blue out west

I dunno how anyone but Ramires could be MOTM. Ash is a defending fullback and had no one to give him challenge, he didn't really create anything offensively either, at least not compared to Torres or Ray mears. Meireles was good but you'd expect such a performance, the same with Mikel, they both had strong games but nothing more than what they are paid to do really.

VDW is far better defending than Bosingwa.

I think this is a great time for this game. The pressure is on them, they are expected to beat us handily. Combine that with the memories of losses in the CL and losing out on the prem to manure and the squad will not be short on motivation. AVB won't have to work hard to get them up for it! The only thing that concerns me is the mancs sky-high confidence, if they get off to a good start it will be really uphill. I wouldn't feel doomed though if they score first, we beat them last season in such a situation.

Lamps is the best passer, shooter, and is the smartest of the 4. He's like a manager on the field too, keeps the side in good shape and coordinates play with and without the ball in ways that the other 3 can't. I don't think Meireles, Ramires, Mikel mid would be weak but its not as good without Lamps. If he gets tired he can be subbed off and ramires or meireles can be brought on.

Seriously guys do you really expect our players to be held to the same standard as man u's? As long as the premiership exists, fergie's boys are going to get the most favouritism of any club around in the country and thats just fact.

I'd imagine the fact he just played his first football of the season... Fact of the matter in regards to his performance in that game was that he was lucky to have stayed on the pitch, and on the other hand, you can't expect us to get favourable treatment like manure does when it comes to not being disciplined. They will always get as little discipline as any club in the league, they're englands barca.

People should remember how he scored on us so much, because we'd have possession for so long then lose it, he'd get onto a long ball and put it in. Thats the kind of player he is, he isnt a slow build up player who does well in tight spaces, he's the complete opposite. Its gonna take time for him to adapt to playing a totally different style of football but he is adapting and I think he's happy being a part of the club.

So what if Maradona was a huge cokehead, tons of footballers are and that is off the pitch stuff... As for Messi, no one on barca should be discussed as the best ever when they don't even play under the same rules as their opponents. Barca can play as dirty as they want and at the same time dive habitually, and this is how they win games-- its part of their actual tactics! I won't ever see Messi as an all-time great because of that, and you can see the difference between playing football and playing theatre when he is wearing the Argentina shirt. Back on topic though I'm not at all convinced by manure smacking around a few sides with no defense. We aren't arse or spurs, our squad is more balanced now and can surprise them, they can't surprise us.

Good looking out on the part of the ppl mentioning Cech's performance. Made some great saves, commanding presence in the box all game long, not a single mistake I can remember.

I say keep him on the bench and he can come on if we need an extra spark, if not then he can start the next game. Can't afford to make mistakes in the back line vs united

I haven't posted anything along these lines anywhere so I might as well now even belatedly-- RIP to the innumerable victims of the events on 9/11 including those who've lost loved ones, or who've gotten severely ill and so on. A lot of people affected in a lot of hurtful, callous ways.. all the best to the survivors.

trust me I'd much rather see bran there for his defensive capabilities but I think AVB will pick Bos based on his mobility

Voted for Mata because he linked the mid with the strikers really well, and had a good consistent game. Mikel gets honourable mention, thought he was great in the 2nd half.

My prediction is this formation: -------------------cech----------------- bos--------terry------alex--------ash -------------------mikel---------------- ------ramires-----------lamps------- ----------------------<-mata->-------- ------sturridge------------------------- --------------------torres--------------- mata will float horizontally to link up with ash and sturridge who will likely make vertical runs and cut inside around the box. result: 3-2 CFC (Lampard, Alex, Torres)

I wasn't referring to this forum, more like footy fans in general. About Kalou's omission, I'm more happy that AVB is trying his best to play guys in positions where they can be successful instead of shoehorning them into spaces that don't fit their style and abilities. I think Sturridge is far better in a 4-3-3 shape than Kalou who's better in more conventional 4-4-2

The fact that he "needs" a pure stay at home defender along side him shows how he can be a liability with his poor decision making and positioning What he truly needs to do is get the experience and training necessary to curb how much and how often he is a liability defensively, only then will he be a week in week out 1st choice CB. For now he's a risky play.

I bet if I looked back at your posts from last season about Ramires, Malouda and Mikel I'd be proved wrong... but I doubt that. people still tear into Malouda for last season when he was better than everyone except maybe Ashley and Petr. another thing I find REALLY rich is that people have also been saying AVB should play Meireles instead of Mikel in deep mid then he has a good performance today and Meireles has a somewhat poor one and now everyones like OH MIKEL IS BEST 11 MATERIAL!! Seriously, a lot of fellow supporters need to get their heads out of their asses and pay attention more to the GAMES than what the Daily Fail and the rest of the Manc worshipping media writes. Luiz for me is still very much a project and Terry is great at going forward because of his awareness, something Luiz distinctly lacks. AVB probably told him he can go forward a bit after the half because we needed to throw in something different in the attack. Earlier in the game though our defense wasnt that organized without JT or Lamps. Luiz did well to clear crosses in the early part of the game though, he definitely has the physical attributes to defend but needs more experience and training.

I think its as simple as Torres being the typical emo type of player... meaning he runs on emotion and his performance will swing in tandem with his moods. AVBs comments and leaving him out of the last game looked to have really fired him up, and theres also been a lot of talk prior to todays game about him being self centered in the comments he made about the team. I don't think hes self centered, just not a very mature person emotionally, and supremely sensitive. Torres needs a fire under his ass and he showed today that when hes got something to play for (personally) he will fight for his pride. Next match is a big opportunity for him to prove something and stick it to a lot of critics. Hopefully he sees it that way and gets fired up for the mancs.

lol, malouda was good, better than mata for most of the game... the blacker the player the more hate they seem to get, funny that

I agree but I've been high on Mikel since 2 seasons ago... he took a while to adapt to the deep mid position but he's really seemed to have settled in now. On the passing forward comment, anyone who's kept tabs on him knows how competent he is as a passer of the ball. Its ignorant people that complain about him passing sideways or backwards too much when hes been playing a DM role with basically 2 attacking mids his whole career here.