LDN Blue

It ain't over till it's over. Tottenham are still vulnerable, make no mistake, their dip in form is still there because that LLLDD for them. Obviously I'm under no delusion that I think it's going to probable that we will make up those points with only 8 games left, but there's a slim chance I'm aimlessly hanging onto. I think it's a game we could've won because we dominated them in the middle, we just lack width, natural width. I'd say KTF, but I can see the F getting lost.. Not without reason too. 3 games in 6 days when we face Benfica, but European football is slightly slower and this will help us a lot. It's not over till the fat lady sings.

Benitez is, tactically, a better manager than most. He has faults though, which I won't deny, like his inability to grasp the line between lack of rotation and over-rotation. His transfers are sometimes mystifying, though he's found a few gems in Xabi Alonso, Torres, Agger, Reina etc. As Kostas once pointed out too, he runs players into the ground as well so it definitely wouldn't go down to well with the older guard of course. Though he'd be good for maybe 2-3 season, over the long term he wouldn't be too kind on the squad. Just my, unbias, opinion though. As a Chelsea fan, don't want him anywhere near the club, but as a football fan I recognise he's not totally inept.

SeB I love your analytical posts. You should write articles for this site, start with the importance & pro's/con's of Mikel

He would probably accept the bench role if we signed players who are high-calibre enough to keep him out the squad. You could see his point if it was Meireles ahead of him.

I wouldn't go that far. For all we hate about Benitez, he's still one of the best available coaches out there right now.

Sorry to disappoint, but not going for this one - Cheers for mentions on it though lmao!

Don't mean to go OT, but anyone think Rossi would be a good fit here as a support striker?

It's not just at our club though. I remember there was an LFC youngster and on the Hillsborough anniversary there was a capture of that player messing around, having a laugh with another team mate. He was subsequently kicked out the club for that. This'd be fair enough, till you consider Luis Suarez's incident..

Perhaps. But I don't know, I just seem them letting Luiz go, especially if they're paranoid about FFP.. Just hope they don't though, because with Terry's injury niggles I'm not really sure who we could really get in Luiz's place, especially after he's forming a good partnership with Cahill.

Yeah for sure, that's why I'd keep Mikel on next season and release Essien. Problem is, no-one knows what's going on with Romeu.

I wouldn't go that far to describe Mikel's style, I think it's quite different from Maka's play but the way Mikel goes about his game is quite effective. -- As I've said times before Mikel is a very good player. Though I think he's only needed in certain types of games. I think Mikel's required for the 'park the bus' teams, that dominate the midfield and try to come every so often. Mikel's good at breaking up play like that and being smart enough to kick start a counter. Where we play teams that will be a lot more open I think Romeu's a better option. Romeu has the ability to drive forward better than Mikel and move forward. I know Romeu's fallen off in recent months, but when he did play he was very effective at what he did.

Don't dare to imagine what the compensation package would be when he's fired O.o

I just don't see Thiago Silva leaving Milan if I'm honest. From the way he's spoken before and such, it looks like he wants to stay at Milan for a very long time. I even remember him saying he wants to be the future long-term captain from them, he absolutely loves Milan. Which is why it wouldn't surprise me if Barcelona came in for Luiz. Obviously not for £35million, this is silly for a defender, especially when they're supposedly put off by the £30million valuation Milan placed on Silva. What I fear is this silly board will see the word "profit" in their eyes & sell..

Wait, so is this new system going then?

I don't know where they found the money from Something to bribe our UEFA contingency with?

The money isn't the point here

It's harmless. We used to throw stink bombs all the time in college, the senior management had a laugh with it. It depends on the culture of your work place. Ashley Cole brings a rifle and shoots a kid, gets a slap on the wrist, it makes sense the these 2 thought it was just in the nature of the club.

We don't doubt his qualities or potential. I'm actually talking from his point of view, if I'm honest. We shouldn't have paid such money then, and he shouldn't have chosen to move (at least to Chelsea) at that point. André's comments about it basically told everyone he didn't want him "because other clubs were circulating" I believe were his words. And what I can say out of positiveness is, next season he will get a chance somewhere. It's only by the rules of the PL that he's not at the moment, I can only hope this loan actually works out though.

Better them than Liverpool & Tottenham to be fair

It's a stupid amount to pay for 'potential' especially when we're simply wasting him in the reserves. He should've been loaned out back to Anderlecht straight away! I'm not saying that he's a waste of money entirely and maybe one day he'll prove that he's a bargain at the moment but there's no justification to pay that much for a reserve player.

Just to add something else. Who was on the bench last night? Not Hilario.. Turnbull

This is what I mean. Paying £18million means, in the eyes of our club, he can't be that raw in terms of talent. Why he's being relegated to not having even a look in v. a championship squad in the only domestic cup we're in is a blinder to me.

Definitely not on loan. They're not working out for us, even with a talent like de Bruyne. I'd keep him at Cobham, let him come with the reserves first go get him to adjust in England with the Chelsea lads. I'm sure Lukaku would appreciate the company.

I still think they have a better squad though. The likes of Van Der Vaart, Bale, Modric and even Parker outnumber us in all areas of the pitch. Knowing our luck we'll be facing a defence led by King as well.

It's a valid point. Here we're talking about Cavani, Falcao, Higuain etc. Meanwhile there's an 18-year old who people on the forum touted as amazing as already and he still can't even get a blink in. Torres & Drogba fire more blanks than chances, Sturridge is stuck wide & this £20million kid is stuck in the reserves. It was a poor buy.