Maverick

Probably some of it should be attributed to AVB's rotation/ team selection? He was the only player that looked threatening against United and as he was getting back to his best he gets dropped consistently and whats even stranger is he picks Drogba who clearly seems to be past his best and going through the motions. Any player of Torres's stature would not find that too encouraging and his body language says it all. But to blame Torres alone for it would not be fair, some of it has to be AVB's responsibility.

Offloading Drogba maybe the trigger to Torres confidence about him being the lead striker with no competition, though its a risk I believe it is one that can be taken. If AVB doesn't think like wise it may make sense to off load them both and buy a new striker and holding back Anelka for another year. A loan spell for Lukaku to a premier league club may be required.

There are few sheikhs who've left their camels behind for greener pastures. I am pretty sure we will manage to find a club willing to pay a good enough price for the Brazilian.

He is surely a good player but if the boss doesn't fancy playing him or if he is out of favour then the best option is to sell him, I fancy PSG/ Malaga to be interested but would that interest Torres is my concern. On your second point I completely agree that since his return from suspension AVB has played him with the likes of Malouda/ Anelka up front. If the idea is to get the best out of Torres surely thats not his preferred partnership, Carlo tried various combinations and it dint work. Just when he was starting to forge a partnership with Mata and Sturridge you see AVB preferring Drogba. Whatever the idea behind these tactical switches are it surely isn't working in building Torres's confidence.

Looks like EA have overcooked Fifa this time around, anyone out there who has played PES this year?

Its been the same for a while now and I wouldn't want to see more teams just for the sake of numbers. When I look at those pots I don't see a single nation outside of those that would be missed. One could argue about Turkey but over two legs it was evident that they are some way from being Europe's elite. I wouldn't want to see Estonia vs Spain at a premier event like Euro championships.

Probably the easiest story to cook but I would love to see him as Director of football and guide AVB through a rough phase. Something which our current Director will surely not be capable of.

Looking at Kakuta's two loan spells the only bright point about the current one is its only up to Jan. I would not send him out to Bolton even if he managed to get a few more games between now and Jan. I would rather have him playing the initial FA cup games for us or sending him to a side like Swansea where its more likely that he will get first team action given the squad is short on quality as compared to Bolton.

Watched Tintin last night and thought it was a great start to the series, some are already expecting it to be a series similar to the Indiana Jones. I watched it on 3D and the visuals I felt was better than the others that I have seen lately (Panda2, Gulliver's travel etc). I'd say its a must watch if you have ever been an avid reader of the comics in your childhood.

I expect us to lineup up in this formation - ---------Cech--------- Ivan--JT---Luiz--Cole Ramires---Raul----Frank Danny---Torres--- Mata If we manage to keep a clean sheet in this one it would do our defence a world of good.

If that's the idea we could do with far cheaper options like Barton.

Haven't played this year's version and I may give it a miss. For someone who has switched from PC to console I can speak for myself that I find playing on the console far easier than on the keyboard. That is precisely one of the reasons I fail at gaming events that use keyboards.

Haven't played this years version and I may give it a miss. For someone who has switched from PC to console I cant speak for myself that I find playingon the console far easier than on the keyboard. That is precisely one of the reasons I fail at gaming events that use keyboards.

Cahill and Montolivo would be my picks and they would strengthen our squad and add some much needed depth.

