LDN Blue

if you think that's happening, I'd expect a very long January indeed.

Ledley King too in the list, almost the opposite.. If you get what I mean

Callum Chambers has been quite impressive for Arsenal. If he could cut the needless bookings out from his game, his development will continue to grow.. One of Arsenal's more wiser signings this year.

I mean it's a difficult question you're asking. They all had different situations to deal with and in the case of Clough, you've got someone who had more to give before his untimely death. It's sort of like comparing Messi to Maradona, Eusebio etc. Different generations, different emphasis. Busby had the most difficult of tasks, you could argue, rebuilding Manchester United after the Munich Disaster. Shankly built the foundations and legacy of what Liverpool look up to. For me, it's Clough. England's greatest manager, they never had.

Fabregas: not good enough for Barcelona, good enough for Chelsea #FlawlessMourinhoLogic

To be honest, if it wasn't for that he wouldn't be the player he is now. Iirc, Chelsea saw him as an attacking midfield player pre-Benfica and it's in Portugal he was changed into the DM he is now.

How did Michu fall off the ladder so emphatically? Crazy..

I'd certainly agree that Oxlade is a lot more mature than his Liverpool counterpart. His versatility is severely underrated too, he can play anywhere across midfield.. I personally want to see him in a more central midfield role because I think he could dictate the pace of a game and make bursting runs through the middle. As they get older I do think Sterling would edge out Oxlade-Chamberlain. I really wanted to to sign him when I first saw him for Southampton (I even started the thread on here iirc).

Lmao I was just thinking this! He's a big fish in a small pond right now, definitely a Liverpool sort of signing. Either them or Tottenham.

Azpilicueta didn't have the best time either at the beginning of last season. He worked his way back into Mourinho's plans. I'm sure Luis, in time, will be able to do the same. Though in this situation, it means Mourinho will have to find reason to take Ivanovic out of the starting XI.

I do like how he's actively backtracking now. Not only is he doing it, he looks like he genuinely wants to.. This team is slowly becoming his team and he's certainly handling that responsibility with ease and maturity.

Was hoping he'd make Skrtel do something stupid so he'd get sent off

I was bricking it in the last 10 minutes lol. Given our recent.. track.. of conceding late I did think Liverpool were going to steal a point. Cahill had a mixed day, and I can see what he was trying to do, but you can't take such risks! To be fair he wouldn't have had to do that if we didn't become so relaxed after we scored!! Nothing made me happier than seeing that Cahill goal labelled just that. After Garcia, it's nothing we weren't owed after 10 years since that night. Hazard & Azpilicueta had brilliant games imo. P11 W9 D2 L0

If we get him, especially for £24m, where does that leave guys like Zouma, Christensen & even Kalas?

He'll need it soon. We've got 8 games in December, which is hectic enough. Tottenham (H), Newcastle (A), Sporting (H), Hull (H), Derby (A), Stoke (A), WHU (H) & Soton (A)

Agree to disagree about Ronaldo, even though I'd say the comparisons about Ronaldo relate to work rate and development as opposed to tangible measures. (though I'd argue Ronaldo wasn't as much of a beast at 19 that he is now) But I won't compare him to Walcott and Lennon at all because first and foremost he doesn't rely solely on pace like the other two. Walcott, Lennon, SWP, Townsend etc all simply relied to on their explosions of pace to get them into the limelight. The occasional long-range shot too. That's why most of them get phased out and become forgotten because they fail to develop any other skills. Sterling is completely different. Yeah he's quick as hell, but he's got a better variation of pace, he's better at dribbling and he takes on the defenders. He's still got further to go to develop technical ability but his natural skills are there to see. He's not even a traditional RW because he prefers to pick the ball up and drive through the middle rather than run wide like a headless chicken. If anything you could see a shade of early-Bale about him. A player who can do as much, if not more, damage when playing through the middle. His body is still growing so there's no reason that he can't become a beast in the Ronaldo mould, but he doesn't even need to because despite looking like he has the build of McEachran, but he's evidently stronger.

Salah, Costa & Remy to score and they'll really turn on BR for sure

Oh Mourinho, you conniving dog. He definitely had something to do with it, Del Bosque is smart enough to risk feuding with Mourinho. Particularly if he wants the Costa that's freely scoring for us

Couldn't agree more. That's also why we see Hazard being allowed the freedom to also switch flanks with Willian/Schurrle, I have no doubt that Mourinho has allowed him to do this. That's why I don't agree when people suggest we should sell those guys, because their defensive contributions (Willian especially) give the side a much needed balance. Arsenal actually highlight this point very well. They give Sanchez, Walcott, Ozil et al too much freedom, in line with a slow defensive set up means they're far too exposed.

Yeah and that's also cos those guys are paired up with experienced players in the same position. We rarely play with 2 strikers (unless there's 10-15 mins to go and we need a goal), so Bamford would be lucky to get even sporadic 10 minute appearances. Anyway, he's till only 21 and Drogba won't last more than another season, if even that.

It could be interesting if he'll be back in January because of Costa's continuous problems. He'd more or less become that third striker, but I think it would hamper is progression because I'm not confident in how much Mourinho would entrust him up front.. I'd certainly wager against him ever leaving Bamford alone up top. Don't want to speak too prematurely, but could become a Lukaku situation if trust isn't shown sooner than later. One to keep an eye on.

Isn't he allowed a squad number on here?

It's incredible it had taken us so long to get someone like Matic in to give us so much stability. While not comparing his qualities to the great Maka, his impact is just as/if not more important.

Reservations about the last point, but I guess it's fair enough if it has gotten to a point of ridicule. I don't see it as an attack on speaking out about Lampard as such, Amels, but I hope it won't set precedent on other forms of critique against him.

They'll definitely be up for this one. The players know we hate each other as fans, longer than the days of Benitez that's for sure!! If Newcastle can beat them, we most definitely should be!