You don't think Hazard was playing at a very high level in 2014-15? He terrorised the league that season. When he's happy, in flow, he's a very dangerous player. See him in the World Cup as well. It's when he's mutinous that he's problematic
Other clubs transfer thread summer 2019 edition (Official: Madrid sign Hazard)
I think he played at a high level, yes. I never, ever thought he was world class.
He lacked goals, and also went missing for large parts of the season. Much like Drogba tbh.
Klaus wrote:I think he played at a high level, yes. I never, ever thought he was world class.
How about this season? Highest G+A in the PL. Are there any world class attackers in the league at all?
Klaus wrote:I think he played at a high level, yes. I never, ever thought he was world class.
Depends what you term World Class. If World Class is an exclusive clutch of players like Neymar, Messi, Mbappe, Ronaldo, then no, he's never been that level. If it's a wider group of 15 players then, yes, he belongs.
Quincy Abeyie wrote:Klaus wrote:I think he played at a high level, yes. I never, ever thought he was world class.
How about this season? Highest G+A in the PL. Are there any world class attackers in the league at all?
Agüero and De Bruyne are pretty strong candidates. Salah would be up there too. I don't think Hazard is at that level, and I haven't found him as entertaining to watch either since he's barely dribbling nowadays. Sarri turned him into a more efficient but also simpler player in my opinion.
Claudius wrote:Klaus wrote:I think he played at a high level, yes. I never, ever thought he was world class.
Depends what you term World Class. If World Class is an exclusive clutch of players like Neymar, Messi, Mbappe, Ronaldo, then no, he's never been that level. If it's a wider group of 15 players then, yes, he belongs.
I think of it in terms of performance tiers and not groups of players. I don't think Hazard has ever been in that tier, or not for very long anyway. That might not correlate to the general opinion of him; I honestly have no idea. My original objection was against calling him Pogba-esque when it's probably closer to the truth to call Pogba's time in England Hazard-esque.
Hazard is too inconsistent, but at his best he's as good as Neymar and better than Mbappe.
I guess we'll all see what he is capable of with the move to RM - he won't need to carry the team as often as he has at CFC.
Deligt to PSG according to di marzio
Liverpool believe they are being linked with Nicolas Pepe to drive the player's price up ahead of one of the biggest moves of the summer.
The Lille frontman is set to be on the move this summer after his 22 goals helped fire Lille to second place in France's Ligue 1.
But it doesn't look as though he is heading to Anfield, as Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is only looking to make tweaks to his Champions League-winning squad.
Liverpool are to offer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain a 12-month extension to his current deal , and so are not likely to splash out big transfer fees on attacking reinforcements.
Go on Liverpool! Make only tweaks, give Chambo another year and spend all your money on bigger contracts for your entire squad. They're sure gonna want it after winning ol' big ears. That's the right move, Jurgen!
Gives us a chance to make headway this summer if there's truth to this.
I don't think tweaks equates to spending all their money. As the spuds have shown, extending contracts in good time is the best way of making sure wages don't spiral out of control. Also Klopp is very popular with his players and after winning the biggest trophy in club football with the future looking rosy they are unlikely to want to leave. As for Chambo, there's nothing to say he is getting a bumper deal and he was one of their best performers when he got injured so an extension is the least they could do. Of course we know he will break down again soon enough but we are not catching them any time soon with the players we are being linked to on top of the players we have got!
Ox getting a contract extension is the best piece of transfer related news so far this summer
Maybe Pool are interested in Pepe. They just want to flush out the bidders to establish what the actual price is.
Or maybe, as lots of different places have now suggested, Klopp really does only want to tweak his squad with a side player here or there?
Klopp strikes me as a loyal kind of guy, much like Wenger. It's why their players love them. But that lack of ruthlessness ala Ferguson, Guardiola or Mourinho, is why, at least in Wenger's case, he never managed to dominate in the way he should have.
This is exactly the summer Liverpool should be spending big. The money's there, they'll never be more popular, and the big teams, for the time being, are nowhere. A Pepe and a Koulibaly, and they can afford that by all accounts, and they'd win both major trophies next season.
What you are saying is exactly why I think they will spend. Liverpool has been the most skilled club at squad-building the last 3 years. Why would they suddenly act counter-intuitively when they are positioned to be a European super club?
The times Klopp did not build up his teams, he was at a selling club. Now he finally has a well-financed club that is supporting that with Champions League winnings. I predict that they continue to make 1-2 big moves to complete the squad. It's a team with Henderson, Miller, Matip, etc still playing a big part.
I think they'll buy too but not Pepe, doesn't make any sense to add a player who'd be fighting for his place with Mane and Salah while they have those guys you mention in midfield and defence. A top centre mid could push them up another level.
Ornstein also mentioned that Liverpool are only expecting to male low level signings this summer.
The Liverpool owners being benevolent big spenders has always been a massive myth. They’ve spent what they’ve sold plus a moderate amount on top, that’s it. They’ve made good money from the CL but it doesn’t mean they’re suddenly going to start spending United and City money, they’re a lot closer to our level.
Claudius wrote:What you are saying is exactly why I think they will spend. Liverpool has been the most skilled club at squad-building the last 3 years. Why would they suddenly act counter-intuitively when they are positioned to be a European super club?
The times Klopp did not build up his teams, he was at a selling club. Now he finally has a well-financed club that is supporting that with Champions League winnings. I predict that they continue to make 1-2 big moves to complete the squad. It's a team with Henderson, Miller, Matip, etc still playing a big part.
Why didn't Wenger?
Some managers win and instantly think "how can we crush any challengers?" Others, which is to say nearly everyone, sit back and enjoy their achievement. It takes a special kind of animal to cut loose players that have sweat blood for you in victory or demote them to squad player by buying a superstar.
I'm very sure Klopp falls into the normal categrory. If he had wanted domination, at least for a while, he probably could have had it at Dortmund too. Such was the team that he and Zorc built. Players don't just leave Dortmund, or Arsenal, because of money or prestige. They leave because those clubs aren't obsessed with winning in the way Madrid, Barca, Bayern and Juventus are. That's why Klopp manages Liverpool and not Man City and previously managed Dortmund and not Bayern. It's a match for club and manager. As Wenger was here but wouldn't have been at Madrid.
Qwiss! wrote:I think they'll buy too but not Pepe, doesn't make any sense to add a player who'd be fighting for his place with Mane and Salah while they have those guys you mention in midfield and defence. A top centre mid could push them up another level.
They spent £110m on centre midfielders alone last summer. £40m on Chamberlain the summer before that.