OneMoSalah

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 Against Spurs we simply had no answer against them, was hardly Mikels fault, he was withdrawn so Rami could move inside and with Frank playing you know he can score goals.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.

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.

Shits a bit harsh, obviously he had never played in Europe so he had to take longer to accustomize to the league than Ramires or Luiz because they had previously played in Europe. There is a big jump from South American football to any sort of European football never mind going straight to the Premier League, obviously he took to the CL instantly but he gradually improved in the PL and got better and better but was very inconsistent.

...but the point still stands we built our team around him and carried Chelsea for more or less 2 seasons. Doesn't matter if he didn't perform in the CL final or semi final where we we faced arguably the two best sides in Europe at the time in Barcelona and Bayern Munich. You're overlooking his performances against the Arsenals, Man Uniteds, Man Citys, Tottenhams etc of the PL since he came here and the likes of Juventus, Napoli, Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen, Shakhtar in the Champions League. He was burned out at times too but he still did a lot more than some of his team mates in that two seasons. Sure his form was and still is streaky but still he was class for us over those two years. Hazard has still to set the world alight here after a 'decent' debut season and Oscar is finally hitting a high level of consistency. I agree with you about the national team thing though, if they are regulars for their country or not I couldn't give a shit, thats why I'd like to see Courtois back here competing with Cech for the GK spot next season or even this season could have been good competition if we didn't sign Schwartzer. If they are good enough they will continue to be picked like De Bruyne has been recently and what Italy do with players under Prandelli who perhaps aren't regulars or haven't played well like what happened with De Rossi last season.

Hes off to Bayern, hes had his heart set on going there for the last year now and he will definitely sign for them, I guarantee it. Why do people keep thinking we should go for him if hes 90% certain to agree a pre-contract???

We should play on the counter looking at how Schalke line up during attacking transitions I feel. We should go with a three of Schurrle - Oscar - Hazard I feel, all three players are direct. Schurrle and Hazard could expose the spaces out wide on the counter for sure. Oscar is great at creating space for himself and finding those little pockets too so thats why I've included in the three I'd like to see lineup. For the striker, personally I think Ba would be more useful especially as an outlet at times, Santana and Howedes aren't particularly strong, they are quickish on the ground but not the strongest so his presence could be useful. If he has one of those days where he holds the ball up really well like he did against Norwich and we can get numbers up to support him then it could be interesting. Still I am excited to see Julian Draxler, he is a massive talent, just hoping he has a poor game haha. Possibly Meyer too, lots of potential and talent but I'm hoping that they don't get much of a chance to be as dangerous as they can be. Clemens is quite direct too, hes a decent player.

Bullshit. We did for two years. Many other clubs would have done too.

He plays central midfield

Young Spanish midfielder playing for Atletico. He has bags of potential, very versatile but hes best in central midfield. A lot of talk likening him to Xavi, from what I've seen this season he'd be a good buy for us. Last season he completed something like 30% of his through balls and created 80 chances. Hes got 6 assists so far this season too, joint top with Cesc Fabregas. He averages 1.9 tackles per game (last season he averaged 2.5 tackles per game), showing he also puts a good shift in defensively. Think hes got senior caps for Spain but I'm not sure. A lot of reports linking him to Manchester City and Manchester United but I feel we need him more than those teams.

Jose has used a similar formation in our games when we are drawing or losing, against Cardiff we switched to a 3-4-1-2 kind of formation for about 15 minutes until we got 2-1 up then went back to a back 4. Its a typical Jose move, taking a fullback off and putting a striker on when his teams are losing or drawing.

Watched the whole game earlier. Was very disappointed with Luiz's overall performance to be honest. Lucky he didn't end up sent off, he was reckless and all over the place. He made the mistake but everyone makes mistakes and plays bad at some points, needs to get himself sorted out for the Schalke game though. Eto'o was superb. His link up play, running of the channels, work off the ball and goal was great. When he's out wide he has a good eye for a pass, he played some great passes; one into Mata that Juan took a total airshot at, two different passes into Hazard that lead to two chances. Hes starting to look close to 75-80% match fit, hes obviously still got a bit to do but hes starting to look better in our team. Hazards performance in my eyes was still quite average for him but probably his best of the season, he still looks a bit reluctant to take players on a times but his passing is much better, still needs to do more work on his shooting. Got into a few good positions and took tame shots, especially the second goal he scored which went in due to terrible goalkeeping, 9 times out of 10 would have been saved and there was another good chance he had where he produced a tame effort straight at David Marshall. Hopefully he can continue to build on that though and get much better. Mata was also disappointing but still I suppose hes still adapting to playing out on the right, hes working off the ball though but hes not influencing the game as much, think he will come through it still. The airshot he had from Eto'o's pass is just showing the sort of season he's had so far, not much has gone his way. Suppose Oscar's rise playing in that number 10 role has took some of the attention of Mata though.

Goalkeeper bounced the ball as opposed to dropping it, if he'd dropped it wouldn't have been a foul.

His role in Hazard's goal was cheeky, referee got it wrong though, it should have been given as a foul. His goal was great though, typical Samuel Eto'o, great first touch and great finish.

Against Basel though he set up a 4-5-1/4-1-4-1/4-3-3 whatever you want to call it haha. Could do the same against Schalke but you never know.

Jesus he made a fucking mistake, get over it, we still won, for fuck sake............. this thread is comical at times.

Needs to play like this more often, 2 goals and a assist IIRC, need to see this sort of performance more often.

And Julain Draxler will be playing..... so good Anyway I can honestly see Mou going 4-3-3 or 4-1-4-1 whatever you want to call it, in this one and playing on the counter but I don't know because from what I've read Oscar was superb today.... still who knows. Cech ---------- Iva - Cahill/Luiz - Terry - Bertrand/Cole ---------- Mikel Ramires - Lampard ---------- Andre/Mata - Eto'o - Hazard