Hazard's been the best Chelsea player from day 1 IMO. Fabregas, Costa, Matic and Terry have all been very good as well most all season.Sebowski said:I trust you Chelsea guys. Just tell me: tale the entire season into account. There is always a huge recency factor in these awards. Has he been that much better than Costa and Cesc? Seems to be only turing it on now after those two sealed the league the first 3 quarters of the season. You tell me though.Native said:Hazard for POY in the EPL? He's been the standout performer this year for Chelsea as well as the most consistent threat. Huge goal against Manchester United today.
Similar to my recollection of SAF's United teams in the 90s. Every March/April it seemed he was grinding toward titles with ugly1-0 wins.AAABatteries said:But then again, that's Chelsea - and it's what Champions do, win ugly.
 
 Guzan adds to the short list.El Floppo said:and I totally forgot that Dany Williams was playing- would've been to see a US player in the FA cup final... has that ever happened before?
He'll be in the 18, but not on the field.Guzan adds to the short list.El Floppo said:and I totally forgot that Dany Williams was playing- would've been to see a US player in the FA cup final... has that ever happened before?
Yeah, he probably won't be. Guzan has started every league game this year but Given has started every FA Cup gameHe'll be in the 18, but not on the field.Guzan adds to the short list.El Floppo said:and I totally forgot that Dany Williams was playing- would've been to see a US player in the FA cup final... has that ever happened before?
It's Rodgers they should be upset with. Gerrard today was exactly who he's been for the last ~6 months.Twitter not being overly symapthetic to Gerrard right now....
Balo was offside every other play- easy to see why he was looking to raise the flag there (even if on that play he was definitely onsides).Brutal linesman call on Balotelli. Its hard to understand what he was looking at to raise the flag there,
Hazard, Costa, Aguero, Kane = short-list.Hazard's been the best Chelsea player from day 1 IMO. Fabregas, Costa, Matic and Terry have all been very good as well most all season.Sebowski said:I trust you Chelsea guys. Just tell me: tale the entire season into account. There is always a huge recency factor in these awards. Has he been that much better than Costa and Cesc? Seems to be only turing it on now after those two sealed the league the first 3 quarters of the season. You tell me though.Native said:Hazard for POY in the EPL? He's been the standout performer this year for Chelsea as well as the most consistent threat. Huge goal against Manchester United today.
It won't be DeGea.Hazard, Costa, Aguero, Kane = short-list.Hazard's been the best Chelsea player from day 1 IMO. Fabregas, Costa, Matic and Terry have all been very good as well most all season.Sebowski said:I trust you Chelsea guys. Just tell me: tale the entire season into account. There is always a huge recency factor in these awards. Has he been that much better than Costa and Cesc? Seems to be only turing it on now after those two sealed the league the first 3 quarters of the season. You tell me though.Native said:Hazard for POY in the EPL? He's been the standout performer this year for Chelsea as well as the most consistent threat. Huge goal against Manchester United today.
eta: and probably DeGea
yeah, good points all.It won't be DeGea.Hazard, Costa, Aguero, Kane = short-list.Hazard's been the best Chelsea player from day 1 IMO. Fabregas, Costa, Matic and Terry have all been very good as well most all season.Sebowski said:I trust you Chelsea guys. Just tell me: tale the entire season into account. There is always a huge recency factor in these awards. Has he been that much better than Costa and Cesc? Seems to be only turing it on now after those two sealed the league the first 3 quarters of the season. You tell me though.Native said:Hazard for POY in the EPL? He's been the standout performer this year for Chelsea as well as the most consistent threat. Huge goal against Manchester United today.
eta: and probably DeGea
Kane presumably has the Young Player of the year award locked up, so that hurts his chances for the big boy player of the year award - unless he can win the scoring title by a few goals. Costa's injuries, and the fact he is generally an ### probably hurts his chances a little.
Hazard is a good call. If ManCity hadn't capitulated lately, Aguero would have a better claim, but like Kane, he may need to win the goal title convincingly.
found myself routing for Villa before remembering that I got to train there as a u16 with my club team and play against their team. Had honestly never heard of Aston Villa before then. Nice people in Birmingham- with a need to close every sentence or statement with a question... "dinner will be a 7, won't it?"
 I hate that #### so much
  I hate that #### so much   
 you do, don't you?found myself routing for Villa before remembering that I got to train there as a u16 with my club team and play against their team. Had honestly never heard of Aston Villa before then. Nice people in Birmingham- with a need to close every sentence or statement with a question... "dinner will be a 7, won't it?"I hate that #### so much

Hazard is still eligible for YPOTY tooIt won't be DeGea.Hazard, Costa, Aguero, Kane = short-list.Hazard's been the best Chelsea player from day 1 IMO. Fabregas, Costa, Matic and Terry have all been very good as well most all season.Sebowski said:I trust you Chelsea guys. Just tell me: tale the entire season into account. There is always a huge recency factor in these awards. Has he been that much better than Costa and Cesc? Seems to be only turing it on now after those two sealed the league the first 3 quarters of the season. You tell me though.Native said:Hazard for POY in the EPL? He's been the standout performer this year for Chelsea as well as the most consistent threat. Huge goal against Manchester United today.
eta: and probably DeGea
Kane presumably has the Young Player of the year award locked up, so that hurts his chances for the big boy player of the year award - unless he can win the scoring title by a few goals. Costa's injuries, and the fact he is generally an ### probably hurts his chances a little.
Hazard is a good call. If ManCity hadn't capitulated lately, Aguero would have a better claim, but like Kane, he may need to win the goal title convincingly.
 
