Best opposition player at the Turf this season

Jakubs Tash · Post by **Jakubs Tash** » Mon May 21, 2018 6:05 pm

I started a similar thread at the end of last season and the general consensus seemed to be that Virgil van Dijk was just about the best last season....

So who did everyone think this season?

Doesn’t necessarily have to be a player that has been brilliant against other teams or who plays for a particularly outstanding team. Just somebody who stood out to you on that particular day as a cut above the rest.

I’ll start. In my opinion Spurs put in the best performance by a visiting team on the Turf in 17/18. Kane was outstanding and scored the hat-trick but I thought Son was superb. Quick (of mind and feet), a real threat going forward and very useful leading the press from the front which led to us struggling to even getting out of our own half in the first 25 mins of that game. So my vote goes to Son!

BFCmaj · Post by **BFCmaj** » Mon May 21, 2018 6:10 pm

Kevin De Bruyne. He was immense. Was relieved and proud when we battled in the 2nd half to get a point. My favourite performance.

Damo · Post by **Damo** » Mon May 21, 2018 6:10 pm

I thought Gundogan looked great when we played city.
Posted something complimentary about us post game too didn't he?

andyh · Post by **andyh** » Mon May 21, 2018 6:15 pm

Only came on for a 20 minute cameo but Hazard was a class above.

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Mon May 21, 2018 6:16 pm

In terms of the minutes he was on the pitch, has to be Hazard, absolutely incredible.

Vegas Claret · Post by **Vegas Claret** » Mon May 21, 2018 6:21 pm

another vote for Hazard, he was playing FIFA in his own head - look at how amazing his ball control was ( and he's not a patch on Messi)

LawsCanalJump · Post by **LawsCanalJump** » Mon May 21, 2018 6:24 pm

Again, if hazard had played 90 minutes we would of been in trouble, untouchable

ClaretMoffitt · Post by **ClaretMoffitt** » Mon May 21, 2018 6:27 pm

ClaretTony wrote:In terms of the minutes he was on the pitch, has to be Hazard, absolutely incredible.

this

FactualFrank · Post by **FactualFrank** » Mon May 21, 2018 6:37 pm

Hazard.

Braindead · Post by **Braindead** » Mon May 21, 2018 6:41 pm

Hazard, Kane and De Bruyne. I also thought Giroud gave both centre halves a torrid time

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Mon May 21, 2018 6:42 pm

easily Harry Kane

Vino blanco · Post by **Vino blanco** » Mon May 21, 2018 6:42 pm

Agree with Hazard's 20 minutes, followed closely by Bong.

ClaretFelix · Post by **ClaretFelix** » Mon May 21, 2018 6:44 pm

Maybe a bizarre choice, and his team were woeful all season, but I thought Kurt Zouma was class when we played Stoke. Great in the air, strong in the tackle and absolutely rapid. It took him going off injured for us to make any decent chance and ulitmatley pinch the 3 points

Bin Ont Turf · Post by **Bin Ont Turf** » Mon May 21, 2018 6:51 pm

Ashley Williams was pretty crap, so I'm going to say him.

Quickenthetempo · Post by **Quickenthetempo** » Mon May 21, 2018 6:54 pm

Some good choices so far.

I would like to throw Ederson into the ring as well. A keeper who made a couple of great saves but it was his footwork that made him stand out. He could play CM for City not a problem.

bfcjg · Post by **bfcjg** » Mon May 21, 2018 6:59 pm

Hazard, but I thought City's keeper was amazing in the second half.

andyh · Post by **andyh** » Mon May 21, 2018 7:00 pm

Ederson’s warm up was one of the highlights. Smashing 40 yard passes to his coach who never moved an inch for any of them.

CoolClaret · Post by **CoolClaret** » Mon May 21, 2018 7:15 pm

Stuck between Hazard, Kane & Gündogan...

I also thought Ederson, Kante & Victor Moses played extremely well at the Turf this season.

Gonna go for Kane, even though I really don't like hin

Marty Dobson · Post by **Marty Dobson** » Mon May 21, 2018 7:17 pm

Hazard for me.

Dyched · Post by **Dyched** » Mon May 21, 2018 7:20 pm

Andy Carroll

ElectroClaret · Post by **ElectroClaret** » Mon May 21, 2018 7:22 pm

Easily Hazard.

