OneMoSalah

Think Jose will be desperate to win this so I think that Cech, Ramires, Torres, Terry, Cahill, Cole, Oscar and Ivanovic will all start. Maybe Hazard will, maybe not. Still see us going for a strong team since its against Arsenal and they will use a weakened team but with some starters as Wenger won't want to roll over. Cech ---------------------------- Ivanovic Cahill Terry Cole ---------------------------- Ramires Mikel ---------------------------- Mata Oscar Willian ---------------------------- Torres

Showed his striker instincts by getting into a great position. They always say the Germans are very good at tucking in for crosses to get into goal scoring positions and he did very well, obviously he wasn't as good on the ball but you cannot fault someone who will work their arse off when hes out of possession.

Absolute monster of a performance, was the best player on the park by a sheer mile.

Good to see him not let that miss go to his head, his confidence is good right now and he's playing at a very high level. Obviously now that he's played well in a sequence of games against Tottenham, Schalke and now Manchester City hopefully he can keep it going against the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool, United, Everton and also the smaller teams. That drag back he did in his own half just shows his confidence. We've seen this form before under Robbie and Rafa so we need to hope it keeps going on for a long while and Jose can do what they can't and keep him hungry and wanting to play at that level.

Ramires absolutely monumental today. What a fucking performance.

Same but I suppose most German wingers are more than capable of playing as forwards in some capacity like Muller, Schurrle, Podolski, Reus etc. Anyway has he played any first team football with Wolfsburg?

I was just using the fact Varane was playing regular games for Real Madrid against the case of Kenneth Omeruo realistically playing against City or Arsenal just because he was training with the first team. Jose played Varane (whos very talented) when he was 18 or 19 (cant remember how old he was when he made his debut) because he was ready. Obviously then he's gone into the France team a year later, who are a very good team too. The same with Balo after but he probably would have gotten an Italy call up sooner if he didn't have to wait for Italian citizenship as he was always eager to play for Italy and they had tabs on him for a while. I was meaning though, Jose plays the youngsters who are exceptionally talented, who are ready physically ready, mentally ready and at a level where they can contribute straight away which is the Balotelli's and Varane's he has worked with. Obviously Omuero is a decent young CB who can go far but he has a lot of work to do, Balotelli and Varane were miles ahead of him in their development which ultimately was why I was saying that using Varane playing regular games as a reason for why Jose might play Omuero is totally different due to the level of talent of the players. Yeah Jose will work with youth, he started to give Morata minutes at Real too but he didn't give Jese or even use Carvajal at Madrid when they desperately needed a RB. Probably because he had to develop a bit before his game was at the level Jose felt he was good enough to start, so he sold him to Leverkusen and they brought him back in the summer.

Madrid are a project right now, they are undergoing a change of philosophy from counter attacking to a more attacking style of play. Ancelotti has to integrate Isco, Jese, Illarramendi and Bale into a team that was already full of world class talent, it will take time for him to find his best 11 like it will with Jose. W ill Perez give him time? After Jose's last season at the Bernabeu, you'd think so because I honestly though Jose would get sacked. Perez gave Ancelotti a problem, albeit a nice problem, having talented players such as Isco, Bale and Illarramendi to add to an already talented midfield section that was pretty much settled with Di Maria Ozil Ronaldo with Alonso and Khedira behind them. Anyway I heard Varane made a mistake for Barca's second goal, my twitter TL was going mental, everyone saying Varane is a bad defender for making one mistake, the lads 20 years old and has world class potential but one mistake and people are saying Marquinhos and Papadopulos are better than him when they aren't.... bit of an overreaction.

Comparing Torres to Drogba is unfair. Drogba is a better striker, although he may have hit his peak later, comparing any Chelsea striker of the last 10 years to Drogba is unfair because hes been one of the best players in our clubs history. Its like comparing Mikel to Maka, its unfair because Maka was arguably the best holding midfielder of the last 20 years. There is no way Torres will get to Didier's level in terms of the goal record and goals in big games. How many strikers will score that many big goals in big cup finals? Torres had big shoes to fill, in fact he had a lot of trouble to get out of his shadow as he was still our best striker when Torres arrived, hes got a better strike rate now but hes still been terrible for us for the fee we paid. Also Eto'o is doing great for not being 100% fit, he might not hit his top level until after Christmas due to rotation and the fact hes been playing very casually for the last 2 years basically.

Really impressed with the work Martinez has obviously been doing with him, hes looking better in terms of link up and holding the ball up. He praised Rom's link up play a few weeks ago and I feel he will keep getting better under Martinez because at West Brom he was really playing in a counter attacking system which we really don't play and now hes playing in a team that like to have possession similar to how we want to play and he is a vital part of that Everton team. Martinez will help him tactically as well as he had done with Moses and McCarthy at Wigan who are now better footballers for that. Next season he should be part of the squad, for sure. If he'd stayed with us for another year and hadn't scored as many goals as he is for Everton then people would be saying hes a one season wonder or hes shit like they did in his first season after he struggled to get used to English football.

