Superblue

Congrats to Ryan for keeping his place in the England squad today. Fair play to Hodgson for rewarding his fine start to the season. With Baines and Ash also in the squad, Hodgson might be considering him for left midfield given how well he plays alongside Cole. As a side note we account for a quarter of this England squad - 6 from 24.

I think all the talk of Sturridge entirely depends on one thing - his contract. He only has a year left. If the board are confident in reaching agreement with him over a new one then i would like to keep him. If not then we should maximise what we can get for him, which in my opinion would be about £15m and get a replacement in who we know is going to be here long term.

I'm pretty sure they still owe a lot of money to Porto for Falcao and may even be behind in repayments.

I've touched on this in another thread but I have noticed that Mata has been dropping a lot deeper at times so far this season to collect the ball and start a move going. Last season we couldn't afford him to do this because he was our only true source of creativity and therefore required him as high up the pitch as possible in support of the attack. Now with an abundance of creative talent, and in particular Hazard, Mata can afford to operate deeper at times. Also in doing so it is giving Hazard more room further forward to drift in and out of and operate in. Mata's movement and awareness is superb and he's finding space further forward very intelligently, moving into what space Hazard has created and vice versa. I believe his stats will still be impressive this season, but we have to appreciate he is playing in a different way which is to the benefit of the team. Mata and Hazard are already striking up a promising partnership and scaring the shit out of teams. It is so satisfying to know that this can only get better!

Atletico look good tonight, but Bilbao are woeful and in the midst of a crisis. Without Llorente they offer no threat in attack which is allowing atletico to look to be positive and confident in attack. In reality Atletico have some good players, with one genuine world class talent in Falcao. I still fancy ourselves the way we have started the season but can admit a lot will depend on how Cahill and Luiz cope with Falcao.

Would be good for west ham and would give the fans a lift but is a shadow of the player he was 5 years ago

Also more in relation to our club is the managerial changes that don't help. Stability is just as important to the youth as it is to the established first team players. Robbie's use of bertrand is a positive sign, and i would love to see him here for the next 3-4 years at least rebuilding the club because he understand the club and it means something to him. I think when you have such an affinity for a club you're more motivated and determined to see young players come through.

I personally can't see Bruma or Hutch ever playing big parts for us. Chalobah is too early to tell but for his age he is definately a talent so fingers crossed. Agreed though that transition to the first team of one of europes biggest clubs is such a huge step. You only have to look at Bertrand only just making it through now at 23 to understand this. However i am hoping he can be a source of motivation to others coming through our ranks.

Terry IS on the decline in relation to what he was and what he is now. However I agree IMO he can still do a job for us over the next couple of seasons. I see this season being the first where he starts to get rotated over the course of the season with the other centre backs (as opposed to being naturally first choice), and then next season Cahill and Luiz begin to establish themselves as first choice pairing with Terry a capable backup, á la Carragher at Liverpool. Terry's turn of pace is woeful but his positional awareness is very good which will compensate him for another couple of years at the top level.

Congratulations to everybody who achieved the exam results they wanted! Having been through GCSE's, A Levels, and three years of half yearly accountancy examinations I know what it is like! Not exactly exam results, but I've just been accepted a practising certificate from my membership body to practise accountancy and all related forms of my own free will. I've already got a lot of ideas of how I'm going to approach this, including trying something which I don't think has any significant competition on the market, and can be operated on a national scale, unlike most small accountancy practices who operate on a local/regional scale. If I can pull something off, I'm hopefully looking at earning significantly more money (enough to support both myself and my wife), for effectively what will be less work and of that I can work from home and on a flexible schedule allowing me to spend more time with my daughter.

Whether Oscar and McEachran can play in the same team or not is irrelevant. All the top teams strive to have two players for every position...nothing better than some healthy competition between the pair to bring the best out of eachother!

I'm really looking forward to this game. With 3 wins from 3 in the Prem, an early season trophy will really keep the confidence flowing going into the international break. I would expect to see Robbie keep quite a settled side again for this one. The Carling Cup starts next month, along with a couple of decent looking home fixtures in the league which will allow him the chance to blood the likes of Oscar, Moses and Azpilicueta easier. Cech Ivanovic David Luiz Cahill A Cole Mikel Lampard Mata Hazard Bertrand Torres At the moment whilst we are still trying to gain the right balance between attacking and defending, Robbie's decision to play a more naturally defensive winger is clever and clearly helping us gain results. Eventually we may strike the right balance which allows three more offensively minded options behind the striker, but until then I expect Robbie to continue with this. I think Ramires will start, but I would pick Bertrand. Simply because of form. I think that Bertrand offers similar defensively qualities to Ramires, and excellent pace and work rate, and at this moment he has started the season better, and is looking more comfortable playing a quick passing game alongside Hazard and Mata. I thought he was excellent against Newcastle and deserves to retain his place.

