Slojo

Mourinho knows in the long run that a point is enough, everyone knows the approach he'll go, just not how he does it. Still United are lethal on the counter-attack, it could go like the cup game last year when Rashford was causing us all sorts of problems with a hit and go. Can't let that happen again.

Do you expect players to act professionally all the time though? Look at the tantrum Batsuayi had when he was subbed off against Palace, and he seems like a really nice bloke. Players can be very irrational we've seen it in the past if they aren't getting their own way they'll kick up a fuss. Ferguson's success was actually instrumental in kicking out some of his best players, his days at United were like a regime in the football world. If we let the players decide on the manager's fate then Conte will be gone as soon as one of them gets subbed off the pitch or doesn't play. The board has to back the manager, Conte has done an incredible job given the circumstances, but he's having a hard 2nd season and we must do everything in order to help him. This isn't exactly an Arsene Wenger situation.

They're paid to work, it's a job, they should listen to their superiors. Players are spoiled it's as simple as that. Lampard was the same with AVB, in an interview when Di Matteo was in charge he said "Well this manager players me, the other didn't" Lampard who was 34 coming on 35 at the time and was putting in shocking performances under AVB. Now, of course, we don't know what really happens behind the scenes, but I don't see how Lampard truly helped the situation, it wasn't professional.

I'm thinking about 4 at the back considering how bad we were against Roma defensively in the 2nd half. Or we could just stick with the system we won the league with. Regardless it's a tough choice for Conte but what isn't a tough choice is not playing Fabregas, and if he plays Fabregas in a two-man midfield I don't even think I'll watch the match. (Well I'm working anyway, but still) Has to be Drinkwater-Kante for me, they must play. Look how good they were together at Leicester, Drinkwater isn't the greatest but he's more composed than Bakayoko, and much fitter than Fabregas.

You can also count Di Matteo in the mix who won the Champions League with an awful ageing side. The board didn't want to give him a contract, which is why they hesitated and hesitated then he finally got it, they knew they would be obliterated by the press. That's why I think the main issue is the board & manager job security, they're too trigger happy, how many people can work with that? If the board is more willing to sack managers than they are players how will the players listen to the managers when things get rough? They'll revolt. Player power is too big at this club, many may disagree but that's how I see it. I hated when the players revolted against AVB for how bad he was, it wasn't easy for him, he inherited an ageing side, Lampard was completely unprofessional, he was 33-34, you're bound not to be played.

I never thought I would see the day someone hates Azpilicueta and sees him as arrogant, especially not one of our own fans. Azpi performs for every single manager and he's been a favourite for every single one of them who have come through, he's been played as a RB, LB and now he's been developed into a CB, never complained always performed. You're entitled to your opinion but f**king hell, are you trolling?

Spurs look superb, sure they've struggled a bit but I can't see them finishing outside the top 4, they've definitely surpassed Arsenal for me. The Premier League seems to get harder and harder each year, I doubt we'll ever get a team winning back to back leagues again for a long time.

Tottenham playing really well against Madrid apparently?

People on here strongly underrate Moses, he's an exceptional player, just look how bad Azpi was last night, not an easy role to play out wide but he has done it very well under Conte and will continue to do so I'm sure of it.

You know I was thinking that I was looking at the Roma side and I don't see how we are lightyears away from them, their midfield is better than ours.

Martin Keown, Danny Murphy & Phil Neville are a disaster, Sky is far better. Makes me miss Alan Hansen actually as much of a prick he could be.

The thing is you know for a fact if Matic didn't go to United Phil Neville wouldn't even be mentioning it. One of the worst pundits I've seen.

Neville talking sh*t as usual. Bakayoko is an upgrade on Matic, I say that as someone who didn't want the Bakayoko transfer.

