Essien19

The thing is, after the so-called 'clown' comment you seemed a bit more aggressive in the following discussions, if i remember correctly. Especially Gilvorak's behaviour really did get the better of you: his high valuation regarding Oscar did get on your nerves, didn't it?! Furthermore another member called Willian a fraud (it's an insult) but you didn't attack his opinion, you attacked him personally. Maybe you could have phrased that one differently. The good thing is, that's the few examples i can bring to the table, there're no more. In my point of view that's not good enough reason to ban you, even in a soft world like this. But the mods are kings in here and the way it looks they don't want to be dragged into deep discussions with members which in the end are more or less meanignless. Suck it up! Yes, standing up for yourself is in most case not a bad thing, but this time, you've simply met the wrong person. Anyway, it would be a real good thing if the two of you would just accept each others apology, your account gets instantly unbanned and all of us can get on with life. Act like adults, ffs. I thought that was one of the reasons why the board got rid of Mourinho, no more kindergarden! I enjoy(ed) it, but i understand why other people don't! It's more or less useless to moan because of the past. Zolayes keeps on getting mentioned, but he ain't here anymore, but was active af in the past. Meaning, not all things were that good, were they!? Fingers crossed that in the next couple of days you're back in the team. Have a nice day!

Really hope Stoke can win this today, got a bit too optimistic with the amount of money i put on them...

Mancs aren't scoring against the minnows, they create chances, though. A bit ironic that finishing has become one of their biggest problems with Zlatan in their team. Their style of play isn't too bad, but at least 4 teams are looking better and they already have about 7 points more. City Chelsea Liverpool Arsenal (new buys are impressive, different than before) Tottenham That's United's problem. There has to be a winning streak now...still think Mourinho's got what it takes and will come good, wait till Christmas, i guess. So far, it's fair to say it's been very disappointing for them.

@Boost aka Stats sad that you aren't around anymore. Really think that you have a very good understanding of the game and your contributions were almost always on point. One of the good guys! I understand that you didn't want to moan time and again but you should've let it go with Special Juan. Making the rounds didn't do you any favours, just concentrate on the future and the new (football) topics, not any grudges with member(s) . Anyway, i'm not here to lecture you. You did less than others who i think get away with it... Maybe there's still a chance, but you need to put Special Juan on your ignore list, i think. Regard!

The moment one of the Chelsea lads played it a bit too short to Kanté in the second half and the french international -always two steps ahead recovered by laying his full body weight into the opponent, pointless to say that he easily hold on to the ball... the boy can do no wrong, he's the best thing happened to Chelsea FC (in midfield) since Makélélé... it's about time for a song similar to West Hams version of 'we've got Payet'...

Very good team, very good manager. They don't make mistakes, do they?! For me, Kanté is Chelsea's best player, but the guy who impressed me most is Victor Moses. Incredible, absolutely incredible. Chelsea is right up there with the very best and it's very well deserved!

Chelsea will win, they almost always do these days. Time to make a profit on this. Odds are good.

I'm as much pro Mourinho as you're anti, but even i'm not talking that much about Mourinho these days, but keep talking, who's the obsessed one?! Why should United sell one of their stars? As if they'd sell Martial, who just had injury problems, you're having a laugh...

You seem a bit obsessed, better have the balls to tag the person instead of coming from behind, bitch move. Sure, what you'd wanna hear? Probably the worst defeat since Madrid days, Mourinho got it horribly wrong with the selection (e.g. benching Mata, being reactiv with too many limited players Fellaini, Lingard and so on). You really shouldn't hit out at former club members when they're lying on the floor, but you couldn't help yourself, could you?!

If Gates can't keep his own shop open, he may have to go back to his garage. Point is it's been a long time since i've seen Courtois playing at a level which enables him to really put up a challenge on the world's very best. Despite him being uncomfortable af and leading to disunity (recent Cahill incident), his quality of deliveries has been going down, not up, maybe perceptive... If i remember correctly, you're bringing up a slightly different Gates comparison for the second time in a row. Once it was mentioned to build a case for managers (Pep Guardiola) now you're back at it again to make it work for keepers. Personally, i disagree when relating it to them. Why?! Because it's a different job. At a big club there're games where you don't even have to make a save, whereas at small clubs, it's save after save and i agree with the assessment that it's much easier to work all the time. In the end they're just different job-profiles, depends on what you'd want. You seem to be one of the regular match goers, but i for one can't remember Cech being that bad for that long amount of time back in the day. But maybe i'm wrong... I wouldn't sell Courtois. He's frustrating af, because he could be as good as De Gea, (IMO) and it doesn't help his case either that he doesn't come across as someone who's out looking for new friends, not that different to Kevin, imo. But seeing the likes of Navas and Karius tells you that as a club you can do most likely a lot worse. Nevertheless because he's not living up to his (predicted) potential, people ain't happy!

