Naked Mole Rat

Has to be Ramires. He did incredibly well to get that penalty. Mata did very well, too, though.

Another let-off thanks to Ramires, but it was really embarrassing before our second goal. I'm not quite convinced with AVB's high defense line against counterattack tactics, which doesn't make sense at all.

Mikel. He plays a crucial role in the midfield, he was going to lead Nigeria in the World Cup, and I think he can be a very influential player in the future. Cech is a good choice as well but it's better if the captain was an outfield player. But if Conor Clifford ever breaks through, he has to be our new captain. He looks like a born leader.

I think certain conditions should be met if we are to provide the environment in which our youngsters can develop. 1. Our 'result is all that matters' policy should change and give more breathing space for the manager as Madmax pointed out earlier. Not only will this let AVB help develop our youth, but it will also help him make better decisions. I think the way Ancelotti reacted last season was mostly because of the pressure piling upon him, and although dealing with pressure is an important attribute for a manager, there is way too much unnecessary pressure on Chelsea managers. 2. We should have the players that can win us good results. We are not Arsenal; we have ambition. On top of that, Roman has huge expectations for the team, and what I said in point 1 is hard to achieve. In the past few seasons our squad has not been at its best. i mean, it was good enough for PL and European title contention, but we lacked creativity and our squad was aging very quickly, and these things really affected our performance time to time. And whenever we're not doing so well, we tend to stick to experience rather than youth, and obviously that doesn't do any good, because it's the experienced players that are not doing well, and then we find ourselves in a vicious cycle. And even if we throw young players into action in desperation when we do badly, it's highly unlikely that they'll perform well. Even huge stars like Fernando Torres has hard time coping with pressure. Young players, if put under pressure, have now two things to worry about instead of one. 3. We need to keep our first team squad slim and leave a few spots for young players. I know we ran into much trouble last season because we didn't have enough players, but is it really a good idea to keep Anelka, Kalou, Malouda, and Ferreira just to be safe? As senior players, these guys have more say than young players. AVB can tell Lalkovic to fuck off if Milan tells him he deserves to play (and he does if Kalou does), but if Malouda and Anelka decide to go on a demonstration, he is in trouble. Keeping the squad harmonious is the manager's most important and biggest challenge, and if AVB wants to keep everyone happy, he needs to play everyone. Then we find ourselves in a situation where we're playing Anelka when it could be better to play Sturridge or we're playing Ferreira instead of Bertrand.

WTF can't believe Man U got that!

I hope Torres, Drogba and McEachran will start. Also wanna see Mata get 45 minutes and a few minutes for Lukaku as well.

Don't give up yet

No, I mean from Anderlecht.

Lukaku switches from #14 to #18 so that when Benayoun <-> Modric, Mata takes #10, Modric #14. Works out perfectly. It's going to happen!

No Porto is definitely in the first pot along with... Pot 1: Man U, Barcelona, Chelsea, **Bayern Munchen, **Arsenal, Real Madrid, Porto, Inter Milan Pot 2: AC Milan (1), **Lyon (1), Shakhtar, Valencia, **Benfica, CSKA Moskva, Marseille, Zenit (3) Pot 3: Ajax (2), Leverkusen (2), Olympiacos (2), Fenerbahce (2), Man City, Lille, Basel (4), Dortumund (4) Pot 4: **Maccabi Haifa (3), Napoli (3), **Dinamo Zagreb, **Odense, **Wisla Krakow, **Sturm Graz, **Viktoria Pizen, Otelul Galati **As it stands, if first match was a draw, favour away team (#) The other pot they can be in. I believe Villarreal will be in the 2nd pot if they qualify, Twente in 3rd, Kazan in 2nd or 3rd, BATE in 3rd, Genk in 4th, Udinese in 3rd, Malmo in 4th, and APOEL in 4th. Benfica, Basel, and any team from 4th pot other than Maccabi, Napoli, Zagreb I hope, preferably the closest one to London.

He's just a bit clumsy, but I'm sure he'll become a top defender in the near future.

I would've said Tevez if he wasn't such an asshole. One of the greatest strikers in PL history. I'll go with Gareth Bale. Sick of wait and lose out from Anelkalouda. Little bit of kick and run wouldn't be so bad.

