The Chels

I can't really understand why Mourinho favours him either. Many say it's because Mou thinks Ivanovic at RB > Cole at LB, but I'm not so sure. He is a physical player, which offers something different to Azpi, but to me his physicality is more than offset by his lack of positional awareness, lack of technical ability on the ball leading to many a breakdown in attack, and his lack of pace. Equally, his physicality makes him more likely to get done by 1-2s like we saw yesterday in the early stages with Young and Welbeck (who aren't exactly creative geniuses), does it not?

If only Tottenham weren't such a difficult club to deal with we would have had Modric in 2011, £40m. Sigh, what if eh? You know you're good when you stand out in the Real Madrid team. Oh well, at least we got them back somewhat with the Willian deal

It really is remarkable that some at the highest level cannot perform even the most basic of footballing tasks - which is made yet more amazing when the player is a central midfielder (*cough* Ramires). With Sagna, I've definitely seen him deliver in some very good crosses, but do you think there is actually a less technically able RB in the league than Ivanovic?

I don't think it's that easy to state Jose's decision on this has been 'absolutely correct'. You can only say that if you know how the alternative situation would have panned out with Mata being involved in all the games he hasn't been, and obviously that is impossible. I remember reading from both Mata and De Bruyne that Mourinho had not told them what they were doing wrong personally, with Mata saying something along the lines of 'he doesn't need to...' Surely trying to help them directly instead of almost doing so through the media would be a better option and not make the players feel targeted and without hope of getting into the team? Obviously the manager doesn't need to justify to every player why he is or isn't playing them, but when Mata is clearly our most creative and technical AM (not to mention the only one who can properly take FKs and corners!) and has been for the last 2 years it seems strange that Mourinho wouldn't advise him personally, particularly because he thinks he will be an 'important' player for us; I believe he said something similar about De Bruyne around the Christmas period, and we all know how that one turned out...

He's definitely not as poor as Ivanovic, but that still doesn't mean he's good. For a central midfielder you'd expect a lot more. Tame shots and tame passes, it's almost become standard with him now. I also think bringing in a definite first-choise LB would be good. Cole, as good as he has been, gets done against the slightest bit of pace and trickery it seems nowadays. But if a LB were to be brought in, can we definitely assume that Azpilicueta will be competing for his normal RB spot with Ivanovic? I wouldn't be surprised if Azpi were to become the back-up LB because Mourinho seems very fond of Ivanovic and I don't think we can be sure that it's just because he prefers Ivanovic at RB to Cole at LB (therefore meaning Azpi has to go RB). With Sagna's crosses you don't always know what to expect, but from watching him you know he has the ability to - and very often does - whip an absolute peach of a ball into the box. The same cannot be said with Ivanovic. And that's definitely not the first time that's happened this season. Quite a lot of our promising attacks seem to break down when the ball gets to Ivanovic, mostly because he cannot cross to save his life. You'd think that in all the analysis of our games the coaching staff, including Mourinho, would have noticed this and either helped him improve his crossing or seek some other solution?

If you take the game against Swansea (1-0) for example, twice did Mata play in Samuel Eto'o with 2 brilliant passes. Would he have been substituted and dropped for the next game if those 2 had resulted in goals, I wonder? Would you honestly say that any other AM in our team, apart from the occasional Hazard moment, can produce moments like that? Whilst there may be complaints about Mata's workrate and pressing/defending abilities, surely there is no denying that he is by far the best creative AM player we have, and hence he shouldn't be sidelined to the extent he has been.

Agreed. When we're leading, after about the 75 mins mark, he often just hoofs the ball away to nobody, even if there are clearly options available to him to whom he is more than capable of making the pass. Maybe Luiz thinks he's being some kind of hero clearing the danger, but the reality is that he's creating more of it by inviting further pressure on the team as opposed to simply keeping the ball and wearing down the opponent and their hopes of making a comeback.

I think the point is that if Cahill can make 2 assists, why can't our AMs make any?

Agreed. While Mata isn't the greatest at implementing Mourinho's high pressing and tackling strategies, you cannot deny that he possesses a level of technical ability and vision much superior to that of Willian, Oscar and even Hazard. Hard-working AMs are great, but in the majority of cases they can't play that killer, subtle and deft pass that we see with Mata all the time. Surely it says something when our CB (playing DM) Luiz has to take free-kicks where the best option is to shoot on goal because none of Willian, Hazard and Oscar can (or at least try to). It's a shame Mata doesn't fit into Mourinho's system because I think he is our best player technically and creatively.

I've read that some people think he had a good game against Januzaj, but I don't think he did. Never really looks comfortable at the RB position and in particular the nutmeg against him and the overhit cross come to mind. Whilst he is a good defender (but with the ease in which Young and Welbeck played a 1-2 around him in the early stages and his defending against Hernandez for United's goal, maybe even that is in question?) he is so poor technically. Notice how during the dropball there was some unrest among the United players that Chelsea had kicked the ball out for a United throw-in instead of giving it back to De Gea. It was Ivanovic who did that, and it didn't seem to be by purpose at all. I really think he just wasn't able to cross it all the way back to their goalkeeper, failing spectacularly. Sigh, his and Ramires' lack of technical ability, in terms of being able to pass, cross and shoot properly, is noticeable every game!

Typical media (read: Jim White) dramatisation, I suspect.

Could well be him: http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/454789/French-youngster-Kurt-Zouma-set-to-complete-11m-Chelsea-move

I'm not sure. First I heard of it was on twitter, so I tuned in to SSN and saw Jim White repeat it saying Chelsea were in for a big name signing, possibly tonight. Bryan then commented something along the lines of Jim teasing the Chelsea fans (in terms of not revealing who, rather than lying) and that any updates would be made on SSN.

The 2 guests one. But Byran Swanson was there too with the big screen.

True. They've not even mentioned it on Sky Sports News as one of their 'Sky Sources' statements. Might Jim have just been making it up? You'd think that would damage Sky Sports' reputation.

Because he's part of Sky Sports News, which is one of the most reliable sources for football transfers. Edit: Sorry just realised I've double posted. Not sure if that's against the rules?

Yeah was watching it live - something alone the lines of 'Chelsea are on the brink of a big name signing, possibly tonight' without revealing anything else. But there's been no mention of it on Sky Sports News now. Maybe Jim White was just trolling, but surely not?

He definitely said it. It was on the transfer centre which has now finished. He didn't give much away though at all.

I thought his distribution was not good enough to merit a 9/10 - particularly towards our left flank!