Superblue

IF (a big if) Torres goes as part of any deal, how much do people think we'd have to pay as well as Torres for Falcao? If you got anywhere near £15-18m value in him that would be good - i'd say it would have to be the £25-30m mark + Torres.

Oscar is key in the balance of our team. Someone earlier posted it's no coincidence that we struggled against Swansea and Liverpool when he went off. Most Brazilians go to smaller European leagues first - even Ronaldo and Ronaldinho did. Oscar coming to the Prem, forcing his way into the Chelsea team immediately and performing to a high standard shows just what an unbelievable talent he is! He will only get better too, as will Mata, Hazard and Moses.

What a great decision that's been!

I didn't say buy him now, I was simply making the point he would have been the perfect striker for us when he was made available in the summer. Real disappointment seeing him go to PSG because he is a remarkable talent.

Nowhere else really to put this but with all the talk of Falcao, Cavani, etc, the best striker signing we could have made in the summer was Ibrahimovic. Tonight's game against England was everything you needed to know about him. He can hold the ball up as a lone front man, but likes to drop deep which can cause carnage for defences as it makes him both difficult to pick up and creates space in behind for runners. His finishing is clinical, he would have finished at least three times the chances Torres has had this season. His link up play is excellent and I've no doubts he would have found the same wavelength very quickly with the three in behind him. His age should be fairly irrelevant as he has never been blessed with pace, just an unbelievable talent and football brain. If PSG paid somewhere between £15-20m for him he was well worth it! As a cheaper alternative Berbatov would also have suited us perfectly.

In all fairness if we are going to go down the route of a false 9 he wouldn't be the worst choice. He has the presence to occupy two players at any one time which creates more space for our three behind him. He is also infinitely better than Torres at holding up the ball which breaks down a lot of moves for us. He has shown great awareness of his runs into the box this season, and we'd finally have a target to aim for when crossing from wide positions. If he were to drop back into pockets of space (expected as not a natural striker) it also gives space in behind for others to run beyond him, confident that he'll be able to flick balls on or hold the ball up and bring others into play.

I don't understand why Robbie is so against partnering Cahill and Terry? We kept a few clean sheets towards the end of last season with those two playing together and were England's first choice pairing before Cahill's injury prior to the Euros. Ivanovic IMO has been pretty poor this season but seems to be a real favourite of Robbie's.

No but as said previously the club doesn't take the full hit of transfer fees in just one year.

Sold after June. We also sold a few to Hamburg remember. And we also get loan fees on some players.

Am i wrong in thinking there is a new tv deal kicking in from next season for even more money?

I'm an accountant and whilst not well versed with accounting in football clubs, things seem to be above board. Other clubs are just bitter because they thought FFP would fuck us up. They can point to £60m+ spent in the summer but the money is not fully realised within the first year, but over the players contract. Also these new partnerships, etc with Sauber, etc will have not kicked in the accounts just published. Very good start to the weekend - time for City to show their cards now lol!

Meaning in all likelihood from an FFP viewpoint our profit will be even greater which will put us in good stead. With how players transfer fees are amortised over their contracts (and all our new signings i think signed 5 year deals) the summer spending won't have a huge affect on next year's profit like some people might think! The wages are the biggest hit for the club andin signing a lot of younger talent we are becoming more stringent in our dealings. In all likelihood Lampard, Cole and Malouda will all leave by the end of the season which is the best part of another £20m per season in wages being saved.

Every striker has a poor run of form! You have to consider the reason for this poor form, Bilbao have hung him up like a devil and the fans have turned on him for not signing a new contract. Completely different to buying Torres. Firstly Llorente will cost very little with 6 months left on his contract, or even free in the summer. Secondly Torres wasn't in poor form. He had simply declined as a result of injuries and we paid for his name and reputation, just like Sheva. And this isn't football manager or fifa - £25m is an awful lot of money (although i rate Lewandowski highly)

How is Lewandowski a cheap option at £25m?! Huntelaar never got a fair crack at Madrid and is a much better player now with experience. Also don't forget over the last 2-3 years the German league has grown much stronger. He has excellent off the ball movement and natural predatory instincts which Torres doesn't seem to have. He wouldn't need to have blistering pace because of the way we play, just being able to finish chances which he no doubt can do. And have you thought why Llorente is in such poor form given the way Bilbao and the fans have treated him for not signing a new contract?

CB - i would like Jores Okore from Njordsjaelland. He was superb against us in Denmark, is a self confessed Chelsea fan and only 20 years old. He is also excellent technically and would be a good backup. CM - Fernandinho at Shakhtar was superb but they would take the piss wanting a lot of money. Romulo or Lars Bender would be good buys but i think they'll try and make do when Mikel is away, dropping back Oscar for some games if necessary. ST - would love a swap deal involving Falcao and Torres. That would be the best possible solution to the striker mess we're in! However a cheaper alternatice would be Huntelaar. With 6 months left on his contract he would be gettable for between £5-10m. Not blessed with pace but very sharp in the box which Torres is not! Llorente would also be an alternative with his contract situation also.

