bluedrake55

just a shame that we had no direction or faith in developing players. otherwise we would of saved that huge fee!!

true

the thing with a lot of young players is that they are always an unknown which means that a lot of opposition will be naive. when the season drags on they will be more familiar and the young players will be sussed out. this is the time when young players will experience the nuances of EPL football and adapt. i have no doubts that oscar is one of them.

we can all thank sir bobby robson.

JT is a given. lamps will probably go because of the amount of midfielders we have. cole is basically gone because with shaw's star rising i see him at the bridge.

at this moment in time i side with you but by the season end i will be more than happy to acknowledge torres contribution if we have success. if the success is not there at the end i will be of the mind that a striker of his reputation and worth was detrimental in us missing out then a new order of strikers need to be established. then again i also think that a new order has to be established because torres has been rather consistently inconsistent and that i thank heaven that we have a manager who knows how to plan for the limitations.

this will all blow over like every other incidents and people will just carry on with business as usual. the way i see it the american president has got more pressing matters at home than to really go headbutting with putin over a country that is not going to benefit them or hiding an enemy of the USA.

maybe it's because he cost £50million and the others aren't much cop! if JM deems him worthy of a place then who we to argue when JM has us top and progressing in the champions league?

it's easy! when they had a genuine superstar in bale who was wowing everyone with his performances it does wonders for their profile. and what has goons got? we've got players like JT (besides the stellar performances, his infamous escapades has made him rather 'popular'!), lamps good looks and goal scoring, the drog, and for our future oscar, luiz (if he is still here) and especially hazard! manure have only got shrek (who is probably leaving) and zimmer frame worrier van persie and that is it! nearly forgot mata but that depends if he can revive them!

i am not mikel's biggest fan and like others i have slagged him off but mikel has been an outstanding servant for the club end of. i have come to the conclusion that because he plays for our club with fantastic players means the majority of the time he will be compared with them. i have seen (like so many of his critics, me included) mikel being 'lethargic' , getting out jumped, not committing (eg letting that **** nasri play) in the tackle etc etc! but can anyone honestly say that we or any other club has a perfect 11 or a squad?!! JM is a worldclass manager and he knows that the lad has his limitations better than anyone which is i believe why he uses mikel as and when he needs to! especially when there are injuries and suspensions! and TBH i would have the lad in front of anyone else ( i can't believe i'm saying this!) if JM can't play his prefer 11 because the lad is like drogba who absolutely loves the club!

say what you want about torres but he is quite the marquee shirt seller in the far east!

under JM yes. his ego is what rubs people up the wrong way. especially if you are young.

people have been critical of oscar but as far as i can see he was doing a job by pressing hard to deny them time on the ball. when he went of the field i can't but help notice that our right back went all the way to the left side to defend. thank god willian came flying back to cover his arse! maybe we can blame luiz but others need to have carried on what oscar was doing but didn't. so i agree (though it isn't the popular thing to do) that JM might need to hold his hands up for the dropped 2 points!

wow! you got eyes! it didn't escape my notice that ivanovic ended defending on the left side because someone was backing of and not doing the work oscar was putting in! like at citeh!

are people forgetting that the drog was only starting to win titles and cups at the age of 25! before then he was performing well scoring regular goals to earn his move to the bridge. lukaku is only 20 and has not had the experience to justify inheriting the drog's mantle. at this present time every club are on the make to hoover up the best potential talents but this does not mean they will make it or they are getting there but need time which the drog certainly had to become the legend that he is at the bridge.

wtf?! is this guy still in the insemination stage! we are top and playing some damn good football! any club who is at the top is there to be shot at any which way possible! like Jose said about hammer's 19th century football! anybody who plays the beautiful game will know that any player with any hint of skill will be ruthlessly impeded! we can thank our lucky stars that hazard has proven his worth in the majority of games which has enable us to be in this position!

old shirts with the players autograph is always desirable.

i think this topic has come up but couldn't find it! having rewatched last nights match i am wondering who is going to step up when JT is not playing and retired in the next few years? luiz seems to lose it when burly physical forwards like anichebe plays up, cahill looks like one hell of a defensive junior partner, and ivanovic red mist and goes walkabouts too much!

RIP

the drog is the biggest african football icon there is! he is the pele of africa who inspires every african.

i would love to ask gallas!

in the far east in the past the likes of manure,real, barca, liverpool and arsenal will you find the support eclipsing ours! then it is only because of there shirt colour and marquee players! the last time i was back the likes of the drog, lamps, terry and along with our achievements have eclipsed the scouse and goons and i daresay we will soon only be behind real and barca. the reasoning behind this is because we have players who can fill their boots and above all else the world wants to see the charismatic Jose Mourinho in action and in person with his team. the scouse will soon lose suarez and the only other marketable player is the aging gerrard, manure have only a wantaway shrek and an increasingly prolong injury basketcase in van persie and what have goons got?! as far as i can see the future is blue and it will keep expanding.

once they go down he will be even more bitter!

the strategy need to change at the bridge in that do we really need to bring in a top forward that is doing well or in his prime (for another team) for silly money or do what the likes of dortmund and some are doing and putting faith in youth and potential filled players and allowing them time to flourish. as some have pointed out we did indeed get drogba when he was still a relative unknown and that should act as a template that we can do it.

interesting and incisive views. i was hoping that all the talks of mata going was not going to come to fruition on the pretext that JM was using luiz and acquiring matic to be the more 'mobile' pivots that will allow greater rein for our attackers which will of course suit mata. having so many attacking midfielders has left a conundrum for JM and he had to make decisions which will prove unpopular. i am sure that JM has had enough time to assess everyone and come to his conclusions. like everyone else i am a fan of mata's but i try and not let that blind me to the fact oscar is a mainstay of both club and country.