Thor

Ivanovic and Fabregas would never play again if they didn't have those names on the backs of their shirts after performances like this. They've completed more passes for QPR tonight than us.

Fuck off Fabregas.

No one is scoring this game...

Luis needs to come on for Ramires, and possibly get Cuadrado on for Drogba. Luis has the composure to hold the ball, make good crosses and he is a brilliant defender himself.

Given the way we are playing, and how the players look on the field, especially Fabregas, who looks like he could be outrun by a 6th grader, I'm glad it has come around. Let some players get some rest and hopefully come back fresh. Saying that, hopefully Jose can come up with something fresh after the break. The current line up gives up too much defensively, and we don't get anything in return offensively. Felipe Luis needs to be a constant starter in the team, as does Azpi. Ivanovic should be rotated centrally. Luis is a capable crosser, can beat his man off the dribble, and is great 1 on 1 defensively. I honestly wouldn't mind him as a winger given that he is actually far more direct than Willian, and he can whip a nice cross in. ------------------Costa----------------- Oscar--------Hazard--------Cuadrado ----------Cesc------Matic--------------- Luis------Terry-----Zouma-----Azpi Even if Ivanovic must play according to Mou, get Azpi on the left, Iva on the right, and put Luis in Oscar's spot. He is one of our most techinically gifted players, who can beat his man, and he rots on the bench. Cuadrado may as well get his shot since Willian on the wings is a disaster. If you're going to bring him on, put him centrally and push Hazard out to the wing since he is world class there already. Let's try and progress Hazard as a player by getting him accustomed centrally, and let Cuadrado develop, while also having Willian play his more natural position. I dunno, maybe I'm just rambling due to the lack of decent play these last 6 weeks. But clearly, something at the back has to change.

Hazard is just unbelievable at times. This guy is dribbling through 3 players, getting double teamed constantly, having his whole wing marked down, and he is still finding a way to somehow be our only creative outlet at times. If I ever see anyone go off at him for having a bad game once in a while on here, I'm writing you off as a bad football fan, since you clearly don't know what is going on out there. We have some great players out there, and some big names, but at times, I seriously don't want to think about how bad we would be without him. At times I watch him put this team on his back and carry us, and he did it again today, same as last week, and the week before. This guy is top 5 in the world, undoubtedly. I won't say anything on the game apart from "great, we held on against Hull".

I don't know what you're watching if you thought that was our typical performance given how we've played recently. Boys turned up in the second half and gave it their all.

A lot will look to the result and complain, and sure, we should have won, but at the same time, that second half was a nice change to the absolute shite we've been playing the last 6 or 7 games. The players actually controlled the game, pushed forward and created chances. Southampton didn't do squat as soon as we wanted the game. As I said, some can complain, but you can't do jack when the keeper in the opposite nets throws his mitt out and happens to connect with every shot of ours. The man made 4 or 5 goal line clearances in one half. I was happy with the second half, and if we can keep it up, the results will come, and we'll be back to our old selves. Saying that though, Ivanovic played more through balls for Southampton than Cesc did for us tonight. They were both terrible. Oscar played his standard terrible game, and Willian actually started playing well when he got to play in the middle a little more despite being horrible most of the night. Costa and Hazard were the only consistently good players out there. Costa worked his butt off, and at times Hazard was carrying us.

If we score a goal, and sit back against an inferior side like Southampton, like we did against all the other sides that aren't better than us the last 6 or 7 games, then I will more than likely be one of the few in the camp of not supporting Mou anymore. Get back to what we do best, attack, and defend by attacking. We have some of the most capable offensive players in the world, and that includes our defenders. Clean sheets are nice, but if you can get a more comfortable win by attacking and letting a goal in, then so be it. There is times to sit back and try and win a game, and Burnley, West Ham, PSG with 10 men, and Southampton at home today will not be one of those times.

Before the game, and based on recent performances against West Ham, Tottenham and even Burnley, myself and a few others have constantly complained about how defensively we're playing and how we're lining up against teams clearly a peg below us, yet we get called negative, and not real fans for not standing behind what the club and manager thinks is right. Finally caught up with us, and we go out in an important game. Some of us actually want us to use what we have, and that is attacking talent to actually get out there and do what we do best. Score and put teams under pressure. Some of you can support the team no matter what, but some of us want more expansive football that we know we are capable of. Once again, that was our downfall. Sitting back, when more attacking was/could/should be used.

How is he outperforming Costa? Costa has been injured throughout the season at various points, is the top scorer in the league, while playing significantly less games than Kane, etc... I'm not sure where this "outplaying while being younger" is coming from. I'm sure you have some warped view and weird reasoning though.

