The Skipper

But Eto'o has been better this season whether you like it or not. Unless you're talking about the amount of CL wins both have... But in that case Eto'o also eclipses Torres. Otherwise, I don't know how what Torres did for us in that CL run makes him better than Eto'o... That's a daft thing to say.

fantastic goal.

I wasn't attacking your post, I was using it as a point of reference. Off topic but wouldn't say Luiz is our worst CB either. What I can agree with though is that he is having the worst season out of our CBs. On form and fully focused he's a top CB, as we saw last season.

Criticise him and single him out if he was the worst player on the pitch and if it was his fault that we conceded. Likewise, single him out if the whole team plays well but he played better. This applies to all players, not just Mikel.

Fair enough, Terry's first touch is excellent but I believe Luiz's passing is probably on par with Terry, it's just that he tries the long ball a lot more than JT does; JT picks and chooses his moments whilst Luiz is usually under the instruction to try long balls from deep. However, first touch and passing aren't the only two things that define technical ability, and I'm pretty sure you know that.

That is a terrible analogy. Go ahead, in what way is JT more technically gifted? Not knocking JT here whose technical ability is underrated but go ahead, tell me?

You can't compare this to the Willian signing. People didn't like the Willian signing at the time because it looked unnecessary as we had Mata and KDB at the time whom many thought we're going to be vital parts of the team. It was pretty justified. No one even said Willian was a bad player, just that the transfer wasn't needed at the time because it wasn't clear what Mou's game plan was. This however is different, Salah has come in to fill a void in the squad at a relatively low price and people are already saying we should sell him off when he hasn't even played 90 minutes here which is wrong. You can't compare the two.

Ironically, quite a few wanted him gone last season aswell when he wasn't playing under Rafa. It's true to an extent that we did miss JTs leadership a little and that yes, we conceded two but at the same time we were so woeful going forward. We didn't create any clear cut chance, not a single one despite playing a pretty strong front four for the game. The performance as a whole wasn't good enough. Doubt JT would've stopped the loss.

Are you being serious?

I'm pretty sure he does, but when he puts players incapable/uncomfortable of doing just that in the team (i.e. Azpi on the left) then it's useless. Just like how you don't want Ivanovic to be your outlet on the right. He has to put more offensively dangerous people there in the first place for it to work.

Double post.

Hang on, are you telling me that those that go to The Bridge all share the same view with you that Torres is merely "off form" and will somehow regain his world class talent? That's strange, because myself and most of others that do make it to SB now and then want him gone and think he's finished as well. He can never be the number one striker for us, he's not good enough. The fact that Eto'o who was brought in as a back up is out scoring him whilst playing lesser games in the PL should say it all. You seriously aren't the voice of SB in regards to Torres, lol. In fact, the general consensus there is against your opinion of Torres.

That's the main thing that's hampering us, indeed. My largest disagreement with Jose's selections in these sort of games is exactly this; how he continues to play Azpi on the left thus narrowing our width and attacking options to solely Hazard on that left side, and how Ivanovic who isn't great or even good offensively continues to play on the right. Personally, against teams that let us have the ball I would play a back seven of: Cech Azpi - Luiz(*) - Terry - Cole Matic - Lampard *DL would be in there if he was having a decent season because he gives us a larger attacking impetus but obviously and rightfully Cahill has been outplaying him this season but my point is that we'd have an extra offensive weapon at the back and if Luiz plays well defensively it's a great weapon to have. That is a solid team IMO and would allow us to create a lot more, but Jose is more conservative in his team selection. I get that we'd probably let in a few more goals with that team but at the same time if the balance is right we'd also create more clear cut chances.

Simple answer to the question that article raised: he's not playing up front.

This is a fair post mate. I agree with almost everything, but I hoped that after having a good season last year that he would bridge the gap mentally especially under Mourinho, but unfortunately he's regressed. For various reasons, some which you have stated. I'm personally just hoping this season is a write off for him and that if we do keep him next season; he'll get back to progressing as a player instead of regressing.

We haven't seen the best of Matic though IMO. He's doing pretty well but people are overstating it because he's the new kid on the block. He can play even better on a more consistent basis once he's bedded in.

Very interesting that City have only had 2 away games to the top 7 teams.

Yup. Wish he wasn't so overpriced at the time, he would've been the perfect Mourinho striker.

Nah, no chance. Alaba was a b2b midfielder with attacking intentions whilst Ake is a DM/CB.

At least he scores off the pitch.

Kalou and Malouda weren't useless at all. The former a good squad player, the second was brilliant for us for a season.But obviously some need 25 world class players in their squad.

I didn't want to sign him because his deficiencies were quite clear but the amount of stick he's already getting is ridiculous. He's a CFC player now, give him some time to bed in and become comfortable and to adapt to our system and league. He can be a very useful player in Mou's system and is still young so can still develop. Patience is a virtue.

A younger Mikel was far more talented than Ake. Ake isn't even the best young DM we have. I rate Chalobah and RLC over him. Even Lewis Baker and McEachran.

I've always said this - if Mikel really, really hinders the team so much, why does he continue to get minutes here and there? Even when Matic is here, Mikel is still getting some minutes. If he was that bad surely he wouldn't have been playing at all this season? As I said in another thread, Mikel isn't anywhere near as bad as most say on here. He isn't world class but he can be a good squad player i.e. He's very useful in a midfield 3 that needs an anchorman or when we go defensive. He's a decent option for Mourinho.

Mikel is nowhere near as bad as some are claiming him to be here. As said above, he's fine as solid squad player. Certainly better than Ake right now(whom too many overrate on here IMO).