Superblue

Mata is such a class act. He regularly talks in the media and uses social media and its always incredibly intelligent and positive responses. IMO he is definately future captain material and I'd like to hope he stays here throughout his career.

Agreed but nothing we can do about it. For me I want the club to be as successful as possible - if Benitez provides the spark that will win us the league this season then it will be proven the right decision. We have to get behind the players on Sunday.

Londoners should be lucky - we've had floods in the south west and i had to take a de-tour this morning to work which took an extra half hour listening to that prick ronnie irani on talksport - fucking english weather!!!

I'm hoping one thing Benitez will bring is a solid shape and structure to the backline. David Luiz always looks much more solid for Brazil and at the end of last season for us. I'm hoping Benitez gets stuck into him and makes him realises his defensive responsibilities come first because when his heads in the game he is excellent. Wouldn't be surprised to see Azpi kick on too and make himself first choice RB. Ivanovic for me just isn't natural at full back and against the better teams it shows. He is also not comfortable enough in possession at times.

It doesn't look right and is not ideal but we have to give him a chance and the support required to hopefully have a good season. I can see a lot of protesting at the City game but that's really not going to help. The team needs us onside and if this triggers a response that will get us a result Sunday then we're firmly back in business. We really need to hear an interview from him. I'd like to think he is apologetic for prior comments. At the time he was right to do it to get a response from the fans - are you telling me jose never did the same thing?

Yeah, I wouldn't read much into that. Benitez would love Drogba in his squad. Whether he thinks he can get something out of Torres or not, he isn't stupid and knows we need an extra body upfront. Mourinho was very critical of Ronaldo when he was manager here and now has him at Madrid. There is always mutual respect at the highest level between players, managers, etc.

Right I've taken some time to reflect upon this before posting about it so here is my take - Leif made a good point earlier about why the uproar over Benitez? He isn't my taste because: 1. He was Liverpool manager during what was the most fierce point of our rivalry with them. On top of that he made some very disrespectful remarks at the time. 2. He is replacing an icon at our club. Whether the sacking of Robbie was right, it is currently raw due to his standing with the fans. 3. Benitez never seemed to cover himself in glory - he always came across in interviews as boring and full of excuses. However, looking into things deeper, Benitez isn't a bad choice at the moment. He has Premier League experience, dealing with high expectations and big players. He has always been defensively sound, a very good organiser which is certainly something we need at the moment. If we can get the back four and pivot defending properly and keeping a solid shape and structure, and our front four pressing high, then we can hopefully arrest the number of goals we have been leaking. Add to that what some have said about his team at Valencia and it would suggest if he has players who can play football then he isn't scared to go and attack teams. He is also well known for tinkering with his team. Whilst this is not always a good thing, for us I think it will be. We do not have great depth in our squad, but a lot of games with the Premier League, Champs League/Europa League, World Club Cup, FA Cup and Carling Cup to contend. Keeping players happy and fresh will be important. I'm not convinced about getting the best out of Torres. He got the best out of Torres at Liverpool playing counter attacking football that made the most of Torres' pace and acceleration against the last man. Torres no longer has that pace. If Benitez can restore some confidence in him which will get him goals then great, but I just hope we don't set up to build the entire team around Torres - he is quite simply not the future of this club. Benitez is only interim until the end of the season. I think that is very clear that they have someone else in mind at the season end, being Mourinho or Guardiola. Until then I'm hoping we can still have a successful season - we still have five competitions to play for and a top three finish and a cup or two will be a good season. And for that I say good luck Rafa! Also note that one of my biggest gripes in football is when you hear people comment about other clubs when they perhaps don't know what they are talking about. For example, opposition fans and media pundits slating a player like Mikel, which is just lazily jumping on the bandwagon. We have all made judgements on Benitez, but the vast majority of Liverpool fans still hold him in high regard and wish he was still at their club. This MUST say something that maybe there is more to him then we have simply seen in the past from the outside and that is a big reason why I am staying optimistic for a successful season ahead.

I'd argue the Premier League has changed a lot since Rafa managed in it. The attacking impetus is even greater. Whether such a change will help or hinder him I'm not sure?!

Good luck to him - nice job to walk into if true.

Isn't Avram manager of Partizan? If so i don't see anyone leaving a full time role for an interim role, neither do i see us paying compensation to break a contract.

My only problem with Guardiola is if he insists on not taking over until the summer IMO shows a lack of commitment to wanting to cone here and build something special.

Let's put a positive spin on it and be the first team to win the Champions League, then Europa League in successive seasons. I don't know what it is but i still have a feeling we could sneak in through the back door and qualify through this group. The key will be whether Juventus are happy to just qualify or whether they want to top the group. If both go out to beat eachother to top the group then I fancy Shakhtar at home.

