DH1988

Not to blame at all although probably should of been booked for diving, glad he got away with that one, I blame the tactics more than anything and the lack of subs during a pressure point of the game, 55 mins++ Expect him to be fully rested against Bradford but will probably end up coming on. There were a few that looked leggy last night, our breaks are usually quite pacey and to be fair as Jose said, we missed a few transition periods where Liverpool were wide open.

Keep it to private message Romeo Overreaction because the game called for another striker.. Christ, he's played an insane amount its not bashing Costa.

Feel sorry for Remy, everytime he's played I've been impressed. Nothing against Costa, sometimes its just ok to play another striker, Jose seems to want to run him into the ground "fit" "not fit" "managing him" "hes ok" "unfit"

How did I know this thread would pop up again, did well to retain possession and scored a goal gifted into his boxers by Cahill himself by backing off. Other than that drew fouls because hes so short backing into the CBs, ref needs to pick up on that, sorry but still needs to a heck of alot more to be worth £40m++ I said last season, the key to being class is to do it the season after your breakout one, and he hasn't.

Its not about being negative towards Jose he is open to constructive criticism as is anyone, nobody is perfect at all, but he's damn close. I don't like the setup in big games, I said it here last season and this season again and I do not like his subs, again not the first time I'm saying that. It seems to be waiting for a dire situation before making a change when the pressure was ON yesterday and we couldnt trap the ball it was a game for Drog to come on, be a focal point, hold the ball, take up two players and draw fouls rather than Costa. It was a matter of time before we conceded last night unfortunately but the aim was to get a draw and bring it back to the bridge, same old tactics with two legged games I'm afraid, barely worked against PSG, didn't work against Atletico. If he doesn't change it then honestly we are looking at another year of disappointment in the CL especially.

Genuinely thought this was a game for Remy with the space they leave in behind and he surely needs a rest? Hindsight is a wonderful thing but.. its ok to rest players..

Sigh subs

It was a tongue in cheek joke but I was shocked how small he was in real life compared to on TV when I saw him.

Had his faults this year, bookings and hold up/link up play wasn't the best and was actually frustrating at one point but he's sorted that sharpish and its now much much much better. Not sure how else this guy improves? Except gain height/weight he's tiny!

JT was a tit off the field and I'm sure privately away from any recording devices he would admit the same but he did alot of good for charities and just in general back then it was just mixed with bad bad bad publicity and obviously the bad things get the most hits and such so newspapers focus on that. He will never get the plaudits because of this, but he is the best CB the EPL has ever seen, until someone else does it and wins as much as he did but single handedly making a difference to a club/team/matches not just being in the team. Shaky moments, shaky injuries, all in all a top top top professional.

Eden even complained after the atleti games that we were not suited to playing football, it was more a counter puncher style in the big games and I can see why he was irritated, yeah he has to do his defensive contribution but in almost every big game last season and some of this season (where we drew conceding late or something) we seem to sit back.

Going to be targeted tonight I feel. Big game for him.

Stats are such a sometimes misleading way to throw into an argument, I'm not interested in how far a player has run or the start of chances created or sometimes even assists, sorry cesc you are still wonderful. I watch every game start to finish that I can on stream or TV etc so I'd prefer to go on my own opinion of a player than someone giving me a stat. Oscar is a good player, he's blue, for that alone he will have my support more often than not unless he plays like Andre. Consistency and the tired of last year was my issue, he's improved on both somewhat this year and I'll judge him at the end of the season because he was a six month player last year. 23, played far too many games for me. Can he improve? Yes, has he? Yes. Let's not get stuck in the childish mentality of now now now now, things and improvements take time, Ronaldo wasn't as good as he is now right away actually it took years and years but he improved every year. Not saying Oscar is Ronaldo etc just am example of patience and looking at the bigger picture.. Oscar is better than last year for me and if we continue to want to play with the tactics we do then we need his tenacity as well.

To be fair I'm not that bothered about the carling cup but I think it will, if we win the whole thing, catapult us for the last part of the season as it did the first time round in Jose's first spell. Big game for Eden tonight with the above said, away from home, big pitch, Liverpool usually leave a lot of space against FBs This contract thing is a worry if it drags into the summer.

I was wrong, said time and time again he wouldn't fit us, where does he play etc and hes done exactly what Jose wanted or wants him to do, how many times did we struggle against small teams last season, the man has the key more often than not. We have some absolutely massive games coming up, the big matches have been a concern for everyone if they stick a man on him etc I'm definitely excited to see how he handles that or what Jose has outlined for him to overcome that.

Shocked this post got so many 'likes'. Slamming? Secondhand embarrassment? Jumped on him? Chill Just like with any other player constructive criticism totally acceptable and encouraged, his linkup and hold up play was not good enough, and since he's worked on it massively improved and we as fans are all benefiting from that.

No words describe how good this guy is for us in these types of games, another assist today too.

+1

On a hat trick Subbed Needs to see the bigger picture rather than walk past Jose, was a bad picture though perhaps he didn't, looked that way.

Modric + £50m? Sounds good first glance but who do we replace Eden with? Someone who would cost £40-50m I think.. Todays market prices, sigh sigh sigh. Bale + Modric + £20m....... What? Too much?

Jose had a little dig at him today with regards to Terry passing his appearances

People said the same thing about Kroos, nonsense etc. but it was all true in the end he signed a contract or had a pre-agreement with Madrid. Cya Reus, enjoy being shipped out after 1-2 seasons.

Stupid low buy out clause before he bumped his deal, better than a prospect he is like.. attributely brilliant same as Zouma, all the tools I mean and more accomplished than our Mr.Happy but would be a great great partner, however he'd need to be schooled by Terry I feel, relies on his pace a ton too is the negative I can push however.. is rapid.. and those two after a year of schooling would allow a higher line?

He's made it clear he's recovered from his injury? Why would he say otherwise and decrease his market value as he's on LOAN. Falcao has to say all the right things in the public media no matter what. It's because lvg is stubborn? No its most likely due to the fact that he's not performing well in training and not doing the business. A coach sees day in day out let alone the potential muddied loan deal that was struck, who knows if they have add ons and bonuses attached to the loan deal? Nobody knows that until the end of the season. Right now he looks like a shadow of himself. When I watch him in matches do I think he is currently worth a big transfer fee as Monaco are not mugs despite some potential money issues, no he's not. Do I think he justifies his enormous wages to consider taking him on a loan basis? Nope not even half. Not a big believer in loan deals, never feel like you get the players full attention.

Willian can get past one player, two players, three at an absolute push but I made the point a few pages back he's vital in the SETUP of our team, the WAY we play. He actually reminds me of Hazard (1-2 seasons ago when he lost possession twice that lead to goals, he went into a shell for a few games) in that he is sometimes scared to lose the ball and would rather take the safer option then the risky one, that Hazard takes now, no I am not comparing their abilities or ball retention etc. so don't call me out on that its simply an observation. Would you risk losing the ball when possession and positional play are so key down the right side? Sod that. Our biggest weakness believe it or not is the pocket of RB space between Iva/Gary, lump a ball into space there and we've got problems. ~edit~ Not defending that piece of play btw we all know the flick or one touch then pass should of come but just to highlight he isn't the only one and he seems to be a scapegoat. Mark my words or this post, if we invest more money into the RW, which I think we will, then we will have to a) either change our tactics or shape b ) we will concede alot more goals and lose the grip on games.