BaneIvanovic

It was a culmination of factors from the beginning of his tenure there, not solely his antics this season - ranging from poking Tito in the eye, his barbaric approach to games vs Barca to his incidents with Iker and Ramos etc. How is being apprehensive about something unnecessary pessimism?

But, hang on there, don't be so blind to think that his behaviour wasn't the cause of the dislike

Ancelotti wanted Torres in the summer of the WC, not when he was already out of form in January 2011. I'm sure there was a pressure on Carlo to change his system so that Torres was integrated into it somehow.

Disagree. I don't see the same hungry, determined, ambitious fellow that we employed a good 9 years ago. He had the demeanor of a broken man at Real, and looked to have lost a step in terms of management. I'm quite apprehensive about his return but nonetheless will fully support him (obv) when he's announced and is leading us from the dugout.

A bit of a difference in playing in a side who took the friendly extremely serious (Belgium) as opposed to a side who basically fielded an experimental B side bar a few players and looked like they were on holiday (Germany)

Yet only Zlatan is in the same bracket of quality as Cavani is.

Personally felt that he was our most important player in the CL run last season. Phenomenal keeper, easily the best in the league (Mancs can jog on by even uttering De Gea's or Hart's name in the same breath as Petr's) and top 2/3 in the world with ease. I hate the narrative so many opposing fans trot out 'he's not as comfortable with crosses etc as he once was' which is flagrant ignorance as, if anything, he's become better than he was pre-injury.

Despite playing as a second striker for the majority of the season? Ok.

RvP had a drought this season, tbf, but the difference between the two is that one has tonked 30 goals a season over the past two years and one hasn't broken single digits in the league in the same period. Getting Zlatan isn't a solution because, despite being the best striker in the world imo, he's not got many years left (although he isn't showing any signs of decline as he approaches 32) whereas with Cavani, you're getting a player entering his prime and will have at least a good 5 years at a high playing level to provide the side.

I'm unsure if you're trolling, so I'll reply .. Rooney has 16 goals in all comps, Tevez and Aguero have 17 each so 16+17+17 > 23 (unless we went to the Liverpool FC college of mathematics). Not to mention that all three of those players have more league goals than Torres this season. Waiting for Torres to 'come good' for another season is time wasted as it's not going to happen so it's time to stop flogging a dead horse and sell him so that we can finally move forwards and get a world class striker in.

This morning's Gazzetta (the published version) was running with the story that Napoli want to bring in Torres and Gomez, so I live in hope that we can offload the Spanish Donkey.

It was an anomaly, compared with the pattern of finishes that they'd been achieving in the 15 or so years previous to that is what my point was.

I doubt he'd go back to Den Haag for another loan spell there, will probably be off on loan to a top end side in a better league I'd have thought.

Not really. Omitting their relegation from Ligue Un, up until the mid 00's they were generally a side who was in Europe every season (both UEFA Cup and CL) - even winning a title in 2000 - before settling into a mid-table side. So they're a lot closer to a 03 Chelsea nouvau riche than Hull City with mega investment.

It's a shame that it's been written by Samuel, who is nearly as bad as Ashton. Awful journo.

He's considerably better than Moses but I agree that he offers something different as he's pacy, direct, smart on the ball and knows how to find the back of the ned.

Well, his mistake led to Everton's equiliser at the Bridge and Spurs' equiliser were down to his poor defensive work. Far to cavalier and not disciplined enough to be a DM. Because he's a great character and scores the odd peach, people have a skewed view as to how good he actually is. A bit like Vermaelen, people thought he was good because he was a forward thinking, goalscoring CB but they've all realised how big of a liability he is.

Luiz is better technically but his passing ability is overblown and isn't great defensively. The money that could be garnered from a Luiz sale can buy us a genuinely world class CB, or a genuinely world class central midfielder (whatever the transfer priority may be). Ramires' engery and dynamism cannot be replicated. Yes his technical side is a bit hot/cold (sometimes he can have a great touch and great passing and other times it's pretty poor) but he does contribute with goals, tbf. He got 12 in all comps last season and had 9 this year.

Luiz can go, tbh, for 30 mil or so you can get a much better CB. Ramires is a unique midfielder and offers something that no other midfielder in our squad can so it would be silly to let him go, even if he's coming off of a poor season.

Only in England can someone reach a 100 caps and have such a momentus ocassion only to get slaughtered by the journos/media.

He's probably top 3 all time and has been top dog in that position for the past decade

He's very good but your reasoning could easily apply to our fans raving about Lukaku too then, by that logic, and we need to wait to see if he has 2nd season syndrome?

A Lada is reliable and never lets you down/breaks down

It's well known that Kanu is actually 62 but is passing himself off as a 35 year old. Mind you, that's not surprising given that Obafemi Martins maintained his age of 18 for all 6 years at Inter and someone like JJ Okotcha is, apparently, 10 years older than his 'official' age. Jokes aside, whilst Essien might've lied about his age, I think anyone would struggle to reach their physical peaks after repeatedly blowing out you're knee ligaments (see Ledley King as a prime example)

Cole's ovation and reception were great and I thought his interview post match was very classy too. Shame that he couldn't top it off with a goal, as he was bloody close.