City had the chances to get a draw, but that mistake was so costly.

It's amazing that if you're physically gifted you can bail yourself out a lot of times, just take a look at that 'highly' rated lad of Arsenal's 'Bellerin'. Pace has become so much more important for defenders, but you can still compensate (a bit) with brain, this United lad Blind would be my prime example these days. Anyway, sure that Pepe on his day is a top notch defender. I remember Mourinho more or less binning him in favor of Varane. With Ancelotti there came a change of dymanics and Pepe got back into the starting lineup and showed what he's made of. I didn't watch many 90 min. matches of Real Madrid in the league, but i kept hearing from a lot of people that back in the day Pepe was their top dog in defence. I can only say that when the stakes were high, i for one found Ramos almost always convincing, but that doesn't take away what Pepe did, he never let his team down. His problem is that he's still paying for losing his cool against Getafe in 2009. Again, in the Euros he was very important for Portugal. What i want to say is that it's all fair and square to have one defender like Pepe in your team, but having someone who can do something with the ball has become more important, imo. Looking forward to seeing more from the partnership Boateng and Hummels. Normally you see a partnership of Stones & Otamendi, Pepe & Ramos, Pique & Mascherano: meaning one ball playing defender and one pure defender. What i disagree with is that personally i include the attacking potential in my assessment of a defender. These days, the benchmark of an attacker is also based on his tracking back. Fair's fair, i guess.

Kenedy isn't getting much playing time at Watford, is he? I for one like his Insta account, not trying to be someone who he's not. There're already enough of that kind at the club. No need to become a boring one.

It depends on the style of play you'd want to see. If you want to involve as many players as possible in attack, you'd better go with ball playing lads at the back. If you want to have more defensive stability similar to Leicester last season, you'd choose a different type of player, as simple as that. Isn't a tackling the last resort? 'If I have to make a tackle then I have already made a mistake' (according to Maldini). Still remember how we tried to hold the lines in training, that was fun. The current generation of ballers is a bit overrated compared to the likes of Maldini, but for me Pique is up there with Godin. Hummels had inujury problems and tends to make a mistake (has regressed over the last years), i agree with you. I have rarely seen Ramos make a mistake in a big game when it was still open. Sure he tried too hard against some minnows, but when the going gets tough, he leads by example. Nowadays i rate him highly. All of them have in common that they have some sort of positional sense which Luiz has been lacking, he needs to be consoled for most of the time, imo. Maybe despite playing for a different side, this Bailly lad will get your attention. He's strong (reminds me a bit of the aformentioned Vidic) and when it comes to playing it out from the back he's solid, traits of JT. No bullshit. Personally i appreciate a defender who knows what to do with the ball at his feet.

United pressed higher up the pitch against Scouse which resulted in -apart from two individual contributions them not knowing what to do for most parts of the game. Mourinho did what neither Conte nor Wenger could do: get a point against Pool. So defence was good, midfield okay, but their attacking department hasn't been good enough. Mourinho already mentioned that one. Talent wise, United still have two gems, maybe Mkhitaryan can make it, Martial with his knee injury, don't know. I can see Mata coming back, too. If United loses again, they will be 8 points off the first spot, which means that their title hopes would be already in tatters. For a man who said that they will try to win the title, it's very bad news when it's coming in october. Pogba makes this United side a better team, he's not playing like the most expensive player in the world, but he creates chances, was responsible for the chance you'd expect Ibrahimovic to nick. But i'm looking forward to seeing Kanté taking on Herrera. The both of them have shown a very high of level of performances and especially this Herrera dude is a nasty piece of work. I wouldn't want to take him on these days. Let's see if we see another draw or either of the two parties get their revenge.

Typical Mourinho game.

It instills the myth that everyone who isn't playing as a striker is a failed striker. Essien was not only a beast, he could shoot as well any time he wanted to. But it's okay that Kanté can't do it properly, the team has more goals in them than last season. That's what's important, i guess. As for the Bonucci reference, funnily the likes of Hummels, Boateng or Ramos have their shooting boots on, but that's not their most important quality. But it helps Luizs' his case, though. Polyvalent is the magic word these days.

I could be wrong, but didn't you favour Bielsa or rather Sampaoli?

