Jase

Not this again. Think the last time people wrote him off, he end up scoring a hat-trick and some vital goals for us along the way. I agree with people that he probably shouldn't be a starter anymore but he's definitely not past it. He can still play a role for us.

According to AVB in his PC, he should be back for next week against Birmingham. Hope it's true. We need him against Napoli! I blame Luiz for that!

Did I say they beat Juventus? I would probably be happier to go in as underdog judging by how things have went this season. We have always seem to performed better when our backs are against the wall and people don't expect much from us in the game. In non-numerical terms, I was merely pointing out that our form is pretty similar at the moment and even you mentioned it in the post I quoted earlier. On the EPL vs Serie A subject, I find it harsh and even somewhat crazy to say Napoli might be relegated if they played in the EPL. No doubt the EPL is way more competitive than the Serie A but with the quality in their squad, I'm sure they would be sitting comfortably somewhere in midtable or higher if they were playing in the Premier League at this moment.

Problem is they are like Liverpool. They raise themselves for the big games but couldn't against the lesser sides. They have beaten Udinese, Milan & Inter while also drawing with Milan, Juventus and Lazio and all of those teams are in the current Top 5 of Serie A. Against the bottom 5 clubs, they have only beaten Lecce and Cesena while drawing against the likes of Bologna, Siena and Novara. Just to add, our in recent run of form is pretty similar to them: Chelsea's Last 11 Matches in all competitions: P11 W4 D6 L1 F15 A11 CS4 Napoli's Last 11 Matches in all competitions: P11 W4 D4 L3 F19 A13 CS3 Chelsea's Last 9 Premier League Games: P9 W2 D6 L1 F11 A11 CS2 Napoli's Last 9 Serie A Games: P9 W2 D5 L2 F15 A11 CS2 Furthermore, with the 3rd and final Champions League spot looking a distance away for Napoli in Serie A, they may actually look to concentrate on progressing in the Champions League.

They and the media are just as pathetic and deluded as ever! Have no idea what was said in that show but judging from the charge of United there, they are absolutely spot on AND I would think they were not as deluded as the media, pundits and fans here in England. It's not like United had to put in some sort monstrous effort to get the 3 goals. They may have bossed possession, knocking the ball around but all their shots were from distance despite being on target and Cech was pretty comfortable at dealing with them. Those 2 f***ing penalties came from rather two wayward attacks!! @Steve: Wow! Those images are amazing! Where did you get that from?

Would pick Essien. He did exceptionally well in his first start after coming back from injury. Put in some good challenges, making vital blocks and interceptions throughout the game.

That image just looks so wrong!

No surprises coming from goal.com there. He was solid, did nothing wrong and could have won us the game. That 5.5 rating probably come from that Welbeck non-penalty incident in that 1st half in which the media have brainwashed the entire nation to believe it should have been penalty for United then.

Thought he did well last night in debut. Did what needs to be done defensively and made some vital interceptions throughout the game. Would have been great if his that spectacular shot entered net and for one moment, I actually thought it was going in! Hopefully, we'll get to see more of him this season and become better for us!

Really feel sorry for Mata TBH. He has scored some real wonderful goals this season(vs Arsenal, Fulham & United) but we always end up talking about the performances, results, referee's decisions and among others and hardly anything about his goal.

Only a win here would make me feel happy after what happened yesterday. However, it's not exactly a fixture that I'm always looking forward to given how dull and cagey these games can be. Also, as some have pointed out, we don't have a good record at Goodison in the league in recent years. We have won 2, drew 1 and lost 2 in our last 5 visits there but the last win came on 18/4/2008 in the 1-0 victory when Avram Grant was in charge! Essien scored a good goal from distance IIRC. That 2 defeats have came in our last 2 trips. To make matters worse, our last last 8 Premier League games make grim reading. Won just ONCE, drew FIVE and lost TWICE. That sole win came in this season's reverse fixture however. Mike Jones was the referee in that home game and he will be again in this one. We have won ALL five games that he's been in charge of us. Hoping that continues this Saturday.

And yet, we're still sitting 4th. Just goes to show how crap we, Newcastle, Arsenal and Liverpool have all been.

Nope. It's Mike Jones and Phil Dowd is the referee for United vs Liverpool. Cue controversies at Old Trafford this Saturday.

Still feeling extremely gutted, disgusted and aggrieved as I still could not believe what happened yesterday. It was pure sickening when that joke of Howard Webb gave the second penalty. To give one non-penalty in a game is bad enough but to give two?! Farcical and to think this referee officiated the World Cup. An absolute disgrace!