Superblue

Luiz played well tonight but one thing that I did notice was that earlier in the season when we played with two from Lampard, Mikel and Ramires, then Mata would be the one picking up the ball and dictating things for the team. I think it can be pretty safely assumed as fact that he is the best player in our team to be pulling the strings. However when Luiz plays (certainly tonight), it does seem to stifle Mata who doesn't enjoy as much space as he gets from deep.

Right I feel the need to have a rant to feel better before bed so here goes: Torres. As usual the first place to start. Tonight was a perfect example of why we will never move on until he's gone. Demba Ba got 10 measly minutes and created himself more chances than Torres did in 80 minutes. We have an abundance of creativity in midfield, are being linked with yet more in the likes of Isco and Taison, and for all that we have and may possibly get, it offers us nothing when they have fuck all to pass to up front. Demba Ba didn't touch the ball for the first 5 minutes he was on because he wasn't interested in dropping deep and helping out the build up play. He doesn't need to with the players we have behind him, instead he kept his position occupying the centre backs and the chances came to him. IMO tonight broke the camel's back with the fans and they finally showed dissent towards Torres. Benitez is under a lot of pressure now to start using Demba Ba and hopefully it will pay off.Benitez's lack of substitutions at key points in games is embarrassing.Going on the probabilities that we won't make it through, this is a big learning curve for the young players we have at the club now. We have played in a lot of 'finals' this season and look to be the 'nearly' team. That is all fine and well this year as it will give players the experience, but we do have to be careful we don't earn a reputation as 'nearly men' next season. Arsenal still have never recovered from it. With this is mind there is no doubt next season, even more so if the likes of Cole and Lampard leave, that we need some experience and leaders to take over the mantle. I think some of the players in our team will step up like David Luiz, but we still definately need a couple of players in their mid to late 20's (their prime) in the central areas of our team helping to lead these younger players.From winning the Champions League last season and the highs that brought, this season was always looking likely to spell 'transition', but it could have been really helped along the way by the decision making of the board. Whether the decisions are right or wrong, or will prove to be right or wrong, they have harmed us this season - sacking RDM so soon after the Champions League win, hiring somebody so unpopular amongst the fans as Benitez, John Terry's racism saga, the Clattenburg racism saga, the stance on Frank Lampard and the continued persistence with Fernando Torres. It has only accumulated to create bad PR and a negativity amongst the fans which has clearly rubbed off on the players. The younger players like Oscar and Hazard should be brimming with confidence, trying to do things and being willed to try tricks and take men on by us supporters. But the negativity around the club at the moment has seen players such as those mentioned going into their shell.I'm growing so tired of the lack of forward thinking at the club. It pains me to say it, but AVB is spot on. Until we give a new manager a chance to instil a blueprint and identity on to the club, we will continue showing inconsistency. It is vital with the younger element that we now have in the squad, that they are under the tutelage of somebody they can trust and know will be given the time and resources to build upon. I do not want to see another 2-3 managers come and go over the next couple of seasons because I would not be surprised to then also see players like Oscar and Hazard become fed up and leave. The players at the club screams of Guardiola being the perfect man, somebody who breeds confidence into younger players to go out and express themselves. Why then do I get the feeling that Guardiola will go somewhere else and the board will stick with Benitez!

Torres can stretch his legs in the Europa League - that will give Ba a week's rest in between domestic games.

I'm finally out of words for Torres - I would give just about anything for Demba Ba to be given the role of FIRST CHOICE for the rest of this season. I hope the transition doesn't last long because this is fucking shit at the moment!

Benitez is right to start Torres in this game. It's either sink or swim for him now as simple as that. If he doesn't perform then Ba will take over because everybody knows what they will get from him and then Torres will almost be certainly moved on in the summer. If Benitez starts to prefer Ba over Torres then he will have run out of all chances and excuses. If it brings the best out of Torres then great, we'll have healthy competition and two firing strikers (although going on previous I won't hold my breath). I have a feeling tonight may well be the shifting of the number 1 striker, Ba to come on and score a late winner.

Horau is moving to China

[quote name="The only place to be" post="582155" timestamp=") It's a reference to the fact that they're completely different players who do completely different things. Suggesting we could buy Modric is like suggesting we could buy a keeper. Or 30 million Mars bars. Or the world's biggest, shiniest gold dildo. It's got fuck all to do with the conversation. :banghead: :banghead: Dear mods, I fear I might be in serious danger of breaking this particular emoticon. Ridiculous comment - there both midfielders to be used for the pivot. Yes they are different in styles which is why I suggested Modric over Fellaini because I see him as a better fit to what we are trying to achieve. Likening that to comparing Fellaini and Butland makes you look like a complete tool because someone dare question if Fellaini would fit in well. I'm not denying he's good, I'm just saying for that money there are possibly better options.

Modric went for about £33-35m and has struggled. If we are bidding £26m for Fellaini, surely we would be better served trying to get Modric for around £28-30m.I don't get where Jack Butland comes into it - is it supposed to be some sort of joke or wise crack?!

Fellaini is a great player but for the figures being quoted I would rather try to take Modric off Real Madrid's hands. He would be the better fit for what we are building.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20952917 Galatasary have opened talks to sign Sneijder. He will be wasted in Turkey!

So what is happening with this currently. The last I saw around lunchtime was that talks between us and Metallist had broken down - any further news?

