Joe Cool

As much as I don't like Mikel, saying that he's only a championship level player is quite a stretch... he'd be alright in a mid-table club in the Prem, definitely not top 4 quality though.

When was the last time that he's played as a lone centre foward though? Every time I've seen him play for United lately, he's either in the second striker role to RVP, attacking midfielder, or in central midfield. Not that I'm saying that he wouldn't contribute to our squad, but the fact that he would A. cost a lot and B. demand high wages doesn't make the prospect of signing him particularly appealing. The last thing we need to do is to sign another off form forward for a ridiculously high price.

No thank you. Partly because of the massive wages that he's on, but also because he's been pretty poor lately. Even if we were to get him, where would he fit in?

What an aggravating game. I know that the result is okay for us either way, but it doesn't change the fact that this was a match that we really should have won. We started out incredibly well the second half, but I really think that our hectic schedule and fatigue started to show, so we really paid the price for not scoring a goal, especially because the yids started to get a foothold. However, it doesn't change the fact that Rafa's tactics were appalling. To take off Hazard and Oscar and bring on Moses and Benayoun when we started to get dominated in midfield.... where's the logic in that? Ramires had a pretty poor second half and the smartest thing to do would have been to bring Lamps on for him. The sooner that Rafa leaves and takes his piss poor tactics with him, the happier I will be. This gets us closer to the finish line, but it's really frustrating when we really should have taken all three points.

Wow despite the fact that he's 71, I'm shocked. Say what you want about him, but it can't be denied that he's one of, if not the best managers in the game. Massive respect for the man, it's just going to be so weird seeing United without Ferguson lol... Bye bye Fergie, good luck in whatever you do next.

Yes, but to say that we were "hovering in the middle of the PL" is both ignorant and inaccurate.

lol what are you talking about? Before Roman came we were still playing Champions League football and under Ranieri we finished second (to an unbeaten Arsenal) and reached the semi finals of Champions League (which we could have won had it not been for that horror result in Monaco). Some of the players that became famous under Mourinho were Ranieri signings (Joe Cole, Makelele, Bridge), so don't credit all of our success to Mourinho, because we were headed in that direction before he came.

I would rather not have Terry playing this game. The way he runs nowadays, he'll have a nightmare trying to deal with the likes of Bale and Lennon, especially on the counter attack. Cahill and Luiz as a partnership always leaves me nervous so I guess it's best to stick with Luiz and Ivanovic in central defence.

You've gotta feel for them. Had Mick not been sacked (which was a joke in itself), this disaster would have never happened.

Definitely The only place to be. His posts are very well thought out and articulated.

Antics aside, what can't be denied is that Luiz had a blinder. Hardly put a foot wrong all game and his passes were quite accurate. He's really risen to become one of our best defenders over the past few months. Same goes for Dave.

I thought Anderson was awful, you could see his belly flopping up and down all around the pitch lol, no wonder he can hardly get a game.

Well that was a massive result. We were the better side throughout the 90 minutes but had little to show for it until we brought Torres on and played a desperate 4-2-4. That was just another problem that we've seen too much this season, when we're in attack our players just hesitate way too much for the final ball and as a result it all ends up being too slow. However, this immediately changed when we took Moses off (who was the biggest offender of poor finishing) and brought on another striker. Credit to Rafa for this move, as right after the sub, Mata had a golden opportunity to score from a cross, which, in addition to the goal, just showed that this change worked wonders (United's back four now had two strikers to worry about, sort of like the FA Cup Semi). The refereeing was an atrocity throughout, well too many shitty decisions, but whatever, what else do you expect from Howard Webb? Good decision by him though to not blow the whistle for Shrek's dive right before the goal, no way that was ever a foul. As for Luiz and Rafael, it was pretty silly for Luiz to stay on the ground laughing, but since we can't be absolutely sure of his intentions/thoughts there, I won't say anything about it. Clear red though for the intent. Overall, our finishing was terribly frustrating up until the goal, but who cares, that was just what we needed. Bring on the Spuds :cfc:

Luiz stands out the most as somebody who would be captain material. He's vocal, he quite clearly gives it everything he's got, and top of it all, he's a great person (something that can't really be said about Terry, as great of a player/leader that he's been). I honestly don't think that there's a better guy than Luiz to represent and lead this team once the old guard are gone.

You're right. I didn't think about the fact that Abramovich probably would have made him sit behind his 50 million investment. But yet again, it goes to show the fucked up way in which this club has been run.

Lol Dzeko? Have you seen him this season? He's been atrocious. There's a reason why City are looking to get rid of him.

One other thing, for all this talk of Mourinho loving this club etc... if he really loved this club so much, would his desire to come here really be decided on us qualifying for the Champions League or not? Just some food for thought.

That's true but I'm somewhat concerned mainly due to what happened to Inter right after he left. Sure, he won them tons of trophies, but ever since he's left, it's been absolute shambles over there. Inflated egos, wages too high etc. And then not to mention the fact that Madrid's dressing room has become divided and the fact that he's alienated himself from a large part of the team. I know that it didn't happen over here, but the man does have quite a history of these sorts of things. Just something to keep an eye on...

To be honest, that's not even the worst move the club has made this season. Selling Meireles and loaning Essien when our best midfield combo is Obi Mikel and Ramires. Then also loaning Lukaku when we only had Torres and Sturridge as our strikers. Not to mention McEachran, Piazon, etc. Makes you really wonder what these clowns (Emanelo) are thinking when they run this club.

The difference between us and the West Ham fan is that that particular fan was judging Lamps on just a handful of games. We've seen Mikel for 5/6 years, so both incidents can't really be compared. Whatever, this discussion could go on for forever, so it's better to just end here.

QPR are a bunch of twats. Good riddance. On another note, does anybody else notice that Monreal is basically a much shorter version of Crouch? The likeness is almost shocking.

Good point. People also forget the fact that before he came here, he was rubbish in his last 1/2 seasons at Bremen. Why we ever got him in the first place is mind-boggling.

Really pleased with Dave's performances this season. Obviously there's plenty of room for improvement in terms of defensive positioning and crossing, but that will improve with time. His movement and energy are everything that you want in a fullback. The most incredible thing about his performances is that he's only 23, which means he will only get better.

I don't feel as if Mourinho is the best "long term option" in terms of building a squad from the ground up. However, considering the fact that we've sacked so many quality managers and scared so many others from the job (Pep), what other viable candidates are there? The job is a poisoned chalice, so if we were to get Mourinho, I would be more than happy. If it does happen, we really have to hope for our board/Roman not fuck things up. Hopefully they've learned from their mistakes these past couple of years.

Higuain is wildly inconsistent. However, when he's on his day, he can work wonders. Not sure if he'd do very well over here however. I'd take him, just as long as the price was low (around 15 mil).