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[Roy Jones Jnr]

Fernandinho is still criminally underrated, it's rare that anyone actually discusses him.

Been one of the best 2/3 CMs in the league for a few seasons, understandable that Kante got all the praise last year at Leicester but Fernandinho has been better than him for ages.

He's quality but calm it....Kante was inhuman last season.

Wasn't he getting dropped last season for Fernando/Delph?

[BodiesInFlight]

Is he though?

Kid is nothing special.

Well he isn't going to be Messi or anything but he's still dangerous and can be unplayable at times and is still young.

He's not as crap as some of you guys were saying during the Euros that's for sure. Playing for England can make anyone look like a pub player.

[Sparked_26]

Well he isn't going to be Messi or anything but he's still dangerous and can be unplayable at times and is still young.

He's not as crap as some of you guys were saying during the Euros that's for sure. Playing for England can make anyone look like a pub player.

That is true but I also think in a team that is doing as well as City are at the moment it is easier for him. Also Pep probably actually coaches him.

I think Sterling is functional in a very good team but I don't see anything special in him - nobody is ever going to say 'oh no Raheem Sterling is playing!' And I still expect that if City are successful they'll replace him at some point in the future with someone who is at least twice as good as him. They've hedged their bets already with Leroy Sane a serious option.

If Raheem Sterling obliterates his opposing full back with speed and trickery I would sincerely question how good that full back was at the highest level. I just don't get it, really - I don't view him as a prodigious talent.

I doubt if City are ever playing poorly that Sterling does anything to dig them out of a hole. He is not that type of player.

He reminds me a bit of Freddie Ljungberg obviously not in playing style but just that sense you get that this player is not particularly brilliant but he carries a goal threat.

For England he doesn't carry a goal threat obviously. Instead of Silva or De Bruyne supplying the bullets he has Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, and Wayne Rooney.

[Tom Cruise]

That is true but I also think in a team that is doing as well as City are at the moment it is easier for him. Also Pep probably actually coaches him.

I think Sterling is functional in a very good team but I don't see anything special in him - nobody is ever going to say 'oh no Raheem Sterling is playing!' And I still expect that if City are successful they'll replace him at some point in the future with someone who is at least twice as good as him. They've hedged their bets already with Leroy Sane a serious option.

If Raheem Sterling obliterates his opposing full back with speed and trickery I would sincerely question how good that full back was at the highest level. I just don't get it, really - I don't view him as a prodigious talent.

I doubt if City are ever playing poorly that Sterling does anything to dig them out of a hole. He is not that type of player.

He reminds me a bit of Freddie Ljungberg obviously not in playing style but just that sense you get that this player is not particularly brilliant but he carries a goal threat.

For England he doesn't carry a goal threat obviously. Instead of Silva or De Bruyne supplying the bullets he has Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, and Wayne Rooney.

One thing about Sterling that I think gets overlooked (mostly because he completely abandoned it for a few years) is that he actually quite an intelligent player.

When he first came on the scene with Liverpool what impressed me was his ability to pass when he needed to and make intelligent runs, rather than his skill and pace. When he started buying into the hype he started trying to play like Messi, which doesnt suit him because, like you say, he hasnt got the skill and isnt as quick as he seems to think he is.

Guardiola seems to have rammed some sense into him and he has started playing as a team player again. Obviously it helps when you are playing in a team which is creating space all over the place like Liverpool were with Suarez and City are now. But he is exploiting that space well and putting together some nice passing moves with his teammates

[Roy Jones Jnr]

Fernandinho ran right through us years ago for Donetsk.

He has had some pretty significant dips in his career though. He was hopeless at the world cup for example.

The ginger prince looks superb. Looking like the biggest mistake of Chelsea's history although it is hard to see how it plays out any other way. KDB has obviously done a lot of growing up since then but he was a little ***** back then.

That said that is Mourinho again for you. Always leaves teams significant weaker. Lukaku and De Bruyne - what is that £200 million pounds worth of a footballer or something.

Be interesting to see how he decimates Man United.

I can't see Conte doing that. Hope Chelsea back him to the hilt even if we have another poor season. That Liverpool game was an eye opener and with Leicester and Arsenal to come we could feasibly start losing every week again.

KDB is hitting that level now....the level in that tier just below the big big dogs....i'm talking the Ronaldo's, the Messi's, the Suarez's, the Mane's etc.

He's just an all round fantastic footballer, great to watch. Chelsea did the footballing world a favour when they sold him...he'd have never blossomed into the player he is now had he stayed at a club which encourages anti football. Just look at how they've managed to ruin someone who also should be in that same tier in Hazard.

Great decision by Chelsea to sell KDB. For football.

[Roy Jones Jnr]

One thing about Sterling that I think gets overlooked (mostly because he completely abandoned it for a few years) is that he actually quite an intelligent player.

