Blue Armour

Much better from this game. 9 goals conceded from 17 shots this season is a shocking stat for someone at his level, but today was much better. The two saves he made in the first half prevented what could have been a very different game

Very good performance from him, covering a lot of ground today. Have a feeling that Kennedy could have also done a similar job if had stayed.

Much better a B2B player rather than an all out DM who plays at the back of the midfield. Good switch of tactics today to let Matic sit back and let Kante surge forward. Pressing for the ball by him and Willian in the oppositions half was instrumental today,.

Like Henrique mentioned earlier, I'm getting an AVB/Scolari vibe with the shoddy defense, lack of commitment from the players and not to mention the early season defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal (like what happened in 2008 and 2011). The difference here is Conte is not a novice like those two when it comes to club football, so I expect him to put up a stronger fight to reign in the squad and make a quicker turnaround in terms of results.

I don't think its really a question of small team or big team. He has been crucial in some of our wins against Arsenal last season and in the one before that. Yesterday was just a shit performance from him, and the rest of the attacking midfield. That being said, I would start him over Oscar and Matic in any of the games, big or small.

Terry no longer has the level of influence he used to have at the club. He barely secured a contract for himself this season. Not much he can do about wayward players for whom the club seem to be willing to bend over backwards

No wonder he was raring to leave the club this season....shit league, shit referees, shit team.

Eden 'the Boss' Hazard

Sometimes finger pointing at players can be funny over here...People are still fuming about the dastardly Eddie Izzard...

The silver lining from all this is that observing the last 5 league games could lead him to one conclusion. Bar the one game against Burnley, he has lost every single game with the same starting eleven he has put out. Didn't get a result out of any game until the point he made a substitution. (Yes, Terry didn't play the last game and Willian missed another, but had those players been fit it would have been identical lineups for all 5 games)

Don't really see the problem with so called 'Gooner blood'....we've had plenty of it with before with Ashley Cole and Anelka. Didn't fare too bad....I'm having more issues with the so called 'blue blood' that's out there playing right now.

This video...just lol

Haha..so true, that kind of lineup would be turn the game into an Ars-Liv fixture

Based on Fabregas tweets above and in previous pages, I'm inclined to think that this bit of news should go straight to the dustbin.

He's had really good games against both the Manc clubs Interesting that he joins us at a time when they are our two biggest threats to the season

...... I have nothing to say...

'Ooooooo, who has hair like a pineapple and plays at the Bridge?...."

You mean Guardiola. Don't think any other manager there would have the guts, or more importantly, the authority to make moves like that.

Have to agree with Barb here...am happy with the result and from the sound of it, the performance. But I hope Fabregas can work his way back into the starting eleven sooner rather than later. Without him, IMO we will be too reliant on Hazards explosiveness to unlock defences. Unless Oscar finally becomes the consistent performer we hoped he would become 2 yrs ago, it's a risk losing your only playmaker in Fabregas, by not giving him even a couple of mins and even bringing Pedro in to the team ahead of him. Anyway I hope his insistence with keeping Fabregas on the bench is purely for tactical reasons ...to compensate for the weakness in our back 4. Hopefully with a new defender we will start seeing more exciting midfield lineups.

While there is a remote chance that Kalidou Koulibaly could happen unexpectedly at the last minute like the David Luiz transfer, Maksimovic seems more straightforward to me. Seems to have most of the qualities we are looking for in a new CB.Only question is whether the player himself fancies a move to England, since he seemed to be angling for a Napoli move

Who ya gonna call...

Might not be a bad thing tbh.. I know you would expect players like him to be agile and slim to weave in and out of the opposition, but there are are some situations where the extra muscle could help. In the game against Watford alone, there were a few examples where he got knocked off the ball when defenders bumped into him with force. Usually happens when he's not running with the ball at full pace..

Yeah, I'm also leaning towards the same.. The days when he could perform the holding midfield role single-handed, and shut out opposition like Yaya Toure seem to have gone for now, but I still think he can do a job alongside Kante. Together, they can provide a decent platform for someone like Cesc (and to some extent Hazard) who can then focus all their attention on attack.

I would really like this signing tbh...if he can occasionally play the FB role as well, that would be great. Ivanovic might be the weak link in defense, but tbh what our back four really needs is a player like prime, in-form Ivanovic.

Understand where you're coming from...but IMO, Costa is still the number 1 and will start every game as long as he's fit and on form. While there are some who would like Michy to start every game from now onward, I think a lot of people are just glad that it looks like we have a good supporting member in our strike-force who can offer something a lot different from our first choice. Its different from the case of Oscar, who sometimes works his way back into the starting 11 and has a run of games where he disappoints.