Celery1989

I'd be really interested to know that too. I was born in Hammersmith and the home I was born into was more or less next to the ground. It'd be cool to know how many people there are with a similar story. From what I can tell, not that many. Our fans have historically flocked from all over the home counties, such as myself having grown up in Kingston.

They're also saying that Özil wants out in January, wouldn't surprise me to be honest. He looks so miserable every time he plays. Funny how Wenger chose not to sign Fabregas because of Özil. It would be pretty embarrasing for him if they sell Özil.

Most familiar with these areas, grew up in Kingston, went to school in Wimbledon and now live in Raynes Park. The pubs we go to are all Chelsea more or less. As far as Wimbledon is concerned, was there a big divide back in the day between how many supported Chelsea and how many supported Wimbledon? I remember when Wimbledon were still around back in the late 90's, earl 00's and to be honest I don't really remember seeing many Wimbledon fans around at all. As far as rivalries go as I understand it we never had much of one really with them?

So annoyed I was in the waiting room at 6.45 and then by the time I'd logged in at 7.20 or so they were all gone FFS!

I don't like the idea at all. I just don't see how it makes logical sense. Everyone would have to play a game otherwise it's not fair, and even then some would travel further than others etc. It's funny because I'm a big fan of the NFL living in London yet I actually don't like the principal of them playing games over here. It's fun to go once a year and see a game, yes, but ultimately It's America's game, and it should remain that way IMO. They are even talking about relocating a team to London which would just be ridiculous.

That would be the case now. I'm sure 15/20 years ago there'd have been a few more Wimbledon shirts knocking about and probably some Arsenal as well.

New chant for Matic. To the tune of Madness' 'Our House': Matic. In the middle of our pitch.

Classic. United, Arsenal, Liverpool…they all have the same mindset. Because they form the established elite they sanctimoniously believe that if you don't play football the 'correct' way then that somehow invalidates any success that you might have. I guess you could call it a kind of fundamentalism and it's pretty hard to reason with. As far as I'm concerned, if Arsenal fans are really that proud of their 'class/traditions/heritage/ethics' then I'm more than happy to let them pass the ball about ad nauseum week after week en route to winning the 4th place cup. They ought to just leave the 'nouveau riche' to slug it out for the title whilst they wallow in their antiquated ideals.

When is Pellegrini going to realise that 4-4-2 simply does not work at the highest level, especially when one of your centre-mids has categorically no interest in tracking back? European football is all about keeping a solid defensive shape in midfield and being able to keep the ball. 4-4-2 is completely unconducive to that when quite literally every other top side plays 3 in midfield, or 2 sitting with one just ahead in the whole.

I would have rather Costa had been on the bench as well from the start but didn't mind him starting. Would have ultimately liked to have seen him come off at 60 mins or so but given our profligacy in front of goal we needed him to stay on.

Not a taunt but someone posted this on Twitter last night. To the tune of Madness' 'Our House': Matic. In the middle of the pitch. Not sure if that could ever be made into a chant but thought it funny all the same.

Great point. I think the main reason they don't is because the West Stand is the newest stand. If the ground is redeveloped, this obviously won't be the case any more. Put them in the West Lower.

I like putting Hazard as the no.10 myself. You get the ball to him a lot more and he can wreak havoc more often that way! Really like Diego Costa, almost as much of a beast on the game as in real life!

Really like the new FIFA. Much smoother than 14 and therefore more conducive to play fun, attacking football and scoring lots of goals. Some of the ratings are quite funny, how Azpilicueta is only 79 is a joke. Love the disparity between United's attack and defence, hilarious. Also love that you can 'Park the Bus' now too, great addition IMO. Defending is tricky but with enough practice I reckon I can improve on that.

I know. And how about those mugs QPR, they can't sell out that tinpot, 18,000 seater sh*theap that they play in yet they want to move to a 40,000 seater. Where the hell are they gonna find those fans exactly?

Awesome goal. Sadly I think Piazon will end up as another FFP cash-cow, but the kid's clearly talented. We're stacked in the AM positions at the moment.

In fairness he scored twice against us at the Bridge one season when the Dippers won. That was pretty much all he did though. Re: Rooney - I guess his suspension means that Mata will most probably play against us now.

In principle the Twickenham idea isn't a bad one at all in my book. Having lost out on Battersea I really want us to stay at the Bridge, if the club were to relocate to some dump like Kensal Rise I'd be livid. If we have to play at the home of Rugby for one season in order to stay at the Bridge then so be it. Twickenham isn't too far at all from me either so no disaster in terms of travel.

In keeping with many have said I'd like to see Dave at RB and Luis at LB for this one. Villa are dangerous on the counter-attack and Ivan, as good as he's been in the attacking third, has left us vulnerable on the right-hand side. I think that Dave will provide us better defensive cover on our right when Villa counter and I don't feel that we necessarily need Ivan's added physicality tomorrow; Villa don't pose too great a threat on corners, especially if Vlaar is out as he looks to be. I think Luis deserves a game as well, he was very good against Schalke and also against Bolton. I'd also go with Willian over Schurrle on the right. Thought Willian was really good against Schalke and put in a decent shift against City. I'm a big fan of his but t the moment I think Schurrle is most useful for us as an impact sub. Courtois, Dave----Cahill----JT----Luis -----Matic-----Fabregas---- Willian----Oscar----Hazard ------------Costa--------------

There's no way Frank would have signed a contract with NYC without knowing what the exact nature of the relationship with Man City was. He'd have known that City could loan him, his agent would have known the finer details. I don't think it was Frank's intention to do us over or anything, you could see from his emotions on Sunday that he felt really uncomfortable with everything that happened. Apparently the initial talk was of him going to Melbourne City, but once that fell through and the City proposal came up, being the competitive professional he probably thought that the environment there would be a good one to train in over the autumn and also to play a few minutes here and there. He'd hardly have to move and I'm sure he didn't think he'd be starting at this point; I mean, he wouldn't if Fernando was fit. But this is Football, things change very quickly. He won't be staying for the whole season, he has a contract with NYC whose season starts in February/March.

Best thread on the Shed End Forum by far! As a 25 year old I love hearing all of your amazing stories and seeing the great pics that you've taken and amassed over the years. I know a few blokes from local who used to go back in the 70's/80's but who for one reason or can't any more, always a pleasure to hear them recounting their tales. It's truly remarkable to see how football has changed as well. I dunno what season veterans like your good selves think of the younger generations but fear not some of us care about our history!

Unfortunately I get the sense that Diego's hamstring problems are going to linger on into the season. What he really needed was an extended rest this summer but with the World Cup n'all he never got the chance. I can't see that he's going to get that at any point this season though.

Is Hulk in there too? Don't get the hype there at all. And sorry Kinkladze but I think Kompany, whilst being a very good defender and excellent captain, is also vastly overrated by many as 'The Best Defender in the World'.

I think Mata will be on his way at the end of the year regardless of whether they bring back Ronaldo. Rooney will be the no.10, even though Mata is the better player. At £300k a week how can Rooney not be the 10? Only if there’s an injury to Falcao or RVP will Mata play by virtue of Rooney moving up one to CF. Bear in mind that United only play a game a week this year so it’s not like there will be many opportunities for players normally on the bench to impress.

I also saw him let midfielders run past him. But the biggest issue is that he's hardly ever in the right place when we lose the ball. Top level football is as much about being able to set up the team's tactical 'block' when you lose the ball, as it is creating chances when you have it. Fabregas will have to improve at the latter, regardless of how good he is on the ball. Just listen to Gary Neville in the videos above. We can get away with it against Swansea etc but against top opposition we won't.