TheOneChan95

He has better acceleration and pace. In terms of vision and passing Hazard is equally capable. I'd say Zola was more tactically clever though. A bit stereotypical but I think he learned that in Serie A and playing with Maradona really benefited his shooting and FK technique. And damn i hope he scores that falling heel volley in the fifa 15 trailer some day in a competitive match.

I guess people have differing views on Buffon cause from what I've heard is that he has been on a decline and wasn't on the same level he once was. Honestly I think Neuer is the best with Tibo and Cech as the next 2. The other keepers are a rung below on the list. I think to place the blame solely on him is unfair as our defence hasn't been sorted out yet this season. For example, no way should he have to be relied on for the Schalke goal. Rami should have just fouled the ball carrier on the halfway line.

Actually I'd rather hope he plays. He is quite a liability there now and easily bypassed so it would be beneficial for us. Would be weird to see him play for sure though. Can you imagine if Cesc and Frank had another spat? My mind would be temporarily confused on who to support

I think it may be cause Remy only trained with the squad for a really short amount of time while Didier has been there sine the start. Hence, Didier should be a bit more comfortable playing with the rest of the team. The other reason I can think of was that Jose was afraid they would try and park the bus early, and Drogba was put on to ensure they don't do that at the start else we just fling cross after cross to his head. Old as he is he still has his aerial ability. Those are the only logical reasons I can come up with anyways.

Obviously a win would be fantastic, but a draw would be a decent result. I expect the same XI against Schalke except for Drogba and maybe Luis.

Ironically the last 15 mins would have been the perfect time for him to be on the pitch when Schalke were staying in their own box and we could spam crosses.

Cahill likes to back off from attackers. If we want to play more offensive, then our CBs need to be a bit more aggressive and cut out the space between defence and midfield. Although I'm not too sure how dropping him would be useful since Iva is quite passive too.

Woops I meant start.

Mourinho himself just said Costa can't play 3x a week due to his hamstring. Problem was Drogba had a poor game and we definitely should have started Remy.

I think Luis did pretty well for a debut. I definitely prefer him there over Azpi. Produced a nice cross for Didier too. Not the best result though. I don't think Didier should have started at all and Remy would have been enough.

I don't miss Cahill's backing off at all. I thought he cut that out of his game already.

Ours is still very much in development imo. We haven't really suffocated teams as well as what Dortmund are doing to Arsenal now. It looked good on Swansea only on the 2nd half

I kind of agree somewhat but some of his best performances for us was when he was starting. This includes City(H), Stoke, Psg, Fulham(he was completely shit in the first half for this) and he did fine at Burnley too. I think he is a good choice to start although his last performance has been crap. He is an ideal person to have in the squad imo since he is hardworking and doesn't complain publicly. If we only use him as an impact sub, then I doubt he will stay for very long here.

I'm surprised Cole and Terry were not photoshopped inside

I don't think current 36yo Lamps is much of an improvement tbh. He had to regularly commit cynical fouls as he let players get by him. But I completely agree with you on our CB duo. I think this is one of the main problems with implementing a more aggresive style of play. JT and Cahill are far more suitable for situations where we soak up pressure. In that respect they are excellent. However, what I feel our current style needs is someone like Kompany, an aggressive front-foot type defender who is pacey enough to deal with players who get behind them and also technically competent in building from the back. Defenders like that would allow us to play higher up the pitch. If Luiz had fewer brain farts he could have been that kind of guy. Currently I think the short term solution would be the 433. It's kind of unrealistic to expect our current duo to change their natural game in such a short span of time. Maybe Zouma and Christensen could be developed that way though.

I think Cesc is better from deep if we are playing a weaker team and can control the midfield. This would be due to the fact that he is one of the best out there in sending splendid defence splitting passes from deep. He allows us to move the ball so much quicker as well. But from what we have seen so far he is probably better as the advanced midfielder in a 433 for tougher games since it gives us good balance. The 4231 seems like a good way to commit suicide against good teams since he isn't as good defensively.

Good point. I think his 1v1 marking is great but recently he has the tendency to play people onside. Happened for Spain as well when iirc he played Valbuena on which led to Remy's goal. I'm sure Jose would have noticed this and will sort it out soon though. I think Luis should start vs Schalke. He is no rookie who needs hand holding imo and should do just fine while offering more going forward than Azpi on the left.

I think his current wages are pretty fair. If he wants a huge raise he will have to up his game into a consistent CR/Messi levels by the end of the season.

Priority for rotation would be Costa and Hazard imo. We need them fresh for City and they did pick up injuries recently. Remy and Schurrle should be able to do the job. I believe this should be the perfect time for Luis to come in as well. Can't see too many others getting changed. If we manage to cruise early then it would be good to put the brakes on and introduce Mikel for Cesc or something similar.

I'd rather United drop out since FFP benefits them more.

I kind of wish they had Europa league distractions because as it stands there is a good chance they can rack up points against such weak sides. It's too early to write them off imo.

I hope we don't set unrealistic expectations for him given his flying start. I doubt he can continue scoring at such a rate but obviously I'd be delighted if he proves me wrong.

Yeah he has seriously underachieved in the league. Like someone else said I do think his lack of backbone regarding the team composition is probably one of his worst points. Maybe it's just that he prefers coaching and prefers leaving the transfers to someone else. I'd still take Carlo over Rafa though! I have no idea how he does it in the CL. I mean when you think about it, he really should have won in 2005 too.

I think he's better if we have more control of the game and are constantly in the opposition final third. He has good positioning and end product to justify playing him in such situations. If we need more control over the midfield as we saw against Swansea then Rami and Willian could be better options.

To be fair, his league record has always been atrocious. Surely they knew what they were getting with him? Cup manager in my eyes. His squad is also too unbalanced now to mount a sustained assault on the league.