Daniel1980

I think he probably needed a MOTM performance in the first game for Chelsea more than Costa did, considering the past. I get the impression that Costa just doesn't give a fuck what people think of him, but Cesc clearly does, imo. Coming to the direct rival of the team he captained for years was unlikely to have been an easy decision for him.
You could tell he was really happy when they showed him before the start of the second half. He was all smiles.

Milan are actually a good team for him to develop. Milan's midfielders are very poor and if MvG is better than average, he'll be played because Milan and Pippo need the results on the pitch. Inzaghi started him against pretty good teams like Lazio and Udinese. If he wasn't so injury-prone, MvG would have gotten plenty of playing time at Milan. Regardless of Milan's current results, it's a club with a great history, so getting some playing time there will show how good MvG is at dealing with pressure. He just needs to do better and impress. So far, he hasn't impressed me at Milan. He's not Chelsea material (at least not yet).
I want an upgrade on Mikel and Ramires, but at least right now MvG isn't the answer.

Looking at how Falcao is performing at United, it's fair to say we dodged a bullet with that one. Definitely in the Torres flop zone.
Also, Di Maria is truly horrible at taking set-pieces. Always fail to beat the first man, underhits and overhits the ball. Absolutely hopeless.

Di Maria has been consistently terrible for United except for a couple of good matches in the beginning.

I don't want Arsenal to drop out of Top 4 --they might fire Wenger. #WengerIn

I don't want Arsenal to drop out of Top 4 --they might fire Wenger. #WengerIn

Always gave everything and scored some very important goals and had some incredible performances for us. Thanks for everything Andre and best of luck in your future.

I'll miss him. Always gave everything.
One player I won't miss though is Mo Salah.

It's probably pretty safe to say that Zouma is a starter now. If he started against Liverpool and City, he will start against worse sides.

I seem to remember Andre, a winger, getting a lot of stick for failing to track back when Man City scored in the first game. Never mind that Andre was the one who scored our only goal too(and what a world-class run it was).
I also remember Cesc, an AM, getting a lot of stick for being fouled and dispossessed close to Schalke's final third(!), which resulted in the counter that could have been easily stopped by numerous of our players. And never mind that Cesc was the one who scored our only goal too.
But when Matic, a defensive midfielder, makes a mistake in our half that eventually leads to a goal, it's apparently okay. And unlike Andre and Cesc, he didn't even score a goal for us, but it's okay. Because it's Matic.
Such double standards are pretty baffling. It seems Matic can do no wrong. If his name was Mikel or Oscar, he would have been crucified.

I seem to remember Andre, a winger, getting a lot of stick for failing to track back when Man City scored in the first game. Never mind that Andre was the one who scored our only goal too(and what a world-class run it was).
I also remember Cesc, an AM, getting a lot of stick for being fouled and dispossessed close to Schalke's final third(!), which resulted in the counter that could have been easily stopped by numerous of our players. And never mind that Cesc was the one who scored our only goal too.
But when Matic, a defensive midfielder, makes a mistake in our half that eventually leads to a goal, it's apparently okay. And unlike Andre and Cesc, he didn't even score a goal for us, but it's okay. Because it's Matic.
Such double standards are pretty baffling. It seems Matic can do no wrong. If his name was Mikel or Oscar, he would have been crucified.

Oscar is clearly not fit to play against better sides, especially after playing 120 minutes earlier this week. He looked knackered and generally useless. He should be afraid for his place in the XI. If Willian plays as well as he played today and Cuadrado impresses(and I think he will), Oscar might be the one who is dropped. I like the lad, but it's very likely.

I seem to remember Andre, a winger, getting a lot of stick for failing to track back when Man City scored in the first game. Never mind that Andre was the one who scored our only goal too(and what a world-class run it was).
I also remember Cesc, an AM, getting a lot of stick for being fouled and dispossessed close to Schalke's final third(!), which resulted in the counter that could have been easily stopped by numerous of our players. And never mind that Cesc was the one who scored our only goal too.
But when Matic, a defensive midfielder, makes a mistake in our half that eventually leads to a goal, it's apparently okay. And unlike Andre and Cesc, he didn't even score a goal for us, but it's okay. Because it's Matic.
Such double standards are pretty baffling. It seems Matic can do no wrong. If his name was Mikel or Oscar, he would have been crucified.

That's why it's been worrying me. I love Nemanja, but this sloppiness of his has become far too frequent for my liking. And he's pretty often out of position, pressing too high and not managing to get back in time.
Mikel would have been crucified for Matic's mistake today.

He looked tired and lethargic at times, but expecting him to be at 100% after the Liverpool match is unreasonable. Hazard is not very effective when we play so negatively. He needs the ball to make something happen. Still, a nice assist.

It's probably pretty safe to say that Zouma is a starter now. If he started against Liverpool and City, he will start against worse sides.

Credit to Remy. It's hard to score so consistently when you barely get the playing time.

Remy scored 1.05 goals per 90 minutes in the Champions League+PL
Costa scored 0.81 goals per 90 minutes in the Champions League+PL

Costa had better watch out.

Credit to Remy. It's hard to score so consistently when you barely get the playing time.

Remy scored 1.05 goals per 90 minutes in the Champions League+PL
Costa scored 0.81 goals per 90 minutes in the Champions League+PL

Costa had better watch out.

That's weird because he consistently clocks up one of the most kilometres per game in the team.

I thought he had a good game for the most part but him diddling on the ball and then loosing it leading to us conceding.....god that really pissed me off more than it probably should. The goal is ultimately Courtois' fault but that mistake by Matic put the team under pressure that could have been avoided. I really rate him highly but at 26 years of age he needs to cut out those sort of silly mistakes from his game. His sloppiness on the ball is becoming too frequent for my liking.

Phenomenal, especially the first half. Played like someone who's just been provided some competition (Cuadrado). I think Oscar needs to worry about his place more, though.

I'd like to agree, but I've seen no evidence that MvG is ready to be promoted. He's 22 already--just a year younger than Oscar--and still barely has any experience and doesn't seem to have much confidence. I don't see MvG having any future at Chelsea unless he steps up and has a very good season at Milan. This is his chance. I hope he grabs it.

Just Cuadrado imo. We still have Ramires who can play on the wing in worst case scenario and Remy can play on the wing aswell. If we also buy Costa it will be a lot of money.

On redcafe right now United fans aren't exactly happy about their summer signings' impact:
LOL £150m. I almost feel sorry for them.
Kudos to the board and Jose for our summer transfers--and to our new lads too.

All right, I'm getting tired of the same BS being spouted over and over by Barcelona and Arsenal fans, as though it's some law that Cesc's form is bound to drastically drop in the second part. Yes, his form definitely dropped at Barcelona, but that can be explained by many factors(among other things, the coaches reverted back to the trusted Xaviniesta and went back from a more direct football Barca generally played in the first half of the season to tiki-taka style that suited Xaviniesta).
He never had such a drastic drop in form at Arsenal, so the problem was clearly related to Barcelona.
Cesc's stats in the second half of the season at Arsenal(the League only):
2007-2008:

It's natural that footballers' form drops as the season progresses, but as we see, at Arsenal Cesc's form didn't dip more than your average footballer's. He was injured a lot and missed many games, but that's it. He was still very good when he played. It's bloody hilarious how Arsenal fans keep repeating Barcelona fans' narrative now that Cesc is a Chelsea player.
Our med team is miles better than Arsenal's. He'll be fine.