CHOULO19

I'm his biggest fan, but even I have to admit that his mistakes are becoming considerably more frequent. Even in the second minute of the game yesterday, he made a positional error that he simply doesn't have the pace to recover from and that lead to the Campbell chance. If Campbell hadn't fluffed it, it could have been a very different match. I don't think we can rely on him as a nailed on starter and still compete for trophies for much longer.

Tbf, Skip, I agree with all the above. I think Cesc needs to be sold. I don't think we need to sell Costa but I do think we need to get a striker who is on par with Costa but more consistent. That said, I wouldn't mind seeing him sold if we do get a top striker.

I still want him sold, btw. But why I want him sold never had anything with his ability to produces excellent performances, but rather our desperate reliance on his moody performances. We undoubtedly have great individuals in this team, but our performances as a team, and largely our results, are VERY reliant on the performances of Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa. And that's not particularly a good thing, imo.

Thought he was anonymous at intervals and generally needed to get more involved, but overall he was good in my book. Definitely his best performance of late.

He's by FAR the most talented player in the team and it's easier to remember that when he's been out for a while. Absolutely delighted to have him back.

He was awful but I can't put too much blame on him. His confidence is shot and his form is off and neither are really his fault.

He did impede him by sliding between his legs and not getting the ball he forces him to jump and breaks his sprint so that the other defender has a better chance of catching up to him. You can't make a challenge at a player and not get the ball. Even if you miss the player, it is still a foul. That is literally the rule. The referee made the right call as 2 international refs just confirmed in the post match analysis in the beIN studio. Yes, Costa dived, but that irrelevant to the call.

YOU CAN IMPEDE A PLAYER WITHOUT TOUCHING HIM. WHAT PART OF THAT IS HARD TO GRASP?!

No because he would not have stopped a clear cut chance then, would he? The ref would have played advantage. Yes, if a player slides at an opposition player's feet, between his legs, without getting the ball, then that's a foul. It sounds fairly obvious to me...

Not having any nonsense about the red card. Yes, there was no contact, but there doesn't need to be contact for it to be a foul. Mertsacker was never going to get the ball and the rule is it's a foul if he 'trips or attempts to trip an opponent' and he clearly was attempting to trip Costa. Also, that was almost literally the only decision we got all game. In the first 5 minutes Clattenburg let Flamini off for a late tackle on Azpi then booked Oscar a minute later. We had two penalties not given, not to mention that every 50-50 went they way. So the arse wankers can sod off!

Never been happier to be proven wrong! Get IN!!!! Diego was excellent and Cesc was magic! Oh, and the ref was a w**ker!

Yeah, but I was always the one telling people to have faith. First time I don't genuinely believe we can win. I just can't see how we can tactically out do them with the way we've set up. Would be very happy to be proven wrong, though.

This has to be the least confident I've been before an Arsenal match probably in the last decade!

Jesus, every time you think United can't get any more boring... Also, Bertarnd is doing well against Martial so far.

Devastated he won't be retiring here!

Literally the same for me. Watched about half a dozen games of his at the start of the season, but he was always so anonymous that I stopped following.

Something, I think we are not taking into consideration, is that the Christmas period was supposed to be our easier period in the season. So I'm not sure how I feel about our position in the form table. Our next few fixtures, I think, will be a lot more telling about whether or not we have turned the corner:

Probably the most telling and touching farewell to Alan I've read: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/18/alan-rickman-rachel-corrie-play-actor By Rachel Corrie's father.

Aw, need a hug? (To clarify, I am NOT offering you a hug by any means, just inquiring whether or not you would like one...)

Thought he was a bit slow to react to the Funes Mori goal (certainly not as slow as Zouma and Iva, though. Legend has it that both are still rooted to the spot watching the ball). It seemed he lost the flight of the ball for a second. Obviously not the main culprit for the goal, though.

My opinion of Matic? My opinion that he has the ability to be a top class player with certain limitations (like his right foot and stamina) if he can work on his consistency? My opinion that next season we should be a key player in the system that we plan to build? Or are you talking about him being poor this season? Because that is NOT my opinion, that is undeniable fact.

I'm sorry, but it seems to me that your defense of Matic' performance has absolutely nothing to do with Matic, nor his actual performances but are deeply rooted in your dislike for Mikel. I can't debate that because there is nothing logical behind that, it's an emotional reaction. Again, I couldn't care less about market value. There are more exceptions than cases that follow the made up 'rule'. Yes, Messi has the highest market value in the world, but on the other hand, not a single player from Juve's XI in the CL final last season cost more than 10m. If Matic does not wish to fight for his place until at least he is performing better than Mikel, then frankly he can leave. Finally, when your argument to keep playing Matic is based on how good Ivanovic has been playing...................

His positioning was often awful solely because of personal errors. There were several times on Everton attacks where he was occupying space that neither restricts passing options nor player movement. That's not tactics, just shit defending and positional awareness. You do know that players don't just have an overall 'rating' and you just pick the one with the higher number, right? Same applies for so called 'market value', btw. There are different qualities in different roles as well as varying form and mental and physical readiness. I don't intend to be mean, but honestly, your annoyance at the key role that Mikel (a CHELSEA player) has played in helping the team since Guus' return, is quite amusing to watch. You really need to stop making excuses for Matic and blaming his poor performances on other players. He has been inexcusably terrible throughout this season (bar half a game or two) and completely deserves to be sitting on the bench at the moment. Of course that doesn't mean that we should sell him. On form and in the right role, he has the ability to be our most important and complete midfielder.

Yes because football is that simplistic that goals scored and conceded are a direct result of single substitution. By that logic Matic should be sold for destroying our ability to score goals since we scored 3 after he went off! This forum, indeed...

I'd bite your hand off for a draw right now!