lionsden

A shit footballer can be very prolific just ask inzaghi and chicharito. There's a distinction with being a good/great finisher and footballer. and it's no coincidence that those strikers who excel at both qualities are rated as world class and amongst the best in their position from generation to generation. His touch, hold up and link up play, passing and overall technique are what makes him a shit footballer (for lack of a better word) however he's a good finisher and that makes him a useful/effective/good striker. To further illustrate my point, zola, when asked about the worst footballer he's ever played with in a end of the season serie a review mentioned pippo. He said he literally couldn't control the ball even in training yet no one would deny that he's one of the greatest goal scorer/poacher of the last generation.

Reus should win it closely followed by neymar, the build up to the goal alone was fantastic. there's nothing special about the rest .

It's largely because of the Mourinho factor plus many are knee jerking the awesome form that Costa,Fabregas and the team in general have shown so far. there's no way we have a better squad than man city. As a matter of fact their squad is superior which is why our tag as the huge favourite for the title seem rather illogical and let's not forget that we have always started the season very well only to falter away in the end bar 4 seasons over the last decade or so. Let's see where we are come March/April.

I am gobsmacked that some posters left out Robben and Sturridge. I can't even take anyone that doesn't include those 2 seriously unless their reason is personal rather than football related.

I will sacrifice the Schalke game easily if it meant that we win the rest of our November games as we are more or less there if we beat maribor

And why's he throwing his players under the bus AGAIN. That's just bad management plain and simple. number one rule of management is to accept responsibility as the leader and always protect your team in public.

There's an element of risk however some strategy are less risky and more logical than others. Regarding the risk of our midfielders getting caught up in posession, the whole point of pressing hugh up is to force the opponent to either turn the ball over, kill their attacking momentum (Not many teams can hold onto the ball and create chances under heavy pressure) and capitalise on their mistake and spaces. And you are thinking of the worst possible scenario anyway as pressing high up doesn't mean committing everyone forward in the opposition half (no one does that except when chasing a lead or equaliser) And what's the relevance between methods to seeing out a game and the Liverpool game? completely different and unrelated cases in the sense that we backed off Liverpool right from the blow of the whistle and as a result Liverpool weren't put iunder any offensive pressure at all by us whereas my original point was a better method to stiffling the opposition and preventing goals to see the game out. Look at Atletico at the bridge last season, they were 2-1 up and one leg into the finals and could easily have retreated and surrendered posession to us Jose style but instead they kept attacking us, keeping possession and pressing high up the pitch which resulted in a very very comfortable victory in the end. Atleti never felt threatened after they went ahead but they would have if they had retreated and surrendered possession to us. that's the right and best way to do it. Managers can't and don't do it consistently with success because there are other variables that determines the result of a football match like the quality and form of the team and the opposition, injuries and suspension, the overall team's performance on the day, referees and officiating, the fine margins otherwise known as luck, defensive or individual mistake (s), profligacy in front of goal and so on. However when you have the right players, a well executed and logical strategy can improve a team's chances of winning matches or getting the desired result whatever that may be.

What was the point in adding him to the team sheet if he was never going to feature and when is he ever going to feature? when all our senior players are fit and free of suspension or when we move into the business end of the season smh

I agree with the argument against Jose. His inability to learn from his previous mistakes and overly cautious approach is rather annoying i.e giving quality opposition the ball and inviting intense pressure in closing minutes is a stupidly risky strategy that relies on sheer luck and complete concentration from the entire defence/team and the worst part is when it backfires (like it did against united) there's an air of inevitability about it, you can see it coming. There are other less risky ways to see out a (big) game or any game for that matter like pressurizing the opponent higher up the pitch, closing down passing lanes which forces the opposition into punting the ball forward or going back to the GK, time wasting and keeping possession of the ball which can only happen with high pressing and pushing bodies forward and most often that not, closing stages of the match is the best time to induce the final, killer blow when the opponent are extremely vulnerable at the back due to committing men forward in chase of the equalizing or winning goal. instead of defending like a pussy, get in their faces and go for the jugular either that or keep posession of the ball and waste as much time as possible and stop them from transitioning the ball into areas that can hurt us. I was hoping he would have learned his lesson against Bayern in the super cup.

Own goal actually but still good delivery by willian

Drogbaaaaaaaaaaaaa

His concentration, ability to read the play and timing of his headers are woeful beyonf belief. I have always said that Kalas and Omeruo are better than him.

I guess it's time to bring Hazard on to try and save us from the embarrassment smh

Finally

Quantity rather than quality is a statement that best defines our attacking midfield situation. bunch of uncreative players the lot of them.

Not just that even the decision making of the so called senior players has been woeful as well. I always want to ask anti youth campaigners what it is that they are so afraid/cautious of. Will Boga for instance score 5 own goals to lose us the game if he was to feature or will Baker do 8 stevie Gerrard slips to let schrewbury in for goals galore. They always make it seem like youth participation in the first team game automatically limits the teams ability to win a match. it's ridiculous sometimes. And I agree with you regarding the last statement but Oscar is Brazilian and Baker is ehm English so . . . . . All English players are technically average battering rams we have been told.

At this rate he's the Egyptian kakuta

WTF was that from Salah

Dare I say Boga and baker would offer more creativity than Oscar, Schurrle and Salah have so far. Boga especially.

This game has shades of last season (past 4 seasons actually) written all over it where we always struggle to break down parked defence. Our creativity is really woeful without Fabregas and Hazard and that's unacceptable.

And what's to say they wouldn't?

Experience is massively overrated. in a tight game where creativity is hard to come by, a creative youth is far more valuable than an experienced/established limited player.

Drogbaaaaaaa

Hopefully Drogba doesn't start diving, rolling around and wasting time again. That's one thing I have not missed at all in our team. stay on your feet as much as possible and drama free.

I wish I was as confident as you lot for a win here. Rooney and Falcao is a massive blow for them mind. hopefully we take advantage of that.