Celery1989

I'd rather just have it settled as soon as possible to be honest! If Palace or Arsenal can do us a favour in the next 4/5 days then that would be very welcome.

Felt like an important win, we really needed the 3 points last night ahead of Everton. There was a good rhythm to our attacking play, brilliant to see Costa score twice. I thought his hold-up play was still poor a lot of the time but then I never thought it was great even when he was on form earlier this season. If he can go on a run now until the end of the season with a few more goals then that should push us over the line. It was clear that his confidence was growing again after his first goal, culminating in what I thought was a brilliant second. More of the same please Dieeeego! Our defensive fragility is a bit of a mystery to me, especially when you consider how solid we were up until January. I wonder whether the nerves might be starting to kick in at the back? Aside from Saturday, so many of the goals which we have conceded in the last several weeks have come from avoidable, elementary defensive errors. We really need to sharpen up because Everton are good enough to rip through anyone at home. 12 more points needed to seal it. If we could win on Sunday then that would be a massive step psychologically IMO.

Hopefully Allardyce doesn't rest his key players as he suggested he might.

What a day that was! Still can't quite believe what I saw. As we were having our pre-match beers in Waterloo, there were rumours filtering in from social media about the team selection which really dampened our mood. Then the tube we were on was full of arrogant Tottenham singing 'Chelsea Rentboys, we're coming for you' (I wonder if they might ever realise the irony in what they are singing...probably not). I have to say as well it was somewhat flat when we arrived in the concourse, but once Willian scored naturally the atmosphere completely changed. Whilst Tottenham dominated possession I felt that we had a decent grip on proceedings and defensively we played pretty well. Possession stats are completely meaningless to me as what really matters is the efficiency with which you use the ball when you have it. The goals that we conceded were both terrific and relaistically speaking not much more could have been done to prevent them, certainly not the second as that was a worldie of cross by Eriksen. I thought Aké and Luiz in particular were very good. Finally I quite enjoyed watching their customary Wembley fire drill unfold, not to mention all the hollow, sanctimonious rubbish that I've seen coming from them on social media today. All in all a big, morale boosting victory which I felt the team needed sooner rather than later after the United debacle. I'm hoping that this will give us a psychological edge over them for the Title run-in, starting Tuesday night. I can see that being a difficult game so it's imperative that the players now put the FA Cup joy behind them and focus on getting a much needed victory ahead of Everton away on Sunday.

It will be tough of course but we have definitely the more straightforward run in on paper, we have previous title-winning experience within the squad and a manager that has won titles with Juventus before. They have none of those things and also a historical penchant for bottling it when the pressure is on. Whilst I agree that Sunday was poor and disconcerting in some ways, it's the only bad game that we've played in a long time (I personally thought we were ok against Palace and unlucky not to draw). A 4 point lead is obviously not as comfortable as a 10 point lead, but at the same there is a lot to be positive about. Most bookies are still giving us an 80%+ chance of winning the League. So long as Conte can get our first XI fit again and work on the defensive aspect of our game then I think we will be ok.

Feels very weird to say this but good for us that Arsenal won tonight; we need them to gather some form ahead of their visit to White Hart Lane in a few weeks' time. On that note, it would be good if they could beat City on Sunday as well to gain more confidence and also because I think they would be relatively easier for us to beat in the Final, were we to get there of course.

Don't get why some feel the need to trash foreign cities when following their clubs, it's utterly deplorable. I've done many European Aways and most of those that go are able to enjoy themselves whilst respecting the local people and their culture. But then there always has to be a group of idiots.

Why is it that Tottenham are getting all the early kick offs recently? It seems like every week they play before we do, they've even got West Ham away on a Friday Night coming up.

Posted this in another thread but thought it worth adding to this too: If you compare our remaining fixtures to Tottenham, we clearly have a tougher April whereas they have a tougher May. In fact I would say that our next three games - United (a), Southampton, Everton (a) - are the hardest of the 7 we have left. Therefore the key for us is to get to May with a lead, ideally 5 points or more. If we can do that then we'll be very close indeed. Whilst Tottenham are sadly on a roll at the moment I find it very hard to think that they will win all of their games from here on. To do that would mean equalling our run of 13 consecutive wins. They've found it much tougher away from home and all of their away games look tricky for various reasons (Leicester, Palace, West Ham, Hull). On top of that they have United and Arsenal still at home. When you add all of that together then it's no wonder most bookies give us roughly a 90% chance of winning the title at this point. That said it's still going to be very nervy, we still need to pick up a considerable chunk of points. One game at a time!

