Madmax

I actually expect him to start against Schalke. Swansea probably comes too soon for the Brazilians seeing as they're just about getting back to England today. With 3 games in a week we'll see some rotation in that back line.

How did we go from discussing a contract extension to a move to Madrid? Bored journos pulling old rumours out of their backsides is one of the reasons I hate international breaks. No doubt next month we'll have someone revive the classic 'Hulk to Chelsea' story.

Excellent goal line clearance vs Ecuador yesterday

I think he's pushing that barrier. I tend to rate managers based on league exploits as in my opinion the sustained nature of the competition is a better barometer for defining 'success'. As you said, he'll be right up there if he can emulate his La Liga achievements of last season. That would put him level with Rafa - who's criminally underrated. For me Ferguson and Mourinho are at the very top and it's just about impossible to separate the two. Ferguson's squad building (and re-building) and his longevity is unparalleled, as is Mourinho's versatility and they're both unique in those aspects. Guardiola rounds off that top bracket simply because he revolutionized world football for ~5 years. And from your list, I'd have Klopp definitely above Carlo and Wenger (who's more of a coach) in my books, fwiw.

How much is Chelsea's army of youngsters on loan costing the club? It's actually earning them millions

It's not video. I'll ctrl c + v anyway.

Hola Better Internet is your friend. JT's thoughts on England --> http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/19693/9461909/john-terry-talks-england-wayne-rooney-raheem-sterling-and-more

It's a shame because Samsung's lettering is built to be on a football shirt - unobtrusive (can't stress enough how big a deal this is - the big ass Chevy logo on United's shirt literally forces me to look at it and nothing else when it's on the screen - job done, I suppose) and the white sits very well on the royal blue background. Not to mention that they're at the top of their business and we have a unique relationship. They need to stump up more dough, though. Another £10m a season equals a superstar signing every 3 years.

https://vine.co/v/OzeM1iM9v09 I can watch that all day long.

Say United play a 4-3-1-2 with Shaw (Rojo), Rojo (Smalling), Evans, Jones (Rafael); Herrera (Carrick), Blind, Di Maria; Rooney (Mata); Falcao, Van P (Rooney) ... there's not an awful lot wrong there, is it? CB and CM still an issue but upfront they can seriously damage teams. A year under Van Gaal and they could well be right back in again.

Level with Ribery and Schweinsteiger.

I stopped watching that Brazil game because of Neymar's exaggerated dives. The usual adjective - 'theatrical' doesn't even come close to describing his performance. Amazing talent but what a fucking tumbleweed. I only watched the first half and remember nearly all the events Sheva pointed out earlier so thankfully didn't miss out on too much of the actual football.

Good read --> http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/sep/05/jose-mourinho-bargain-loic-remy-chelsea-france

I thought 09-10 was his best season for us and one of the problems we faced in the clusterfuck that was 10-11 was not adequately replacing him. Just my opinion, of course.

Always sensible to keep renewing contracts of expensive players that perform at a high level as it brings down their FFP cost significantly. Say he signs a 2 year extension, that'll reduce his yearly amortisation cost from £6.4m to £3.84m.

I've been watching the game again and I can't get over how the officials started giving every 50-50 their way once we got 2-0 up, almost as if they wanted to compensate for our lead and the slight offside in the 2nd goal.

Crocsta

A slew of ex-wives, alimony and expensive hookers?

So, the point is that sanctimony goes out the window when you're trying to level the playing field. City (and Chelsea) did what they had to do to attract players and now United are having to find out the hard way just what even a season of being noncompetitive entails, even if you're Man United. Fortunately for them, they'll be able to sustain it if they get back quickly enough. Btw, this is the same Ferguson who made Ferdinand the most expensive defender in the world at the time, and who made Rooney the world's most expensive teenager at the time. They've spent an average of £28m (net) per season since the Glazer takeover in 2005, Chelsea £49m net per season since 2004; City £55m net per season since 2008; Liverpool £28m net per season since 2010. From 1992-2005, United were in fact spending more than any other team in the league (bar Liverpool) - £9.5m net per season vs £10.5m per season. Chelsea? £5.7m net per season. City? £3m net per season. Hardly non-competitive. Only Arsenal (net spent £5m per season from 1992 onwards) can make that claim. He's right that they've given chances to younger players in the past but those circumstances were entirely different. For the record, at the time he made this statement, Man United were already spending more on wages than Chelsea (£182m vs £176m; City £233m) and historically United have been among the highest paying clubs in the league (as you'd expect - top players don't play solely for some love from the Stretford End, after all) so this is little more than petty point-scoring, which has fallen flat on its face now that the mighty have fallen.

The books are better than the movie, imo. Go chronologically through the books if you can, though this is not a must.

Hey, a fellow Lee Child fan.

For me they've got to be reasonably well-rounded players whose individual qualities would let them walk into any side and perform at a consistently high level irrespective of team styles and systems. I don't think there can be more than a handful of truly world class players in each position. GK - Neuer, Cech Fullbacks - Lahm Centre backs - Thiago Silva Centre mids - Vidal, Busquets, Toure Attacking mids - Iniesta, Robben Forwards - Messi, Ronaldo There is a lack of truly outstanding defenders. Benatia, Hummels, Alaba, Kompany, Marcelo et al are one rung below, IMO.

Alex Ferguson in May 2012: "We invest in young players. That is what we are good at - we're not like other clubs who can spend fortunes on proven goods. We know that Manchester City are going to pay stupid money, pay silly salaries and all that. We can't do anything about it."

I'll check today and let you know tomorrow.

I like Capoue, think he's underrated. He needs a better partner though.