Jase

Pedro moves one step closer to that 35-goal mark, @kellzfresh.

For all his good qualities, Rudiger is a bit crap at offensive headers, isn't he? Can never seem to get them on target at the very least!

Ever since I posted that, Derby have won 4 games on the trot, including 3 in the Championship! (they'll probably lose their next 4 now )

Regardless of whether the Bournemouth players made the most of it, if you start to do 'unusual things', then you leave yourself at the mercy of the referee. Do we really want that given some referees like to be at the centre of attention (e.g Mike Dean)? And on the two incidents, there was no need for them to do anything at all, especially in Rudiger's case. His back pass was safely going to Kepa and Fraser wasn't even close to getting to it but Rudiger felt the need to make contact with him for some reason.

1. Can't blame opposing teams but it's kinda frustrating how they are still attempting to play a back five against us. No doubt we will face more of such teams, especially at the Bridge, and we need to get better at smashing those fucking buses down! Had a lot of the possession again but struggled to create many clear cut chances. On a positive note though, it's four wins out of four. We picked up only 4 points from the same fixtures last season! 2. Better defensively today but Bournemouth still had 2 great chances - better than ours - to score. Thankfully, Wilson and Ake didn't have their shooting boots on. 3. I've tried to defend Morata long enough but think it's time for Sarri to consider starting Giroud instead. He had more of an impact in 30 minutes than Morata in 60 and with teams likely to continue parking the bus against us, Giroud's attributes would add more of a threat upfront. Morata easily goes missing when teams crowd him out - as seen against Newcastle and Bournemouth - and does nothing different to try an unsettle them. Plus, it's not like Giroud is alien to playing an attacking approach like Sarri's. 4. What was going on with Rudiger and Alonso today? Did okay but then had stupid off the ball incidents. Could have easily been sent off considering the ref was Lee Mason!

This one is meant to be more Chelsea related but whatever I guess.

No one bothers about the Europa League, huh? We got PAOK, Bate Borisov and Vidi in the group stage.

Confirmed pots for Friday's Europa League group stage draw (12pm BST)...

Derby got United in the League Cup. Mourinho v Lampard...

So, Liverpool in the cup on Sept 25/26 and then Liverpool in the league on Sept 29...

If the manager can't survive without his assistant, then there is clearly an issue with the manager.

Really? It's still early in the season but Barkley has featured heavily and Sarri appears to be a fan of him while Loftus-Cheek has barely gotten a look in. Never mind not playing, he didn't even make the matchday squad in the last two games and there are rumors suggesting Loftus-Cheek is angry at not being allowed to go out on loan, which perhaps suggest where he lies in Sarri's plans. Moreover, Kovacic might turn out to be first choice but he isn't going to play every game. If Barkley does well and gets his fair share of games under Sarri, then why would he leave or be sold?

Sell Ruben. Easy.

Interesting, if true...

It is quite a stupid and lazy stick people often beat us up with. We often get reminded or criticized how we were impatient and wrong to sell the likes of De Bruyne because they have blossomed since etc, which can be a fair point. But with managers, we just get criticized for being impatient, not backing the manager even when they have done anything impressive in subsequent jobs. What have the following managers done after being sacked by us? Grant - Got relegated with two Premier League teams in back-to-back seasons. Do I need to say more? Scolari - Hasn't managed in Europe ever since. Went to Uzbekistan, Brazil, China and now back in Brazil. Won a few trophies in China but who could forget that 7-1 thrashing by Germany at the World Cup? AVB - Got sacked by Spurs, didn't last long at Zenit or even Shanghai SIPG. Out of job and his name has barely been linked with any notable club. RDM - Lasted less than a season at Schalke and only FOUR months at Aston Villa. Benitez - Got sacked after a few months at Real Madrid, took Napoli backwards and now finds himself at a non-big club. Mourinho - An odd mention but given the drama he has always caused, now again at United, can people say we were wrong to sack him despite the success?

I have my doubts about the Milan clubs going after Mourinho. Sure, they may not have won anything in ages but they seem to have a proper long term plan in place to achieving success again. We all know Mourinho is about the short term and honestly, has he genuinely improved any team in the last 8 years? He has won trophies for sure but he got them to perform really well for one season before everything went south and I don't even think United have improved under him at all. I also don't think the Milan clubs would want to deal with his drama. It's happened far too often these days. And from Mourinho's perspective, would he want to go there? Inter and Milan do not exactly have deep pockets to spend like Man City or PSG and their squads aren't A-grade either. He'll just end up complaining about the squad, like he is doing now with United. He might have to do a Benitez or Ancelotti and take a step down in terms of club stature in his next job.

Seems like United are sticking with Mourinho for the sake of sticking with the manager. Would be funny if he dragged them towards the relegation zone! Unless Mourinho decides to do a Benitez, I'm not sure which other big club would want him if/when he does get the sack. Saw some people mention Inter or even Milan but even they seem to have a long term approach these days as opposed to being desperate to win things and would they want to deal with the drama that Mourinho brings with him? We've seen it happen far too often now. People are sick and tired of it. On top of that, would Mourinho himself want to go to Inter or Milan? They may have owners who are willing to spend but they aren't capable of spending big money like Real, Man City, PSG and they don't exactly have an A squad either. Think United will win at Burnley, who have looked incapable of playing Europa League on Thursday and then the league on Sunday.

After more than 24 hours of calming down (), thought it was a good, deserved win. Can't say I was surprised by Newcastle's defensive approach but it was a quite contrast to the last time we went there. They got at us back in May and battered us and this time, it was the other way round. Didn't create as many chances but it was refreshing to see we maintained the intensity and pressure to pin them back - even if they were only interested in the point - without giving them any real encouragement. Speaking of chances, we'll definitely be facing more teams like Newcastle this season (honestly, f*** the back five!) and we gotta learn how to break these teams down better. It would also make our lives easier if we take the chances when we do get them. Pedro, Morata, Hazard, Azpi all squandered good opportunities to score! The only slight downside for me is the game management after taking the lead twice. Opposing team responding after conceding is nothing new but I don't think we necessarily managed the game well after 1-0 and 2-1. We allowed Newcastle to come at us all of a sudden and with the crowd behind them, we were suddenly under unnecessary pressure after having done well to keep them in check for so long. It wasn't as bad as against Arsenal after going 2-0 up but it does seem like it's something that needs to be worked, mentally and tactically. On a side, the referee was a farce. Countless of Newcastle players fouled Hazard but took him till late in the second half to start booking them while Kovacic got booked for his foul (or one of his few rare fouls) and he looked clueless as well with those late controversial moments. And Alan Shearer was a joke! Criticized Benitez for parking the bus at SJP against Man City last season but praised their effort this time, even Newcastle practically did the same thing, and he even found excuses for how the two goals they conceded came about.

He certainly also burned his bridges with the players. Had he stayed, half of the squad would have left!

You've not paid attention if you think Chelsea fall without Roman Abramovich... he's made them golden\ Decent piece by Martin Samuel.