Going on that basis Toronto, how would you feel about Sneijder? I know his wages are absurd but lets say we could find an agreement (for example a similar wage packet to the outgoing Lampard), do you think he would be a better fit? IMO he would at this moment be an upgrade as unlike Hazard and Oscar, he is much more polished (the finished product) and experienced. He would represent a player with tons of experience and trophies won but at 28 should still have a good 3-4 years playing at the top level. If we could bring his wages down a little then to get a player seemingly on a free who is a £20-25m player and big name must surely be at least considered.

That is the problem with it - potentially ending up with buying players just to fill the quota. It inflates what is already a stupidly expensive market in England. I also hate people making excuses because of the home-grown rule (e.g. we should keep Sturridge because he's home-grown). Kakuta joined when he was only 16, I think Piazon was already 18 when he joined and hence won't spend at least 3 years here before his 21st birthday. Mikel narrowly missed out on the rule too. We don't necessarily need to fill the whole quota, but having say 6 out of 8 would give us greater squad depth. Cahill, Bertrand and Moses should have three spots locked down for the next few seasons and it is up to players like McEachran and Chalobah to come through over the next couple of seasons. There isn't a lot of home-grown talent available for respectable money, and we really should be using the rules to encourage a philosophy of bringing a few players through from the academy over time.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/football/ You need a subscription with the Times to read the whole article but you can get the drift with it - if this is true about a release clause then £22m would be a very good piece of business I feel. I assume that United and City will make moves for him too but hopefully our Belgian ties will swing the favour if it comes to it.

Sky Sports said earlier that another club have made an offer for Taison and are challenging us for his signature. Not sure if anyone has elaborated on this amongst the pages of discussion but does anybody know who that other club is? I, like most, have never seen him before and therefore don't want to pass judgement on him. However it seems everybody who has seen a fair bit of him doesn't rate him, which is worrying and kind of makes me want that other club to get him. (especially if it means we move for Isco instead!) However, I do remember a lot of people thinking the same of Cahill and Moses not being good enough for the club and both have gone on to become big components within the squad. Edit: Never mind about the first point, just found it seems to be City.

At the end of the day (and I'm sure our players think the same) who gives a fuck?! I'm sure all of those players who were in that team of the year would have traded it in without a second of thought for the one thing our players won this year so fuck 'em!

It doesn't take into account nationality, just where they have been trained, hence 'home-grown'. It's why lots of the Arsenal youngsters are home-grown even when they aren't English. We have the same for example if we were going to register somebody like Kakuta to the first team squad, he would class as home-grown despite being French, due to him having been trained in England for at least three years before his 21st birthday. Case in point re: KDB - I think Owen Hargreaves isn't classed as a home-grown player despite playing for England as he grew up and was trained in Canada, then Germany if I'm not mistaken. The moral of the story is if they're foreign and they're good, sign them up before they turn 18 and you'll enjoy them as one of the 8 home-grown players!

I think Chalobah has to be the player with the biggest potential currently - the fact that he is only 18 and is a first choice regular at a good Championship club is very promising and I wouldn't be surprised to see him ply his trade next season for either a top Championship club or lower end Premiership club on loan. The following season from that he should be aiming for the first team squad. I think Kalas and McEachran also have potential as, similar to Chalobah, both have made the most of loan spells and seem to be developing nicely. I'm also very interested to see how Feruz develops - he already looks a real predator in front of goal. Of course all we are talking about at the moment is potential. The transition to first team is hard enough but when you are talking about one of the biggest teams in world football you have to fulfil your potential to become a special talent.

Whilst I would never turn down having Mourinho back, I believe having watched us this season that Guardiola is now a better fit than Mourinho. As some have already said Mourinho is best at building teams for now - he has rarely given opportunities to younger players and shows a huge amount of faith and trust in proven, experienced players. He himself has also never stuck around long at clubs. With the club moving towards a much younger crop of players who will be looking for somebody to show faith in them and grow with them over an extended period of time, Guardiola's track record with Barcelona would point to a better fit than Mourinho.

Only bid £8m for Benat but £11m for Taison! Get this man in now!

Realistically how much do people think we could get him for? He's a very good attacking option, but is he strong enough defensively - I'm not so sure. The Malaga left back looks a better option at this moment to be honest and would likely be cheaper with Malaga's financial plight.

Rather than people having a fit over signing Isco because we already have Mata, Oscar and Hazard, how about we embrace the fact that the club is looking to buy one of the most coveted young players in the world game who this season has excelled in both the Champions Leaguea and Primera Liga. For £15m this lad is a steal and could become a £30-40m+ player easily in a few years. People have moaned over the years about missing a trick and signing a player 1-2 years too late when his valuation has then fluctuated two or three fold. We need more options than just Mata, Oscar and Hazard. And it is also feasible that the club have an idea of what they want in their central midfield next season - perhaps De Bruyne and therefore will just 'make do' this season. Regardless this kid is a serious talent and we cannot pass up on the chance to buy him if he is available for such a price.

Oh fair enough. I though I read that his agent was looking for him to move, but I might be wrong.

I've heard he's hoping to have his loan with Hamburg cancelled in January - he's struggled for games this season. So I doubt they will buy him.

Having an offensive midfield trio from Hazard, Mata, Oscar, Isco and Moses (can't see Marin making it here) sounds good to me. There needs to be competition for places, and alternatives for each game. All five are amongst the most talented young players in the game for their own positions and all have different characteristics. It will create an awful lot of competition amongst them keeping everyone at the top of their game and fresh, and preventing the team from becoming overly reliant on one or two players. It's no different to United trying to stockpile wingers over the years when they can only play 2 at a time.