Blue Armour

Class from Ribery. He was also one of the few from the Bayern team that wholeheartedly congratulated Chelsea after the CL 2012 final.

Honestly yes,...loved it when we were in the CL knockout round in 2012. Back then, people had ZERO expectations, but still had faith in the team's stalwarts. And we kept winning round after round... Now the arm-chair tacticians are out in full-force..

Same here..remember back when AVB was here, other strikers like Didier were getting so much flak. People's opinions can get turned on their heads so quickly when something new comes along. Torres has made an effort to change his game for the way the current team is setup. Granted, its not very good, but then again he isn't the type of striker meant for this role. So criticizing him at this point is rather hollow. Nonetheless I would definitely like to see Lukaku get a chance to start, especially in one of the coming games against Everton and Fulham. Just so he can get a fair chance, and doesn't go down the Daniel Sturridge route.

Like Kalou, a completely different player for his country. I guess it also helps that Nigeria's attackers make good movements giving Mikel the chance to make good passes. Just convinces me even more that he's better suited to an attacking role rather than that of a holding midfielder.

Sad, biased reporting...probably trying to get payback for the Rooney transfer saga.

Yes, and what you stated earlier is still in dispute.

Sorry mate, was just referring to the time when you were under the "Sloth" username...but those were worse times

Really? You and I have a different interpretation of the word "fact" then.

Kojo, pessimistic as usual. But yeah after recent seasons, I'm also inclined to think the same.

Warning: Any thread on this forum can turn into a Mikel thread. Don't mention that name!

For some reason, whenever David Moyes says something these days, I always imagine him saying it in this guys's voice:

First Mueller and now Neuer, calling for revenge against Chelsea. Do they forget, that we were playing at THEIR stadium, for a champions league final? They'd have to come to the Bridge and win to get any sort of "revenge" ....

Tbh, even if we went into the game without recognized striker, there were hardly any chances made by United either. Your best ones were made by RVP on his own, and I would still call those half-chances. And this was after your front three included other strikers like Welbeck and Rooney. You have to admit, neither team made the most of their counter-attack opportunities

Pretty much what I felt as well. And that he was coming up against centre-backs like Ferdinand and Vidic. A conventional CF would have done better under those circumstances. Still, playing him upfront is always a decent option for the manager...especially with Willian coming in.

Mata hasn't come back to full form just yet. The match against Villa was proof of that. And still people expect him to come on in this kind of match, against Utd, in Old Trafford....SMH.. Could he have brought Mata on instead of Mikel? Perhaps, but Mouniho hates losing crunch fixtures more than anything and that substitution shouldn't come as a surprise.

I'll find it funny if anyone starts saying something like "I've lost respect for Mourinho". If that's the case you have never truly have known the man. That's how Jose does it, did it and will continue to do so. I'm sure Lukaku will start a match sometime soon. We're only 3 matches into the season, and he's still testing his squad. Majority of the squad players are young and he won't throw them into the fire without making sure they're ready.

Double post.

Good post, but Mourinho said that while his team would always have a base 4-2-3-1, he also said it would transition between a 4-3-3 and 4-5-1 during the game depending on how the flow is. There are also still candidates for a conventional 4-3-3 like Lampard, Mikel, Essien, or MVG.

Some disgruntled fan at Daily Mail is clutching at straws

Maybe that's not what they had planned, but that's what they did nonetheless. Also, Hazard was introduced at the second half which could also have prompted United to think differently. I will concede though, that Mikel did a better job than Lampard when he came on, freeing up Ramires.

Again, in that FA cup one at OT it worked only after United were ahead and decided to defend. The FA cup match at the bridge was the one good example. And in the PL game at OT, Mikel did not play at all. Anyway, I'm not saying Mikel-Ramires WON'T work, I just don't trust it.

Out of those 4 the one FA cup match played at the bridge would be the only real good example...in 2 of those we played well only after going behind, and Utd decided to sit back and defend. In the CCup match we were playing a weaker United team. So, all in all, not very sure about that pivot pairing.

Don't agree with that. Mikel+ Ramires best works in two situations: 1. When the opposition is sitting entirely in their half 2. When our team is defending very deep Playing Utd is different from Tottenham or Arsenal. I doubt Mikel and Ramires will win the midfield battle against them.

I was hoping Cavani would come, because we were short of strikers in this squad. That's not the same with Willian and the positions he will likely take up for this team. At the same time, a quality player is a quality addition to any team...so there's always that positive to look at.

If Mikel continues to stay on the bench, I'm pretty sure he'll seek a transfer away himself.