OneMoSalah

It is but I think also the structure of English football doesn't help managers as much as it could, teams in Spain, Holland, Germany have B teams which play in a lower league which is at a higher level of football than say U21 football and give their players more competitive football and makes the step to the first team a bit more easier. Obviously Jose obviously isn't the best manager in terms of introducing youth either but there aren't very many managers in England that actually introduce youth as much as say Pep did at Barca or van Gaal did at Bayern.

Just get the job done first then we can talk about using youth from the bench. We have other players to use as well who haven't been as regular as they would have liked (Cech, Zouma, Salah, Schurrle, Ramires, Mikel, Remy) before even considering using youth. I'm all for introducing youth in gradually but we have to rotate the team and give those who could be used in the next month or so minutes so they are in a good enough condition and performance level to come in/start if needed to. Obviously after seeing Loftus-Cheek v Sporting I'd like to see a bit more of him but I can't see him being in the squad, Ake should hopefully be in there and get some minutes be it as a LB or CM.

When we announced we were signing Diego Costa. Ok its not exactly a 'moment' in the same way Mikel's backheel is or his goal against Arsenal is but the guy has been a brilliant signing, winding everyone up, playing for the cause and ultimately looking like he doesn't give a fuck who it is he's squaring up to. When was the last time we had that in a player???

I have to be honest, I had a problem with what you said because quite frankly it was bullshit. Hes not injury prone, hes had a bad year in terms of injuries but he was injured by OTHER PLAYERS not himself - which can happen to anybody, not by overtraining or being too fragile like Wilshere due to an excessive amount of muscular injuries due to his dinosaur of a coach's training techniques and methods. Jesus some people.

When people say they we someone who can fill Matic's boots when hes not in the team and then name Pogba I am bitterly disappointed to be honest.

Na I think the same as what Bir_CFC just posted, he does force it, making wrong decisions too often. Oscar's is a bit inconsistent still too but he makes the right choices more often than not. I think Oscar's a superior player in terms of his all round game and in the final third Oscar is better.

3 top bracket CM players when you play 4-2-3-1... pure disaster waiting to happen. I mean we couldn't keep Mata, Schurrle, De Bruyne, Oscar and Willian in the same squad because all 5 were more than good enough to be regulars but yeah lets not learn from our mistakes. Although Ramires is still a classy player and one of the better MF players in the PL, lets sell him to Juve and sign an up and coming great player who is probably marginally better but not exactly an upgrade on one of Cesc or Matic... yeah man seems like a waste of money.

Kompany being world class is a myth to me man. I mean some of the shit Demichelis was being blamed for last season was his fault but some of the goals they conceded trying to play an offside trap, everyone except Kompany at times where stepping up and playing the same line, or the back 4 was in a decent line and he was stepping up and trying to intercept it (ironically enough like David Luiz at times) exposing his partner. Its a funny world, players like Demichelis were being made out to be a weak link playing next to Kompany but when Kompany was out of the team injured like the game against Norwich in particular, Demichelis was exceptional and he was marshalling the back 4 and they successfully caught the Norwich striker offside so many times by all being in sync and stepping up when he did. Not saying Demichelis is great but he's hardly shite, although I did say last season I thought he looked pretty awful numerous times.

Well I don't want to come on and post 3 billion swear words but I might just do it one fucking day. Anyway yeah being injured because of other professionals injuring you doesn't make you injury prone. Totally agree. Still dont get why people think otherwise.

Yeah its just the way it is. People say such and such saying player X is great or a very good dependable CB then 2 games after player X is the worst thing out and should be replaced by player Y because 'he's in better form' although player Y has only started maybe 5 times for club Z in lesser games. I said it before and I'll say it again, Gay Cahill will never be a world class or anything close to it. People need to stop thinking he can be, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand have been the only world class English CBs in the last 10 years and that speaks volumes not only about Gary Cahill but the quality of English CBs in those 10 years. I'd still rather have a solid and reliable Gary Cahill ahead of most other center backs in the premier league except for Laurent Koscielny who in my eyes is up there with JT as the best in the league. Don't see how Kompany is regarded as the best when there was moments last season where Martin Demichelis was outperforming him.

