Styles

LOL DON'T EVEN JOKE ABOUT THAT MAN! :redcard:

A draw away at Stoke isn't the end of the world. They've already played competitive Europea League football so will be pretty sharp in terms of fitness. Obviously a win would be ideal but I don't see why a draw would have an impact on morale. If it was away to QPR then yeah that would be sad but away to Stoke? No way.

One thing I would say is that we cannot make any real conclusions on the team selection today. Sturridge is suspended, Torres suffered a concussion so really shouldn’t even be in the squad as that is dangerous and the boss has already said that he is searching for two more players in the transfer market. So if you see some players you are personally unhappy with in the team today then don’t jump to conclusions and think that is his best team. The squad is still not final and perhaps somebody who plays today is not really in the long-term plans i.e. Ferreira, Kalou etc.

I’m not at all surprised that AVB is a big McEachran fan. For his philosophy of ball retention, finding and exploiting gaps/spaces and smart, forward-thinking football as opposed to the sideways stuff then McEachran fits the bill. The thing is though that having just one of those players in your midfield isn’t enough. Where most teams fail is that they have a player like that and surround him with destroyers in midfield. What they actually need is more of the same. What we need to do is scour the world and try to find a youngish player similar to McEachran in terms of ability and play them together in midfield. Two players in midfield capable of taking the ball, dictating possession, linking-up with the attackers and having the ability to dribble in central areas would be ideal.

Man City are a different breed. We were far ahead of them than they were when they were taken over. We were already a Champions League club and could attract World Cuperstars like Crespo. We have done well since Roman took over but not close to where we should be if we're all honest.

I don’t think 3 leagues in 8 seasons is that good of an achievement considering the money that has been spent on players, transfer fees, wages and managers. Exaggerated expectations is a result of the squads we have had available since 2003-2004. And we’ve been more or less second best to just one team for many years in what was essentially a two team league.

You don't think we should have a few more league titles? Manchester United have won 4 of the last 5 leagues.

Fingers crossed...

Since the club was bought by Roman in 2003 we have won; three Premier League titles three FA cups two League cups In that time we have also appeared in one Champions League final. That is 8 seasons work. The question I want to ask is do you think that we have underachieved considering the level of investment and some of the players we have had at our disposal since the 03-04 season?

Besides McEachran, who we know isn't going to start, that is the same team that failed so miserably last season. Anelka in the hole? Really? Who wants to see that again? I don't. Absolutely zero balance in forward areas. We have too many strikers and not enough variety in attack. We're likely to play 4-3-3 and have five strikers (Drogba, Torres, Anelka, Lukaku and Kalou) for one position. I wouldn’t want to see any one of those players play in the RW or LW positions next season. So we have just Malouda and Sturridge for the wing positions. How can the manager be happy with that? How can the manager be happy with having a player as bad as Kalou in his squad? Cech Terry Cole Ivanovic Sturridge Ramires Those six players are in my prefered first 11. The rest I'm not so sure about.

HAHA!

Drogba is technically gifted. I don't know what you've been watching for the last 8 years or so but his control and touch is incredible. He does some utterly amazing things with the ball that some of the players you mentioned couldn't dream of doing. I'm amazed you don't think he is technically gifted, gobsmacked actually. I think the unfortunate thing about players like Drogba is that they are put into a box by the mainsteam sports media ie. he's a battering ram with little to no skill and most people just believe it.

Are you saying Drogba isn't technically gifted?

Big smile on my face reading that. I really hope this boy succeeds here.

I don't even understand why Utd would want him. For the role he plays Rooney gives you so much more not just in terms of goals but assists and link-up play. I hope they sign him so he ruins the balance of their team.

LOL, I was hoping Lukaku can score goals for us so maybe Torres isn't the best person to learn from.

United are still the best team in England.

I agree with you in the sense that the move doesn't make much sense now but it will in a year or two. And who knows if he would still have been available when we did need him for a first team role? Besides we've signed him at 18 so he will count as a homegrown player in the future. If we were ever going to sign him then it needed to be done this summer. I really hope he develops his technique and doesn't just rely on his size and athleticism.

I'm looking forward to that.

RIP.

Paulo is 3rd choice RB. He is hardly going to feature so what is the point of him taking up a space in the squad with little to no contribution from him?

This is excellent news and I hope it goes through. We have Ashley as first choice LB with PVA or Bertrand as backk up. We need a better player than Malouda or at least somebody to come in and provide serious competition for his spot, something Zhirkov doesn't do. Whatever you think of Malouda he contributes far more than Zhirkov does and that is a fact. Now to find buyers for Ferreira and Kalou next...

You are right in that there are always players available but unfortunately we don't have the scouts. We have the worst scouting department of any of the major European teams. We would never sign a player like Hernandez for 8m for example because we don't know they exist! Maybe that is changing with AVB who personally went after Oriol Romeu but I won't hold my breath.

It was only small because we had a silly coach who didn't want to use the likes of Sturridge.

The only plus point about not buying any new attackers is that next season we will have two spaces available in the squad (Anelka/Kalou both have just one year contracts) and there will be less competition from the likes of Barca, Man City etc who have already spent big on Sanchez, Aguero etc. So maybe we’re playing it smart and waiting for the summer when we will be the best option for the next group of talent.