If you compare our remaining fixtures to Tottenham, we clearly have a tougher April whereas they have a tougher May. In fact I would say that our next three games - United (a), Southampton, Everton (a) - are the hardest of the 7 we have left. Therefore the key for us is to get to May with a lead, ideally 5 points or more. If we can do that then we'll be very close indeed. Whilst Tottenham are sadly on a roll at the moment I find it very hard to think that they will win all of their games from here on. To do that would mean equalling our run of 13 consecutive wins. They've found it much tougher away from home and all of their away games look tricky for various reasons (Leicester, Palace, West Ham, Hull). On top of that they have United and Arsenal still at home. When you add all of that together then it's no wonder most bookies give us roughly a 90% chance of winning the title at this point. That said it's still going to be very nervy, we still need to pick up a considerable chunk of points. One game at a time!

I'm very skeptical about Lukaku I have to say. He doesn't perform consistently in the big games and his link up play is often erratic. His touch can be very poor too and whilst he is a big presence he doesn't actually play with any real physicality. He would have to improve a lot but I suppose he's young enough to develop.

Really happy with the result last night, I think we needed a win badly after Saturday and given Tottenham's ludicrous comeback at Swansea. I thought we were very lucky to be ahead at half-time, City were getting through our midfield with ease and looked really dangerous every time they came forward. Unfortunately Zouma didn't look comfortable at all and the Kanté/Fabregas axis in midfield was all over the place. Conte made the right switch at half time and we were much more stable with Kanté and Matic in the second half. Sure, City dominated the ball right to the end but aside from Stones' chance at the end they didn't create too many chances. Our defending hasn't been good enough for a few weeks, we've conceded so many easily avoidable goals, so it was good to see some resilience in the 2nd half. Finally I thought the atmosphere at the Bridge was great, one of the best I've seen this season. There were nervy times that the team needed a lift and they certainly got it. Good effort everyone.

Objectively speaking, when you factor in historical success and size of domestic fanbase I would say that we are still behind Arsenal overall. But we have closed the gap a lot in the last 20 years domestically and have been the no.1 team in London without a doubt for over a decade. We all know that our record in Europe is far superior to theirs of course too. If we carry on at our current trajectory overall and they continue on theirs then we will be on a par at least with them in the not too distant future.

That should read Watford and Bournemouth at home. If Tottenham are serious about mounting a challenge then this is the period where they would have to do it.

Yep, we are leaking goals at the moment but thankfully the mistakes are very correctable and with some added focus on the training ground we should be able to iron them out. At the other end of the pitch we badly need Costa to up his game because he has been poor for several weeks. His head just wasn't in the game at all yesterday and as a result he wasn't much of a threat. We should still be fine but we have a tough run of games now leading up to the FA Cup Semi: City, Bournemouth (a), United (a). Spurs have Swansea (a), Watford and Bournemouth. If we are still 7 points ahead after those 3 games I'll be very happy indeed.

Was just watching the end of the Super Sunday coverage and an interesting point was made by Neville/Henry. The next 3 games could end up being crucial in the run in, we have City followed by Bournemouth and United both Away. In that stretch Tottenham have Swansea away and then both Watford and Bournemouth away. After that there is the FA Cup Semi Final. I think we need 2 wins and a draw from the next 3, assuming that Tottenham win all their games.

Some of the reports are that he's taking another pay cut. I'm more than happy for him stay on as a coach but I think it's time for someone younger to take his place in the First Team Squad.

One thing to bear in mind is that with RVP etc Arsenal had to sell, they needed the money. That's not the case any more. But at the same time Sanchez strikes me as the type that would sulk if he was held against his will, and so if he really does want out I think they'd look to sell. From what I can tell there is enough interest from abroad for them to have to sell to us.

This is the key point - Hazard and his family are settled...at least for now. None of us know how Hazard will react to the inevitable onslaught that will come from RM. We can only hope that he'll stay given how important his family seems to be and the fact that we almost certainly will be in the UCL next year again as Champions. Hopefully the club can use RM's interest as leverage to tie him down to a new deal, much like I hope they can with Costa and China.

I can't see it happening unless Sanchez desperately wants to stay in London. All the other sources have been saying or a while that Italy is his preference. We shall see I guess.

Is Bakayoko a DM or more of box-to-box CM? Also, what is his shooting from distance like?

Morgan is a c*** of the highest order but I must say I agree with him completely on Wenger.

You will probably be proved right, it's a really tough ask. 90 would still be fantastic.

Great point - Everyone loves to criticise Wenger, and rightfully so, but there are several players who are simply not good enough or don't put in enough effort: Özil, Walcott, Iwobi, Ramsey, Coquelin, Elneny, Gibbs, and Monreal come to mind. Ultimately though, it's up to Wenger to realise which of these players are not good enough and to ship them out if they don't have it in them to perform...

Does anyone else think that we might be able to break the 95 point record which we set back in the 2004/05 season? I know we haven't secured the Title yet nor should we get ahead of ourselves but I think the prospect is worth discussing anyway. The maximum points total that we could finish on is 99. Looking at our fixtures, there are 3 particularly tough games - City at home, United away, Everton away - but the rest are very winnable in my opinion, especially the home games. We would need 27 points to get to 96, a very tough ask as it would only allow for 1 slip up but it's certainly possible.