Jase

Nicolas Anelka leaves West Bromwich Albion and could retire from football completely

WTF?!!

Was curious to know how many goals exactly did Lukaku scored at West Brom last season in the Premier League when he starts and brought on as a sub. Turns out that he has actually scored more goals when he starts (11) than coming as a sub (6). Reason for saying that is because I've been reading things of people saying he's more of impact sub and coming on to score goals. The impact sub part maybe right as when he can make an impact late on in games with physical strength and freshness but certainly not in terms of scoring. Though it should be noted out of the 35 PL appearances Lukaku had for West Brom, he only completed the full 90 minutes 7 times and was subbed off on other 13 occasions when he starts. Anyway, thought I would just post it here... As Sub: (15) vs Liverpool (H) - 1 [ON 67th min] vs Tottenham (A) - 0 [ON 62th min] vs Fulham (A) - 0 [ON 45th min] vs Aston Villa (A) - 0 [ON 71st min] vs QPR (H) - 0 [ON 62nd min] vs Man City (H) - 0 [ON 81st min] vs Southampton (H) - 0 [ON 70th min] vs Sunderland (A)- 1 [ON 69th min] vs Stoke (H) - 0 [ON 63rd min] vs Arsenal (A) - 0 [ON 61st min] vs West Ham (H) - 0 [ON 74th min] vs Man United (A) - 0 [ON 66th min] vs Liverpool (A) - 1 [ON 74th min] vs Arsenal (H) - 0 [ON 61st min] vs Man United (H) - 3 [ON 45th min] As Starter: (20) vs Reading (H) - 1 [OFF 77th min] vs Newcastle (A) - 1 [OFF 64th min] vs Wigan (A) - 0 [OFF 86th min] vs Swansea (A) - 1 [FULL 90] vs Norwich (H) - 1 [OFF 84th min] vs QPR (A) - 0 [OFF 75th min] vs Fulham (H) - 1 [FULL 90] vs Reading (A) - 2 [FULL 90] vs Aston Villa (H) - 0 [FULL 90] vs Everton (A) - 0 [FULL 90] vs Tottenham (H) - 0 [OFF 51st min] vs Sunderland (H) - 2 [OFF 86th min] vs Swansea (H) - 1 [OFF 80th min] vs Stoke (A) - 0 [OFF 75th min] vs West Ham (A) - 0 [FULL 90] vs Newcastle (H) - 0 [OFF 89th min] vs Southampton(A) - 1 [OFF 84th min] vs Wigan (H) - 0 [OFF 64th min] vs Man City (A) - 0 [FULL 90] vs Norwich (A) - 0 [OFF 80th min]

Seriously, I don't understand why people are always keen to blame the goalkeeper whenever they concede at their near post. Yes, it's never nice when that happens but sometimes, you just gotta credit whoever scored it. In the case last night, it was a decent strike from Benteke and it hit the post before the ball went in anyway. If anything, I would first blame the hopeless defending in front of Cech us mainly Ivanovic for that goal to even come about!

Worth noting that this game is played just 4 days before we face Bayern in the UEFA Super Cup and they play their German league game this Saturday. So Mourinho might have that game in mind when making his team selection for this game against United but no doubt this is far more important than that Super Cup match. And Mourinho will hold his pre-match press conference for this United game tomorrow at 1pm UK time.

Another reason for that approach play is likely because the attacking 3 behind Ba wasn't able to create anything of note and nothing came from the pivot either. And we sort of then just jumped it forward. The tragic thing was Villa played a high line yesterday and we hardly even exploited it. Just awful.

Oh gawd. I nearly went in rage over that! Imagine if Mikel does that though...

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/aug/21/rio-ferdinand-manchester-united-chelsea

Media are already sharpening their knives. We played very well overall against Hull and yes, we suffered against Villa but somehow, they deemed us to be making spluttering start already. It was only today we struggled. Just utterly hilarious journalism!

Funnily enough, in our second game last season against Reading at the Bridge, we also needed some luck to break Reading down through Torres's offside goal. What's even more funny though is that Ivanovic was sent off in the Community Shield back then and was supposed to be suspended for 3 games but ruled out by the FA because it wasn't a competitive match and he then goes and score against Wigan and Reading. The goal against Wigan being the crucial one since it was the opening goal of the game.

