Slam Dunk

No chance of that happening

What a great game. Thought City deserved something from that, really did. Joe Hart must be fuming. EDIT: He was fuming

Pretty sure we'll see the same team that played in the Community Shield. Let's just hope we raise our game in the CL again this season.

Well Madrid are the ones with 'financial issues' so i'd imagine they haven't paid him. Although i've no idea how much of his wages they pay (maybe a percentage/maybe all of it).

Well we've bettered our result there from last season. Let's just leave it at that Moving on...

http://www.thefirstrow.eu/watch/140770/2/watch-queens-park-rangers-vs-chelsea.html

What is it with Brazilian defenders and thinking they can win every ball?

We need to start bossing it second half. QPR have been working very hard and to be fair they've made it difficult for us. RDM should take Ramires off, or he's gonna end up sending himself off.

Christ Lampard. Keep trying to reenact the goal vs. Spurs - It ain't gonna happen.

QPR have 0 players booked? Ramires is probably the quickest player on the pitch...yet he wanders forward 1vs1.

LOL QPR teaching us how to keep possession.

Great chance for Hazard there. Should've buried it. Good save though.

I can only assume RDM expects QPR to come out at us all guns blazing.

Glad Hazard is the only true #10 in the team today. Shame about the wingers though.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2202247/Rio-Anton-Ferdinand-snub-Ashley-Cole-handshake.html#ixzz26IPvActY Aren't we speaking about grown men here? Ridiculous.

Does Cleverly have something on Roy Hodgson that the media don't know about? Depressing thought to think he could be a regular in the England side.

I agree that there have been some frankly, ridiculous remarks about Newton's interview (not only on here I should add). I'll repeat, he's said nothing that we didn't already know or suspect anyway. I'd say it's quite refreshing to see some honesty. 1) Pretty simple. Malouda gets his contract from the board/has to agree with their terms. Nothing to do with RDM/Newton, they just work with what they are given. Pretty much a given. Nobody's questioning this, so we can move on. 2) It's always better to underestimate than overestimate. Obviously (as has been previously stated by the man himself) Hazard's contributions in training are not up to his match day standards. Whilst this isn't a problem for a £32M player who is pretty much guaranteed a starting place, he should be working harder. Complacency could be an issue, publicly stating it could give Eden a kick up the backside, who knows. 3) Frank is an intelligent man, he knows he won't be playing every game. When he (Eddie) says Frank 'is not someone you criticise', he means (I assume) that Frank already knows the situation therefore telling him would be redundant. He's a true professional when it comes to his performances, it'd be pretty insulting to assume he is demanding to play every game. 4) Pretty much as expected, we've seen that lineup on countless occasions. Agree with Hazard and Mata interchanging, which is why Ramires is in that team, to cover those two switching about. 5) As above. I'd imagine if we were to play only either Hazard or Mata in the number 10 position and two natural (hardworking) wingers either side, Ramires wouldn't be needed on the wing. He's relatively untested in the midfield pivot and we do not play a formation that suits his natural position, it's no surprise that the management see him as a winger. While I don't particularly like seeing him there, I can appreciate the argument for him for the sake of team balance. 6) Ivanovic is obviously going to be picked ahead of Cesar at first. Azpilicueta is new to the team, the league, and is pretty inexperienced. Everything Ivanovic isn't. Whilst Azpilicueta is there to provide competition and cover, it's foolish to think that he's going to be picked over Ivanovic anytime soon. Perhaps there's a better chance of him being 1st choice in a season or two. 7) Obviously the club's targets for strikers were not available this summer. Perhaps having only Torres and Sturridge isn't ideal, but RDM and Eddie have to work with what they're given. The chases for another striker were well documented. January is the next window, so we can assume the interest from this summer will still remain. 8) This is the only one i'm surprised about. Obviously there have been a lot of calls from fans for Luiz to play in midfield, but I wasn't expecting it to be a realistic possibility. Perhaps it makes sense given the manager's love of versatile players. I'm actually quite interested to see it, although I have my doubts.

Don't think he's said anything we didn't know already. Apart from the idea of Luiz in midfield, i'm surprised they're actually considering it/he revealed it.

Haha I got it. In that case bravo

It's like i'm back at school As I said, if the manager is insistent on playing two number 10s in Hazard and Mata, then playing them both on the wings in a 4-3-3 is a waste and so is playing them in a lop-sided 4-2-3-1. The 4-3-2-1 also gives a bit more flexibility into a pure 4-3-3 if you want some width and target the fullbacks (of course it's dependant on the opposition). I still think we're lacking the great midfield passer to support a fluid front 3, perhaps that's the plan for Oscar, as I dont think Lampard would appreciate the narrowness of it all if he wants to make a trademark late run. If Oscar were to become this, I think it'd work. But let's not get into hypotheticals... @SeB - Don't know if its a language thing or whatever, but it cheapens your very well written argument somewhat when you refer casually to someone as a cunt.

Hazard is perfectly capable of playing on the wing, I know. He's not at his best there though, and neither is Mata. It just feels like when you have Bertrand - Mata - Hazard, we become unbalanced, going back and forward. Even more so in the case of Ramires at RW, who decides a RW is someone who plays a mile inside of his fullback when going forward. If you're going to rely on Hazard and Mata to be the attacking impetus of the team, you may as well give them both the freedom with another player protecting them from the midfield. As I said, it just feels more natural with the players we have. Anyway, back to Ramires...Did anyone see his performance yesterday?

Did you read the post? I said we lack width anyway when Hazard and Mata both play because they drift inwards. I'm just putting our best 11 (IMO) in their natural positions. You want width, you drop Mata and go back to a 4-3-3 with Marin & Moses out wide.

Feels like it's more suited to the players we have. Mikel in the lone anchor, Ramires as a box to box, Lampard/Oscar as attacking mid and Hazard and Mata roaming with slightly more protection behind them. We end up playing narrow with both Hazard and Mata on the pitch anyway because they naturally drift inwards so we lack width anyway. We'd keep the ball better (hopefully) without being overrun in midfield. It just makes sense. To me, anyway. Cech Ivan - Cahill - JT - Cole Mikel Ramires - Lampard Mata - Hazard Torres

Formation solved.