 Better - Griezmann chilenaObafemi's fantastic goal from this weekend. So pretty
http://www.mlssoccer.com/video/2015/04/18/goal-obafemi-martins-jaw-dropping-golazo
Falcao was better then he had been but thats not saying much. Rooney missing the early goal hurt. How often does he miss with that much space at the 18? De Gea and the away fans were celebrating. I was too before realizing that hit the support and not the goal.AAABatteries said:Well #### - United deserved something from that game. Agree with TLEF - Falcao was crap and that's saying somehting whne you consider how well United played. It felt like if Carrick had been available and he puts the same side out that maybe things would have been different. But then again, that's Chelsea - and it's what Champions do, win ugly. But I'm very pleased with how United played, especially at The Bridge.
 
 gorgeous. When I first saw that, I thought he was off by at least 2 steps but on the replay with the better angle he was clearly onside.Better - Griezmann chilenaObafemi's fantastic goal from this weekend. So pretty
http://www.mlssoccer.com/video/2015/04/18/goal-obafemi-martins-jaw-dropping-golazo
Rooney probably buries that shot at least half the time, and it would have been unsaveable had it snuck inside the post. That would have made for a much different and perhaps more interesting game. As it was, I thought Mourinho really didn't have to do anything during the game as it was apparent he was perfectly happy allowing the United defenders to kick it around near midfield, taking the odd 30 foot shot after finding nothing else to do with it. Carrick/Blind certainly would have made a difference, but the key was CFC taking Fellaini and Mata - who had been so dangerous a week earlier - completely out of the game.Falcao was better then he had been but thats not saying much. Rooney missing the early goal hurt. How often does he miss with that much space at the 18? De Gea and the away fans were celebrating. I was too before realizing that hit the support and not the goal.AAABatteries said:Well #### - United deserved something from that game. Agree with TLEF - Falcao was crap and that's saying somehting whne you consider how well United played. It felt like if Carrick had been available and he puts the same side out that maybe things would have been different. But then again, that's Chelsea - and it's what Champions do, win ugly. But I'm very pleased with how United played, especially at The Bridge.
It was a good display by United. They deserved a draw but didnt put away their chances. Ref was awful and very inconsistent. Sometimes the guy jumping over was a foul, sometimes the undercut was a foul, drogba and fellaini flopping all over and grabbing the ball and you never knew which way the ref would call it. Terry running thru Falcao to set up the goal should have been a foul and yes Falcao should have done better and been stronger.... ETA the Herrera play at the end? I have seen less given a pk and I have seen others given a card for drawing contact like that. Probably would have been a harsh PK but was also a harsh booking. And the De Gea "handball"? I think it was a good no call (since noone seems to know what a handball is anymore) and at worst all it would be is a free kick at the top of the box.
Chelsea finished their chance, United did not. Carrick or Blind being in the lineup allowing Rooney to stay up top would have helped tremendously. Losing both hurt.
silver lining? United looked good and are in prime position to compete next season. Their title chances this year were minuscule with Chelsea having to lose 4 of 7 so now United can concentrate on finishing strong, maintaining the champions league spots and setting up for next years return to the top.
oh and for a fun jab rolling through twitter this past weekend: Chelsea's win on Saturday marks the 25th consecutive year of it being mathematically impossible for Liverpool to win the league. Congratulations!
All very true. I saw a lot of what happened early in the season when United struggled happening this game with Smalling and McNair being allowed to drive with the ball into Chelsea's half. They should not be the ones going forward like that and be the ones looking to pass or shoot.Rooney probably buries that shot at least half the time, and it would have been unsaveable had it snuck inside the post. That would have made for a much different and perhaps more interesting game. As it was, I thought Mourinho really didn't have to do anything during the game as it was apparent he was perfectly happy allowing the United defenders to kick it around near midfield, taking the odd 30 foot shot after finding nothing else to do with it. Carrick/Blind certainly would have made a difference, but the key was CFC taking Fellaini and Mata - who had been so dangerous a week earlier - completely out of the game.Falcao was better then he had been but thats not saying much. Rooney missing the early goal hurt. How often does he miss with that much space at the 18? De Gea and the away fans were celebrating. I was too before realizing that hit the support and not the goal.AAABatteries said:Well #### - United deserved something from that game. Agree with TLEF - Falcao was crap and that's saying somehting whne you consider how well United played. It felt like if Carrick had been available and he puts the same side out that maybe things would have been different. But then again, that's Chelsea - and it's what Champions do, win ugly. But I'm very pleased with how United played, especially at The Bridge.
