manpe

Yup, this is what I would play if we ever did 4 at the back again. It's puzzling we haven't really addressed the LB situation since Cole left... we've had Filipe Luis, Bertrand, Baba, Alonso but somehow a right/centre-back is still our best LB.

Morata is Costa's replacement. Llorente would have been Michy's.

We were never good against pressing, not under Mourinho or anybody else. It has more to do with lack of quality than the coach.

Fucking finally a Chelsea game on TV over here! Bye bye shitty streams.

No. Don't interrupt his progress.

Yeah, but we were losing anyway, we had nothing to lose except goal difference which means shit at this point. Need to be more adventurous when losing. Also severely lacking a target man with Morata's absence, had no option to play long balls in the dying minutes which is essential in such situations, meaning we wasted too much time finding space to move the ball to the box. Missing out on Llorente stings, but I think we should have moved Luiz to ST to win long balls... we didn't, have no idea why.

I feel we need to have more tactical flexibility in terms of being able to play with 4 defenders when needed. When we are chasing a game we lack numbers up front with this formation, throwing in another attacker and taking a defender off should help us against mid-table teams and relegation fodder.

Why isn't Rüdiger or Christensen starting? We'd be more comfortable on the ball. We need to attack with much more conviction, but it's obvious we are several levels below our usual without Kante and Morata... key players.

Well that's boring.

for what?

Not important if we look at replacements. Baka replaced Nemanja's spot and Drinks Nate's, simple as that. Comparing player profiles is a different thing, but if you asked, then I wouldn't compare Baka to any of them.. different from Matic, different from Chalobah. If I had to, I would place Baka closer to Matic though. Nate played too little for the first team to form any substantial opinion and Drinksy hasn't kicked a ball for us yet, what he did at Leicester is not important to me at this point, I need to see him in our system first.

Your post is true, there are a lot of kneejerkers around here who have no common sense or ability to analyse and answer the "whys" in a rational way.. the same ones who romanticize the likes of Kalou in hindsight, while he was the worst player in the world when he was still here. But that last bit isn't true, Bakayoko is Matic's replacement (starting XI), Drinks is Chalobah's (bench).

Our medical dept. can pull miracles, why not this time also.

Seems he's taken it down since.

This fucking sucks. Not only have we lost our best striker for a long time, but Morata was doing so well, now he will come back having lost 2 months of adaptation and goals. Time for Bats to step up, REALLY step up...

Spot on. This post should be quoted every time we lose a game and get tons of overreactions. We have looked good this season and played well, then we get one bad result after the conditions are firmly stacked against us and all of a sudden we are piss poor and Conte is clueless. I predict that as we get a chunk of tough games aside in early season, we'll be cruising later and heaping tons of pressure on Manchester who will lose form eventually like they always do. I think we have what it takes to make a genuine push to retain the title.

Easier start means tougher mid and late season, it all balances out throughout the whole season.

He revealed it a long time ago, why rehash old news?

You know, I just wanted to come here and praise Michy for his attitude. He gets some stick from us, but what has impressed me is that in his first season he barely played, got humiliated several times with a few secondcameos, couldn't even get a game when Costa wasn't fit. Any other player would have sulked and left or gone on loan, but he stuck to it and is reaping his rewards. Getting plenty of game time now, scoring goals, always having a positive attitude. There are obvious footballing reasons why he is a substitute, but besides that I really like how he didn't jump ship at first opportunity.

Still shambolic, but great work from our players to position themselves and combine to exploit that disorganisation.

I must say that was amateurish defending from Atletico for that goal. The way nobody paid any attention to Bakayoko and Alonso, and the way three players retrospectively went after Alonso leaving the middle so exposed will give Simeone a sore throat towards some players.

His heading ability is just sublime. Such a big plus to have a striker who can pull off headers like this. It makes us so much more dangerous on crosses, something we lacked before.

Your post is all good and well, but as you quoted me too, then the only thing I disagree with was your claim that Costa "gave everything". You don't have to look much further than this summer where he refused to return to the club while still under contract and deliberately tried to bring his price down with his media appearances and force Chelsea's hand, costing us money. Maybe you don't count that, but I do, because at that point he was still a Chelsea player acting against us. And even then, if we talk about football, he stopped giving his all after that January debacle. He could have helped our cause much better if he had cared as much as he did before. He may not have had the same motivation because now it's known he was aware in January he will be sold, but the fact remains that he stopped giving his all.

Need to shore up midfield with 3-5-2. Tibo Azpi - Luiz - Rüdiger Zap - Kante - Bakayoko - Alonso Cesc Morata - Hazard

Pogba's hair is on fire. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4921646/Manchester-United-star-Paul-Pogba-debuts-new-hairstyle.html