The Skipper

I would play: Cech Azpilicueta - Cahill - Terry - Cole Ramires - Mikel Willian - Mata - Schurrle Torres Would love for a few squad players to get some game time today. Oscar, Hazard and Lamps could do with a rest as well. Any team we put out should be able to secure the result for us though.

Well, we obviously have different definition of the word athlete. Yeah El Fenomeno had greater balance, agility than C. Ronaldo but to say that that makes him a better athlete than C. Ronaldo is almost like saying Messi is a better athlete than C. Ronaldo too because Messi too has better agility and balance than C. Ronaldo. El Fenomeno was a great athlete yes, the combination of his acceleration, agility, strength and footballing ability was excellent, legendary even, but to say that C. Ronaldo is a lesser athlete than him just doesn't sit right with me. In my opinion, In a straight sprint for a ball over the top C. Ronaldo would beat him. In a pure shoulder to shoulder contest for the ball Cristiano would beat him too. With verticals as you mentioned it would be the same. The fact that Cristiano is barely ever injured is also another testament to the great athlete he is. I can see where you're coming from with El Fenomeno being a great athlete - I agree with you - but better than Cristiano? I really don't think so. They will both go down as two of the best footballers to have ever played.

When it comes to pure footballing ability, of course C. Ronaldo isn't on the same level, but C. Ronaldo is a machine athletically, something El Fenomeno wasn't. I've seen enough of El Fenomeno to know how good he was - you don't need to be born in the 80s to have watched him play regularly. You don't need to be 30+ to have watched him play. You really need to stop thinking you know it just because you're a bit older than a few on the forum.

If he was as bad as you're trying to make him to be why didn't Jose just take him off? Why isn't Jose using Essien instead?

You have serious problems.I don't think it's outrageous at all for anyone to say C. Ronaldo is/will be as legendary as El Fenomeno.

*in your opinion*

When I say DLP I don't mean someone that is the primary playmaker of the team - what I am saying is that they are midfielders in the ilk of a DLP - one that can switch it from attack to defence easily; one that starts off the attacks in midfield - which is exactly what the likes of Fernandinho and Carrick do for their respective teams. Fernandinho isn't given as much responsibility on the creative end for City as he had for Shakhtar but that doesn't mean he is merely a CDM for City. Also, if Carrick wasn't a DLP last season then what was he? I wasn't saying City were top 5 in Europe either - but what I was saying is that they are one of the top European sides, especially when their attack clicks.

Rooney v. Man City.

My mate went, he said we were good like most away games.

So because MOTD had Frank as MOTM you're right? Okay Phil.

I'll try and get one in for next week but problem with that is that it might be outdated - so if someone could take a draft from me and simply update it so it's relevant that would be a possibility.

Uhhm. I'm pretty certain Oscar won us the game. It was his hard work that won the penalty for Frank, and his goal that essentially sealed the game off. Frank was definitely one of the better players out there but you're overstating and exaggerating on how well he performed.

We didn't look solid against WBA.

Can someone else do this? I'll be travelling and won't have access to this place around that time.

Really?

Much better when he doesn't have as much to do defensively.

This guy's composure is insane.

I agree that he won't ever become amazing technically but there are certain refinements he can make, and for that to happen he needs to be playing regularly. The thing is with me, I don't want Romelu to just be content with being a solid goal scorer, I want him to be the best he can be, because he certainly has the mentality for that.

Why sign Gustavo when we have Ramires...

Not really, I still stand behind my point. I know Lukaku can score goals, he's a natural born goal scorer, like I've said many times before he's not gone out on loan to prove he can score goals. He's gone out on loan to improve his general play and to do the right thing in moments such as the one where he really should've done better with the final ball in the counter.

Get in!

It's stuff like that that explains why he's on loan.

Again, putting words in my mouth - I never said we should wait until we sign a DLP before we sign a striker or that we shouldn't sign a striker at all. I just engaged in conversation over what is more important to sign, a DLP or a striker, and obviously I made it clear that if given the opportunity to sign one or the other I'd go for the former. Don't know why that's hard to understand.

They won't single handily unlock the defences on their own. They'll provide a much better platform for our team to be more connected, and thus making us a better team overall. Having a proper DLP will allow us to get the ball to our attacking midfielders a lot quicker and thus allowing them to express themselves a lot better. To answer your question though - there aren't many top class ones really available - what I meant by my previous post is that should the chance to sign one appear; we should definitely prioritise signing someone in that ilk over a striker.

Disagree that plenty of teams are getting by without one - if you look at all of the top teams in Europe right now (Madrid, Barca, Bayern, Dortmund, City) they all have great DLPs - Alonso/Modric, Xavi, Schweinsteiger, Gundogan, Fernandinho etc. whilst we don't at all. I wouldn't say they're match winners - but what they do do is provide the platform for a match winner. Even when United won the title last season, a lot of their fans had Carrick down as POTS instead of RVP. Buying Falcao will still not fix our inability to break down defences. If it had to come down to it I'd definitely rather invest in the pivot than up front.