Captain Haribo

Benayoun and Andy Carroll, eh? Bit of a step down from Kaka and Aguero, that. Both would be truly awful signings, especially for the sums being touted. Benayoun is 30 now and nowhere near as good as Kalou. Certainly not an adequate replacement for Cole. I would be genuinely embarassed if we paid good money for him with some of the other options available. When I first heard those rumours I though it was just a desperate journo making things up but it actually seems to have some legs. :D

God damn this African Cup of Nations! Seriously, though, there's no point reading anything into that game as Sunderland were utterly shambolic. Enjoyed every minute, of course. Don't care that they scored, complacency can be forgiven in such bizarre circumstances.

Same old story in defence today. Gave away too many clumsy freekicks and, with the way we've been of late, that was always going to lead to something for Everton. The first and second goals had a major element of luck but if we stop the balls into the box there's no problem there. Attacking, we did well. Probably could have done more down the right side but you really shouldn't be dropping points in a game where you score three. Still, United losing means it's a point gained and a happy day overall. At the very least, our game was entertaining.

Well that was sh*t. Webb had an awful game, but we shouldn't really blame him as we had our chances and failed to take them. Not like Lampard to miss a penalty, but it seemed almost inevitable from when he lined it up. I've never had so little confidence in him to score a spot kick - maybe the same thoughts were in his head - though I'm really not sure why. Anyway, we didn't play well and City probably deserved their win, even if both goals were rather dubious in nature. Deco was awful, and should have been given a straight red for that horrible lunge near the end.

Not sure what Mikel really did wrong today. His passing was as good as ever. He's still not the best tackler, but he never has been so it's silly to expect that to change suddenly. There was that one incident in the corner with Rosicky (?) where he seemed to do everything right, with Biscuit Legs desperately trying to get the ball and resorting to blatant fouls, only for the freekick to inexplicably go against Jon Obi.

I actually can't remember seeing him complete a pass. The idea that he helped us keep possession is crazy.

That was fun. Annoys me a little that a lot of the match reviews seem to say Arsenal were "the better side" or that we "won without performing". Was obviously Carlo's gameplan to let them fanny about with the ball and attack when they were vulnerable - there's no point playing high up the pitch against a team like Arsenal, because we can counter with such strength and pace that we'll always batter them. They weren't very good at all and never looked very likely to score. We had a few good chances before the first goal - Anelka getting hauled down whilst one on one, and I'm fairly sure Drogba wasn't offside when he got in the same position. First goal was beautiful. I said earlier, if we were playing in the red shirts that would have got a lot more praise because it was so well worked. Terry's pass and Cole's cross were both perfect. Second goal was rather lucky but again it was an excellent ball in from Ashley. Third goal needs no description, because it jus wouldn't do it justice. Only sour point for me was Deco being rather useless, but I don't care enough to complain. A wonderful game, should be feeling chirpy all week after that. Oh, and I've just seen the FA Cup draw. :lol:

A few excellent performances for me. Goals aside, Anelka had a better all round performance than Drogba and was unlucky that he was hauled to ground with his best chance. Ashley Cole was fantastic, and deserves extra praise given the hostility towards him. Essien was probably my MOTM for the number of times he broke up their play. The man's a machine.

Don't care enough about other teams to hate any of them. To me, they're just another group of players we have to beat on the pitch. When it comes to fans, Scousers are the worst.

Buying Aguero would essentially be the opposite of what I'm hoping for. Maybe a sticking by Ancelotti for the long term will help us see the apparant dream of self-sufficiency.

Great. He's good enough to be a sensible long term option, and almost any long term manager is better than the alternative. He seems to have his head screwed on as regards youth development and general coaching of players, so I reckon he'll be as good a candidate as any to continue our success when the likes of Lampard and Drogba are past their prime.

Marcel Desailly always seemed to play with a smile on his face. Similar to Essien in terms of attitude, which is only a good thing. Can't wait to see him reporting at the ACN; don't care if I don't always agree with his views, it's great to see a pundit with passion for the game such as his.

I hope he's not being rushed back for the Arsenal game. If he's genuinely fit, brilliant, but if he's not quite there yet we've got enough stength in the middle to give him the rest he deserves. That said, the man's superhuman so he's probably ready to run for hours.

People make a far bigger deal of the ACN than it really is. Last time around, correct me if I'm wrong, we won 6 and drew 2. There's usually a few cup games thrown in there as well, so the league challenge shouldn't take much of a hit. The only worry might be an increased chance of injury, but as a big supporter of the international game I don't like people complaining about that. We can leave the Scousers to cry about Torres snapping his legs again whilst we enjoy the benefits of squad depth.

I'm not a huge fan, as he's very wasteful and generally seems to make more work for our defensive players. Against the so-called weaker opposition, where we might struggle to break teams down, maybe he's a good option but I don't like to see him near the big games. His performance in the defeat to Aston Villa, for example, was truly awful.

In recent years I can't think of anybody who comes close to Cudicini, really.

£5 million sounds about right. Still a bargain given how good he's been of late. Don't think there's a need to factor in wages at PSV as that's standard fare with young loanees.

One euro was the fee paid to take him back from PSV, bootboy. I mean when we originally bought him from Santos back in 2004. Totally agree, goose. He should be first choice ahead of Carvalho these days. At the risk of splitting opinions, he was our best defender last season.

I'm sure transfer fees aren't of major importance to a lot of you, but I was a little curious as I genuinely can't remember how much he cost. I'm referring to his original move from Santos, rather than when we took him on permanently after his "loan" to PSV. Brought up because of a Liverpool fan I know saying they couldn't have done a whole lot better with the £2 million they wasted on that Greek lump Soti (lol). And to give the thread some extended purpose, who has been our best bargain buy?

He's taken his chance well, though the main benefit of having him play is freeing up Essien, who has been superb in the absence of Lampard et al.

I think it's very unfair to say we're playing better without him when he's not really had a chance under Ancelotti's guidance.

I stand by that point about the Liverpool game but can't remember any specific points to use as an example; had a bit too much to drink that day. I'm glad we can agree on the rest, though.

I love Anelka, and will sing his praises normally. I just thought he was quite wasteful last night and I' m every surprised others don't see that, as everybody I watched the game with agreed. As I've said, his off the ball play was excellent and his running certainly freed up space for Kalou. Perhaps if Drogba had been present that contribution would have been more apparent.

It's hard to choose without going into a massive essay. There are the obvious choices, such as Zola, Di Matteo and Desailly. Unlike many, I still like Poyet despite the Spurs link. I enjoyed watching him enough that I can just about forgive him that.

Fairly sure he's been out injured as he's normally a first XI player for them. His little run through the defence where he poked it just wide was excellent.