Err, what?! Mata spent most of the night playing out wide. Started at RW, moved to CAM momentarily and then played at LW for the second half. He didn't even clash with the space that Lampard operates at!

Just wait for people to turn against him when he makes a mistake.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/10258568/Chelsea-ride-their-luck-as-spluttering-start-to-season-continues-under-Jose-Mourinho-after-defeat-of-Aston-Villa.html 'Chelsea ride their luck as spluttering start to season continues under Jose Mourinho after defeat of Aston Villa' I know we were somewhat fortunate to beat Villa but deary me, that headline from Telegraph is awful. Spluttering start? Continues?! WTF!!! The media have probably been waiting for this moment to get on our backs. When United used to win games like this under Fergie, it's because they are the champions, have the know how etc. When we or others win like this, it's because we got lucky! Never condemn United but also target other clubs! :rant:

His lack of match fitness is probably the main reason why he was rather quiet tonight in regards to his performance. However, he looks rather isolated and ineffective playing out wide on the RW. And judging by Mourinho's comments so far, seems that he wants Mata to play at RW and mainly favors Oscar as the No.10 at CAM. Getting paranoid I think but if it continues to be like this, then I do worry about Mata's future under Mourinho.

Manchester United vs Chelsea PRE-MATCH DISCUSSION AND LIVE CHAT English Premier League Matchday 3 26th August, Monday, 2013 Old Trafford 20:00 Kick Off (UK time)

Manchester United 0-0 Chelsea POST-MATCH DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS English Premier League Matchday 3 26th August, Monday, 2013 Old Trafford 20:00 Kick Off (UK time) [Match Stats]

Anything wrong with the philosophy looking alike? I mean we bought all these attacking talents to play the kind of football that we showed in the 1st half against Hull no? And of course Mourinho will tweak certain minor things in our play accordingly and as I said, it's still early. Give time before passing judgment.

Just because we complain, doesn't mean we don't enjoy the win. We do but also we want the best for our team. We look at the deficiencies and speak about it, win or lose. Don't see what's wrong with that really. And mind you, even though United does most of the time, have seen their fans complain about Fergie before.

That was against Villa. Just not sure if Mourinho will think the same about starting Azpi in a really big game against United at OT. Might be a struggle for him just like we have seen with Mata tonight. TBF, would like to give that a bit more time before passing judgment. Players still adapting to Mourinho and don't forget they have also played a lot during the summer with pre-season matches in two different continent and 3 matches in a week. Tough ask a bit at the start of the season. As for being the same team under RDM, would say at least we are better now than back then. The playing style maybe similar but least we have now under Jose is the proper organization as a team, both defensively and offensively. It wasn't like that under RDM when the players just unleashed to do whatever they want out there. Allowed to attack around freely but defensively, we were shambolic and had no defensive organization and commitment whatsoever.

TBF, think Benitez got slaughtered as well for his team selection and tactics even though we won but didn't play well. So, not sure why Mourinho should escape criticism for that either. And just because we won, doesn't mean we can't criticize the manager for his decision making. We do that to players every time as well, win or lose. Otherwise, what is the point of analyzing and having discussion?

Not sure about starting 2 players who are not fully fit yet for a game against United at Old Trafford... If anything, the back 4 will likely remain the same. Just changes being made in the midfield and striker.

Think the main problem with our play today is that we were just so narrow. There was nobody providing the width and we ended up congesting the midfield with nowhere to go and hardly even created anything. Mata, playing on the RW, was always going to come inside anyway and he wasn't fully fit either. On the other hand, Hazard is one that frustrates me though. He can go on the outside of opposition's defence, stretching the play and provide us width but hate the fact that he always come inside! And our FBs didn't exactly get forward a lot to provide the width though it was probably done on purpose to prevent us getting caught on the counter. But it was just frustrating overall!

Calm down. It's just a 'technical error'. Will make sure it's not there next game.

Still getting bypassed a bit too easily in the pivot it seems. Though it probably doesn't helped with Lampard partnering him there.