Athletico mtoto · Post by **Athletico mtoto** » Mon May 21, 2018 7:32 pm

Hazard,kane and half the man city team.
But to say Adam Lallana hasn’t played much football this season i thought he ran the game for liverpool on New Year’s Day

Stalbansclaret · Post by **Stalbansclaret** » Mon May 21, 2018 7:32 pm

Seems crazy saying Hazard as he was only on the pitch for 15 or 20 mins but he was incredible. It was actually funny watching him run around with the ball evading man after man...like watching a kid in a playground who is miles better than all the other kids just taking the p***. Imagine being able to do that to professional footballers ! I remember saying after a game at Stamford Bridge..the one where Ben Mee headed an equaliser and Matic got sent off...that I didn't think Hazard gave the ball away all game. A fantastic footballer.

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Mon May 21, 2018 7:34 pm

Stalbansclaret wrote:Seems crazy saying Hazard as he was only on the pitch for 15 or 20 mins but he was incredible. It was actually funny watching him run around with the ball evading man after man...like watching a kid in a playground who is miles better than all the other kids just taking the p***. Imagine being able to do that to professional footballers ! I remember saying after a game at Stamford Bridge..the one where Ben Mee headed an equaliser and Matic got sent off...that I didn't think Hazard gave the ball away all game. A fantastic footballer.

Fantastic until he has to produce end product, beats defenders for fun (when he can be assed) then smacks it into the stands. He always looks a world beater but scored just 2 more PL goals than Chris Wood in a better side and Hazard played 8 more times and 800 more minutes.

One of the most frustrating footballers to watch, ever.

Dyched · Post by **Dyched** » Mon May 21, 2018 7:35 pm

Athletico mtoto wrote:Hazard,kane and half the man city team.
But to say Adam Lallana hasn’t played much football this season i thought he ran the game for liverpool on New Year’s Day

Man City controlled the first half of that but second half we were very good. Apart from Sterling missing that sitter we looked the most likely team to win imo. But im always biased.

Lord Beamish · Post by **Lord Beamish** » Mon May 21, 2018 7:39 pm

Hazard ran about with the ball, but did sweet FA with it.

Kane was utterly unplayable and walked away with the Match Ball.

Kane.

EarbyClaret · Post by **EarbyClaret** » Mon May 21, 2018 7:40 pm

Spurs did a job on us but they were helped by a couple of big decisions - the penalty OK, the colour of the Alli card marginal, going their way - which did give them a start to build on.

Ederson's save from Lennon was immense and his overall performance was excellent - it's a long time since Brazil went to a World Cup with a top-class 'keeper.

Chelsea's performance was the best by a visiting team I thought. Recall some people marking our players low on the ratings thread but we worked mighty hard to keep in that game. They had stand-out performances all through the team - Cahill, Moses and Giroud. Hazard's 20 minute cameo really sticks in the mind. Testament to the Clarets' performance that Conte had to bring him on with an FA Cup semi-final only 3 days later.

Buxtonclaret · Post by **Buxtonclaret** » Mon May 21, 2018 7:43 pm

Hazard
I'm just glad he only played about 20 minutes.

karatekid · Post by **karatekid** » Mon May 21, 2018 7:43 pm

Raheem Sterling.

karatekid · Post by **karatekid** » Mon May 21, 2018 7:44 pm

Raheem Sterling........the way he put that ball wide was perfection itself. I'll never forget that piece of skill.

bobinho · Post by **bobinho** » Mon May 21, 2018 7:45 pm

Hazard was immense. Only 20 minutes or so, but he was incredible. A pleasure and a priveledge to have seen a top player at the top of his game. Simply wonderful.

Earlier in the season, Kane was superb.

De Bruyne was awesome too.

My vote goes to Hazard tho, he was on another level, not just to our players, but to his own team too.

Funkydrummer · Post by **Funkydrummer** » Mon May 21, 2018 8:03 pm

andyh wrote:Only came on for a 20 minute cameo but Hazard was a class above.

Agreed, and Pedro was no slouch either. Thoroughly enjoyed watching the pair of them.

Greenmile · Post by **Greenmile** » Mon May 21, 2018 8:06 pm

Jesse Lingard changed the game when he came on at Old Trafford. Maybe not the best performance of the season (Kane at the Turf for me), but worth a mention.

NottsClaret · Post by **NottsClaret** » Mon May 21, 2018 8:06 pm

It's great seeing these players, even if they occaisonally batter us like Kane did. Him, Hazard and DeBruyne all lived up to the hype, top drawer players.

Beagleheart · Post by **Beagleheart** » Mon May 21, 2018 9:03 pm

Hazard was like an adult playing against ten year olds. Unplayable.

Lalllana was outstanding to say that he only played for a few nanoseconds all season before and after playing against us.

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Mon May 21, 2018 9:13 pm

Beagleheart wrote:Hazard was like an adult playing against ten year olds. Unplayable.

Lalllana was outstanding to say that he only played for a few nanoseconds all season before and after playing against us.