To be fair to him, it has been our tactic maybe the last 5 matches, and was even employed against the likes of West Ham, Tottenham and Burnley after we scored. That shouldn't ever be the case against those teams. We look far more likely to concede when we do close the game down than compared to when we use our offense as the defense.

City off to the exact start I mentioned.

If that isn't a campaign against us, then what is? FFS. Barnes can go off himself the f*cking git. And the ref can join him. Watch City get 3 penalties and have a 2 men advantage for most the game.

All we need is for this Barnes fuckwit to score. Absolute c*nt.

On a different tone in regards to where this thread is heading now, I have really been surprised by his pace all season long. He always had great quickness and agility in terms of change of direction and first step, but now he is absolutely fantastic in getting away from his man once he is in front of them. The trainers, or whoever he has got privately working with him have done a fantastic job in terms of making a great sprinter, and not someone who relies strictly on their first step. I wouldn't be surprised if he is quicker than Willian now. At times this season when he has been tracking back defensively he has looked insanely quick.

Great result when you only have 2 shots all game. I guess I should get accustomed to us playing like Stoke and setting record lows for ourselves despite having one of the most potent offensive teams in the whole of Europe. Only makes sense to sit back and defend. Not to mention we looked terrible and wide open at times doing it. Disgraceful.

Moura is definitely someone we have to watch. Have we not learned anything from this season? Pacey wingers with a bit of skill have ripped our defence apart consistently. It has been our downfall in our only losses this season at both Tottenham and against Newcastle especially.

Good player for a mid table club, but really isn't cut out for bigger clubs. He had his moment here, but it was when we were in our lowest period in the last decade and more, and despite that we won the CL during that time. For being our best player during that time, he didn't have much to do with it, and was hardly influential in the big games. He needs the ball too much, and to have the offense run through him too much to be the top player at the top clubs. Simply because he will never be close to the most talented at the bigger clubs, so it makes no sense to have the offense go through him, when you can have it go through Hazard, or Rooney, or Di Maria, or Messi, or Neymar, etc... I wouldn't mind him back here as a bench player. For someone his size, he lacks pace, and his first touch is below average, with him at times being unable to track his touch due to a more physical and quicker player pushing him off. So yeah, bench player at best.

People give Iva way too much crap on here. I have had a few performances where I have cracked it at him while watching, but people talking as if he has been poor the whole season defensively? Seriously? He is still a better player than Azpi, and if instructed to do so, he'd defend better than him too. He is a brick wall, and 1 on 1 is still one of the best, if not the best defender in the league. I never see people cracking the shits at Azpi for never providing anything up front, yet Iva cops it if he isn't having a good day crossing it, or having a little trouble at the back. He is the best RB in the league, still. He has been asked to play more offensively, so clearly there will be a little less to give defensively. Plus he plays on Cahill's side, so cut him some slack.

Great work to hold on against Villa. Brilliant display. Said no one. Jose is an absolute wanker if he keeps playing like this. It is embarrassing being the so called best team and putting in a performance like that. Fair enough with the "win when playing bad", but it seems that playing poorly is all we do recently. I go in wishing for every match to be 0-0 until the 89th minute where we finally score, because before we score, we look brilliant. Drogba is a legend, but he is garbage at this point. Remy is 3 times the player he is, at the very least. In fact, Jose should be sacked if Drogba sees another minute on the pitch outside of us having a comfortable lead. Hyperbole, but you get the point. Funny enough, it is a great day. City draw, we extend the lead at the top, yet here I am feeling absolutely shit about that performance. At no point should we ever put in a display like that against the worst team in the league. We should have stomped them worse than Swansea, who are no where near as bad as this mob.

What makes Schurrle so great on the wing for us? Dude takes more shots than Sturridge ever did, and breaks down great plays at times, just to have a ping at goal. Of course he'll score a couple if he takes as many shots as he does.

And Schurrle wasn't better than Sturridge. Maybe one day we will reach the end of this road and get a decent wing again.

Why not start him on the wing against sides where we don't need Willian hounding the ball on the right wing? Remy is quick enough, and works hard enough to do that himself anyway. That way, himself and Costa can switch between the wings where they are both comfortable, and we can keep Remy happy with some playing time, because he is clearly good enough to be here.

I completely agree. I was just addressing peoples frustration. I love the balance we have in our line up, and I like the way we play 95% of the time, even against the bigger sides (outside of select performances, like the Liverpool and City games where we completely shut off offensively). In fact, I am one of Willian's biggest supporters on here and constantly tell people that it is the role he is being asked to perform that dictates to a certain degree how he plays for us. We all saw what he could do at Shakhtar, and yet people dismiss him now because he is in fact told to play more defensively. Mou is getting similar players for the simple fact to mold them the same way he has Willian. That way whenever one is having an off day, he can sub on the near identical player, and have him go at it and hope he is playing slightly better.