OUT: Anelka, Malouda, Kalou, Benayoun, Ferreira IN: Mata, Modric (hopefully), Rajkovic If we can make Torres play on the flanks we can have a pretty manageable squad this way.

No one was particularly impressive but I voted for Anelka as I thought he was quite lively though he missed a couple chances.

What makes you say Torres was stationary? He made good runs, both on and off the ball, but the support was terrible and he made the best out of what he had. And why is it Torres' fault that our wingers can't support him because they suck? Also, don't tell me Torres can't create chances. Have you not watched the Stoke game? He deked three defenders from the edge of the penalty area until he was almost one on one with the goalie although unfortunately Shawcross got a foot in in the end. I believe there's a way both Drogba and Torres can play. Torres looks like he'd make a better winger than anyone else on the team. He's fast, makes good runs, dribbles well and can make some good deliveries as well. So I say why not put Anelka, Malouda and Kalou on the bench and have Torres and Sturridge support Drogba. But, never put Torres on the bench. Drogba has maybe two more years with us, and Torres is our future. I hope you agree.

This may be a good thing. Yossi is a great player but the team is not making much use of him and he's pretty old. If we can trade him+money for Modric that would be fantastic.

I can't take you seriously. How do you defend THAT miss? That was a sitter. A big Drogba fan like you would expect him to at least get his foot on the ball in that situation wouldn't you?

Torres: created chances out of nothing yet no goal. Drogba: missed a glorious chance and no goal. You're absolutely right.

Disappointed with AVB's decision to start Kalou and his tactics as well, but good to see him take off Kalou before half time. That's promising. And whatever he said in the locker room did real good as well, and frankly I was a bit amazed that Anelka and Lampard did so much better in the second half. Unlucky for Alex, though. I think that early mistake, which wasn't entirely his fault, affected him quite a bit. Props to Hilario who was solid in goal.

It's clear we can't play Barcelona football. Loose passing from pretty much everyone especially from Bosingwa and no creativity whatshoever. And with West Brom going counterattack, which is what we did against Barcelona whenever we played them, we're basically inviting them to pown us. So far, absolutely disappointing from AVB. What was with that Kalou selection? Even Drogba on the wing would've been a better option.

Now that our lack of interest in wingers is confirmed, I think it's pretty clear that we can't have new wingers as long as we have our shitty ones. So out both of them along with Malouda.

I appreciate his commitment to the team and sincerely hope that his dad is safe.

Torres was outstanding today. Too bad he didn't get a goal, but looks like he's back to his old self. Bosingwa was very impressive as well driving up forward and being solid at the back, but he really needs to work on his crossing. Despite the positives, it was quite frustrating overall. It was nice everyone was up for this one, but they need to improve their passing and need some ideas. We really need to find someone to replace Lampard as his passing is not as sharp and penetrating as it used to be. I think we'd be better off now if Lampard assumed a defensive role. All of our 'wingers' were absolute shit as usual, though. Kalou looked hopeless. I know he has the skills, but he lacks ideas. If he wants to get past a defender, he needs to stop, think and either lose the ball or luckily put the ball through his legs. I guess Andre can help him improve, but I told myself that when Scolari and Ancelotti first came. Malouda on the other hand doesn't look like a starter anymore. As was the case last season, he disappeared after the first half only to reappear when he blasted one at Begovic and when he was substituted. Anelka was, as usual, frustratingly undetermined and slow tempoed. I don't know what the hell he was thinking when he decided to pass it short to Kalou inside our own box when he should've cleared, or when he was just strolling around with the ball near the penalty area with only 3 minutes to go. I don' I hope things will change when Sturridge returns, but even then we'll only have one good wing forward and have to fill up the other side with a shitty one. So hopefully, today's result would force the board to get a new winger.

Cech didn't have to make any dramatic saves but that was largely because he cut out everything with really high concentration. 6.5 is a bit too low, imo. And Bosingwa also made really good runs and was solid defensively although his crossing was disappointing. I think 5.5 is a bit harsh.

1. The Champions : United 2. Top 4 : United, Chelsea, City, Liverpool 3. Relegated : Wigan, Swansea, Wolves 4. Signing of the season : Ashley Young 5. Surprise Manager sacking of the season : Pardew 6. Over-achieving team of the season : Sunderland 7. Flop of the season (Team) : Arsenal 8. Flop of the season (Player) : Downing