Malouda & Kalou were terrible post-2010, Malouda was ageing and lost his pace, the other wasn't that good in the first place, and once he wasn't around good players he became useless. Mikel was here for years and never developed into what we all hoped he would, he was content with being a squad player but even then I thought he was very inconsistent and not reliable enough. Although he did give us some good performances in cup finals which I won't forget. Matic re-started his Chelsea career on fire, he was superb, since the shocking Burnley game he never reached those performances again, he was definitely the weak link last season. So like the players you just listed, there is a correlation to players who are getting scapegoated, they are underperforming. I wouldn't say Rudiger is underperforming really although it was a shocking error, not quite sure what was going on through his mind. It was like a striker was playing in defence for the minute, but even then a striker probably still would have cleared it on instinct. But what I'm saying is, I'm sure if Rudiger carries on making mistakes he wouldn't be given the benefit of the doubt like he is now, if it were Gary Cahill we know far well what the reaction would be.

I like to think that also, but surely Drinkwater was capable of playing?

A back 3 is never going to handle pressure like that. Roma were never pressured enough, Ferdinand actually brought up Fabregas's positioning and lack of covering which caused the first goal to happen. We are always going to struggle with diagonal balls in a back 3, which is why we need to close players down who cross the ball at the halfway line, it's hard to do that consistently when you're playing with 10 men, there is no balance. And let's face it, Fabregas is like playing with 10 men when the opposition has the ball, he's been the scapegoat for the past weeks for a reason.

I'm not sure if I can agree with that bit, for me he can be reckless, severely lacks the intelligence Kante has. You can't blame Fabregas for him taking big touches in our half (he needs to stop doing that!) & he lacks defensive consideration in our defensive areas, you can't just tackle someone around or inside our box like you would at the halfway line. He's certainly a player with potential but I think he'll always have those limitations. But I'm bound to be negative because I never wanted us to sign him in the first place quite honestly.

Hazard will probably be taken out of the game again like last time, and today he really looked mentally/physically damaged after that knock, completely different player after it. I can't fault too much of the back 3 at the moment, I would trust in Luiz more than I would Rudiger at this very moment though. Rudiger still looks like he gets nervous, Luiz is incredibly confident.

Which is why we shouldn't overreact too much imo, I can definitely understand the aggression, I'm angry. I'm mostly angry with circumstances which are out of our control however, nothing we can do. Conte isn't stupid, he'll know he can't play Fabregas in the midfield anymore and he took Cahill off for an attacker, he knows Cahill is our weakest defender.

I'll fault him for tonight in playing Fabregas, very bad move, I know I didn't say it to begin with but surely everyone was sceptical with him there and Drinkwater on the bench. Drinkwater has played a decent amount of minutes and in those minutes he's put good quality, he should have started tonight or at least came on at halftime, not at the 70th minute. Regardless, everyone makes mistakes, Conte is the man for this team. I'm just sad because I know how the board operates, if it were up to me I would publicly back him and support him. But enough negativity, we have Drinkwater fit and almost Kante, United is a big obstacle but we should be able to get this nonsense out the way. I don't think we have huge problems, I think we just play in a very fragile system, once we get that last piece to the puzzle we'll be fine, first it was Hazard, now it's Kante.

2nd place has been a death sentence the past several years for us in the CL. It's still not over however, we are still very much in this, I just can't wait for Kante to be back, I'm begging for no more injuries.

I think he'll be a bigger scapegoat than Cahill if he keeps getting played in the midfield. He just isn't up for it, I certainly don't want him sold like many others do, he's an exceptional player with a very high football IQ, he just needs to be used differently. I for one think Pedro needs rotating just as much as Willian, he should start playing more in the front 3.

I really don't think so, 3 at the back really utilises our strengths in the attack which I like. People forget that we have the best ball-playing defender in the world in David Luiz, he's exceptional, this system works but it's a fragile system, one wrong thing and that's it, there is no reverting because you have 3 at the back. Cesc Fabregas isn't fit for the pivot, we need more rotation for the wide players, we need better distribution from Bakayoko. Be careful what you wish for is what I'm saying, the back 4 is very stagnant in the modern game now and we have exceptional wing backs that would be restricted in that formation.

Couldn't agree more with that, I would play Luiz instead of Rudiger though, he's a great leader and we usually play better when he plays.

Will you shut the f**k up