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Champions of Europe 2012/13 Thread


Philip Rolfe

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L'Equipe is reporting that Thorgan Hazard (Lens) could follow his brother to Chelsea.

RC Lens have confirmed negotiations are ongoing. Thorgan has rejected every offer for a new contract so far.

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Never seen him play, but going by his reputation, Azpilicueta would seem a good signing for the money being suggested. Don't see why we need Thorgan Hazard or Victor Moses (in the latter case, Junior Hoilett would seem a much better choice, as he's both more talented and free) as we've got four very skilled, young players to compete for our AM positions already - Mata, Hazard, Oscar (assuming there's no last minute hitch), Marin - and that's leaving out Gael Kakuta (who'll probably go, IMO) and Lucas Piazon. Once we've got an RB, I don't think we vitally need anyone else for next season's squad.

GK: Cech, Turnbull, Hilario

DR: Ivanovic, [New Signing], Paulo Ferreira, Hutchinson

DC: Terry, Cahill, Luiz

DL: Cole, Bertrand

MC: Ramires, Lampard, Mikel, Meireles, McEachran

AMRLC: Oscar, Mata, Hazard, Marin, De Bruyne

SC: Torres, Sturridge, Lukaku

Maybe a world-class striker if one becomes available, but otherwise I'd be happy enough having Torres and Sturridge competing for the forward slot and Lukaku backing them up. I'd like to see Sturridge played in his natural position, don't think his selfishness does him any favours out wide, whereas could be mitigated as the focal point of our attack. Torres isn't great, but he (like Meireles) is going to stay, so no point dreaming for an unrealistic departure.

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Stupidly contemplating watching tonight's game, mainly because it's the only pre-season game without the remainder of the first team squad and thus the best chance to see Sav, Bamford, Chalobah etc, and I have to think they'll give Blackman some time rather than a second tour with none. Sleep either side of the game and I should be alright, but I keep reminding myself IT'S PRE-SEASON AND IT'LL BE ****ING DULL.

well if it's been one thing it hasn't been dull

so far

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He's hardly the future, they should be trying to get rid of him.

He has been poor this game, Hazard has been quality, what a signing he is going to be. Lukaku proving he should be given a chance, been really impressed not only with his goals but all round play

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So far, been impressed with both Marin and Hazard, especially their link up play together. Marin has a lot of Sturridge about him (the good and bad), Hazard just oozes class. Lukaku leading the line well, taken both goals well from some nice through balls from McEachran and Marin

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Marin pretty one-dimensional so far, but it's been a very effective one-dimension.

He's a left sided Arjen Robben judging by this game. Hopefully doesn't choke as much as him though. Hazard is going to be amazing.

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He's a left sided Arjen Robben judging by this game. Hopefully doesn't choke as much as him though. Hazard is going to be amazing.

Yeah seems that way, would be interested to see him playing on the right, I assume that's where he'll be getting more game time too as Mata and Hazard are more comfortable on the left than the right, from what I've seen

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Of the youngsters, Chalobah looked solid in an unfamiliar position, made a few poor decisions but considering his youth and this being pre-season, coped well with the start in a packed stadium atmosphere. Josh made an absolute horror show to give Seattle their first, but made two of ours (Lukaku's first and Parke's own goal) with two very well weighted passes and was generally tidy - this is the time to make mistakes, and the real sign of his progress will be how he learns from them. More good than bad, though. Lukaku took his goals well, but seriously needs to sort out his running with the ball, which looked messy on several occasions and almost cost him his second.

In the second half, De Bruyne looked energetic and dynamic, his shooting was off (by a long way) but with match practice, certainly looks like he could hold his own against a respectable calibre of opponent. Hutchinson, as ever, looked effortlessly composed and formed a more solid partnership with Cahill than Luiz and Ivanovic had in the first half. If his fitness holds, hopefully he'll get more chances to push for a more frequent appearances in the team. Blackman had next to nothing to do, his positioning once or twice was a tad debatable, but the experience will have done him good, even if facing a few shots wouldn't have hurt. Piazon barely touched the ball, so not much to judge there. Kakuta was by far the least tidy of the lot, didn't get a lot of playing time but tended to lose the ball whenever it reached him. Kane was a bundle of attacking energy down the right, but left gaping holes at the back. George Saville was the big surprise for me at LB, looked very calm, made a good block to prevent a goalscoring chance for Seattle, and performed his defensive and attacking duties with equal solidity. Not many crosses, but did solid passing work in his advanced positions.

To summarise: Hutch and Saville were the most encouraging; Chalobah, De Bruyne and Lukaku didn't do themselves any harm; McEachran and Kane were a mixed bag; Piazon and Blackman didn't get enough to do to make a judgment; Kakuta disappointed.

(And yes, I do know it's only the first game of pre-season against wobbly opponents, so impressions are conclusive of nothing more than how the youngsters handled one meaningless game, albeit in a busy stadium)

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