bababoom

I even remember on MOTD when Shearer said we play like Barcelona Did we have any defensive discipline in that team? i never forget when Atletico, City, Shakter and Juventus all played us of the park.

I must say, In the second half against Swansea i really enjoyed Matic, Ramires, Cesc and Oscar all playing together. On paper Oscar was out wide but in reality he was more central while Ivan kept the width. Against City i would probably play Willian just because of his pace and how good he is on the counter. Regarding Oscar, I'll be interested to see what Jose does with him in the coming months.

You have to say Neville is a fantastic pundit, so much better than the MOTD lot.

Neville was talking more about Cesc' positioning rather than his physical capabilities. The longer he plays in the pivot the more he'll understand where to position himself. Although I kind of prefer him in a 4-3-3, he has the freedom to go forward and link up with Hazard and Costa but could also just as easily sit back and dictate the tempo knowing he has Ramires and Matic beside him.

Neville on MNF just analysed Cescs first half performance defensively and it's safe to say he was pretty poor without the ball. It was obvious watching the game he was miles better when Ramires came on, he had more freedom and was able to get forward without worrying what's behind him.

The link up play between Hazard and Cesc does remind me of the Mata-Hazard duo, the whole build up for Costa' second goal was a joy to watch. in fact the whole team is a joy to watch when we're in full flow, we played some beautiful football in the second half.

He may want to go back to England. Tbh Newcastle have a great fanbase and a wonderful stadium, the downside is that Mike Ashely hardly puts any money into the club... I dislike Rafa but he is a decent manager, definitely not top tier though.

Benitez is a decent manager tbh, the Newcastle fans will be over the moon with Rafa.

We don't really play a traditional 4-3-3 with Cesc, Matic and Oscar, my point is with Ramires included we do and it seems way more balanced.

Jose did say he wants to play a more expansive, attacking style of football. He's obviously told our fullbacks to push on forward and be more attack minded, at times last season our fullbacks wouldn't go past the half way line. Even Azpi looked dangerous at times going forward. Ivanovic this season has been amazing, i love how he's always in the box

Ramires last season had the burden of trying to be a creative passer in the middle, he 'forced' the issue way too much against parked buses and was very frustrating. Cesc now is truly our playmaker, this frees up Ramires if you like, he can now play his natural game without trying to be something he's not. In a traditional 4-3-3 most mangers look for three types of midfielders, a defensive midfielder, a playmaker and a box two box mf, we have that in Matic, Cesc and Ramires. We desperately need legs in midfield, Real had that in Di Maria, Liverpool have that in Henderson and so on. Ramires will be a massive player for us this season.

Ramires needs to be in that midfield, his energy, pace and stamina is vital.

Good spell from us

Ramires has to come on, our midfield is getting overrun.

Haha Nice.

i always said in the big games i'd rather Lampard play for City than Toure or Fernandinho, they play so open it leaves Frank vulnerable.

I'd rather a 36 year old Lampard play for City against Arsenal than Yaya Toure... now come on Arsenal fucking win.

If he signs a new contract he wont leave anytime soon, we're not Liverpool (Suarez) we can keep our top players.

Monk and Costa, most likely.

Great news, Hazard next.

Did he actually say that?

He's been a bit disappointing at Bayern, the last couple years he's been good but not great imo.

Great news.

I bet Shaw was just always playing Football instead of watching it, although he did say he was a massive Chelsea fan.... who knows.

I personally don't care. I can see why some people are disappointed in Frank but to say his legacy has been tarnished is going way over the top imo.