It was a good display by United. They deserved a draw but didnt put away their chances. Ref was awful and very inconsistent. Sometimes the guy jumping over was a foul, sometimes the undercut was a foul, drogba and fellaini flopping all over and grabbing the ball and you never knew which way the ref would call it. Terry running thru Falcao to set up the goal should have been a foul and yes Falcao should have done better and been stronger.... ETA the Herrera play at the end? I have seen less given a pk and I have seen others given a card for drawing contact like that. Probably would have been a harsh PK but was also a harsh booking. And the De Gea "handball"? I think it was a good no call (since noone seems to know what a handball is anymore) and at worst all it would be is a free kick at the top of the box.
Chelsea finished their chance, United did not. Carrick or Blind being in the lineup allowing Rooney to stay up top would have helped tremendously. Losing both hurt.
silver lining? United looked good and are in prime position to compete next season. Their title chances this year were minuscule with Chelsea having to lose 4 of 7 so now United can concentrate on finishing strong, maintaining the champions league spots and setting up for next years return to the top.
oh and for a fun jab rolling through twitter this past weekend: Chelsea's win on Saturday marks the 25th consecutive year of it being mathematically impossible for Liverpool to win the league. Congratulations!
Yes - runner-up no longer gets the Europa bid.Do not buy what the Southampton blogger at ESPNFC was selling in his game summary this week. Saints were fairly beaten at Stoke. But they changed the rule about Europa qualifying, right? Villa has to win the cup to get in?
Well, that means that loser of this weekend's match isn't necessarily dead, though depending on Arsenal is pretty unsavory in its own right.Yes - runner-up no longer gets the Europa bid.Do not buy what the Southampton blogger at ESPNFC was selling in his game summary this week. Saints were fairly beaten at Stoke. But they changed the rule about Europa qualifying, right? Villa has to win the cup to get in?
it's insane to me that Chachi plays for RM. it was insane to me that he played for MU. full credit to the kid- has an amazing (world-class) skill at finding the seams in front of goal... but not much more, IMO.Both Bale and Benzema are out for tomorrow's Champions League Madrid Derby.... Chicharito going to play the role or hero or goat??
He is a hard worker, great prepositionally and is an excellent poacher. If Welbeck had the sames finishing acumen as Chich.... wow.it's insane to me that Chachi plays for RM. it was insane to me that he played for MU. full credit to the kid- has an amazing (world-class) skill at finding the seams in front of goal... but not much more, IMO.Both Bale and Benzema are out for tomorrow's Champions League Madrid Derby.... Chicharito going to play the role or hero or goat??
I vote goat.
true.He is a hard worker, great prepositionally and is an excellent poacher. If Welbeck had the sames finishing acumen as Chich.... wow.it's insane to me that Chachi plays for RM. it was insane to me that he played for MU. full credit to the kid- has an amazing (world-class) skill at finding the seams in front of goal... but not much more, IMO.Both Bale and Benzema are out for tomorrow's Champions League Madrid Derby.... Chicharito going to play the role or hero or goat??
I vote goat.
I think he'll be playing the stay out of Ronaldo's way role.Both Bale and Benzema are out for tomorrow's Champions League Madrid Derby.... Chicharito going to play the role or hero or goat??
Any chance Jese starts and Chicharito comes of the bench?I think he'll be playing the stay out of Ronaldo's way role.Both Bale and Benzema are out for tomorrow's Champions League Madrid Derby.... Chicharito going to play the role or hero or goat??
Wow. Marcello has been key for Madrid this year.Modric and Marcello are also out tomorrow for RM. This is an example where the away goals rule really changes the leverage in a game. The Bernabeu is familiar to Atletico and a scoring draw puts them through, so honestly its probably not a disadvantage at all to be playing the second leg away given a scoreless draw in the first game last week.
Sure, I'd start JeseAny chance Jese starts and Chicharito comes of the bench?I think he'll be playing the stay out of Ronaldo's way role.Both Bale and Benzema are out for tomorrow's Champions League Madrid Derby.... Chicharito going to play the role or hero or goat??
 
 I guess Marcelo is suspended? ATM at +125 to advance seems a decent risk, but RM is still loaded.Wow. Marcello has been key for Madrid this year.Modric and Marcello are also out tomorrow for RM. This is an example where the away goals rule really changes the leverage in a game. The Bernabeu is familiar to Atletico and a scoring draw puts them through, so honestly its probably not a disadvantage at all to be playing the second leg away given a scoreless draw in the first game last week.
CorrectSo a 0-0 draw goes to a shoot out, but any other draw means Atleti advances? Only way for RM to advance is a win?
I think he has as many as Falcao too...Congrats to Chris Smalling on his new deal! From our friends at Squawka
Squawka Football @Squawka 1h1 hour ag
o
Chris Smalling has scored the same number of Premier League goals this season (4) as Rickie Lambert, Fabio Borini & Mario Balotelli combined
Trade high wages for even higher wages?
