CHOULO19

Benitez might actually get to keep his job if he manages to win the EL and subsequently qualify for the CL, which seems likely unlike his prospects of avoiding the sack a month or so ago...

Not to take anything away from Bayern, but it's really hard to judge the football. Porto are playing at a pub team level. I can honestly say that most championship teams would put in a much better performance.

Called it That is one of the worst attempts at a 'bus' I've ever seen by Porto.

Porto playing WAAAYYY too defensive and deep. They are going to get a thrashing. EDIT: LOL Right on cue, Boateng! Game as good as over.

We've played a lot less frequently this second half of the season so while lack of rotation may well be a factor I really doubt it is the only one. Actually if you remember the first few matches in the season he started inconsistently as well and making more mistakes than usual (the 6-3 against Everton is a prime example). So it's not just tiredness but general inconsistency. Maybe that is only normal since most top DMs only reach their peak at around 29yo.

I think Neuer and Buffon are better than Hazard. No I don't, but I just wanted to point out the absurdity of ranking players of different roles and positions against each other.

Made a few potentially dangerous mistakes that luckily didn't end up costing us, but did his main job of man marking Fellaini and taking him out of the match excellently.

Does he get beat easily by pace, never attempt to stop crosses and leave massive space behind him when he goes forward as well? Because if he does, Jose would be willing to just write that starting RB position in his name!

Feels like it's been forever as well since we last won it. The anticipation is killing me!

Remy is perfect against Arsenal. I actually might slightly prefer him over Costa against them. They always struggle against pacy strikers.

If we win our next two games, we will be champions on April 29th, exactly the same day we won it in 05-06. If I'm not mistaken, that is the earliest any team has ever won the premiere league.

For that to happen he would have to be happy with a similar playing time as Zouma got this season.

Erm, we didn't have a defensive approach vs QPR but he was nothing short of excellent that game, either. Credit where it's due, he's playing well recently.

We didn't "keep" Frank because he was most likely offered a contract and turned it down.

Is an extension of the loan even possible at this stage if it were not included in the original contract?

Wow. Massive congrats to the lad! I must admit I'm a bit surprised but definitely in a good way. In my opinion, this only enhances the fact that he has total control over his future because the options are there and plentiful. He can choose to stay and fight for a chance here or he could go on loan to a prem club or he can choose to move away permanently to a mid table team. I think all three options are valid ones and have great positives for both him and Chelsea, so I'm not complaining whichever one he chooses.

Done. Login remains the same.

Very true. But he also deserves all the praise for a performance like yesterday.

Just don't say that in front of Jose or he gets annoyed

Yesterday? Because he was targeted by utd. Usually? Because goes forward and does not think about the space he is leaving behind.

Actually, we'd only need 3 more points if we beat Arsenal. 2 would also logically suffice given our superior goal difference. So win the next two matches and the title comes back to the Bridge.

Best game for us in a while, especially towards the end of the first half and start of the second. His pressing was incredible and he made it count in the final third as well with that genius assist. More of this, please.

So you're saying that Jose said before the game: "Listen lads, you're all well paid professionals here and know a thing or two about tactics, I want you to get out there, sit back, figure out a way to stop their offensive system and key players and then do it!" Let's be a tiny bit reasonable, shall we? Jose chose and worked on the tactics and should get the credit for them just like he gets all the stick when they don't work out. And I'm not at all talking about our defensive approach at all nor am I defending our general approach to games. I'm talking about the tactics which very much were changed from "the usual tactics". I'm not even defending those tactics, I'm just saying that contrary to what you wrote, it was very clear that the tactics yesterday were very different than usual and adapted to united's play. And I can and will praise tactics that managed to stop the system of the most in form team in the league. This is completely irrelevant of how attacking we were and what we looked to do with the ball. Regardless of how offensive you play, you still need to find the best way to defend again the opposition.

No he didn't! Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the tactics, they were completely different than anything we played recently and the vast majority of the times since Jose returned because we adapted to utd and changed our tactics accordingly. For example, our usual defensive strategy, after the first phase of pressure, is to try to force the opposition out wide and not allow them into central areas. That is what Jose has tried to do since returning (as opposed to Benitez for instance who tried to 'funnel' the opposition play into central areas and outnumber them there). The exact opposite happened yesterday. We left them huge spaces centrally to deny them spaces on the wings which is half of what their attacks are all about. And it worked because even though there were massive spaces in the middle they just seemed like they didn't want to get in there and often moved the ball backwards instead. Another example is that we man-marked Fellaini literally all over the pitch, not just in specific areas. We haven't done that often at all this season (last time was Willian on Toure IIRC and even that was not all over the pitch but in some areas until Matic double teams him). Again something we adapted according to utd's system. I'm not saying that those are the best tactics in the world or that they were a tactical masterclass or something like that, or even that they were implemented perfectly because they clearly weren't, but they weren't by any means "the usual tactics". Obviously a lot of work and thinking went behind them during the week.