Why the fuck is everyone saying Mata is going to leave? Honest to fuck what's Jose gonna do sell Mata and sign Sneijder who isn't anywhere near his level? or tempt Luis Figo out of retirement? this thread is hilarious at times

Yes Varane who has caps for the French national team who are one of the top international teams and is arguably the best u21 CB in the world with world class potential in comparison to Kenneth Omeruo. There is an absolute massive jump in quality between Raphael Varane and Kenneth Omeruo, laughable you'd really try and argue your point using Varane as an example when he's arguably Real Madrid's second best CB behind Sergio Ramos. Its obvious why Mourinho used Varane at Madrid and Balotelli at Inter when they were young because they were exceptional talents and good enough to play. Omeruo isn't good enough to play in the Chelsea first team this season, he needs to play on loan somewhere, arguably a lower PL club or Championship club.. so do you really think hes going to play him against Man City or even Arsenal? Of course he fucking isn't.

What do you mean "Its Mourinho mate", he is renowned for not playing youth, never mind against Man City or Arsenal. Omeruo will be training with the first team because he failed to get a loan deal and he's playing with the u21s while also training with the first team. Unless Cahill and Luiz both get injuries, then he won't be anywhere near the first team in those games.

Lol Schurrle is a great character, similar to Luiz. P.S the suit...

Great article mate! Covered everything, as you also did in the pre-match preview I thought we'd be playing on the counter, especially when I seen Schurrle - Oscar - Hazard in the team and the fact Schalke like to push their fullbacks up as wing backs, it was only logical. Jose's plan worked a treat. The midfield did their job, it reminded me of the 3-1 game we won (Tiago scored that screamer) against United from 2004/05 season, we let them have the ball, they dictated possession but we dictated the passes they could make by blocking off the obvious forward passes they wanted to make in between the lines.

His performance last night sort of reminds me of the Thomas Muller I've seen at times, he can look really bad offensively, lose a lot of balls, poor passes etc but he still finds a way to affect the game with either a goal or an assist.

Jesus fucking christ. What made up bullshit stats? Against Spurs we simply had no answer against them, was hardly Mikels fault, he was withdrawn so Rami could move inside and with Frank playing you know he can score goals. If Toure walks all over Mikel then imagine how much fun he will have against a 35 year old? The fact City play a high pressing game too, we need composure in the midfield, Mikel came on against Schalke and we finally started trying to pass it more often. He along with Oscar is one of the players who will take the ball under pressure and still retain possession. Schalke's midfield had a field day against us last night, Lampard looked tired and disjointed at times and Ramires was struggling to get into the game a lot. That is the sort of pattern and attributes I'd associate with Lampard actually, bombing up the pitch thinking hes midfielder-cum-striker when actually is job essentially is to protect the back 4 but I suppose you can't convince everyone huh?

No he isn't, hes played in central midfield for Atleti this year and has 6 assists there. He can play as a #10 or on either flank as well but Simeone has used him in a deeper role so far this season.

Wasn't impressed with him to be honest, hopefully Mikel will start vs City with Rami next to him.

Happy birthday mate have a good one!

Oscar Hazard and Schurrle start woooooooooooooooooo

I don't necessarily think Lewa is Pep's ideal forward but hes a forward rated very highly by Bayern, which is why I reckon no matter who was in charge, he'd end up there. He was wanted there last summer, it didn't happen, it will happen now. Even if Pep doesn't necessarily want him, his signing strengthens Bayern while weakening their main rival.

People refuse to criticize Hazard because he is seen as an immense talent that will eventually win Ballon D'or (which he might - probably will) even though he hasn't played at a very high level consistently for us like he did at Lille in the 2-3 seasons where he established himself as a world class talent before he left... looking at Luiz, he has played very well at times and looked a 21 million pounds defender for a while where as Hazard has looked a 32m player in maybe 5, 6 or 7 full games.

I hate double posts

Lol what? You think because Mata isn't playing well its because he isn't accustomed to the PL at the start of his third season in it? Anyway Oscars first season was good enough for coming straight in from South American football I feel. I was anxious, we were paying 25m for a largely unproven player but after seeing him in the Olympics he looked a good buy. Oscar played out on the wing 9 times out of 10 for us but played as a wide #10 more than anything, similar to what Cazorla has done on the left wing for Arsenal. Hes better in the #10 position but we can also say so is Mata, so is Hazard, so is De Bruyne and so is Willian, thats where they have the best stats in their careers. From a team point of view, Oscar is better in the #10 role, especially when we go to press off the ball as he is more mobile and can apply pressure to the opposition double pivot quicker but he is also better at creating space for himself and linking the play. Mata is back in the team though so I am more than glad, his creativity was sorely missed.