LDN Blue

True, true. Well a good manager takes necassary risks and I suppose he has in a. Dropping Torres & b. Using Hazard as false9 where he could have picked Moses. If it pays off, it's a testament to Di Matteo's intelligence, if not, well it shows he's willing to take calculated risks.

Yeah I thought Moses would've been a better bet for there? But I guess it does have defensive merit... I guess.

I hope so, cos Azpilicueta on the wing seems quite weird..

Where's Azpilicueta actually playing? Odd choice if he's on the right-wing

Experience you say? Beckham's announced he's leaving LA Galaxy

A lot on the Twitter rumour mill via Telegraph & Mail that we're offering Sturridge to Liverpool for £15million. For the kid's career, he should go. Sadly.

Mahmoud Abbas is a US puppet that they openly endorse because he's a reactionary which means he'll appease the Israeli's and open the door for them to continue building their illegal settlements into Palestine. I do sympathize with most Israeli citizens because I don't believe for a second that they approve of the what's going on in that region, everyday living in fear of what's coming your way from the other side. It's refreshing to actually talk to an Israeli who does recognize the atrocities of their government. Hamas are quite violent in their approach and of course that's undeniable that they are guilty of not trying to fix the situation, a fault that lies with both Hamas & the Israelis. Though I wouldn't stretch so far as to call them terrorists, I mean you have to remember the Palestinians did actually vote in that regime so democracy does exist somewhere in this war-torn region. I think Choulo made a very good point though, your government has underestimated exactly how much power Hamas has gathered in anticipation of this renewed escalation of further violence. But ultimately you're right, nothing will be done in terms of settling this. Certainly not while the UN & US remains quiet of the crimes Israel continues to commit, because they've been more than vocal about Hamas. Also, if you don't mind me asking, do you consider yourself a Zionist?

Bravo.

I'm resigned to the fact Cole's leaving, cos if he hasn't signed now I just don't think it'll happen. Reminds me of Joe Cole all over again funnily enough.

Man I hope he's a success, cos I look at Rafael for United and wish we'd grabbed him in the summer when it was rumoured..

The problem with this is the step up from reserves and u21's to premier league level is just too far apart. Sure there's exceptions like Raheem Sterling but considering where Liverpool are at the moment in terms of squad strength and options on that flank (..downing), it's no surprise that Sterling's managed to excel. Not saying he doesn't deserve his run in that side, but he's excelling because the pressure isn't enormous on him to deliver because of how shit that squad is.

Disney does Star Wars.. I simply can't wrap my head around that

I was listening to Owen Coyle talk about Sturridge today on a football show on SkySports (forgot the name now. Something like The Football Presents Show) He was making a very good example for Sturridge. He hasn't been given the platform to play down the middle & even had a run of games. When he was asked to play on the right of that front 3 he was very professional in doing so. He is a defenders nightmare because he's so quick off the mark, to show such an immediate burst of acceleration with ball control is so hard and he makes it look like child's play almost. He deserves his chance down the middle. Just look at Walcott as an example. He's been raging on forever about wanting to play through the middle and when Wenger gave him the platform to do so he's been on the form of his life. I still think he's an average footballer, but he's excelling in the center-forward position that he's been rewarded. I don't buy this notion about Sturridge's bad attitude. I believe he truly deserves his chance up-front and it's very frustrating to see he isn't getting it. He should move to save his own career because it's crazy to think we're using Torres as our forward, despite his poor-continuous-form. Sturridge deserves his chance, he deserves a consecutive run of games up-front like Torres has.

That sounds waaaaaaaaay too staged And it is coming from the Daily Mail. I'd ignore it tbh..

America's on going support for Israel means Obomba will never, ever, want Palestine and Israel to sort out their differences. It's not in the American foreign policy mantra to have this settled. The more conflict that goes on the higher profits the US defense industry will make. Even the UK's economy will benefit, I'm sure BAE is supplying the Israeli's in this attempted genocide. I'm not saying here that Palestine terrorists are innocent of causing harm, but the fact is if Israel hadn't attempted & been successful in continuing to build settlements where they weren't supposed then this conflict would've been very minimal. The fact is that they were never going to have total peace, but it would've been significantly less if the Israelis had behaved. But at the end of the day... war with Iran is still inevitable. A country that hasn't even done anything yet, every country has nuclear weapons. Who are the west to even dictate who can and can't have them when the US & Soviet Union are the damn reason we almost went to WW3. The cold war has taught the world absolutely nothing. Where's JFK and his failure to speak adequate German when you need him, that Jelly Doughnut ?!

You know the tragically funny thing about Isreal-Palestine? If Israel had just abide by the boundaries set out to them, which the Palestinians were in favor of, this could have all been avoided. The fact that Palestine is not even recognized as a country is disgraceful. Free Palestine. Free Kashmir. Free Africa.

It's quite simple.. Lampard plays for Chelsea. If Gerrard had made that 2005 move to Stamford Bridge, he'd have the same under appreciation as Lampard.

You guys ever think Ash would get the same plaudits as Gerrard's getting for his century of England caps? It's a shame I have to even ask that question..

I agree, his pace isn't the best in the world. This kind of brings me back to the days that we talked about the situations where Romeu & Mikel are more adaptable to certain kinds of situations. Mikel is very good at intercepting passes, reading opposition play and covering. But yes his flaws are in marking and with pace, however his role in the squad at the moment has been pivotal & important. As mentioned before, he isn't the best DM in the world, but we could do a lot worse than Obi Mikel.

Mikel has stepped up this season, it can't be denied.. He's doing the job where it's most required from this team, his adaptation, concentration & tactical awareness is on point. Not saying he's the best DM in the world or anything, but he has been far more consistent than any other players.

You know usually I'd be dismissive of this idea but Henrique was right in the Real Concerns thread.. We lack an experienced player in the middle. I'm not saying that it wasn't right to lose the players we did but now we seem to be too young. De Rossi's been around forever, has a little temper but, he would be good experience to close out our narrow leads & keep our defence in check. He's also no nonesense so he won't let players try to bully Hazard, Oscar & Mata.

It's good to get confirmation that the 188 pages we made this thread go to actually had some truth to back the potential excitement . I remember that window so well.. All the rumours, all the changing of minds. Incredible!

I still think it's the whole gelling process. They've done it very well on individual merits, especially Oscar. I have optimism that continuing into a season we'll see more tactically attacking movements - Things that seem as if they have been practiced off the pitch. What we're doing now is working, we are keeping the pace in the race to the title but there has to be an emergence of some structure. There's actually some valid points within the post though. It doesn't look like a knee-jerk to me because it's an issue even when we win.. I see no wrong in openly discussing the faults the squad presents. It's not fair to be so dismissive of most of the posts.

I do actually agree with the OP about lack of attacking organisation. It does seem like it's a bit 'here's the ball.. go.' and it's working to an extent. But games like today they just run out of ideas that they never actually had. I agree with most points about lack of a proper striker really is hurting us. It's because they don't have someone to spearhead the attack, which is why our attack looks tactically unprepared. Now whether that's what it is or not.. Well there's only one way to find out. In any case I still believe in Di Matteo to come through with that. He's smart & he's on a learning curve as well.. Let's hope Santa brings him Falcao.

LOL. So true.