Would of been better if it said 'there is mo need to be upset'

Hahahahaha injury prone??? Honestly? He suffered a ACL injury which ruled him out for about 6 months and then he recovered from it and gets injured in training half a year after it due to another player injuring him.... Someone who is injury prone in my eyes is someone who is repeatedly suffering from the same injuries like Jack Wilshere (constant ankle&thigh injuries), Diaby (basically a full body injury since he was born), Thiago Silva (lots hamstring injuries in last 3-5 years) etc. Its not like Marco has missed huge parts of his career due to injury is it?

I think PSG could beat us to be honest despite having a tendency to give a lead away (no coincidence with David Luiz playing in their defense) in their domestic league but that means nothing when it comes to Europe I suppose look at Dortmund. Think in 5 of their 7 draws in the league they have been ahead and conceded so they are perhaps a bit more suspect at the back but still they are a good offensive team. Ibra is doing what Ibra does consistently year on year, Cavani has scored half of their CL goals and Lucas Moura has been a different player. Difficult game but should be good.

Hes been very very inconsistent this season in comparison to last which I think shows he isn't at that level to be a Chelsea player... yet. He still needs time, he could give Oscar a run for his money but Oscar is much much better in terms of decisions and his final ball seems more consistent than Barkleys right now. I've seen Isco's name floated about this thread and other ones recently and I'm not gonna lie, he would be some signing.

Think we need to build a statue of Mikel outside the Bridge*****

He has had an interesting season so far for West Ham. I was a bit skeptical when he went there but hes been a huge plus for them, giving them a platform and balance. Hes playing more in a disciplined role than his last season at Arsenal and quite frankly he could be useful cover for Nemanja Matic since everyone rates Mikel so poorly..... Thoughts? No way will he return to Barca in the summer, they have Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta, Xavi, Rafinha all there and he probably won't get a game.

Is it Armaggedon already?

Well for one Mikel does nothing wrong for goal 1, hes in a position where he can intercept a cross towards the penalty area if it comes to him and clear it/start an attack. For goal 2, he goes out of position and tries to take the ball, loses it and our back 4 are then exposed. So you set yourself up to fall there really. Hes much much better at blocking passing lanes, positioning himself, making interceptions and reading the game than anything else in my eyes but people seem to complain when he doesn't run about like a pure nutter, trying to steal the ball high up the park, which if he does that means hes not vacating the space in front of the defence (is Cesc gonna do that? No) and even when he doesn't try to do that and sits vacating spaces (to protect the back 4) he gets criticized for not going into challenges or not running enough. Football isn't all running anymore and in quite all honestly it never has just been about running. I was reading an interview that Jamie Carragher did with Xabi Alonso. Alonso mentions Pep and how he tells players like Gotze to stop running looking for the ball in training and just stand still where he is (presumably he meant a space between the lines or between two players). Its the same for players like Mikel trying to counter that. If he can stand in a space that dangerous attacking players like to get into and block the pass or get there If you can read the game well enough you don't have to run 10 yards to make a tackle on a player that you tried tackling before and missed, you can just be in a position where you can take it off them with very little ease/intercept a pass. Anyway as much as that might be a load of shite or whatever, the guy can't win, be it from pundits or people on this forum, there is always a problem with Mikel.

Have to be honest, not taking the 3 points at Old Trafford now looks a quite result bad in my eyes albeit a draw at Old Trafford is not a bad result in the slightest but United are gaining momentum, won't say they will win the title or even finish top 2 but they could make it uncomfortable for us or City because they seem to be able to get results in games they are second best in.

Remember when people said Ramires would be Matic's direct replacement if he was injured/suspended? Can't say I didn't tell yous all Mikel would play if Matic couldn't. He was a controlling figure in the game for us I thought, when we had the ball he kept it and moved it well in comparison to Cesc who had a bit of a weird day with some poor passes and a poor completion rate for him if I remember correctly.

If Salah and Schurrle don't start this one fuck knows if they will ever start much more this year.

Honestly drop Oscar or Willian and give this boy a chance to play because the two of them were pretty poor against Newcastle and Sunderland.

Yes we have Ramires, Mikel and Ake who is a young lad. You don't need fucking 3 world class midfield players in a set up where you predominantly play with 2 central midfielders. Rami and Mikel are happy to play less regularly as say Pogba would. Pogba wouldn't even be a direct replacement for Mikel so it shows exactly how much you know about football as hes a box to box midfielder.

Needs a rest but also needs to up his game at times still a bit inconsistent. With Ramires back fit maybe he will get a bit of a rest and we will use Cesc higher up.