CHOULO19

That was one match! He's been pretty average in many others. It's only natural that he isn't consistent yet, he's only 18!

Anyone else more upset about Van Bommel retiring? Truly great player.

Well, tbf, this season was an exception as united never really had any competition. Can't expect that every season.

Cole is obviously not the player he once was and doesn't have the legs to make runs for 90 mins and help the attack, but defensively, I think he's still miles ahead of both. I'm actually surprised how well he's done consider he's been left exposed for most of the games by the lack of tracking by our wingers (but that's a long debate for another time). I believe that if you want to win a league, you need a back four that are solid defensively, especially the fullbacks. I was never on board with the notion of "modern" fullbacks that turn into wingers on the attack and leave the team exposed.

I don't mind Spurs, tbh, probably because they've never been our 'rivals' in my years of supporting Chelsea. I honestly prefer Bale stays at Tottenham than move to united or City,, plus, finishing outside the CL for Arsenal could be the last push they need to turn into Liverpool. So, personally, I want Spurs to qualify.

In that sense, neither. I'd just play Cole.

With Southampton staying up, I very much doubt Shaw would be leaving this summer. Staying there is clearly the best option for him, imo. He gets another full season in the PL instead of rotting on some bench.

Actually mate, the Tottenham result is completely irrelevant to us. We've guaranteed that we finish above them by beat Villa unless we lose something like 10-0 and they win 10-0. We just need to equal Arsenal's result to guarantee 3rd.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7Z_PkGq_zk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D-CIYWa2Tw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q5aHK20Zkk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neJ4DbBHkyg

Link? Or at least the name of the account you got that from? Anything?

Yeah my comment was not aimed at Boga in particular who I think is an amazing talent,especially if you consider his age. Was just making a point, that I worry more about youngsters who rely on speed and dribbling ability when they want to make the step up to the first team.

Classy gesture. Very classy.

There was a cross across his 6 yard box, he tries to intercept but realizes he's made a wrong decision leaving his far post exposed and does brilliantly well to recover. The right decision was to run across his line and cover the far post since he could clearly see that there is no Real attacked between his CBs. Simple, really. Absolutely no need for all that over-analyzing

I think it was too pacey to catch. Yes it was a great save, but the point is he was forced to make that save because of the mistake he made in decision making. I don't mean to be harsh on him, he's only 21, just pointing out where Cech is still better than Thibaut right now.

Had an excellent game and made a couple of world class saves. Would be interesting to see where he goes next season, I honestly think he's going to stay at Athletico and play with CL with them. Great reflexes, yes, but you also have to notice that he made that save much harder than it would have been because he made the wrong choice at first in trying to get a touch on the cross. I know this is one incident and I'm only using it as an example, but that for me is the difference currently between Thibaut and Cech: Positioning, decision making which obviously come with experience. For me, Cech is still much better, and is likely to still be for the next 2-3 seasons, but obviously Courtois has a huge future ahead of him so we'll have to see how the club handles this delicate situation.

Actually those qualities in youngster worry me the most. Because it is so hard to take those qualities to the first team where defenders are faster, stronger and a lot better. It is a huge step up. I'd be much more confident about players like RLC or Chalobah who's best attributes are passing, tactical awareness and work-rate because those are much more likely to translate to the PL level. EDIT: Don't get me wrong, Boga is obviously a special player with loads of potential, I was just making a general remark.

When was that?

Isn't he something like 22-23?

Who cares? We didn't literally throw his transfer fee and wages down the toilet, but signing Yossi was the closest thing.

I just hope that Jose, if he really is coming, does not see him as the solution to our pivot problems, because if he does, we are screwed. I agree with TOPTB, now is the perfect time to cut our losses and sell Essien.

Mate, you're trying to change the very nature of football fans, here. The guy, like Gomez for example, who in 90 mins makes 5 passes has one shot and scores a goal will always all the glory while the guy who makes 60-70 passes at a 90% accuracy and controls the whole game gets overlooked. It's so difficult to explain to people how important things like passing, tactical awareness..etc are. The argument is always "Anyone can make a pass" and no one realizes how difficult it is to get that pass right 9 times out of 10. Football fans, even 'pundits' have always and will always judge players on individual incidents rather than overall performances. Talk to someone about Fellaini and he will bring the utd game into the discussion. Any Falcao discussion will inevitably include the hat-trick he scored against us..etc. I love Frank as much as the next Chelsea fan, but Scholes is on a different level. In terms of tactical awareness, defensive work rate, footballing IQ..Paul is miles ahead. He's also, undoubtedly the best passer in the history of this league.

Yup. Imagine Mata playing as a striker against Stoke between Huth and Shawcross!

LOL

Well he does seem to like taking jobs where everyone hates his guts..

Surely not. That just defies logic!