Rapkun

Isco is very similar to Hazard imo. The difference is small. I'd say Isco is slightly better technically but Eden is faster. none of them however is able to produce extrordinary stats like Messi/Neymar even if given the chance. Heck, Bale is closer to that player than Eden is.

I love Fekir but it's very unlikely that he moves in the summer and honestly that would be the best choice for him. This season was only his first playing regularly. He needs to develop as a player and get more experience before he can think of playing in very demanding clubs with big pressure.OL is perfect for him right now. High level in decent league and CL football next season. Hazard was playing in those exact circumstances back in lille and was by far the best player in ligue 1. Yet we still had to wait 2 seasons before he became consistent and decisive.

The latter obviously. He seems to be very much aware of the players the media are linking them with and their tag prices.

Van Gaal knows exactly what he wants.

Oscar made the difference in the second half. Allowed Eden to have more space and play combinations (one of which brought the goal). Wether you like him or not he's crucial to our team.

If Varane is moving, he will come here 99% imo. CB is the ultimate priority in the summer and the only real critical position we need to reinforce. There is no way Jose is going in the champions league next season with Cahill-Terry as the centerbacks. He is a big fan of the player and have a close relationship with him, I'm sure he is ready to spend loads of money on him even if it means we won't be able to sign any other big name Jovetic is most likely off in the summer, and Valencia have an option to buy Negredo. Bony was their replacement, signed in jan because they wanted to keep challenging for the title. I think the real issue with the City squad is age. This is what you get when you only sign players at their peak for several seasons and don't replace them with younger players, similar to what happened to us in 2011. FFP is not helping them either.

Marseille with a lot of intensity and efforts, even more than they're used to. Best team in ligue1 this season performace wise imo, but they have been very unlucky in certain games and dropped points. Turn on your tv if you're not watching. Great game, great atmosphere. Oh and david luiz got injured.

We were playing a highline. Courtois was more advanced so he could anticipate and get balls that went past the defenders thus push away any potential threat and save time, Something Cech was quite uncomfortable with. You should all appreciate that quality in our keeper rather than blame him for a goal that happens once in a thousand time.

Arsenal despite their recent good form are not anywhere the level they displayed last season with an in-form Ramsey. The only game I thought they were really convincing was Man City. Liverpool is the better team imo. Still, the defeat at anfield, sturridge's injury and the sterling issue are very negative points for them going into this game.

The part about not being highest paid at bvb was from an interview of him before the payrise.I thought Oscar meant he took a paycut from the dortmund salary which made no sense. Thanks for the infos. I love the player but we're not in need of a striker and he's not a realistic target.

Took a paycut? I thought he was on like 9m a year. Previously 1.5 and 4.5 during the last year of contract. Pretty sure salary was one of the motivators to his departure. Apparentely, BVB refused to make a non german its highest earner.

He made a mistake but only because Ivanovic made one before him. If he received a good pass, things could have been different. At least thats how I see it.

When you give a backward pass in a difficult position surrounded by opposition players to the weaker foot of your GK you make sure its a correct pass. It doesnt matter what the keeper does next. He could have misscontrolled and everyone would be all over Iva.Now if you want to assume I dont like Branislav thats up to you but you couldnt be more wrong.

I would blame Ivanovic first for that second goal. He shouldnt have to deal with that horrible backpass to begin with.

Glad he could regain some confidence with those saves in the second half. We will need him in great form in this difficult period.

The speed of execution of Sturridge is impressive. Quality player.

His main job is to protect the defense not dictate play. If anything it should be him that covers for Fabregas not vice versa. Jose instructs Oscar to swap positions with Cesc when he goes forward so we're well covered in that department. He is only asked to cover for the CB/FB on the same flank.

I dont think Kane is a prodigy. He's aggressive, has an incredible workrate and a very powerful shoot. But currently he's high on confidence and that's really important for a striker. He's almost scoring whenever he tries. I think he's bound to have a period where goals will dry up just like Costa and Aguero before him.

The positive thing from these mistakes is that the teams get to appeal the red cards and get their players back for the next game. Regardeless, terrible referees in this country.

It's difficult to put blame on Jose for this one. Jose had a new squad and started looking for a working formula. To start on that squad you had to prove your worth which clearly KDB hadn't. He lost his place after the MU game, and failed to win it back. Willian was cumulating the good performances and was very consistent, hard working player while KDB was literally walking in the carling cup games. I rated him highly after the pre-season and I bet Jose felt the same but he did not show it on the field. Azpi was in a similar situation at the start, but he took his chances very well and look at him now he's playing every game despite signing Filipe Luis. The players were not picked for their price tag but for their merit. I think the most worrying part about his situation here was that Jose criticized his training. I can't remember any manager complaining about their players in training before. that was a first for me. World cup or not. I felt like KDB was a spoiled kid who can only blame himself for failing at chelsea.

I don't post too often despite being here for around 2 years, and tbh I only posted because someone said we looked better when Matic was subbed, which is true IMO. Ramires being more athletic had a lot to do with it. I always rated Schneiderlin as a player and he was having arguably the best performance from a rival player at the bridge this season. Feel free to think I'm using this as a chance to downplay Nemanja. I like him but I just don't think he's as good as you describe him. I disagree about his displays at the start of the season. I thought he did alright, certainly better than now but nothing that would make him the best DM in the world. I still remember during the first couple of games, when he was too advanced for his position and tried to dictate our play like would Pirlo in a midfield of 3, back then he left a huge gap between the midfield and the back four. The center backs were more exposed and we looked more vulnerable to counter attacks. It's no coincidence we conceded more goals during that period. Jose and the team probably worked on that aspect of his game because he is more disciplined now and less adventurous. His lack of mobility however was and still is there, that wasn't exclusively in the second part of the season. He looked less comfortable playing against better sides and faster players. Schneiderlin being more athletic than Matic isn't everything, of course but I don't think Matic is very good in his positioning. He can intercept the ball when there's pressing infront of him or when his physical abilities allow him to but he can't be reliable against a good opposition. At the end of the day this is only my opinion so you're free to disagree, and quite frankly I can't see this debate going anywhere so we will probably have to agree to disagree.

I'm assuming you didn't read any of my posts.. Anyway, I think defensively he's better. He's more mobile than Matic which allow him to step an extra yard or so to cut a pass. He can keep pressing the players with a higher intensity. He doesn't have as much trouble dealing with fast players as do Matic, and he can steal balls despite lack of pressing upfront. In terms of attacking ability, Nemanja is definitely better no doubt but I don't think Schneiderlin is bad at it. Can you tell me why do you all think he's so extrordinary? Some people here even label him as the best DM in the world. I just don't see it.

He had the part where I said dynamic player over Fabregas in bold. I'd understand if he didn't agree with the whole post.

My initial point was that Schneiderlin was better than Matic. If I had the choice to pick, which I don't and which no one on here have, I would choose him over Matic. I'm not suggesting we should sell him or anything, just that there are better players out there. There's nothing wrong with that, as there is nothing wrong with thinking we don't have the best players in every position. I'm not basing my thoughts on the last couple of games only. As I said in my other post, I think he struggles with fast players. It was always there, and it's looking more obvious against the better sides. Anything wrong with that statement?

I wouldn't mind it either if we had a dynamic creative midfielder like Modric, Verratti instead of Fabregas. but we signed him now and its very unlikely that we go for another player. and to be fair to him, he delivered assists and he's improving his defensive side of the game. What I find really worrying though, is that we tried to play Fabregas higher in europe. and the weaknesses of Matic got the better of him. I'm afraid Matic Ramires in the pivot is still not the answer.