Sir Mikel OBE

Spot on delivery by emre. What a save by cech!

Hazard at the 10

No way this starts before the top of the hour.

Who starts up top second half? Torres or Drogba?

Ah I see. 19 min and no lineup.....that is strange.

I thought it was an Hour and 30 minutes?

I still think he is if we are going to be honest. Oscar is good, when in form, but I think De Bruyne offers better everything outside of work rate.

LMAO. Anyways that is an impressive lineup.

I think Sunday should be for the Brazilians and Schurrle to get playing time for match fitness. Tuesday should be the squad we will field against Burnley.

25m is a steal, but how he comes back from that injury would be my main concern.

Surprised only 2 of us have picked Spuds. I think they can sneak #4 this year. Pochettino is a much better manager than Sherwood and AVB

Has he been training with us?

If Paris paid 50 million for Luiz then Juventus are definitely well within their rights asking 60 for Pogba.

You're probably right on the first point. I too hope we switch to 4-3-3, but Jose is stubborn when he wants to be.

Only if we switch to 4-3-3.

I don't think it's a minor possibility. Every player can miss a pass. A 4-3-3 works best with the guys we have now is the main draw. It seems we are using a formation for a squad we don't have any more.

The difference is if he makes the error at the 10 there are two guys behind him, plus someone like Willian next to him with the speed the run the length of the pitch, to close it down. That is much different than when you are already further back.

That is why I am happy today went the way it did. Better now than this time next month.All this aside I do think Fabregas is an improvement to Mata. Whether or not was it worth the cash or not remains to be seen, but he is an improvement.

Exactly. Love him, but more often than not it will just be a load of bollocks. He is good at deflecting the press criticism towards players though.

While that would be amazing, it isnt even really that needed. We dont need another world claqss midfielder next to Fabregas. We just need somebody with pace who can be there is the ball is given up to close down the lanes so we are not wide open when Fabregas makes a mistake. In the pivot there is no room for that with a slow guy taking risks. We have fullbacks who bomb forward, so Matic isnt going to be right next to him working as a safety valve if the pass goes wrong as he will have to close down the lanes left by them. That is one place where I see we would be really vulnerable. If Fabregas is at the 10 then it isnt such a big issue as there would be more protection in front of the defense, but right in front of them he does not have that same protection.

2016 is really only a year away too.

I didnt say that lol

That is the only way forward I see with him in central midfield. A team built around Fabregas will have to shift to that formation. 4-2-3-1 will have to have him in the 3 unless you assign someone like Willian/Oscar or Ramires to be his shadow.

The big danger is that he has absolutely NO pace. If he is in the pivot then he will have to have high energy speedsters next to him at all time because if he gives the ball away in the middle he does not have the pace to win it back.

With schürrle and willian back tomorrow we shouldn't have to see torres on the wings anymore. Replacing a young striker who has proven he can score in this league with someone almost 40 is also not a sign of good business. Today showed we need to have a viable option to come off the bench in the striker position. Matic is amazing.