Pizy

Anxious as hell to see our XI. Also nervous that the international break will have a negative effect on our quality going forward. Should be a comfortable win looking at how both clubs have started the season but I'm not too confident.

Absolutely awful refereeing this match. Arsenal given a scandalous penalty at the death to steal them 3 points. Never a pen in a million years.

Yep. Just can't imagine them dropping many points against the smaller teams. They'll utterly dominate those sides.

We've gotta win these "easy" ones against the likes of Swansea to keep pace with City. There are so many great sides this season that title challengers can't afford to drop points against teams that they're far superior to.

He's obviously a world class talent but clearly needs to be played in a specific position to show his best. He looked useless deep in midfield for France at the Euro's and is lost here as part of a "2" as the box to box. He needs to be played further forward. De Bruyne on the other hand can play on either wide position, as a #10, or as a #8. He's more versatile.

Disagree on both points. Besides being more powerful, what does Pogba do better than De Bruyne? Nothing. KDB offers much more to a team. Also, City look brilliant without their "best" player. When De Bruyne was out for them last season they were a different team. He's so influential and they key to their team.

De Bruyne is easily a better player than Pogba. Said it when United signed him. Scores more, assists more, higher work rate, more intelligent. Second best player in the league after Hazard.

Ah, yes. I literally couldn't care less about that competition so I hope Conte doesn't field our strongest XI. I know we have fewer matches this season's without CL football, but I still wouldn't risk any of our most important players from the start in the League Cup. Needs to be all about the PL this season.

Oh, is it? Nice, that's a relief.

Yeah, it's not inconceivable at all that we could lose or drop points in all 3 of Liverpool, Leicester, and Arsenal. For that reason, losing or dropping points to Swansea is not an option. Must win for me.

Don't think anyone expected either of Luiz or Alonso to start this one so not surprised Conte has confirmed it. We shouldn't need them either. This is definitely a must win for me, though, with the fixtures we have coming up. Momentum going into the back to back to back tough fixtures would be great. All 12 points from 12 and a massive match against a hated rival in Liverpool would have the team so amped up. If we slip up against a Swansea side who look like relegation candidates well be in danger of slipping away early with Liverpool, Leicester, Arsenal all in a row.

Isn't he a Man United fan? And it seems he's best mates with Pogba. They can blow us out of the water with wages and transfer fee so I'm not sure how we'd compete with them for him. Unless Conte can work his magic. Though I wonder, with both Mourinho and Zlatan himself saying he'd for sure be back for another year at least, what would signing Griezmann do for Rashford's already limited chances?

He's got those Robin Van Persie bow legs

He literally can't be worse.

To be honest, he's looked like that nearly every time he played for us. He was often lost defensively and got caught out constantly. He did put in some great crosses but the PL just looked too much for him. It's good he's gone on loan and maybe he'll come back much better.

I just think back to the last preseason match he played where, directly in front of Conte, Baba looked like a terrified pussy and played 2-3 straight simple forward passes out of play. He just looked completely lost. Like Cuadrado almost every appearance he made for us. Conte wants players with balls and confidence. I'm just going to keep reassuring myself that at least he's clearly a Conte target. Have to trust his judgement with this guy.

He hasn't even kicked a ball yet for us and you guys are moaning. Just remember who we currently have at RB. Moving Azpi over there alone would be a huge upgrade and if Alonso can become a consistently good (doesn't even need to be great) LB that can link up with Hazard and put in dangerous crosses our team is much better. Wait until he makes a handful of appearances before we start shitting on him.

Remember that he'll be surrounded by players about 5 levels above anyone he played with at Fiorentina. Will he look better with much better players around him? My guess is yes and that's why Conte wanted him. There's no way we would have gone for him unless Conte personally asked the club to sign him.

Wonder what excuses José will come up with if they still lose to City

Or one of our PL rivals more likely.

Both Kante & Pogba are the type of midfielders that Mourinho would design in a lab if he could create his ideal players. Holy shit, am I glad we got him and they didn't. They'd be utterly unstoppable.

What's he going to do, open up his personal YouTube account and share his thoughts on our signings? It's an international break. He's probably not even in England currently.

Other than Azpi, name a single other fullback in the PL who can deal with the likes of Hazard, Sanchez, Sterling, or Mane. These are world class wingers who will have their way with any fullback in today's game. Last season's best fullbacks were who, Rose, Bellarin, Walker, Fuchs? All bang average defensively and get shit on by the top players. Also, Lamela? Really? He's fucking trash. To mention him with those players? lol!

Same with every "top" CB. They all make errors but because David is so colorful, outgoing, and such a huge personality he's scrutinized and criticized more than anyone else. How many times did we see Kompany make stupid errors the last time he was fit for an extended period? So many. Ramos is hugely mistake prone. Thiago Silva is considered one of the two best CB's in the world but makes mistakes. Gab Marcotti wrote a piece for ESPN this morning about Luiz and summed him up perfectly - When he does well no one remembers. When he does poorly no one forgets. Hes a very good player the vast majority of the time and no one says anything. He has a single howler and its front page news.

I think any free kicks we earn around the Man United box will have David asking to take. He'd love to score against Mourinho in a Chelsea shirt. Imagine him scoring a late winner against them.