CHOULO19

Having an excellent game against Valencia so far. One of the rare occasions since he's moved to Athletico where they have been under pressure for long periods of the game and he's being constantly tested.

I know that this doesn't exactly fit the general consensus, but I think Jose, and the team as whole, has exceeded expectations so far this season. I mean, this is the same team that was struggling for consistency while playing some uninspiring and disjoint football to say the least. We were a cup team last season. I have always said that the expectations that we would be title favorites were always unrealistic for such a young team that has been away from the top for a few years. For me, the fact that Jose has us performing fairly consistently, especially in the league, in such a short time is a very good achievement.

He also made this huge fuss on Twitter in the summer about an exclusive interview with Jose and some "big Chelsea transfer news" which eventually turned out to be Jose saying that Josh will probably go out on loan. The man is a grade A c*nt!

You're in a good mood today, Ron!

Rob Beasley is a clueless twat.

Yeah, Ferdinand's reading of the game was always average at best. He was never a smart footballer....or person judging by the rubbish he writes on Twitter..

Probably knows that @Steve is way out of his league

Oh right, forgot about Romeu. He's been doing so well at Valencia despite not exactly having the best of luck there. He deserves a shot next season.

I don't think it affects him too much. Essien and Frank will probably be gone by the time he comes back from injury. Ramires, Matic, Mikel, MVG for next season sounds pretty good. That said, I have no idea if he'll return as good as before after an injury like the one he's had.

You want him to be come an overrated diving c*nt?

I hope so, bushman. We have done stupid things in the past. But I believe that the fee that was initially reported, the 21m, is the correct one because it was reported by the most reliable sources.

If you're looking for someone to disagree with you there, you're gonna have to wait forever

That was a rather random bump

If that's the case then Benfica should at least shave 7-8m off the price.

Maybe, but I'm still not too convinced, tbh. The aspects that I think he'll need to learn before he can start for us, especially in such a big match, mainly have to do with our pressing system. I think he needs to learn where is he supposed to press in our system, with whom of his teammates is he supposed to press (because that is the most important thing in pressing: the coordination between the players), where is he supposed to force the opposition players: centrally or to the wings?...etc. If we were going to give them the ball and play on the counter then I'd probably agree with you. On any account, we still don't know if he's even going to sign before the match.

I'd suggest trying "Alex's Pimp" in that case

Have you got it in traditional Chinese by any chance?

It's not that simple. We have a system that requires him to play and move in a certain manner, especially when it comes to our defensive system. He'll need to train at least a couple of times with the team before he can start a major match like this one. Plus, ignoring all that, making his debut for the club by starting him in such a big match seems to me like a high-risk low-gain gamble.

Brilliant strategy by the board. Scare the hell out of everybody by starting the Guarin rumors then announce the signing of Matic so every one would be ten times as excited and happy!

I think it's very unlikely that Matic starts this one. First I find it very unlikely that he'll sign before the training session for this match and second, even if he does, Jose would never put that much pressure on him. If he starts in such a big game and for some reason does badly his confidence will be shattered and he will be judged by that performance alone for ages by both the fans and the media. Coming off the bench, if we do sign him before the match, would be the best thing to do, imo.

So after all that fighting and name calling about the numbers and in the end Bushman was correct all along?! Great business by the club. Practically pays for the Matic transfer (if the quoted numbers are correct). I have no doubt that Kevin will do well there and I wish him the best of luck.

I'm pretty sure that Messi was supposed to win it but they gave it to Ronaldo to spare the world from seeing Messi's suite another time...It was the "humanitarian" thing to do.

A week to go and we have 14 active teams. What do you guys propose? 2 leagues of 7? Wait and try to get more a few more teams?

No, he definitely looks like he just came from performing for the circus..

Congrats mate!