When he first came on the scene with Liverpool what impressed me was his ability to pass when he needed to and make intelligent runs, rather than his skill and pace. When he started buying into the hype he started trying to play like Messi, which doesnt suit him because, like you say, he hasnt got the skill and isnt as quick as he seems to think he is.

Guardiola seems to have rammed some sense into him and he has started playing as a team player again. Obviously it helps when you are playing in a team which is creating space all over the place like Liverpool were with Suarez and City are now. But he is exploiting that space well and putting together some nice passing moves with his teammates

Very good point that, that's what impressed me most at the time when Sterling broke through...his footballing brain. Yeah he strikes the ball like a 12 year old girl and runs like an idiot but he's had a footy brain since day one. And that's something that just cannot be taught. Look at Walcott, Ox etc etc.

That's what i always feared about Ibe when he was breaking through...many Liverpool fans at the time were saying he was gonna be better than Sterling but he just never showed the footballing brain that Raheem showed right from the start.

What Sterling needs to improve upon are things that can be improved on. That's why he went for such a high price. He has most of the things that can't be taught, with experience i expect him to become a very good player, he's very useful as it is right now but as he gets older he can get to the top level...he has the brain. Walcott never did and look at him now...arguably a worse player than he was at 16.

[Tom Cruise]

Very good point that, that's what impressed me most at the time when Sterling broke through...his footballing brain. Yeah he strikes the ball like a 12 year old girl and runs like an idiot but he's had a footy brain since day one. And that's something that just cannot be taught. Look at Walcott, Ox etc etc.

That's what i always feared about Ibe when he was breaking through...many Liverpool fans at the time were saying he was gonna be better than Sterling but he just never showed the footballing brain that Raheem showed right from the start.

What Sterling needs to improve upon are things that can be improved on. That's why he went for such a high price. He has most of the things that can't be taught, with experience i expect him to become a very good player, he's very useful as it is right now but as he gets older he can get to the top level...he has the brain. Walcott never did and look at him now...arguably a worse player than he was at 16.

Yeah Ibe has zero brain for the game. When he gets the ball it takes him a few minutes to decide what he wants to do. Got the physique and the speed and whatever, but like you say, so have Walcott and Chamberlain. Takes more than that to be in a top 4 team.

[Sparked_26]

KDB is hitting that level now....the level in that tier just below the big big dogs....i'm talking the Ronaldo's, the Messi's, the Suarez's, the Mane's etc.

He's just an all round fantastic footballer, great to watch. Chelsea did the footballing world a favour when they sold him...he'd have never blossomed into the player he is now had he stayed at a club which encourages anti football. Just look at how they've managed to ruin someone who also should be in that same tier in Hazard.

Great decision by Chelsea to sell KDB. For football.

Obviously disagree with all that shite. But Hazard...........

He is what he is. Just a guy who plays a bit of football and is really good at it - on his day. I've accepted him now. If you could compare Hazard to anyone it would be that Assou-Ekotto dude who played for Spurs who hated football.

Hazard doesn't really like football imo. He's hit his ceiling already. And he will never, ever ever really perform when anybody gives a [[/B]hit about the match. Because if you have 21 guys on the pitch who really care about the game Hazard simply can't match them. He can't pretend to care can he? It's simply not in him. He will go through the motions and do enough to be professional-ish.

Hazard would be happiest playing for PSG against a team of Brie salesmen. I am not even criticising Hazard anymore he's just not much of a competitor so he can't be a great player. His mooted move to Real is a bit of a joke. No way could Hazard do anything but fail in such an environment were so many people care.

I don't care too much about Hazard really but from his point of view he should be happy in a middling Chelsea team who are downgrading by the season and expectations of him and the team tumbling as a result.

In short. Eden Hazard is Matt Le Tissier. He needs a smaller pond or failing that a pond in which he is the shark surrounded by goldfish.

Eden Hazard is a profound disappointment not only to Chelsea but to the sport. The antithesis of what any football fan really wants whether you support Chelsea or Chesham.

Eden Hazard - somewhat of a ****.

[El Fenomeno]

He's quality but calm it....Kante was inhuman last season.

Wasn't he getting dropped last season for Fernando/Delph?

He was class last year, arguably our best player I thought with Sagna.

Didn't get dropped from what I remember, maybe had some fitness issues.

Even still, Pellegrini did a crap job so any decision he made last year means **** all to me.

Kante has a better engine (Dinho's is still unbelievable) but I feel like Fernandinho does everything else better.

[Sparked_26]

He was class last year, arguably our best player I thought with Sagna.

Didn't get dropped from what I remember, maybe had some fitness issues.

Even still, Pellegrini did a crap job so any decision he made last year means **** all to me.

Kante has a better engine (Dinho's is still unbelievable) but I feel like Fernandinho does everything else better.

Kante has to play in midfield, at right back, and as a centre half for Chelsea at the minute. At least he did against Liverpool.