Well then, the season’s almost a quarter through and it’s been a bit of a mixed bag for both of us, how do you reckon it’s shaping up for your lot and are you happy with your current form? I like the look of what AVB is trying to achieve but in order to do that we may have to let some of our old warhorses (Anelka, Malouda etc) go. Form is not my concern though what does bother me is the growing gap between City's squad and the others. Being realistic, what do you expect to get from this season? The Carling Cup’s not looking too good for you, so that aside, would victory in Europe sufficiently compensate and become your next main priority ;)? We'll continue to play a young side and if we can knock you lot out of the cup that should do our boys confidence some good. Though we expect tougher tests on the way to final. I see you’re looking at the possibilities of locating to a new ground. I must admit that price aside, I quite like your current location, there’s a bit of tradition there, plus there are loads of ale houses around Earls Court and Fulham Broadway where you can have a bit of a laugh. Any idea whereabouts the suits are looking at and would you be happy to move away from the SW? Only Ms Ron Gourlay and Bruce Buck can answer that convincingly. As far as our happiness about the move is concerned, most of us have accepted that its inevitable if we wish to continue as one of Europe's elite. On the transfer front, where are the roubles going next? Surely now you’ve got Anelka, Benny, that Spanish lad and Meireles you don’t want anyone else off us, or do you? Steve Clarke please !! Getting on to the subject of the precious Spanish lad, has he been accepted yet or is the jury still out on him? 4 goals and 3 assists sounds far more impressive to me than 3 goals and 0 assists to me. Who is your best player so far this season? Its a call between Mata/ Ramires/ Sturridge. We'll get a clearer picture at the business end of the season but for now those three remain a vital part of Chelsea's performance We’ve both experienced a bit of a revolving door on the managerial front over the past few seasons. Are you now as happy with AVB as we are with the King? He is a young manager with arguably the toughest job in the continent. Most fans have understood that and his philosophy has appealed to most fans. The January window will be crucial as I see us continuing to rebuild. I see from your forums that there is concern regarding AVB’s attacking attitude and his philosophy that the team who scores the most goals wins. Although perceived by some as a risky kind of philosophy, surely it makes for an exciting ride for the fans. What are your concerns regarding AVB? The philosophy is a drastic change from what we have played in the last few years. There are bound to be some failures on the way, as long as the rebuilding/ transition process continues I dont have any concerns. What formation do you see AVB setting out against us? 4-3-3 Are there any Liverpool players you feel will require close monitoring/attention next Sunday? The ref/ linesman considering the number of time Suarez gets blown away !! What are your predictions for the end of the season for both of our clubs? We would most likely finish in the top 3 with a high chance of landing one of the domestic cups. Liverpool have to slug it out against the two north london clubs and thats a tough one to call. Care to predict the score? 2-0 I’ve never quite understood your ‘One man went to mow’ song, so apart from that, what special songs can we expect next week?

That's actually something I find baffling. Anelka misses a sitter against QPR which could have tied the game or Lampard misses one to get all the points against Genk and there are no threads/ knives out for them. Torres misses a sitter in a game which we won and the talking point still happens to be him, probably some of us have been influenced by the media it seems. As far as Torres is concerned I don't think it was right to bench him against Rovers. The only solution to regaining his form is by playing him along Mata and Sturridge. Playing him with Malouda and Anelka is really not the solution and benching him post that is not doing his confidence any good.

Good to see Danny get a call up but I doubt he is likely to see much game time. Though an international cap can only do the lad's confidence a world of good.

On a serious note whom did you support in the CL finals ?

A bit harsh Rahul? I dint see anything that led me to believe that Bosingwa had not done his defensive duties. He may have had a couple of average games earlier in the season but he looks pretty good under AVB. Ivanovic is also likely to be tired and a fresher Bosingwa may be a better bet to exploit Arsenal's defence.

Great result for us despite playing most of the game with 10 men. Would not want to get into details since I am yet to watch the full game but once must question why Anelka took the penalty ahead of the more "reliable" Kalou.

I have only pointed at the change in our style of play, at no juncture did I suggest that AVB is tactically inflexible as compared to someone like Carlo. In fact my belief about sacking Carlo as the right move was sealed on sunday when AVB made a 9 man team look rather threatening. The point that I was trying to make is most of AVB's plans are based on movement and that's something which may not be Drogba's strength today or in the future.

I expect this to be our starting lineup ---------------------Hilario------------------- Paulo-----Ivanovic------Alex-------Ryan Meireles----------Romeu------------Josh Danny ----------Lukaku---------Malouda

Spiller this is not just about the last 3 months, Didier has not looked the same player since Jan/ Feb. Does not look sharp and he's responded in the fashion Lampard has to competition. Needless to say the red card this sunday can do no good with him missing out on game time when he needs it the most. At 33 he isn't getting younger and the striker that your talking about there has not turned up for quite a while now. I would love it if he proves me wrong and regained the #1 striker position but I believe that's very unlikely to happen. Agree with everything that you've said there but what you have ignored is we have changed out style of play. Well it has for most of us ;). Didier surerly offers something different, whether that's needed in this style of play is something I ain't sure of.

Are those good enough reasons to retain a striker that is clearly fading and does not suit the style of play? Didier has been a great servant but I believe its about time we moved on and let Torres be that lead striker for us. Torres seems to be getting back to his best and Drogba on the hand clearly seems to be struggling with AVB's style of play. A year on and Drogba is only likely to lose on pace and that cutting edge, it may be a sound solution only if the idea is to not take any risk.

Not sure whether buying back Sinclair would have been a smart piece of business. He's barely had an impact this season for Swans, strange considering he was on fire last year. Maybe the premier league is not his cup of tea and it could be that he is comfortable at a lower level? Needless to say I don't see him replacing Mata or Sturridge in the current setup.