Madmax

And if this is the treatment being meted out to Izzy Brown, someone who Mourinho himself has earmarked (but by common consensus wouldn't get in the list of the top 3 talents from the academy of the posters here), what fate awaits someone truly good like Boga or Loftus Cheek?

Nope, it won't. At maximum a minute for each challenge - that's 2 mins in 90, and they'll be added back anyway. It's not as if right now play resumes as soon as the ref has given his decision; people crowd around and moan, which takes way more time.

Jason is a nerd.

I like the idea of one review per side. Cricket has a much slower tempo to it so it's not the best example but I've seen the review system work well in field hockey, which is an even more frantic and breathless game than football. If it stamps out the absolute shockers (Chamberlain's sending off against us last year springs to mind) then the game will be better for it.

How Cahill leads this poll is beyond me. Maybe I've been spoilt by JT but I'd always want an authoritative figure to be leading us. Cahill is meek and inoffensive; we'd lose a little bit of that edge we have about us.

"I needed to feel more important" Such lack of self awareness. Much entitlement. Twat.

City might have the better names on paper but it's not doing them a whole lot of good right now, is it? I'm reminded of the immortal words of Andy Gray commentating on FIFA 07 - "The that team looks good on paper, Martin, but the game's played on grass."

Gosh damn, I've been pwnd.

Surely Ronaldo; excellent goal. How did Neymar's get on there?

Footballer represents the country of his birth. Give the man a medal.

Turns out you can sit atop the Italian league without having refs on the payroll. Who knew?

Posting advice from a guy who regularly gets pulled for racist and abusive behaviour? It's embarrassing you even tried.

What I liked the most about yesterday was that he played his game and looked the part even with a non-functioning partner. Cahill didn't dominate proceedings, Mikel was sloppy and Zouma a mixed bag but even with a below par support structure, the teenager looked like he belonged.

You can try being disingenuous now but there was only one post referring to Baker and Brown on that page and it was mine. So even though you didn't quote me, your passive aggressive remarks certainly were directed towards me.

I'm not going to lose sleep over what a special one like didierforever thinks of my opinions. I posted his early season quotes in the Baker thread. It mentioned playing Solanke among others in the League Cup but obviously the manager underwent a change of heart when the time arrived to actually practice what he preached.

Like before, I've said all I want to on the matter. I've covered all arguments and have no intention of going around in circles when we clearly hold radically different view points. All it does is frustrate others, as can be seen in the post above yours, though what is there to stop someone knocking themselves out eulogizing Mourinho in the Ake and Christensen threads, I don't know.

I'm watching highlights of the 6-0 against Arsenal (mainly as mind bleach to forget Schurrle's performance yesterday) but I won't post because you know, it's porn.

u21s needed Solanke more than the first team whose only senior striker is 36 and winded? I can't get my head around that reasoning. He didn't need to start, he didn't need to play as a lone striker. There are ways to set up teams IF you have the intention to try people out and give them chances, which Mourinho didn't (on last night's evidence). Again, I get that he wanted his fringe players to play, but when they didn't and things went south, he brought on Matic, Willian and Hazard. So Brown and Baker are not good enough to start, they're not good enough to play bit part roles, and they're not good enough to chase the game either. And this is in the league cup against a league two side. It's fine if you come out and say it'll be a while before we can expect to see these players, just be honest about it. Why make grand statements about developing England internationals when you cowardly turn tail at the first genuine opportunity to put words into action? That's all I have to say on the matter for now. I'm getting sick of whining about this as I'm sure the ones reading are.

I must have missed this Baker debut you talk about. See, 15 minutes when you're winning 4-0 is nice for sentiment and all (I say that genuinely), but when it came down to choosing a team against 4th tier opposition 2 days after OT, he chose to stuck with the knackered pensioner. We all knew Solanke needed that u21 game, he must have learned so much. We can't win a League Cup 4th round game with more than 2 academy greenhorns featuring at some point? Well we sure romped it with the world champion and the Egyptian Messi. That own goal - boy, that'll show them. I'm not asking to bring them on in every league game. I'm asking for Mourinho to show some heart and conviction in these guys on a stage he said he would :

People will appreciate Oscar better if they stop looking for the player he is not and is not being asked to be. Evaluate him as the guy who facilitates a pivot of Matic-Fabregas.

I was naive enough to base them on the manager's words, so that is the frame of reference. I couldn't care less about City or our past seasons and you'll find I haven't uttered one word about either of those situations. You can look at it as it still just being October, but the biggest chance to walk the talk has already been passed upon. I'll give him credit for Ake but not £12m signing Zouma or Christensen, whose inclusion was necessary to field a back 4 without performing gymnastics like playing a 34 y.o twice in 48 hours.

Or conversely, it's no wonder that some people will always be extremely easily pleased because the sum total of their expectations amounts to 500 mins between 5 players.

Of course we'd (I know I would) like him to score more (17 last season was a step in the right direction), but this desire cannot help but be overshadowed by the immense ... I don't know, joy that his performances bring. He very well could've stroked home the penalty against Maribor, but what did he do? Give it to the man whose penalty brought him to this club in the first place. You can't be mad at that. It's the sort of thing that can't be coached, can't be taught. It's natural and genuine and that makes it special. I wish he never leaves.

Don't try and twist this. You lamented my "embarrassing and hopeless cribbing" about youth when he'd started Zouma and Christensen. I merely pointed out that it didn't deserve credit because the suspensions had his hands tied in that matter. Excepting Ake he didn't give a single minute to anyone where he wasn't obligated to. So yeah, thanks for not running Matic into the ground, I guess. Mourinho said Solanke will play in the League Cup but the moment it came to backing up his words, he turned instead to playing Drogba for 180 mins in 48 hours at the age of 36. He said 3-4 years, yes, but when Baker, Brown and Solanke are not played against fourth tier opposition in the least important trophy of the season while there are 4 seniors either injured or rested, when will the (meaningful) chances start arriving? You think they'll be played in the next round? In the FA cup? In the league?

Ah yes, we should worship the ground he walks upon for playing a £12m signing and the best defender in the academy when 3 of our only 5 senior defenders are a. suspended or b. 34 year old. Bravo Jose, such big balls. I only spoke about Baker and Brown because he put them on the pedestal with his comments about English players. What good did Oscar, Salah and Schurrle do today? I get not starting 5 of them together but did Schurrle and Oscar justify getting the full 90? Would Salah have even come off had they not equalised? Was there such a massive need to play Solanke in the u-21 while Drogba had to slog on and on? I said pre-match that I'd have been fine had we lost while giving genuine game time to Ake, Baker and the lot. Now that we are in the QF, do you think even Ake will get a game unless it's against Bournemouth? This was the chance to do it but he backtracked over his earlier comments. I'm disappointed about this and the arguments so far can't convince me otherwise.