The Skipper

I'm pretty sure statistically (goals + assists wise) Hazard is better than Bale.

I still think he can be considered as Spurs' midfield general, he's just got an unorthodox way of playing it. His short passing game is sublime, and he makes up for not having that long range passing range by like you rightly said using his dribbling skills. IMO he's still a deep lying playmaker, just an unorthodox one.

You're not serious right? This is probably the first time at CFC where Rafa actually got his subs right. I hope you're kidding.

No one is saying 3-5-2 wont work in the EPL. It'd just be ludicrous to implement anything other than 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 or permutations of them, simply due to the fact that those are the only formations that fit the squad we seem to be trying to build.

She's gorgeous. Is he still with her?

Read that yesterday's second half was the first time Rafa played Oscar, Mata, Hazard and Mikel at the same time. Will have to double check on that but if true, that does speak volumes.

He isn't getting all the credit though, if you look at the MOTM votes in the match day thread you'll see that easily. That's just something you've fixated in your mind out of your pure hatred for Mikel. What Mikel is getting praised for is the fact that when he came on he allowed Ramires to play on the counter and gave Oscar, Mata and Hazard a bigger platform to play on. In that sense he was pretty essential in our comeback. Give credit where credit's due. For example, the two moments he lost the ball - why was there so much space for United to counter attack on? Because we were pushing for a goal, and our forward line pushed for a goal because Mikel allowed them to not worry too much about defending. The other players trust Mikel in that sense. It's quite funny how you always highlight the bad with Mikel, and never the good. For example when he made that crucial interception from Valencia on the left whilst covering for A. Cole, or when he showed great composure and ball control and ghosted past 2 United players that were pressing him. Apart from that he also kept the ball ticking for us nicely, always offering a safehaven for our forward line when we were shifting the ball about. He wasn't even my MOTM but he had a good game. I don't see why people aren't allowed to praise him because of that.

Dembele plays as a deep lying playmaker for Spurs...

Yup, Cahill was horrible today. Sorry I have to bring up Luiz but I'm only imagining the type of abuse he'd get if his performance was like Cahill's today.

What's he on now, 11 goals and 19 assists I read somewhere? How good is that for a first season in England? Ridiculous.

Special, special guy. What a brilliant first touch he has.

Orgasmic goal. Brilliant performance. This guy will be a special player for us over the coming seasons. I'm very excited by the potential our side is showing, we really just need a great motivational manager to get the most out of these lads! (*cough* Mourinho *cough*)

You have to be fat to be a football manager now?

Benitez shouldn't have started with Lampard and Ramires in the pivot to begin with, as both players obviously have natural tendencies to go forward. You need a holding player to support either...

One thing about Ramires is that he usually saves his best performances against the big teams. Honestly apart from that game earlier this season against City where he started out wide anyway, I can't remember a performance against a big team where Ramires failed to produce.

Surprised this thread is so quiet. Barely no one praises Luiz when he has a good game, but are easy to criticise him heavily after a bad game, even some saying that one bad game is proof we should sell him and that he's not good enough etc. This is why I say the criticism he gets is over exaggerated.

Also, this game proved that Mikel brings SO much solidity to the side. Once he came on he basically broke the shackles for the entire forward line. Him being on allowed Ramires to burst forward, allowed Oscar and Mata to be less worried about defensive duties, and even allowed Luiz to carry the ball out. This is why Mikel is vital. Especially in big games like this. Our best starting XI at this very moment IMO is: Cech Azpilicuata - Luiz - Terry - Cole Mikel - Ramires Mata - Oscar - Hazard Ba We need to play this team more consistently. It's that midfield 5 of Mikel/Ram/Mata/Osc/Haz that bossed it during the RDM era, I don't know why we exactly stopped trying to develop it when it is our strongest side to put out clearly.

And then potentially Millwall in the final if they beat Blackburn and Wigan... Can you imagine. We should've won today. Fair play to Benitez for actually reacting with early substitutes... Hazard should've started though. United were there for the taking. Credit to Hazard for coming on and inspiring the beginning of the turnaround with his brilliant goal. One of his best performances this season but my MOTM goes to Luiz for being an absolute MONSTER at the back in the second half, he pretty much shut down the whole United attack. It was his excellent interception that started off the move for the Hazard goal, and he almost done it again when he nicked the ball from RVP and played a brilliant ball in to Mata, who had his excellent shot saved by an excellent De Gea save unfortunately. Today we had a glimpse towards the future. The potential these lads have is insane, especially with the likes of Lukaku, KDB and Courtois coming back soon as well. If we can get a manager who can get them to perform like this consistently we'll be laughing with trophies. KTBFFH!

He's lost the ball twice. Apart from that, he's been very solid. Come on man, even you've got to admit we look a lot better in midfield with Mikel on, unless you missed the first half.

Luiz is having a stormer right now IMO.

You see that Luiz interception that started the move? You guys need to believe in David more.

We look so much more composed in midfield with Mikel holding. Has to be said.

Luiz has been our best defender IMO. If Terry had played instead of Cahill it would've been such a different game.

I love him.