Madmax

He's been world class for years now. And it's precisely because of those consistent performances year in year out that people don't appreciate him. It sounds weird I know but that's how it is. He's just part of the furniture at this club and for anyone who doubted how much he means to us you only need to look at his recent injury spell and how uninspired we looked during that time. He is simply irreplaceable - you just don't replace the likes of SFL. People will only realise how good he is once he's gone.

Hell yes!

People just don't understand the dynamics of the transfer market do they? It's fucking January. Players are overpriced, and not just a little, massively. The only deals we can hope for right now is : 1. getting players who're approaching the end of their contract 2. paying in the excess of 25-30 million (minimum) for the big names 3. loans Good luck with getting Henderson/Sanchez/Luiz/Pato et al. I'll be delighted with the likes of Pienaar if he were to come.

He did, but not anymore. Well not too often anyway. With time he's tried to become a trequartista (around 2007 I think, the year after he won the European Golden Ball). I remember how Spalletti shifted Vucinic out to the left with Totti between the opposition's midfield and defence. A 4-5-1-0 perhaps.

Very true. There are so many teams now without a proper out and out striker who starts every game. So many look to drop into the space the traditional no 10 used to operate in - ie behind the traditional striker/s. A cross between a 10 and a 9 - a 9 and a half. United has Rooney, we have Anelka, City have Tevez, Barcelona have Villa (who shifts to the left though), Arsenal have RvP. In fact some teams play with a strikerless formation - Roma have done it for years now with Totti.

^ I missed that game as I was in hospital. Fractured my leg after striking out at a table in frustration on losing a game on FIFA 09 lmao Couldn't believe it when I opened the papers the next day. 3-1 to us, 2 from this unknown dude who took 8 months to make his debut!

No. We won today but it was far from a good performance. Carlo's being premature. The result will help the confidence though.

That's racist.

Why would you say that? I love the German team. They're my second Intl team after India ofc.

Nobody knows what went on with him on the eve of the '98 final though. What an absolute shame. He was on fire uptil then and just couldn't play on the night that mattered most. But when one superstar couldn't turn up, another did in Zizou. True legends both. Great justice was done though when Ronaldo scored both in the final 4 years later.

Ronlado doesn't need an adjective. There's only one Ronaldo The other is Ronaldiva.

^ Good shout about Batistuta. Really underrated, perhaps because he never won anything. imo, top 5 strikers over the last 2 decades : 1. Ronaldo 2. Raul 3. Thierry Henry 4. Alan Shearer 5. Samuel Eto'o

The same scorers today as in the game at Ewood Park.

^ The safest ones.

Why the fuck is this on a Monday? :S

That's not saying much is it?

^Bang on.

Very good read, good job remembering all the match incidents Tbh I'm not happy with the performance, but glad for the result. Drogba once again was shocking. He only sparked into life once we had the 2 goal lead. We had a lot to thank for re Ivanovic before today and now he's just given us more reasons. Another great performance from Ramires though, the lad is really making people eat their early season words. Cech - 6 Bosingwa - 7.5, Ivan - 8.5, JT - 8, Cole - 7 Essien - 6.5 Ramires - 8.5, Lampard - 6.5 Anelka - 6.5, Drogba - 3, Malouda - 7

Love how LDN ignores two quotes in a row from me

I'm convinced he said that stuff before the match (about giving chances to Josh and Studge) just to threaten Essien and Drogba about them being dropped. Didn't work with Drogba though

What gives you the idea I haven't?

Right because i'm only interested in proving my point I do think though that we lack creativity in set piece situations. When it's a freekick outside the box you know it's going to be Drogba looking to sidefoot it with power. When it's a corner you know it's going to be Lampard/Malouda looking for a near post flick-on.

Why do the 'stop this' pleas only appear after my posts then?

We've got two now to talk about The first today was entirely down to JT's flick on. Horrible initial cross from Malouda (again). We were lucky nobody tracked Terry while he peeled away for the first header. The second saw better delivery and hence Ivanovic's ability could shine. Sums up what I've been saying all along - our failings with corners have more to do with the delivery (the lack thereof) than anything else.

Yet another horrible performance by Drogba. He was invisible for 80 mins and then after we got 2 all of a sudden he starts popping up here and there. Terrible 'leader'. He needs to be benched to show him his place. Too bad Carlo isn't brave enough to do it.