Maverick

Matic has featured for them week in and out and has been consistent though nothing flashy. Whereas Rajkovic too seems to be a regular when fit. They lost to PSV by 2 goals at home last night.

Robben's injury record has not been as bad at Bayern as many percieve. I agree that Ribery is a very injury prone player and has missed large part of last season as well as this season. Though Hamit Altintop has bee used in his place and they also have Tony Kroos who can play across positions in the midfield. With that kind of competition I really dont see how Kakuta would fancy his chances as compared to us where he is highly rated by coach and the others.

Since the source is goal.com I wont get my hopes too high but from what I have seen of him I would rate him higher than Sturridge and Borini. It may be interesting if we were to actually show some interest since he gets hardly any game time and with Drogba/ Anelka ageing he would know that if he were to perform he could have more of a chance making the first team. Though as of now I am treating this as just another from the rumour factory !!

Right now his objective should be to avoid relegation, they lost last night to league leaders PSV 2-0 which doesn't make a good reading of their current form. Hopefully things turnaround at Vitesse with Albert taking charge this weekend.

Tough job ahead for the man since Vittese currently find themselves in the danger zone.

Bridge, Boyatta, Kompany, Toure, Lescott, Boateng and Zabaleta - do any of them stand a chance to break into our first team? I hear what you say that City have indeed bought "good" players but they have been bought for ridiculous sums of money that any other club would spend only on Marquee signings. The media will continue to talk about the money that City have spent but not the quality of players. As Loz pointed out earlier its the defence and Mancini's tactics that will be City's biggest hindrance in their title challenge.

Bayern have produced some fine youngsters themselves with the likes of Muller, Kroos and Badstuber breaking into first team. Though a move for Kakuta would not be a smart choice given that he would be fighting the likes of Robben, Ribery for a starting place. I dont see him leaving though if he does it will be a big loss.

Apart from Johnson and Tevez I dont see any of their players getting into our side. I agree that they have a big squad with adequate backups available across the pitch but they surely lack "world class" players especially in defence. Its the lack of quality in defence that probably pushes Mancini to field 3 defensive midfielders, which is a tad negative for a side (playing at home) claiming to be contenders. I see their title challenge fading before Arsenal's and thats not going to go down well with the millions being pumped in.

Albert Ferrer has been unveiled as the new manager at Vitesse, good luck to him.

Tony Mowbray has indeed been unveiled as the manager of Middlesbrough. It would be interesting to see how things pan out at Riverside given promotion looks a long shot now.

Big game for Matic and Rajkovic as Vitesse take on PSV in a home encounter tomorrow. Delac is likely to continue to be on the bench as the # 2 keeper.

I agree that its a good deal in terms of money but I ain't entirely sure about their kits. Most of their kits are average across most leagues.

RIP Matthew Harding.

Not exatly the same, he never came out and explicitly claimed that he would like to leave us or had any concerns. He delayed putting pen on paper and it was the media that blew up the City story etc.

Not this time around, trailing 4-1 and it could get embarrassing !!

He seems to have dropped in the pecking order as compared to last year where he did see a lot more game time. The injury dint help his cause either but given his goals in the reserves its highly likely to get a run in the cup games.

His average is close to a goal a game and there are not too many strikers in world football that can better that record. As far as your injury point is concerned, Barry pretty much nails it in his post.

He is 24 FFS, I bet my bottom dollar he can relive the form he displayed last year if only he made the right choice. United are dead if he leaves in Jan which looks high likely after seeing the statement from Fergie.

2009 - 2010 starts - 20, goals - 18, assists - 3 2008 - 2009 starts - 20, goals - 14, assists - 3 2007 - 2008 starts - 29, goals - 24, assists - 3 I can surely see more than one good season that he has had for Pool, which one are you pointing at? He is injury prone there are no two ways about it but to deny that the lad is top notch is not fair. I also believe that since he has been the only striker at Pool he has been rushed back on more than one occasion and there would times when he has not recuperated entirely.

I agree with that one, the Wolves game maybe apt to rest someone like Cole/ Essien. We are just two months into the season and it already looks that the squad is thin (especially in the midfield) to challenge for a treble !!

I'd be surprised if Lukaku is even half the player that Torres is. Six months of not being in form doesn't make him a bad player, mind you Drogba was not exactly top class in the 2008 - 09 season and many had doubted his ability then and look at where he is today. The mood in Liverpool is down and its not just Torres thats under performing its the entire bunch that seem to lack the motivation when on field. I'd buy in a flash if he were available in the 25-30 million range.

Yes he has. Even if he hasn't I am sure he is on a private jet right now heading towards Moscow.

Well if that is indeed true then one should respect the man for his integrity, though Boro have been ridiculous in this whole saga.

I was surprised when they showed Southgate the door to accommodate Strachan, that was an aweful decision and things have only downhill for Boro ever since. Curious to see who the successor would be, any guesses ?

It looked like he was trying too hard to play the killer pass and that to a large extent was the reason for his downfall yesterday. As someone pointed out he looked good against Marseille and dint look out of place as compared to the Vailla game, though Anelka did nothing to help the kid out in the first half.