OneMoSalah

Heard he got punched in the head, not by his own goalkeeper though hmmm

I think with young players it is all about finding a consistency level and developing their skills the right way He will find that level in the U21s league soon hopefully and kick on from there. You forget he is what 18 or 19, still a mere baby in terms of a football career. Wait until he is 20-21-22, when hopefully hes played some more games for the first team and potentially had a good loan spell away from the club.

You also said Sahin wouldn't leave Madrid and we all know what happened. Not trying to stir things, just saying it happened.

So if Benzema continues starting for Real then Higuain could possibly leave. Seems quite odd as the likes of Di Maria and Ozil get a fair amount of assists so surely a number 9/poacher would suit Real Madrid as well to get on the end of crosses from Di Maria, Ozil, Callejon, Ronaldo/whoever else and rebounds from shots in the box. If Ronaldo was to get injured then surely Higuain would be really useful for Real, as he'd be a major source for goals if them players could provide crosses/passes in behind for him, rather than Benzema who doesn't (as he showed for France during the Euros, where he played absolute bollocks.) I reckon Falcao will still end up at Chelsea in the summer. Wouldn't really mind like I did with Sheva in 2007 but when will Roman learn not to buy the manager to use players he doesn't necessarily want!

Looking at the start Spurs have had so far and compare it to Chelsea's last season under AVB (the four straight wins), do you fear that there is a possibility that things could go sour after a potential loss to a big/rival club later on in the season (similar to when things went sour after the Liverpool game in December last season for AVB)? Do you trust Daniel Levy's decision to replace Redknapp who really just bought players for the short term (with the likes of Gallas,Saha,Freidel,Nelson) with AVB who is looking to kind of build something for the future (with the likes of Lloris,Caulker,Vertoghen,Dembele,Sigurrdsson) ? Do you rate Oscar at all and wish that he made the move to White Hart Lane rather than Stamford Bridge? If you do/don't, why? Do you see Spurs' winning the league in the next 2, 3, 4 or 5 years under Villas-Boas if he gets time to implement his philosophy and ideas at the club? Who do you think suits AVB's philosophy more Sandro or Scott Parker and why? Thoughts on Defoe. Is he too wasteful in front of goal? Can he continue scoring this season and get over 20 goals? What did you think on deadline day when apparent Chelsea and Man Utd target Joao Moutinho was minutes away from making the move to White Hart Lane? Do you think he would have been that sort of Modric-esque player that yous are now missing? Would he provide that creativity from deep that is maybe missing from the current Spurs side without Modric? Do you think top 4 is a realistic target for Spurs or would you say top 6 is more realistic for this season? Then maybe next season after the club signs a few more players (like another striker, another midfielder and another center back all of a fairly good quality) then the club can go have a crack at the top 4?

Everyone knows Messi will rule the planet this season, he always does

I doubted him a bit when he first arrived due to the fact he'd just had one full season of football in Brazil and a few Brazil caps bla bla bla. Now I know we have a complete player on our hands, what a talent, great find by Andre Villas-Boas in all fairness. Honestly rate him higher than Neymar, he can go as far as he wants, he has a great attitude, great talent, works incredibly hard on the pitch. He will be one of those one of a kind players, who can do more or less everything.

Great article Alex. Going to be brutally honest, if we want to change our style then Lamps will have a much much more minimal role to play than his in recent seasons, simply because players like Mata, Oscar and Hazard are probably technically better suited to what we are trying to do in terms of philosophy. Still Lamps service to the club since he moved is incredible, scored nearly 200 goals for us, played over 600 games and has also set up plenty of goals for team mates. An incredible player a few years back, maybe not as good now due to him aging but he has still turned in some good performances so far this season and last season too. I don't think he'll get his contract renewed sadly due to the 1 year rule thing but if he wants to continue playing I think a move to the MLS is a good idea for him, also it is good for us as we don't have to pay a hefty salary with the new FFP rules coming in. It will be a big loss but I think the players we have signed in the last few transfer windows (Mata, Oscar, Moses, Hazard etc) will be able to score goals/set them up to match the numbers Frank was producing each season. Probably Chelsea's greatest player to date though, well him or Zola in my opinion, its a tough one to call.

Meh all the talk of us signing Dzeko last night has made me want to sign him rather than Falcao.

I don't know if hes really that good.

Yeah, hes (Cassano) an Inter fan so I'd imagine he's trying as hard as he really, really can to look at home in their team. And yeah I agree that Morratti is seeing the bigger picture looking at some of the European clubs who produce the majority of their teams using their academies and buying young talented players playing them more like Barca, Athletic Bilbao, Arsenal (kind of) rather than spending bucketloads of money buying established players. Not saying thats the wrong way to go around it but with the new FFP rules coming in it could be key in the future for all clubs looking to buy players.

Seen this on twitter and was delighted. Andrea Stramaccioni has had a decent start so far this season, will he break the bad luck curse at Inter and last longer than his predecessors in the last 2 seasons? Time will tell but he needs time and money to invest into their team. Hes brought a lot of the successful NextGen squad players in to the squad and the loanees that have done well but they still need special players similar to Sneidjer and Cassano. I see thats why they wanted Lucas Moura in the summer.

I'd imagine if Atleti were going to sell him we'd be in negotiation having tracked him for at least 4 or 5 years.

I think Roman will push this transfer tbh very similar to the Torres, Sheva and (possibly) Ivanovic... wouldn't mind this but tbh I like the idea of us signing Dzeko. Hes a very all round player, target man, can run in behind, decent dribbler, great finisher with his feet and head. Yet again you could say the same about Falcao but I agree with what SeB has said that Falcao doesn't really create his own chances. Dzeko basically fired Wolfsburg to the Bundesliga title by himself a few years ago, scoring bucket loads of goals, some created by others, some created by himself.

Good result, the passing is getting more impressive but still we need to be tested against bigger and better teams. Arsenal was a tough game that we won 2-1 (in all fairness if Giroud was any good it would've been 2-2. In fact saying that if Torres didn't fucking dive and scored in that 1 on 1 thing we probably would've won comfortably.) Still roll on the Spurs game give them a walloping showing everyone that the Arsenal game wasn't a fluke.

Can't let Spurs get an early foothold in this one like United did. If we do we all know they will sit it out like they did vs Utd.... 3-0 must win.

I thought we asked Del Bosque to leave Mata out again? No? Fuck it who cares he'll be fresher for us couldn't give a fuck if Spain don't pick him, they're loss is our gain.

A very fair way to put it Madrid were still good and won, maybe they could win the CL this year, well only if they can beat us

We need to find that ruthlessness to create and score more chances and try and keep the ball as well. It will be difficult though but we constantly look like we are improving our style of play. Need to play as well against the big teams as the small teams though. Still think Dortmund should of walked this 5-0, Joe Hart omg what a game.

True but if they use the ball well, then you could have long spells without it in useful areas. I prefer our current style of football now tbh anyway!

Its a good style to play but if the other team uses the ball effectively like Barca/Spain then your gonna be chasing for a while.

I'm going to nominate SeB. Typical posts as usual, brilliant in depth analysis on football in general.

Because Agger will....

Yes I do realise their manager is Danish. I also now assume you actually knew about this kid before he played. Still thinking he will be Denmark's first choice CB at the world cup ahead of Agger and Kjaer is a stupid thing to say. Agger is as good as you get in a CB, not too sure about Kjaer though...

Good overall play, poor finishing. Thought he'd get a goal or two tonight.