Jype

Not necessarily. At least De Bruyne can easily play as one of the three central midfielders and I see no reason why Oscar wouldn't be able to adapt to playing there as well.

Anelka?

It's really not that simple. With the way Oscar's been performing this season it would be very hard to justify him losing his place in the team too so no matter who Mourinho plays in the number ten position he will make the wrong choice in some people's eyes, depending on which of the two they fancy. Last season they both played at the same time but anyone with a working pair of eyes could see that forcing Oscar out wide made him much less influential and then again Mata playing on the right wing doesn't sound that good an idea to me either after the arrivals of Willian and Schürrle who are both much better all-round wingers than Mata is. Mata is a great playmaker if he gets a free role without much defensive responsibilities but with the limited selection of central midfielders we currently have that really isn't possible if the plan is to remain solid at the back so at least for now Oscar has been preferred and rightly so because the Brazilian hasn't put a foot wrong all season. Football is a team game and in the end of the day it's the team's result that matters most so if we keep winning matches with the players Mourinho selects to play people shouldn't complain too much.

I'm right here and I still stand by what I said. It's not a conspiracy in favour of Manchester United, it's the English referees being clueless like they always are. How else do you explain all the other dodgy decisions this week alone? Mirallas not being sent off for the most horrific foul of the year, Brown being sent off for an inch perfect sliding tackle etc. I could go on but seriously, what's the fucking point? Also, need I remind you that we've had more than our fair share of luck with the refs lately or have you already forgotten the penalty decision against WBA?

Not too concerned about City so far. As good as they've been at home, their away form is shocking and they'll win fuck all unless they sort that out.

I can see a future for him at the club as a CM if today's 4-3-3 is here to stay. At least for now he wouldn't have anywhere near as much competition for a place in the team if he only had to fight it out with Lampard, Ramires and Essien for two starting spots instead of having to get ahead of Hazard, Oscar, Mata, Schürrle and Willian in the pecking order. Everything depends on himself though, he really needs to step it up in training and show Mourinho he's got what it takes. Lots of games coming up and lots of rotation before the window opens so he needs to act fast if he wishes to stay at a top club instead of taking a step backwards by joining a second rate team like Werder Bremen again. Really, really hope he stays and gets his career back on track.

That wasn't such a bad team selection after all, now was it? Midfield was again so much better with Mikel in it and Ramires was a winger only on paper, in reality he was fucking everywhere and did a great job today. Hell, even Lampard had an excellent match and that's something we haven't seen in a while. Hazard and Oscar both great and the only thing lacking in Eto's performance today was a goal but I feel he will get in on Tuesday. Maybe a three man midfield is the way to go? Could consist of Mikel, Ramires and one of Lampard, Oscar or maybe even De Bruyne if only he could force his way back into the squad. That would leave players like Hazard, Schürrle and Willian to bomb up and down the wings. Mata obviously the one who unfortunately wouldn't really fit anywhere in a formation like that but we can't stick with something that hasn't worked too well lately just to accommodate one player.

Azpilicueta again great at left-back.

Chris Foy been a surprisingly good ref so far. Let's just hope he won't fuck it up second half.

I'm loving Mourinho's negative tactics for this match.

Oscar, what was that? Nice goal.

PENALTY

With Jose everything is forgivable? Have you read this thread since the lineup was announced? There are people basically moaning about everything and I fully expect these same people to be crying for Mourinho to be sacked if we fail to win this. Not a fan of Ramires on the wing but I definitely see more positives than negatives in that lineup and will wait till the final whistle to moan about something Mourinho might have gotten wrong today. I'm not a 'bandwagoner', I criticize him when it's deserved and I certainly acknowledge the fact he has his flaws and blind spots, but what has been going on here today is nothing short of a witch hunt and in my humble opinion that is a disgrace. Hard to think of a better manager for us right now so moaning about Mourinho is ridiculous, especially after only a couple of months. Like I said, certain people are becoming way too spoiled after all the success and glory and not winning a match is always a good reason to either sack the manager or get rid of all the players and replace them by spending a few hundred millions on new ones.

Well, of course I'm concerned. Performances were shit but Mourinho has had over two weeks to think about this match and is now trying something different, I see no problem with that. Like I already said, I have some doubts but I will reserve my judgement until after the match. Mikel will bring some much needed stability in midfield and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we dominated this match and won comfortably. Ramires starting on the wing really isn't that big of a deal because we have many great options on the bench to replace him with and we can bring some fresh legs second half to play against their tired defenders. If we win this, I expect some of the people here to eat some serious humble pie when commenting in the post-match thread.

