months earlier.

 

[Mark Kelly]

Just now, Dwmh said:

20 years old and picked by Mourinho?   Not possible.
You'll be telling me next JM had picked a 19 yo CF in a CL final a few months earlier.

 

In fairness , he did moan about him constantly so there is that.

[chrisb]

26 minutes ago, paulw66 said:

1. Not all players develop at the same time (as previously discussed).  Rooney (for example) was a man at 16. Michael Owen was done by 25. You could go on and on.

That’s nothing, in the darts Luke Littler was a man at 3!

 

[Bison]

1 hour ago, paulw66 said:

The obsession is getting a bit weird. 

1. Not all players develop at the same time (as previously discussed).  Rooney (for example) was a man at 16. Michael Owen was done by 25. You could go on and on.

2. The background of these two specific players couldn't be more different in terms of footballing education

3. Nobody (quite literally) is suggesting we should wait 5 years for Mudryk to deliver. Plenty of people (myself included) have been prepared to give some grace 

1) I personally believe forwards and wingers (particularly explosive, tricky ones) generally tend to peak earlier than other players. The ones who have the long careers often reinvent themselves and play differently once their legs have gone.

2) Yep, Robben got the football education you would expect a top country like the Netherlands to provide. That education plus his technical and athletic skills and you had a world beater at his age. Meanwhile Mudryk is an explosive athlete that plays like a 16 year old from a Cat 3 academy.

3) How much grace? He's 23 years old and has had a full calendar year to settle in.

[Dwmh]

5 minutes ago, Bison said:

1) I personally believe forwards and wingers (particularly explosive, tricky ones) generally tend to peak earlier than other players. The ones who have the long careers often reinvent themselves and play differently once their legs have gone.

Yes.  Rapid wingers always get promoted early.  They are frequently bought for inflated values too.  That has been true for 50 years or more.

9 minutes ago, Bison said:

2) Yep, Robben got the football education you would expect a top country like the Netherlands to provide. That education plus his technical and athletic skills and you had a world beater at his age. Meanwhile Mudryk is an explosive athlete that plays like a 16 year old from a Cat 3 academy.

At Groningen?  I think he started off as mostly a speed merchant.  True his technique and finishing were great, but I don't think he would have come to us without the pace.    Sure he developed his style but he kept his ability to out sprint almost anyone.  Of course when you can shoot, dribble, cross and sprint and think, the defenders don't know where to stand and it gets much easier.

[Bison]

2 minutes ago, Dwmh said:

Yes.  Rapid wingers always get promoted early.  They are frequently bought for inflated values too.  That has been true for 50 years or more.

At Groningen?  I think he started off as mostly a speed merchant.  True his technique and finishing were great, but I don't think he would have come to us without the pace.    Sure he developed his style but he kept his ability to out sprint almost anyone.  Of course when you can shoot, dribble, cross and sprint and think, the defenders don't know where to stand and it gets much easier.

I think Robben is a perfect example of young wingers being nearly as good as they'll be at their peak.

Still to this day one of my favourite goals:

 

Commo: 'He's quick, he's direct and as Chelsea have been telling us for a while: he's a star.'

Wonder how much he'd go for now if 60m today gets you Mudryk.