Styles

Man this new kit must be rubbish if they want to try and sell it to us without even seeing it first.

Assist stats are tricky. For example take this goal scored by Hazard: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuRxrs8-ScM Mata is given an assist for passing the ball 5 yards to Hazard who is nearly 40 yards from goal. He had a tremendous amount of work to do to score from there. To me an assist should only be awarded if the pass creates a clear-cut goal scoring opportunity. So I wouldn't give Mata an assist for that Hazard goal for instance. I think the distinction needs to be made clear as it devalues brilliant assists like for Ba's goal against Man Utd.

Guess we'll have to agree to disagree on who was the better young player mate. I say Mikel you say Chalobah, we don't need to argue about it for the next hour when it's clear I can't change your mind and vice versa. :tophat:

I remember very well the reports of Mourinho fining him for lateness. I can't for the life of me see how this affects his 'mental approach' to football though. Mikel came from a second division team in Norway and found himself at the home of the English champions. Of course he would struggle with the massive leap in professionalism so early on and to his credit he hasn't been in trouble with the club since. I don't think you can describe Mikel not playing as being 'dropped' considering we had Makelele, Ballack, Essien and Lampard at the club. That was 4 of the top 10 or 15 midfielders in the world at one club at the same time. I find it laughable that you can describe Mikel not playing as being 'dropped' under those circumstances. Would Chalobah have made 42 appearances in 2006-2007 like Mikel did with those players aorund? He wouldn't get even half that number and I like the kid so there's absolutely no bias. Honestly I get that you're not a big Mikel fan but some of the stuff you've written there is just absurd. All the arbitrary stuff about character and mentality makes little to no sense. Mikel was a fantastic young player and you don't need to knock him to big up Chalobah.

Our only hope is that Tottenham struggle more than we do and that Arsenal's fixtures aren't as straightforward as they look.

I hate the Mikel revisionism that's going on. He was a very good young player and your hero Mourinho described him as 'pure gold'. Mikel was putting in big performances in the Champions League at 19 (Valencia away, crucial knock-out game, he came on and bossed the game). Now Chalobah might be good, very good even, but Mikel then was a better player.

I just can't see him or any other young player getting good minutes. We don't want one of our most promising young players to be sat on the bench for a year so he should stay out on loan for another season. If Watford are promoted he should extend his loan there and if they aren't he should get a Premier League loan.

I agree with you that Mikel is easily side-stepped by players. His lateral movement is not good, he struggles to turn quickly and has poor acceleration. He is more likely to intercept than to win the ball off an opponent. But tackling seems to be going out of the game and the interception is king now, teams place more emphasis on pressing and forcing their opponents into mistakes. Disagree with you about his passing, he is perhaps not as adventurous as we would all like but he brings a calm presence to the team and recycles the ball better than anybody else in midfield. It would be funny though if Mourinho came back and Mikel was first choice under him. A lot of people here wouldn't know what to think.

Great ball for Demba's goal. It was a strange game for Mata though, he kind of fluffed his lines a few times but still made a match-winning contribution. I know I've criticised him in the past for disappearing in big games but he did very well in the draw at Old Trafford.

What a goal by a very good player. He was immense in the second half. He held the ball up like Drogba used to and brought others into play. Fast becoming one of my favourite players from the current squad. Humble, hard-working and good ability. What more can you ask for from a player?

In true pyrrhic victory style expect injuries and suspensions which will weaken the team even further. The Carling Cup campaign is a big reason why we're in this mess because we treat that piece of shit like the World Cup.

So you have realised at the end of March that our squad isn't good enough? What the hell have you been watching? Bertrand, Marin, Torres etc wouldn't make the Southampton team. That says it all.

I don't know but I'm sure it was better than Marin. To think we paid them 8m for Marin and then sent them a better player on loan for a year. Don't know whether to laugh or cry.

If this club was run by smart people we would cash in on Ivanovic this summer and replace him with any one of our highly promising young CBs. But considering the idiots in charge it's more likely he'll get a contract renewal than be replaced. He has been terrible for almost the entire season and has been replaced by a much better RB in Azplicueta.

I remember reading that article and thinking 'he cant be that bad'. Turns out he is.

Just not dynamic enough, especially on the defensive end. Solid player and unfairly criticised but time to cut our losses in my opinion.

He is so slow and sluggish in his movement it's getting embarrassing now. To make things worse this is him coming off a two week break!

Here are two videos of his performances against us in the group stages:

He was one of Shakhtar's impressive players when we played them. Good technique, mobile and good finisher. He has scored 20 goals this season. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOcTW9MgSa0

You sure about that?

Great news.

http://vimeo.com/62112381

Or maybe he has just decided to take the games by the scruff of the neck. There were times when he was too passive and comfortable to let others influence things. But recently he has become more aggressive and as a result is far more involved.

One player that has impressed me this season is Andreas Weimann at Aston Villa. Young, talented and can play wide or through the middle. He scores goals and is a good finisher (11 goals this season). He would be a much better squad player than Marin and still young enough to develop more. I just checked and his contract expires in 2014. Don't be surprised if he moves to a good club in the summer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=add5qkk06eI

We would (hopefully) never sell to Arsenal and anyway Cech has far too much self-respect to waste his time at Arsenal.