Don't know what's the case with Oscar. But what's good is that Moses and Chalobah (who already has about 100 caps) has finally come to fruition. Conte knows his stuff, the way Chelsea's been playing is real good. Sure there were defeats against some of the big boys, but he's getting the points from the smaller sides. Passes like the one from Kanté to Hazard are fun to watch.

These days Bayern have become a different animal in their domestic league. No one can match them financially. The gap hasn't always been this huge. Back in the day Magath won back to back the 'double' with a far inferior team, something Guardiola failed to do. At this moment Bayern's players run less, passing has become less incisive which results in more and more errors at the back. The question is when do they peak? What good is for when you dominate the spell August-November/December and bottle it in spring against the big boys? For the domestic league history shows that it's good enough, but in Champions-League where teams can match you quality wise, it paints a different picture, tactics become more and more important. Bayern bought Guardiola to win the Champions-League, he didn't reach one final. Bayern went to Camp Nou with the idea of playing three at the back, Barcelona dominated the match from minute one. Guardiola had to abort the experiment 15 minutes later, turned out to be an absolute fiasco. Back in the day Bayern didn't shoot much from distance, they should always play short passes, Bernat got caught because he tried to dribble near his box, ended in total disaster and they conceded. After that Guardiola gestured wildly from the sidelines to push his team forward, they conceded again and again. Should have tried to calm them down and have a go at them at home. Yeah, Barca had 'el tridente' at their best, but if it's all on the players (personally don't believe that), coaches become less important, still, you'd expect better than a 3:0 thumping in the first game. Bayern are no n00bs. Against Real in the second leg Guardiola was uncertain about his tactics, players called the shots, backfired massively. Still Bayern's heaviest home defeat on home soil. The first leg against Atletico looked like a sabotage mission. Throwing over of what've worked in the past. Mourinho won the Champions-League with Porto. How much did his board spent back in the day? But still, don't know why you did come up with Jose Mourinho?! I only mentioned Simeone and Klopp. Mourinho's been underwhelming thus far, his teams bought a lot of players, right. Sure Mourinho can make the likes of Wheelan or Arter (who i do rate though) play to win, the question is can Guardiola? If it's that easy what Mourinho's been doing over the last decade (reference medieval footie), why did someone like Rodgers not copy his approach? That's the interesting thing with Klopp and Simeone. Especially Klopp states it time and time again that money isn't everything. With his knowledge of team building he's competitive and brings something new to the table. I don't think that with the millions Chelsea spent on the likes of Fabregas and Costa it didn't result in not bringing something new to the club. In the end it's all about winning. He's a good coach, but i can't hide that after the recent games i've an obnoxious smile in my face. He's not running away with it, is he?!

And he's shutting Fabregas down, can see right through him, respect him for that.

Hit his own woodwork (tbf Vardy was right behind him, already in the perfect spot, most likely that would have been a goal). Overall Luiz looked solid to me, Vardy didn't get a sniff! Commanded the back line and didn't shout when his teammates caused an unnecessary dead ball. Inspired the level of confidence and his build up from the back is pretty good. At least in this game, Conte seemed to have found the perfect setup to play to his strengths. It's better to have Luiz in the line-up than not. So, good business from the club, still a football club, not all about the money. EDIT: Rhetorical question, my bad.

Brilliant game, Leicester could have scored one, but overall Chelsea ran the show. Kanté is the buy of the season so far. Conte is very good for Chelsea.

Before Pep went there Bayern wasn't chanceless against the top Spanish clubs. after the first game in the semis it was more or less already over. He made very questionable choices in the big games, especially against Atletico last season, that loss in the first game was on him, for example by fielding Bernat out of the blue. Bayern didn't get most times the most difficult opponents until the semis, except last season when they got Juve early. Pep's away record in the CL is atrocious, recently the away game against Celtic inflicts more pain. Tbf, Pep kept Bayern at a high level, but from someone like Pep you expect more, the Bundesliga isn't what it used to be. Pep's style of play requires very good and expensive footballers, doubt he could pull off something the likes of Klopp or Simeone have achieved over the years. You say Champions-League is too much to ask, but the fact that he couldn't make one youth player great at Bayern puts his reputation as a 'youth lover' into perspective. By having matured players such as KdB, Sterling, Stones around, Pep ticks all the right boxes...make no mistake, the Catalan is a class coach. Similar to Klopp, he knows how to sell himself, some might call it marketing ability, Wilson 'liderazgo'. At the end i don't think he's better than someone like Simeone. Still hasn't won a title in England, Christmas will be an interesting watch.

out of this world, simply breathtaking, unbelievable, lost for words.