The Skipper

nvm.

You've never seen MVG outside of Chelsea so how can you possibly deduce that it's inconceivable to think that MVG is a bigger goal threat than JM?Believe it or not but Van Ginkel is a B2B midfielder, not really a DM. I've watched both for a while and I comfortably agree with TOPTB. Last season Van Ginkel got 12 goals - 8 in the Eredivisie, 1 in the cup and 3 in 4 appearances in Europe. How you're making a final conclusion on said player's goal scoring ability after only partially seeing it in pre season is pretty crazy especially when you haven't seen him before his days at Chelsea.

Yeah, lost his man for the final goal but won't get criticised for it by the media.

I said next season Choo Choo!

Maybe we didn't sign a midfielder because Mourinho wants to give Nat a chance next season.

He was being sarcastic mate.

It's very difficult to change formation with this squad though because the players we have bought are better fitted to that 4-2-3-1 formation. I think it's the link up play and movements between the attacking 4 that really needs to improve.

Yup. Bran can cover excellently at RB, can have good games there but he's still a CB first and foremost. Azpi is our best RB by far.

I think the most important thing is that everyone just tries their best not to insult anyone when disagreeing with their opinion. If everyone acts civil the forum is enjoyable. Kojo for example has done this more often recently and his posts are more enjoyable to read now. If everyone does this the forum will be a great place (still is IMO). The admins are doing a wonderful job as well. Keep it up Alex and co; and congrats to Spike.

Fully agree. This I would love to see. I think Oscar playing deeper is a massive risk but it's one I'd be willing to take. Him playing next to Mikel or a withdrawn Ramires could possibly work as he'd be an ideal link player and can of course also get forward and join the attack. Eto'o Hazard - Mata - Willian Oscar - Ramires Something I'd really like to see.

He hasn't been getting minutes and the manager hasn't really shown faith in him so obviously, he's going to be sloppy on the ball. He's still the best orchestrator on the ball in our squad and I think he's the X Factor we've been missing when going forward. Even the half chance (Eto'o) we created in the second half came off a pass from him. We really need to play him more IMO.

Our best player at the moment.

He's good enough to start and he's better at going forward than Cole is. This will allow more freedom for Hazard and co. on that left flank as teams tend to ignore and contain Cole very easily whereas it's different for Ryan. Really hope he gets to start the next few games.

Spot on. It's why I want Mata to start against Fulham. Like you said, we need order in our attack, and Mata truly brings that. Jose just needs to put his faith and belief into that. Mata was a leader last season but he's sort of been diminished into a squad player. Not one of Mourinho's best motivational tricks in my opinion. Mata is still our most dangerous forward especially with Hazard not performing. Speaking of Hazard: he seems to play a lot better when Juan does. I agree with you that we need some Juan magic. We need Mata in top form very soon.

I think him playing the holding role is the reason why he probably couldn't impose himself on the game today. Should've played next to a Ramires or a Mikel, but also not to forget this was his first game this season and like every player - you need minutes. The bad performance wasn't really his fault though.

Ah and the "blame Luiz for every goal/loss" song is slowly starting up again I see.

Pretty sure we'll win this one. Too much doom and gloom in here. People are forgetting we have quality players and that a few bad games doesn't make us inferior to Fulham. Hope to see JT and Azpilicueta starting. Also going to have Ramires back which is a massive plus. We'll see how much character this bunch has. We have to win. My team: Cech Azpilicueta - Luiz - JT - Bertrand Rambo - Mikel Willian - Mata - Oscar Eto'o Cole has not been good over the last few games - think he needs a rest plus I think Bertrand will give us more going forward. Azpilicueta deserves a game. I'm saying Rambo and Mikel in midfield because I want Mata to start - he doesn't have to worry about defending as much. Hazard to come off the bench because he has not been consistent enough when starting a game. At the same time I don't want to drop Oscar as he has been our best player this season so far. Even though it's pretty hard to accommodate him and Mata it's worth a go I believe. I don't mind KDB starting ahead of Mata either though. Eto'o to start for me as I still think he's our biggest threat as a striker. The above team probably won't happen but it was just a suggestion we'll see. Mourinho needs to start picking our best team consistently pretty soon because we need to start picking it up now. Come on you blues.

Probably the biggest reason why we haven't had a good start to the season. Our two best players have not been playing to the level we expect them to be.

What the hell? I'm not blaming them, where the hell did you get that from? All I'm saying is that the atmosphere was flat and that reflected in our play.

I wasn't at the game but the atmosphere sounded (and felt) so bad. The fans really didn't make The Bridge a fortress tonight.

Missed the first half but I heard it wasn't inspiring (one shot on target?). The major problem for me is that we don't have an identity yet, and it doesn't seem like we're working towards one either. It seems that the attacking players are confused about what we might be doing (except for Oscar who has pretty much been our best player this season) which is really sad. I think the vision is for our attacking players to be dynamic, fluidly interchanging positions to confuse the opposition but it really isn't working. We don't seem to have a focal point anywhere in the team based on that last game. I think that Azpilicueta must play, simply because one thing that we seem to be missing is a threat from our full backs. Ashley Cole isn't a threat going forward, nor is Ivanovic (from open play). I'll watch the game again in a few days or so to verify what I'm thinking, but right now it isn't looking good. Mourinho must get more out of these players.

We haven't been playing a counter attacking system in the last two games though.

I'm not sure Eto'o is really a poacher anymore, he's being deployed as a deep lying forward here - regardless, we could do with a more physical type, like a Giroud or Mandzukic like you said - there seems to be no focal point in the team at the moment, we're just faffing the ball about. But you're right, someone like the two aforementioned would maybe be the striker we need. I actually think Lewandowski is the perfect striker for us at the moment. His availability is questionable though.

Gone on the ignore list.

Basel want to win it more than we do, simple. Embarrassing from the lads, really is.