ColeMan

plus, when they quote, they usually only take snippets, which are taken out of context so they can spin things any way they like, just like the gutter press they are

Great post mate. Maybe it would be a good idea, especially if we lose a game, that forum members take a time out after said game. Wait,as I do now, at least a day, before committing your views. Amazingly, most times my perspective changes once the initial anger etc subsides.

I'll have some of that Mike

RIP Tony, classic powerhouse forward of his time,

He's a great option as well, but as with super Mario another flawed genius. My choices were Costa and Falcao. Meaning I think it will be Costa, but still want Falcao, even though he's injured at the moment.

I seem to have been saying much the same for quite a while Barn. Although it is an admirable idea to go to three at the back in an extra effort to win a match, which incidentally has worked for us this season, against a team that is playing like west ham did yesterday, it can be really counter-productive.They had no intention of trying to play football, just rely on the punt up to Carroll and then Cole when Carroll went off to make any sort of incursion into our half.It was evident from early on that their defenders were going to stick to the edge of their box, put in some hefty challenges, and throw themselves at anything, which, to be honest, they did quite well. Back to your point,the lack of an early ball just allows the opponent to set themselves early,and as west ham were essentially playing with a back six, this proved a really big problem for us, as by the time we were in an attacking position they had 7 or 8 players back. Add to this the extra players going forward when we went to 3 at the back, and at times, they were as many as 14 players in their area. We really need to attack more directly, and at pace, thus negating the oppositions efforts at getting more players in defensive positions.

Great post mate, nice to read a well thought out and rational view of the club.

or even better, it gets to the point where Juan is about to sign his contract and Jose appears on the scene and says "you know what you told us to do when we wanted to sign Rooney, well you can do the same, come on Juan, come back where you should be"

Welcome to the shed end . We all have to trust Jose to do what HE thinks is right for the future of the club, whether we all agree with it or not. I'm of the opinion that Hazard or Willian would be capable of playing the central role if necessary, with the possible new signing Salah filling in on the wing.

well we have bought Salah then , there are going to be plenty pissed off with that decision here ,I would assume.

this is hard to fathom, but, we have assume that it is part of the plan for the future. As you say, an interesting few days ahead, one way or another.

since 1962 for me, these things happen

come on guys, pack in all the personal abuse !

Its as much about Juan going somewhere to actually play and maybe earn a place in Spains squad for the world cup as anything else, just wish it was somewhere else

Think they are pretty much on par, but Oscars defensive attributes swing it his way

I wasn't saying that at all, our team is built around a very strong, skillful midfield, but in my opinion that is detrimental to our strikers. If we played faster football more often, whoever was playing up top might be further forward, and in position to receive the kind of crosses mentioned.

Our main problem is that our current style of play doesn't suit playing with a striker at all in my opinion. The build up play is woefully slow, which immediately nullifies any threat that our strikers can impose. Torres thrives on the early ball, which he never receives here, hence his forays out to the wing to try to get involved. Even when we attack at pace there is always a tendency to come back inside, rather than hit the byline and cross. All our midfielders are capable of weighing in with a few goals, but slow build up play results in a packed penalty area with fewer opportunities for a clear strike at goal. None of our strikers are performing well, as evidenced by their poor goal return, but playing more to their strengths would hopefully yield more goals for them. Far too many sideways and backwards passes result in our lack of early threat to the opposition defence, why try to dribble around the whole bloody team when an early ball will bypass the majority of them. We need to forget this 4-2-3-1 formation that everyone seems to be playing nowadays and revert to the 4-3-3 system that gave us our early success.

thats been the case most of this season, we are creating numerous chances but converting far too few. Others are correct when stating that Sunderland wanted it much more in extra time, but, by then the game should have been well beyond them.

In my opinion there is no better man for the job, whether Roman is of the same opinion we will never know, he plays his cards reallly close to his chest. The knee-jerk reaction of some fans is annoying, but it is their prerogative to express their own opinion as much as the next fan. Most, if not all of us would have accepted the position we are in now if it had been offered before the season started, but the success of the 10 years of Roman Abramovich, have made some impatient for more. The unbalanced nature of the squad needs to be addressed either in january or next summer, but the foundations are very much in evidence, we must just hope that Roman allows Jose to fashion the squad as he sees necessary and not impose players that he does not want. All in all I am very very happy that Jose is back, we the fans,and the board, need the patience to let him fashion this squad into a winning group, and if anyone is capable of doing that, it is definitely the Happy One.

In style Cahill is very much like Terry, the only problem is that he is not yet a leader, that may eventually develope in him, but for the time being, when fit JT is still our best centre back.

my thoughts entirely

keep forgetting about Eto'o

guess so

why would we let any of our THREE strikers go without signing better replacements ?

and he's a bloody lazy player with a suspect temperament, no thanks.