Also really gutted that Robbie isn't given the chance of leading us in the Club World Cup. Somebody else doing that feels like daylight robbery!

Redknapp is the best bet if Pep won't take it. At the very least he's a good man manager which should at the very least get us the minimum requirements this year that we need (top 4, cup run) I really worry about Benitez, he is a useless man manager, and we all know what happened to AVB. Benitez is also incredibly negative and defensive which is the last thing we need if we're trying to change our identity.

Thats what I'm saying - whilst nit happy with the knee jerk reaction and how Robbie's been treated, I could tolerate it if Guardiola takes over purely because you can only hope he is the man that Roman will finally afford time and patience to re-building the club. Anyone else is pointless, merely warming the seat for Pep and can we honestly guarantee anyone out there who would get better results from the players this season than Robbie?

Unless it's Guardiola, which many people would like to think signifies a much longer term strategy, I don't see the point in this. If it's Benitez or Grant there will be riots, the fans won't accept either of them. Thank you Robbie for what was the most memorable moment in our club's history - a fucking legend!

It DOES come back to Torres though. If we had a good striker we wouldn't be playing false 9 formations. Hazard, Mata and Oscar are in the team to create and alongside that, to chip in with a few goals. They shouldn't be having to shoulder the responsibility of chief goalscorers. The club didn't buy a striker in the summer to give Torres a chance and now we're left with someone who can't perform with or without competition for his place, and at this point in time there is no competition for his place! I can't see it being RDM's decision to start the season with Torres and Sturridge our only two strikers, neither being first choice last season.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2236033/Roberto-di-Matteo-replaced-Rafa-Benitez-EXCLUSIVE.html#ixzz2Co8CKWaI Be careful what you wish for! I could tolerate us replacing Di Matteo with Guardiola or Mourinho, but that is it. IMO anyone else would currently not be a step forward. If Benitez were to come in that would be yet again another massive vote of confidence from the board in trying to get the best out of Torres and quite frankly, I'm getting sick of that now. It is what has left us in this mess this season, because any good striker would have got us goals from the chances we have created and won us more points in both the league and champions league.

Unfortunately tonight was a culmination of the biggest issue we have, in that we don't possess a striker of the quality a club our size should have. I don't blame RDM for dropping Torres tonight - we have been clamouring for it now for weeks, the lad isn't cut out for it and clearly doesn't stomach the fight. The issue stems to the summer, and who's decision (and I doubt it was Robbie's) it was to let us start the season with only two strikers - one being unproven at the top level in that position, and the other having not performed consistently for a couple of years. It was suicidal and we are seeing the issues with it now. We have some supremely gifted talent, full of creation and flair, and will only get better as they mature, but they should be given the freedom to create things and the likes of Mata, Hazard and Oscar shouldn't have to shoulder the responsibility of scoring the goals, merely should chip in around one or two goalscoring strikers. Let's not beat around the bush. The top clubs need at least two strikers of genuine quality and we have none and we're suffering for it. If we can pick up somebody in January for the right price (I'm thinking one of a few strikers who are off contract in the summer and may therefore be available for a good price) and then buy a world class frontman as priority in the summer. It is clear however that we cannot last the season with just Torres and Sturridge.

If reports are true kudos to RDM for trying to shake things up! A false 9 may be the best way forward until January to fit in our most in form players. This may also be a good formation to use against juve's back three. With Hazard dropping deep, it leaves three Juve defenders with nobody to pick up which is a defenders biggest nightmare. We can also get an extra body around Pirlo. Hazard, Mata and Oscar are all capable of making the right runs at the right time in behind.

How easy did they play through Mikel and Romeu. Romeu has potential but his positioning at times when he is the last midfielder is still very questionable, particularly at the top level.

Not very good so far, but fair play to the lads for staying level and we at least have some quality options off the bench with Ramires, Marin, Mata and Oscar. The biggest issue is still up front. Torres offers nothing. And the problem with this is that every opposition defence know he offers nothing and as a result can concentrate on our three in behind. A striker of genuine quality (which a club like Chelsea should have at least one, if not two of) would intimidate defences and occupy numbers, allowing more space and freedom for our three in behind to operate in.

I fucking hate November/December - we go from looking so good to immediately looking so shit!!!

Not confident as this is already going to be a difficult place to go. However, we have to start rotating at some point, and there are some players in there who know they need to perform to try and cement their place. Assume we'll keep the same set-up so probably Moses and Danny on the wings and a chance for Hazard in the middle. Can only assume Romeu AND Mikel is a sign Robbie is just as worried as we are about our leaky defence at the moment.

It will depend on Atletico's financial situation and how desparate we are to force through the transfer. It wouldn't be the worse deal for Atletico in January if they are that in need of money and they avoid getting ripped off by January prices for a replacement if Torres is involved in the deal. For us we'll have a player eligible to play in all comps and would improve our starting team massively.