CHOULO19

I would like to add that, yes, Conte is making influential changes and subs in games (agree with Barbara that he's mostly correcting his own mistakes) but another factor that is helping us late in games so far is that we're in a better physical condition than most teams. We can't rely on that forever as teams will gradually catch up.

Are you 12? Even if we put aside that that is an obviously stupid point, how is it even relevant to anything about Matic's current role in the team? This is 100% regardless of whether or not we go on to win the match. If anything, the way Fabregas changed the match makes this point even more valid.

Am I the only one who would like to see Willian playing centrally next to Oscar with Pedro or Moses on the right wing?

Am I the only one who would like to see Willian playing centrally next to Oscar with Pedro or Moses on the right wing?

Well that was anti climactic. I hope, at least, they manage to win the bronze.

Who knew Mikel was the king of banter? Best of luck to him tonight. Would be amazing if he manages to help the eagles get the gold!

Would be beyond stupid if we force Cesc out to keep Matic. You can replace Matic, but there's no one with better passing abilities than Cesc Fabregas on the market.

I would not bet against us selling him at the end of this season. We should have brought him back this season.

Watched him last night. Never fails to surprise how good and comfortable he is on the ball.

Undoubted MOTM for me. Andy Carrol was forced to play LB for most of the match!

I remember that goal; used to be in a lot of adverts for the EPL in the late 90s.

What role? He had none. He could have been sent off and I don't think it would have made any difference to the game whatsoever. If Mikel had had that same performance as Matic yesterday people would be calling for him to be assassinated on here.

Ever notice how police are always murdered but ethnic minorities just 'die after an encounter with police'?

I want to be optimistic about this new season, I really do, but tonight is the first match and it seems we still don't know what formation we are going to play, we've failed so far to use the market address our main issue which is the back where we've weakened if anything, and regardless of what formation we are going to settle on we have glaring weaknesses in the team. The positives are that we had a good preseason and should be physically fitter than most teams and that Eden looks to be back to his best. But I don't know how far that alone can carry us. I think it'll be a tougher season than most expect. Unfortunately, I see us struggling to get top four, let alone mount some title challenge.

We'll be in better physical shape than them. I'm calling 3-1 for us with Eden on the score sheet.

lol I thought we had already loaned him out!

It'll be 433 with the exact same lineup as last season with the exception of Kante coming in next to Fabregas in central midfield. Also, we'll need to score at least a couple because a Carrol goal is almost inevitable.

Why the hell is this thread on top every time I visit the forum? FFS let it go!

The reason for that is we're still paying the amortized fees of those players which are added to the FFP budget. But with Mikel the initial fee has all but been fully paid. So on the FFP budget he costs less than any other first team player bar Chalobah. That is also why older players usually have higher wages despite their abilities declining: because their market vales and fees decline.

HAHAHA Give this man a statue already!

Yeah, this wasn't aimed at you but A LOT of people keep saying that. Mikel is actually on less than that. He costs 3.9m per year on the FFP budget according to WAGNH. Assuming the amortized fees are now almost zero since he's been here 11 years, that would mean that he's on 75K/wk. When you factor in the taxes then he'd probably be earning less than Muslera if he is to move to Turkey. But this argument about his supposed high wages was mentioned even when he was being linked with a move to the Serie A and people even have said in the past that we need to get rid of Mikel because we need to get rid of his wages. It's prime time that this myth, much like the myth of Jose Mourinho turning Mikel into a defensive midfielder, is put to bed.

Yeah, sure, treat markets as some infallible omniscient god and let them dictate your life then act surprised when half the world is in debt and everyone is unemployed...

No idea where this myth about Mikel being on big wages comes from or why it won't go away. He is LITERALLY on the lowest wages in the first team apart from Chalobah.

Shhhh Now is not the time for rational thinking!