darren2607

Very interesting how the focus has switched after the press conference from questions over AVB's ability to supporting him clearing out the non-believers. A manager's job is to motivate the players and get them playing for him but if they simply don't want to do so, for whatever reason, then really what can you? AVB should be given the opportunity to clear people out who don't fit his model at the end of the season, to sack him now would be to basically give the power to the players. It should then be a different story next season where he can bring in players who do want to play for him in his system. In any business you need to bring in fresh blood to ruffle a few feathers and shake the organisation up to keep it moving forward otherwise you run the risk of stagnating, which is essentially what we've done up until now. Roman himself was obviously no stranger to the odd conflict in his business life so hopefully he will support AVB through this That said, and although I do fully support him, I think there are still potential questions over some of AVB'stactical decisions

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2012/02/17/2910326/chelsea-pull-out-of-race-to-sign-eden-hazard-as-tottenham Not sure what the source is but pretty clear statement that Chelsea are not going to go in. Hope it's rubbish

I would love to give AVB a chance for the future but this period is just going so badly. I have no confidence in the team to get a result at the moment. We are now in very real danger of missing out on a CL place next year and where will that leave us?

Service to him hasn't been great but he has also been playing poorly and if we want to pushing for the title next season we will need a form striker bagging 20 goals. Hope that will be Torres but I do fear he will be moved on before he rediscovers himself

Absolutely incredible forward whose given us some fantastic times. I would like to see someone else taking over goalscoring responsibility from him as we move to the next stage, whether that be Torres, Sturridge, Lukaku or another, but that takes nothing away from everything he has done for the club. Legend.

Hey Eric, I have actually bought a ticket for the Napoli game so can't give me details for that one. Sorry. If there is another game you're interested in going to see then let me know (hopefully by then we'll have enough posts to PM)

I don't really know how football loans work but, on the basis of other leal/commercial agreements I have seen, I would say the loaning club would be obliged to take out insurance to cover him (at their cost) and that if the player did get injured that club would have to pay the payout to the parent club who effectively 'own' him. The parent club would also probably insist on being named on the insurance policy so they could claim directly too. I would be disappointed to see De Bruyne go back on loan again next season, surely we need some wingers so as to avoid too much reliance on Malouda and Sturridge?

Does anyone know if he is a player that AVB wants or whether this is another target that the club identified before he was brought in?

I do think he has made a couple of suspect calls tactically but he is young/inexperienced and we are a team in transition. I trust him to bring home the bacon in years to come and I'll be gutted if he gets sacked

I am happy to throw my name into the ring on this. I have a membership with 16 points this season and I don't get to go a whole lot. So if anyone wants to use it they can message me

Yeah, he will almost certainly play against United. But with everyone fit I still see AVB playing Meireles first choice, which is what causes me some concern

So the consensus seems to be that Meireles is just a squad player, which is fine with me. Who would your first choice midfield 2 (assuming Romeu plays DMC) be then? I can't see AVB going with Ramires and Essien, we'd need a bit of guile alongside the energy of one of them.

Ha. I was trying to be a bit more diplomatic but you've summed it up nicely. Discussion closed.

Just wondering what people's perception of Raul Meireles has been. A couple of goals, a few assists to his name but fairly unspectacular so far. Personally, I've been a little disappointed, he hasn't been splitting defences with his passes and getting people in behind. Still think we need a more creative player to sit alongside Ramires/Essien. Maybe Josh will be up to the task next season or maybe we'll go back in for Modric (still no new contract)

I agree with Star above, I've become slightly obsessed with Torres scoring, I'm so desperate for him to prove himself and for everyone to stop vilifying him. I think the problem is he just isn't getting the service. No doubt he has missed a couple of bad ones but he's not then getting the chance to redeem himself. All strikers miss a few but then they shake themselves down and go to the next chance. Torres isn't getting enough chances in a game to do that. Personally, I think there are 3 issues with our creativity: 1. Playing Mata out wide isn't ideal, he doesn't have a burst of pace to get to the line, I think he should be in behind Torres playing him through. 2. No doubt Sturridge is a good player but he isn't a right winger, a few times I've seen him take good crossing positions only to cut inside and shoot. That's nothing against Sturridge, he is a striker and it is to be expected, but that means service from that side dries up. 3. Meireles needs to get on the ball more and starting playing Torres in behind. I haven't been to a game recently but I recall against Villa he had so much of the ball in the middle of the pitch but just didn't do anything with it.