Madmax

Manuf, image not visible mate.

I just think though that it might not be that bad for the likes of Terry, Lampard and Cole to get some more minutes on the pitch against Hungary. Of course there's always the threat of injury, but they looked a bit short of match fitness today and maybe just maybe the midweek international might help with their fitness.

Expect more shite now. Oh well, haters gonna hate.

Okies, my bad, sorry.

Okay. Doing this - Benayoun

Cech/Turnbull Ivanovic Carvalho Terry Cole Mikel/Essien Essien/Ramires Lampard Sturridge Malouda Drogba Subs : Delac/Turnbull, Ferreira, Zhirkov, Mikel/Ramires, Matic, Benayoun, Anelka

Don't really get why everyone is hating on Benayoun. It's not like he was going to score a hattrick in 20 mins.

Okay, thoughts 1. First of all, I'm not too disappointed with the performance. It was a good run-out for the players. We certainly deserved to draw the game and with better finishing and better luck, would have done so. 2. Our defensive line was poor. We tried to play a high line but with slow defenders like Terry and Ivan in the middle, it was too easy for United to run in behind. There was no organisation at the back and the players seemed to lack a bit of agility and weren't synchronized and decisive in their actions. 3. We were also very narrow at the back, especially on the left where Cole was tucked inside too much. United always found a ready outlet on their right in the shape of Valencia and their first two goals were down to the frailties mentioned above. 4. The passing was a bit off today, especially in the first half and there were too many heavy passes, but that can be put down to the players still not being fully fit and lacking match practice. 5. Carlo got it wrong by not taking Kalou and Anelka off at HT. 6. Our game improved greatly in the second half, the players played with more freedom, purpose and conviction. The passing got much better but the defence was still quite worrying. 7. I really liked our fluidity and movement up front. United spent much of the second half defending deep and clearly on the backfoot. Good interplay between Malouda, Drogba, Sturridge, Kalou. 8. Essien was really impressive in the DM role. He got caught up the field once or twice but that is understandable given we were really pressing for goals. His vision and passing seemed to hit a whole new level once he was put there. 9. I think we lacked a creative spark in midfield. We kept the majority of the possession throughout the game, but didn't really have anyone to change the game with a moment of magic when United sat deep with 2 banks of 5. 10. Overall, an okay performance marred by a lack of clinical finishing and clumsy defending.

WTF is this? Watch your font size mate. Have mercy on our eyes.

Adios. Good luck, wishing health for your son.

+1

Or maybe another loan move? Terrible either way. Really wish for him to stay.

That's why I put the reject part in quotes. I don't understand how someone being surplus to requirement at another club makes him useless to us. I'm not saying Kaka is the player we need to complete our squad, but being surplus to Mourinho is never going to be a hindrance if Carlo ever looks to sign him.

Circa 2003 - a Real Madrid 'reject' made his way to Chelsea. His name was Claude Makelele. Enough said.

That's what he's best at - running the channels, dropping deep. He's not a targetman like Didi. His play opens up space for the likes of Lamps because the defenders marking him get dragged out of position when he starts to drop deep or drift out wide. He played similarly in a 4-3-3 against Villa in the 7-1 last season and was involved in most of the goals, though he didn't get any himself, while Lamps got 4. No need to change his style of play imo.

He borrowed one of Carlo's jokes from training ...

Haha gotta love Carlo

Ah good to see. Meaningless friendlies deserve meaningless squads. Hasn't Carlo already named Kalou in his starting lineup for Sunday?

Welcome!

As with the likes of Mancienne and Cork, I would ideally want Sinclair also to have one full season with us for a chance to prove himself. He didn't do well at Wigan last year, but it''d be a shame if he goes without having an opportunity to show us what he can do.

It says 30 mn rated Benzema plus cash, not Benzema plus 30 mn in cash

Nuri Sahin

Apart from the mighty Blues, I also support my local team, Mumbai FC. They play at the highest level in India's domestic football pyramid, the I - League. They're not my 'second team' as such because I love them as much as the Blues tbh, but other teams I like are Birmingham and Borussia Dortmund.