So Unplayable he produced nothing

Jakubs Tash · Post by **Jakubs Tash** » Mon May 21, 2018 9:26 pm

Funkydrummer wrote:Agreed, and Pedro was no slouch either. Thoroughly enjoyed watching the pair of them.

Good shout. I also thought Pedro was excellent...as he was the previous season at Turf Moor too.

tim_noone · Post by **tim_noone** » Mon May 21, 2018 9:28 pm

Damo wrote:I thought Gundogan looked great when we played city.
Posted something complimentary about us post game too didn't he?

I like de bruyne.. But enjoyed gundogans performance. No one came close to those two for me

Cirrus_Minor · Post by **Cirrus_Minor** » Mon May 21, 2018 9:38 pm

Hazard for me.

TVC15 · Post by **TVC15** » Mon May 21, 2018 9:39 pm

KRBFC wrote:So Unplayable he produced nothing

They were already winning when he came on weren't`t they ?

Given Burnley could not get the ball off Hazard whilst he was on the pitch then he didn't need to do anymore than he did.

As for no end product that's just ridiculous. He's scored 17 goals this season and the same last year.

Hazard is one of the best players in Europe.

For what its worth I think Harry Kane was the best player at the Turf this season.
De Bruyne played well but I thought Fernandinho was City`s best player that day. Ederson was also brilliant.
Kante for Chelsea at the Turf runs Harry Kane close. He was incredible - I'm sure there were at least 3 of him on the pitch.

LifeafterRobbie · Post by **LifeafterRobbie** » Mon May 21, 2018 9:42 pm

I thought Spurs were the best team we played, and while Kane obviously had a good game, I was most impressed by Son...........he gets my vote.

Belgianclaret · Post by **Belgianclaret** » Mon May 21, 2018 10:11 pm

De Bruyne and Kane for me

Cubanclaret · Post by **Cubanclaret** » Mon May 21, 2018 10:18 pm

Kante for me for two seasons running. I think he’s an unbelievable player.
Spurs were comfortably the best team at the Turf.

Leyland Claret · Post by **Leyland Claret** » Mon May 21, 2018 10:19 pm

Kanté for me. For a guy so small in stature he is a footballing giant. Does the simple things brilliantly. What a player he is.

Dy1geo · Post by **Dy1geo** » Mon May 21, 2018 10:21 pm

Another shout out for Hazard, the way he floated across the pitch with the ball was even as an opposing fan a joy to watch. Cante in the same match wasn’t far behind him.

Quickenthetempo · Post by **Quickenthetempo** » Mon May 21, 2018 10:21 pm

City were the best team by far to come to the turf but we played our best home performance that day luckily for us.
Chelsea were 2nd best, everyone of them played well especially their defence.

claptrappers_union · Post by **claptrappers_union** » Mon May 21, 2018 10:22 pm

Hazard for me... came on as a sub and just ran the show.

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Mon May 21, 2018 10:27 pm

TVC15 wrote:They were already winning when he came on weren't`t they ?

Given Burnley could not get the ball off Hazard whilst he was on the pitch then he didn't need to do anymore than he did.

As for no end product that's just ridiculous. He's scored 17 goals this season and the same last year.

Hazard is one of the best players in Europe.

For what its worth I think Harry Kane was the best player at the Turf this season.
De Bruyne played well but I thought Fernandinho was City`s best player that day. Ederson was also brilliant.
Kante for Chelsea at the Turf runs Harry Kane close. He was incredible - I'm sure there were at least 3 of him on the pitch.

3 league goals more than Ashley Barnes and Hazard played 7 more games than Barnes, the end product just isn't there when compared with the genuine ''best in Europe''. You can say ''well he isn't a striker'' but he's played central quite a lot. Compare him with strikers like Lewandowski/Suarez/Kane/Icardi and he's nowhere near, compare him with wide players like Salah/Neymar and he's nowhere near, compare him with ''in the middle'' players like Dybala/Messi/Ronaldo and he's nowhere near.

He looks a world beater but his return is shocking, 17 goals in 52 appearances (all comps). I'm almost sure Salah has more PL goals this season than Hazard in the past 3 years.

Cubanclaret · Post by **Cubanclaret** » Mon May 21, 2018 10:45 pm

Hazard likes to stick his arse out and falls over a lot. I think he’s a very talented player (obvs) but he’s quite selfish and does go missing in games. He did look good when he came in at Turf against a tired team. But it was a mere cameo compared to many others mentioned.

IanMcL · Post by **IanMcL** » Mon May 21, 2018 10:53 pm

Most of the referees. Particularly the one who gave Arsenal a last min non pen.