My thoughts on the game: The change in our attacking play is clear for all to see. Many predicted that we wouldn't be able to change so much so quickly, but the signs are very positive. The passing has been much quicker and crisper and the movement has been very sharp. IMO our attacking play can only continue to improve and become more consistent throughout matches. Following on from this point, what is just as surprising is that for all the attacking talent we have brought this summer, the upturn in our attacking play has taken place with only one of those players having been playing regularly. Which brings me on to Eden Hazard. My point above I think pretty much sums up just how good this lad is. One of the most efficient teams in European football have turned into an expansive, exciting team with just one addition. Without wanting to hype him up too much and jynx him, he is already looking like being what could be the difference between first this season or lower. Some people may look at the performances of Eden Hazard so far, and think that Juan Mata by contrast has been quiet. However Mata is proving massively important too. Mata's intelligence in moving into space and awareness is helping Hazard find so many pockets of space on the field. Both are allowing eachother to roam around. Also I have noticed Mata is happy to hold his runs more regularly and dictate from a deeper role at times. Do not underestimate the importance that Mata will also have this season. How refreshing is it to see a player who has come through the youth ranks and being given a lot of game time alongside a wealth of new talent. Not just that but Ryan Bertrand exudes a level of confidence in his play at the moment which seems to match that of the confidence his manager is showing in him. At the other end of the spectrum, how refreshing was it also to see us beat an extremely good team without the influence and experience of Terry and Lampard in the team. It leaves us in good stead for the future. The jury still seems to be out on Fernando Torres, both in the media and on this very forum. The ironic thing is that IMO last season he was playing well without the goals flowing; this season he hasn't been as good in his all round performance arguably, but has been scoring goals. The problem I have is it seems he cannot win. When he's playing well, he's not 'doing his job' scoring goals; when he's scoring goals, he's not playing well enough. The question is what do people want? You cannot always have both, and as our main striker, I would always take a Torres scoring the chances being created, no matter how good or bad the rest of his general play is. Two more players who have had their critics on this forum, Meireles and Mikel I thought were very good in the pivot today. There were still a couple of lapses in defence, and a couple of good Newcastle chances in the second half, but for the most part we looked pretty solid. Also no matter how much a team dominates, or how solid they are defensively, the opposition will always create a couple of good chances in any match. Nine points from a possible nine, heading into the European Super Cup final and subsequent international break. Great start, and with so many changes this summer, it makes things so much easier to have started well.

Surely hulk is not an option now. We do not need another attacking midfielder/winger and have made the right decision buying Moses. If we were to get another it would be competition upfront and this isn't Hulk's natural position so there is no point spending so much money for him. Llorente for half the price makes so much more sense!

Yeah i'm sure to make his statement of intent perfectly clear he's thinking transfer spending needs to end at a nice juicy nine figure sum

2 changes with a 4 point hit - rio prickhead out, jagielka in; bent out, lambert in as captain. Watch saints have a mare at home and bent bag a couple today!

Moses and Johnson deals look even better business when Jarvis moved today aswell for nearly £11m!

I have a nagging feeling that he'll end up at spurs as a marquee signing with the modric money. By the looks of things city seem scared shitless about FFP because they're nowhere near the restrictions yet. It seems johnson will be replaced by sinclair so i can't see them buying Hulk. I think the money is in him staying put but as i said i wouldn't rule spurs out atm.

^^This. A player in his early twenties cannot continue playing in central midfield for one of the biggest clubs in the world with the number of managerial changes we have made without being a very good and trusted footballer. With the exception of AVB, all the other managers the club has had have made him a big part of their plans...and we are talking some of the best managers in world football within that group!

I've just noticed that I lost this week in head to head. Are you fucking shitting me?! Second in the main league, 102 fucking points and the only person that beat me this week is the person that I played! Just about my luck! Duppy Conqueror this isn't over

I would say the way he troubled Ashley Cole last weekend that he is very comfortable playing right wing. In fact given he was Wigan's talisman last season he was given freedom to float from one wing to the other. I think being comfortable on either side will only benefit him, given the free flowing way our three attacking midfielders are looking to set up this season. Edit: Post number 1,000!!! It's taken a while to get there, but I think fitting on the day Chelsea have brought two more stars in the making

Johnson strikes me a bit as having a big fish in a small pond mentality. We moan about Sturridge but Johnson is also very selfish which is a bad trait for an out and out winger. He will be a very good signing for Sunderland though - him right, mclean left and sessegnon centre is a good combo.

Speaking excellent English will hopefully help him settle in quickly which is important since the season has already started. I expect him to maybe get one or two sub appearances if we are winning games (providing Brana isn't required in the centre), before starting in the Carling Cup and progressing from there. I think he has a great chance at Chelsea because he seems to have a lot of potential, but I do expect Robbie to slowly integrate him. On a side note, I have brought him a couple of times for Chelsea on old Football Managers and he is a beast, so with a bit of luck he will still be just as good on that. Chelsea are going to be unbelievably good on FM now!

The only negative on the Moses deal is the african nations cup but i do think what he is capable of doing will outweigh this

What shirt number do you think he and Moses will take? Would like one to take Malouda's number 15!