Definitely, but on the other hand how many people will be praising Mourinho if he actually got it spot on with this selection? Too many spoiled fans just expect the team to win all games with ease but anything else than a win and they lose their shit.

It certainly seems that way sometimes...

So much pessimism going on around here. Why do I get the feeling some people are secretly hoping for us to lose points today just so they can come back and say "I told you so". I'll admit I would've gone with Mikel - Ramires in the pivot and maybe Willian on the right wing but seriously, some of the criticism for Mourinho is way over the top.,

All these excellent attacking midfielders and we have Ramires playing as a winger. At least Mikel has found his way into the starting lineup.

Seriously, where the fuck is this coming from? Mourinho didn't have a problem trusting a 22-year-old Benzema to be his first choice striker at Real Madrid because he was good enough and the same happened with young Raphael Varane too when he took Pepe's place in the team despite the Portuguese being one of Jose's favorite players for a couple of seasons in a row. Sooner or later the same will happen with Lukaku too if he's patient enough. Was against the loan initially but I've been proven wrong many times already. Last season Lukaku was at a small club playing hoof ball and he scored a lot of goals despite not getting a lot of minutes but now he's at a team playing a possession game and seems to be thriving when given the chance to play 90 minutes every game. He scores goals which take away points from our rivals and becomes a better player in the process so what's not to like? We seem to be doing okay with Torres and Eto'o at the moment so I don't see a problem with letting Lukaku mature for a year while playing 90 minutes week-in week-out. This is exactly what Romelu needs right now with the World Cup coming up and all.

Arsenal were Drogba's favorite opponent but it seems Liverpool are Lukaku's.

I love the little Spaniard but this supposed €48m offer from PSG sounds very tempting and I would probably accept it if such an offer was made in January. Our team is stacked in the attacking midfielder department at the moment and so far this season Mata has been perhaps the least influential of the five that have played regularly so if he went now I can't see much changing as far as the AMs are concerned but that money could be spent on improving our weaknesses. However, we can't afford to lose both Mata and KdB so if one of them leaves, the other has to stay. Financially it would make most sense to sell Mata because judging by all the rumours we could be getting a very good price for him whereas De Bruyne would probably be shipped out for way below his market value because he hasn't played much for the last six months.

According to the Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo, FIFA have extended the voting till the 29th and that votes already cast can now be changed. Don't know if it's true though. It's ridiculous that the deadline was on the 15th when there were still so many important matches to be played but if they really have changed the rules after people had already voted, it's even more ridiculous.

You make it sound like Witsel is somehow unproven but he has excelled in a bunch of good leagues and played regular Champions League football all through his career, not to mention his classy performances for Belgium. He's 24 years old and is only getting better and better as time passes so it's easy to see he's the real deal. For anyone who watches Chelsea regularly it's clear that the midfield isn't up for it and hasn't been since 2010 when Lampard was four years younger, Ballack was still at the club and Essien's knees weren't as fucked up as they are now. The club need to address this problem as soon as possible and if Witsel became available, why not snap him up? Other alternatives including the likes of Vidal, Pogba, Gündogan etc. will probably not even be on the market, at least not for a reasonable price, so deciding not to get Witsel when we could potentially have a chance would be a huge mistake. Waiting a couple of years to see if his development continues probably won't be an option because surely some other club will get him if we don't and we could end up with fuck all or at best some second rate stopgap signing to get us through another season.

Actually he's the joint-top scorer together with Cavani, both have 9 league goals so far. Zlatan and some other dude behind them with 8 each.

He can play pretty much everywhere, for his previous club Dynamo Kyiv he even played as a right back occasionally! Before M'Vila arrived at Rubin Kazan he played next to Natkho in the pivot as a deep lying playmaker but more recently he has been used in a more advanced role as one of the three AMs in a 4-2-3-1 with Natkho and M'Vila behind him. For the national team he has mostly played in a deeper role as one of the central midfielders in a 4-3-2-1 formation. He has excelled in all of these roles so anything goes for him, I suppose. A shame there's no individual highlights available of his performance against Wales yesterday, he was amazing.