Strike

As they say, 'An Animal is Most Dangerous When Cornered and Wounded' Jose will come here with a point to prove

That is not entirely true. When Chelsea drew 2-2 at Old Trafford, there was more praise for Rafa than the team. "Subs changed the game", "Rafa silences Man United" etc

Very small possibility of a playoff. I wonder why the dumb-heads in the FA cannot think of adding a "Head to Head". Many associations in Europe have it as the first tiebreaker

@Shogun, Wow. Muchacho who?

True that. It's a myth. Jose is not gonna come here and reminiscence about 2004-05. He will want to top that!

You better put some effort on the Opposition Views Take pointers from Muchacho last week

Left alone. Jay Rodriguez plays on the Left for Soton (seen Lambert a couple of times as well) under Pochettino and as you can expect he's left alone a lot. Can't blame Rodriguez (and Lambert sometimes) as they are basically strikers played out of position He's had a few games where he's overrun 2 on 1. example Reading, but for his age, i think it's normal for fullbacks to have testing games. Usually reliable and solid. Would love to sign him but we can't loan him to a PL club the window we sign him. So, the club has to play the waiting game I think

Hated him. Hate him. Will Hate him. Forever

Arsenal are close to signing 20-year-old Auxerre striker Yaya Sanogo. "It is in advanced stages but it is not done," manager Arsene Wenger told Arsenal.com. - Wenger must be playing FM

No. Not even good for backup

I like him

Mata should be CAM but that doesn't mean Oscar should never be used there. Oscar offers much more in terms of tracking back. I would love to see Oscar played at CAM instead of Mata when protecting leads or against teams like Barca where Mata will be ineffective

The thing is Hazard is good even on the wing and Mata is not. For such a great player, Mata is a tactical liability

There is a good chance that deep midfield role will limit him. In the 4-2-3-1 Chelsea play now, the midfield duo are very deep. More often they are CDM rather than CM. Even if he's played in midfield with the intention of attacking, he will need to fall back to cover for Mata's (lack of) tracking back.

Alternating being the key word there. He has played at CAM at various stages of the game and has a tendency to drift central but never had a good run at CAM

I like that. There is little chance of getting over-run in that midfield except for down the flank (Ashley Cole) but Mata in the wing shouldn't be considered as a permanent option imo. He has CAM locked up Mata stands between Oscar and a central role. If we do sign a solid midfielder in the summer, Oscar could adapt to a DLP role. Assuming Mourinho returns, it is unlikely Oscar will be shunted out wide. Mourinho will most likely want to have faster wingers - Duff/Robben, di Maria/Ronaldo - and put Oscar in the midfielder role

Disagree with Oscar on the wing. He should play more central. He's shown that he's no mug while challenging for the ball and his workrate is great for a player of his kind.

Mata's dribbling ability is nowhere near Hazard. Up-front, Mata will have even lesser space than at CAM. Hazard at CF is a better topic for discussion

I rate Fernandinho's ability to go into a 50-50 and come out with the ball. It's too bad that he's peaked late or been noticed late. 27 is not too late but I can see the club going in a different direction

He hasn't been used as a 10 at Chelsea. Played there for Belgium a lot I think

Excellent in the Champions League this season. Mobile and an able tackler. He would be a revelation in a 4-3-3 but City are destined to snag him

If Mata had electric pace, then in theory, this could have worked but it does hinder his qualities more than elevate it. At CAM, he looks in front of him and picks out a chipped ball or a through ball. As an ST, he would be looking to make those runs to get on the end of the through balls.

He won't get into trouble as well. All is good

Very remote chance of getting him but that would be a beast attack

For me, this hasn't been pursued enough - Oscar in the deeper midfield role. His favoured position is CAM but since Mata is a sure starter there, Oscar has to adapt and I think he'll do better centrally than on the flanks. Oscar-Mikel is asking for trouble though. Need a new DM