Yeah it has to be the word monkey. The lack of evidence, especially video in the press currently worries me as to what we have which makes us confident of a complaint. I don't want our club coming out of this badly yet again!

My work mate reckons he read somewhere on twitter that Clattenburg said to Mikel 'I don't give a monkeys what you think' - not sure how true this is, he could be talking utter bollocks?!

The problem with these lists is they will always favour players within the last 10-20 years because they are the players most of the voters have watched. If we do another of these votes in 5-10 years expect to see the likes of Oscar, Hazard and Mata towards the top end. My only argument towards the likes of Terry, Lampard and Drogba being amongst the top handful is that they have been a core part of the most successful period of the club's history. The likes of Zola and Osgood played in excellent teams in their era but never won the trophies we have won in recent years. But for me, these lists are generally pointless.

His celebration gloating in front of the United fans last night as if to say 'fuck you lot, you ain't singing now you bunch of mugs' was golden!

I wouldn't be surprised to see Mata on the bench for Swansea. Towards the end he looked knackered and they said on Sky Sports at half time of extra time he was having treatment on his thigh. Probably best to put him on the bench, and bring him on in the second half if we need to. Expect Ivanovic to come back in, probably for Azpilicueta, although I wouldn't be too surprised if he came in for David Luiz who has played 4 games now in 10 days and with Shakhtar next week, could be rested for that. I think Moses and Sturridge deserve to start again against Swansea, although I would understand Robbie playing Torres instead considering Sturridge played 120 minutes last night and has only just returned from injury. Swansea are a good footballing side, but they are not the strongest defensively and losing Vorm in goal is a big blow to them. Trying to attack us should play into our hands and I would still expect us to win this game - certainly if we are expecting to challenge for the title this season! Cech Azpilicueta Ivanovic Cahill Cole Mikel Ramires Moses Oscar Hazard Torres/Sturridge

The lad that punched Kirkland lives just down the road from me, and a couple of my mates know him. He's a typical Leeds fan - a complete prick!

I grudgingly agree, we could see Mata on the bench for Swansea. I'm sure RDM didn't plan to play him the whole game and certainly not 120 minutes but as usual he played a big part in us winning. Just not sure what I'm going to do with my fantasy team now this week because Mata has been scoring me so many points recently! I have to agree with the comments regarding Sturridge. He missed a couple of guilt edged chances, as did Moses, but that comes with match sharpness. Both have a big part to play this season because of their direct style of play. I was pleasantly surprised how technically good Moses looked tonight, I think he's already more polished than I have always felt he was. I just hope Robbie keeps offering a carrot to Sturridge and he takes it. Robbie needs to show Torres in the same way as Lampard, that names don't matter at this football club anymore, and you need to be performing to keep your place.

Dirty fucking Leeds. And if it couldn't be anymore tasty, ironically just after ol' Colin Wanker bashed us in the media about our Clattenburg complaint. This was probably the worst possible tie we could get in this round because this will be the game of their decade. Normally I'm pretty easy going with the League Cup (until perhaps we get to a semi or final) but I could not stand losing to this bunch of fuckers!

Hang your head in shame Spike

Right first off happy obviously to win - we needed that, the lads need to keep the winning feeling ticking over. The character some of these young players are showing is fantastic and really gives me a lot of confidence for the future. Defensively we are very poor at the moment. The individual mistakes need eradicating immediately. I can understand we will leak a few more than previously playing more offensively, but we can't keep giving ourselves a mountain to climb. The introduction of Ramires, Oscar and Hazard really gave us the initiative. Hazard was exceptional and the emotion he showed for the penalty he scored was nice to see. He's usually as cool as they come, but it shows his hunger and desire to win. Oscar for me aswell came on deeper and controlled the game. He could definately in the future play a deeper role if we decide to go down that direction. Mugging Nani off was hilarious. I can understand people saying we brought the 'big hitters' on to win the game, but the best part of that is our big hitters are now amongst our youngest. The likes of Oscar, Hazard and Moses are no older than the United kids on show tonight, but they are on a completely different level in terms of quality. I still cannot work out what I make of Sturridge myself - sometimes he looks the part, and others he is infuriatingly frustrating. On one part his single-mindedness could hinder others around him compared to Torres say, who is much more unselfish in his play. However, Sturridge having missed a couple never hid and his explosiveness and awareness got him his goal - I don't think Torres would have been there to anticipate such a mistake. And despite 2 pens, we still should have had a blatant other one and they were lucky to not have three players sent off (both centre backs should have gone and Giggs). Yes you have to respect Giggs playing 120 minutes at 39, but his tackle on Moses at the end was disgraceful and should have seen red for it. Also not sure how Fergie came to conclusion that they were comfortable and in control in second half. We should have scored at least three or four more tonight, and I am just waiting for a team some time this season to take a serious battering from us.