Jase

+ On the other hand, Norwich have won just 2 of their last 6 league matches on Boxing Day - W2 D2 L2. Expect a draw then...

Chelsea have only won 1 of their last 6 Premier League matches on Boxing Day - W1 D4 L1. Only win came in 08/09 season, 2-0 home win over West Brom.

He can only score 30-40 yard goals, excluding the penalty that is.......

Can we please not turn this into another 'Fernando Torres' thread?! If you want to discuss them, go do it in his player's thread. Stick to talking about the game against Norwich!

That's the point. Benitez needs to take some risks! You never try, you never know and like I've said many times, it can't be any worse than how we were playing then! Instead, we were really like lambs then and got slaughtered!

How about trying to regain control of the midfield and then build on from there again?! They were good in that game but it doesn't give us the excuse of not beating them at home. The fact that Arsenal dropped points at home against Fulham gave us a chance to gain 2 points more in the same fixture than them but failed to take it!

I believe we discussed about this before. He could have changed the shape by bringing on another midfield player and see how it goes. Can't be any worse than how we were playing then. This is where managers like Mourinho excels. The minute he sees the team is having problems, he will look to change things around immediately to ensure the initiative is with his team and not the opponent. Can't be like a headless chicken there and do nothing. He is a manager and in situations like that is where he earns what he's being paid. Benitez needs to take the risks sometimes and even if it doesn't work out in the end, at least we can see that he's trying to change things but the problem is, he didn't! We were basically just like lambs waiting to be slaughtered in that second half against West Ham. Meh. Not an excuse for him to draw against Fulham. They were in bad form themselves and yet we gave them the point. Our midfield was being overrun because there wasn't any DM in there. We all can see from miles away and yet Benitez did nothing. He didn't even look to bring Mikel on so that we can stabilize the midfield and gain control in that area!

Draw against Man City is excusable(only had it in there for formality sake. ) but what about the games against Fulham, West Ham and Corinthians? He didn't even look to change things around early when the warning signs were already there in those games especially against the latter two opponents! Liverpool fans and the media that likes to get on us using whatever excuses available and this is one.

TBH, why are people even comparing Hazard and Kagawa when they operate in different positions and possess different style of play?!

Indeed, especially given our horrible record against Everton at Goodison. That said, surely we'll win there again sooner or later.

Credit where it's due but it is absolutely cringeworthy that the media and Benitez's worshippers think that we should change our opinion and rid of the hatred on him just because of one 8-0 win. What next if we suddenly lose the next 2-3 games?! Worth pointing out that the 5 games we have won under Benitez have all come against poor Premier League teams or Championship level teams - Nordsjaelland, Sunderland, Monterrey, Leeds and Aston Villa. We have failed to win in the other games when coming up against Premier League mid-table sides or teams with better quality and/or more streetwise in their approach - Man City, Fulham, West Ham and Corinthians. Not taking anything away from those 5 wins but it's one thing beating the lower level teams and it's another beating the quality ones. Benitez still got a lot to prove before he can even possibly convince us at the slightest!

That was before they went on a 10-match unbeaten run. We even stuffed Norwich 4-1 before that.

Ho ho ho. (sound old doing that!) Merry Christmas everyone. Have a fantastic holiday and enjoy the festive period to the fullest!

Fergie was clearly trying to divert the attention away from what was an average Man United performance and the fact that they dropped 2 points yesterday resulting in only sitting 4 points ahead of City right now. Almost everyone is talking about the Williams and Van Persie incident and nothing about the dropped points.

Yes it does. So, Oscar scored 1 and assisted 2 yesterday.

Think everyone wanted him to score. Heck, even John Gregory - former Aston Villa manager - said he wanted him to score in commentary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZHxo9LaHoQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60piCPQVH_8 Can't find the Hazard one though.

Why would they? They are not going to be as poor as Villa today, that's for sure. Don't forget that they have beaten both Man United and Arsenal 1-0 at home previously. So, we can't underestimate them.

It's 'whateva' or rather 'whatever'.

Mata's free kick that went all the way into the net against Arsenal. EDIT: Late by seconds. Damn you Sheva!

Everton should win the game against Wigan. QPR will be tough for West Brom. They are desperate for the points too. Villa v Spurs is an interesting one. All depends on how Villa react from the defeat today.

Predictable joke but yeah...

While we are facing Norwich, our nearby rivals' fixtures are: Everton v Wigan QPR v West Brom Aston Villa v Tottenham Arsenal have had their home game against West Ham postponed. And if anyone is interested, both the Manchester clubs' fuxtures are: Man United v Newcastle Sunderland v Man City

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0686PlzVfY