Celery1989

Very accomplished performance by the boys. Hazard is a star in the making I don't think there's any question of that. What impressed me most though was how well Mikel was able to dictate the game. That's what I expect from a DM and if Mikel can keep that level of performance up I'll be very happy and won't have a go at him all the time! Luiz and Cahill were really solid, Ba and Cisse hardly had a sniff. All in all, not the most potent performance offensively but It was great to see how well we defended, especially in light of Wednesday night. I've already seen enough to suggest that we should challenge the Manchester clubs.

It'd be nice if we could come up with something else too. All the chants nowadays seem to be variants of this same song. Thought the atmosphere was really good on Saturday! Keep it up guys!

Hazard and Torres will naturally get many plaudits but I thought Mikel was the best player on the pitch. I've been highly critical of him for years but credit where it's due, he was excellent. If he can keep up that level of performance I'm happy. Also thought the CB's were top notch.

I can see this game being quite high scoring again, particularly if JT is out. Maybe 3-2 to us. I hope we start with a good tempo as we have done in the last two games, that will be vital I feel to beating Newcastle.

Yeah he's an idiot. I made the same mistake.

Looks like we'll soon be able to close this thread! I'm quite excited about Moses, I like the attributes that he brings to our squad.

On a side note about Torres: Not sure if many people noticed but in the buildup to the fourth goal Torres played a sublime volleyed pass to Hazard which was literally inch perfect and hit Hazard right in his stride. What made it so impressive to me was the fact that Torres had about half the pitch to play the ball into yet the pass was perfect. Just a small thing but I feel as though Torres' confidence is on the up.

Great post, right on the money. Torres has shown some flashes though this year of being able to score goals out of nothing too.

That must be the case, otherwise you'd have thought Moses would be in the bag by now.

I agree with you on Torres. I thought he was very sharp, and played a number of neat 1,2's/lay-offs with the attacking midfielders. Tap in or not, its great for his confidence that he got the winner. First 25 minutes we were very dominant in possession but didn't create enough. Reading's first goal was fantastic and whilst Cahill could have been tighter on Pogrebnyak, there wasn't much that we could have done about that goal. What worried me was how all our players seemed to sh*t themselves after, much of our passing went astray, and the free-kick for Reading's second goal was a product of the players' mental state. Terry had to chop down the winger because Ivanovic and Mikel had lost their focus and allowed him to run through. 2nd half was better, but I was worried about how little we created until Cahill's goal, which let's face it was pretty lucky in itself. Torres' goal, whilst offside, was Barcelona-esque and I was delighted to see Hazard unselfishly square it for the 4th. Hazard was once again the star man - We've got ourselves quite a gem in this guy, a player who could truly be special. I just hope that the hype can be tempered somewhat so that we don't heap too much pressure on him. Nevertheless, the initial signs are fantastic. I do worry about our Central Midfield though at times. I'm just not convinced that either Mikel or Lampard are dominant enough in there. Time will tell but its already a position I can see us wanting to strengthen in the near future.

I agree, I can easily see this happening. Given how highly Fergie is revered by Mourinho, I'm sure Jose would relish the chance to continue Ferguson's legacy. In 2 years time I reckon Jose will have won the CL with Madrid and will then want a new challenge. I hold out hope that that would be at Chelsea but I'm just not sure.

Fellaini is an excellent midfielder. David Moyes prefers to play him just off the front, and with good reason, but I think he could be as effective as a defensive midfielder for us. He's exceptional at tackling and does what I expect of a real DM - that is he bosses games and generally drives the team on. Mikel does neither.

Reading between the lines a bit, doesn't it seem a little disconcerting that he's gone on loan to the Championship rather than to a Premier League side?

I already did last year in the end of season questionnaire that they ask members to fill out. Its not the end of the world but you know, would be nice.

Thanks for the replies guys, I do seem to remember now that Jose had a role in the decision. Its true the MHL is where the noise has come from for years, even when the away fans sat in the EL. But my point is that it would be great to raise the noise levels in the Shed too a shifting the away support elsewhere would help. I say put them in the East Upper.

Liverpool looked absolutely pathetic. I thoroughly enjoyed that, especially Lukaku's excellent cameo performance.

I'm growing quite skeptical of this guy. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if he's telling the truth

Hopefully they also upgrade the ticket system which has been crap for years.

Firstly I apologise if there is an old thread on this topic but I wasn't able to find it. Anyway... It really irritates me that the away fans sit in the Shed End and I've never really understood why their allocation was ever moved from the East Lower. I don't understand how the club can agree to giving away usually half of our flagship stand given that firstly its the Shed that represents a lot of our tradition - As relative examples, ManUnited and Liverpool would find it unthinkable to allow away fans to sit in the Stretford End or the Kop, respectively. Secondly, given that much of the atmosphere in the ground tends to come from the stands behind the goals, and in light of how poor the atmosphere is generally at the Bridge, surely we want our own fans sat in the Shed? This problem is also compounded by the fact that when the small clubs from the north come to the Bridge (Wigan etc), they barely even fill half of their allocation. I remember once being at the Bridge for Bolton at home when they literally had around 100 fans. Thirdly, no disrespect to those that sit there, but the East Lower is probably the worst place to sit in the whole ground in terms of both view and atmosphere - Its no surprise that the family section is there. Maybe move the family section over to the West Lower and allocate the away support the EL once again? The only reason I can think of is if the FA/Premier league originally introduced some sort of new legislation that compels the club to place the away fans in the Shed. I can't think what it would be but there must surely be some legalities involved, it seems strange to me otherwise. That, or perhaps our players/managers were receiving too much stick from the away fans. So yeah, Just wondering if anyone could 'shed' any light on this

Excellent start for for the lad, really couldn't have been better. I have faith in his abilities and really hope they come to the fore at WBA. On that evidence he'll be in the starting lineup sooner on later, keep it up Romelu!

Azpilicueta's transfer has apparently been held up over a family bereavement - Again according to this guy, although I also saw the same info somewhere else.

I know that there is a lot of crap that flies around on twitter, but this guy is definitely one of the more credible sources. He called the Hazard and Oscar deals to Chelsea very early on and he seemed to be ahead of the papers regarding the RVP situation. He's also convinced that Azpilicueta will be done very soon.

Lots of sources - Some that I consider reliable - on Twitter saying that Azpilicueta should be signed by next week. Apparently the transfer has been held up by a family bereavement.

I expect JT to receive a similar punishment as Suarez, so a ban of around 7/8 games if I remember rightly. A fine perhaps too. May not be such a bad thing actually seeing as Luiz and Cahill are our future CB pairing.

I feel a bit worried about this season. There are so many new players to accommodate into a new brand of football, and much of our fortunes rest on the hitherto unreliable shoulders of Torres. It's all basically a question of when the new players and formation 'clicks'. We have to also bear in mind that RDM can no longer benefit from reverting back to the old methods of a disillusioned dressing room, and so it remains to be seen whether he can manage the squad as effectively as he did with all the circumstances of AVB's reign. I fear that we will have our struggles this year at times, and so I'd be happy with 3rd/4th and a decent run in the cups. Would like to win the Super Cup and the Club World Cup for the novelty.