Strike

agree it was a blip but as i said cant really judge the defenders on last season. this season they are going to play a very different role

the thing with luiz is not that he's bad but as a professional defender he has to cut down his mistakes. its been over a season now and he should really avoid mistakes like trying to play his way out of trouble against newcastle.. and i didnt mean the "defence" is bad but the defensive unit on the field is not as good as we think. as individuals they are good players but each one has his perks and the defence as a whole on the pitch is disjointed. last season, we had 2 players in the pivot consistently helping out the defence and in bigger games it was the whole 11 behind the ball so we really can't judge the defence on the last season. this season they are pushing a bit higher up and trying to get a hold of the game ...they are still adapting to the new role imo

its only natural to highlight the squad problems after a defeat, especially a heavy one as that. we have improved a lot from last season but given that we were a distant 6th last time around, it's expected that problems continue to persist.

agree with attacking mid but i disagree with the defence. our defence is over-rated. john terry, david luiz and gary cahill are good defenders on their day but are hardly world class. branislav ivanovic is being turned inside out by championship wingers and him and ashley cole getting forward so often doesn't really help the defence.

yeah. and to think i wrote an article praising di matteo just last week. i think we prepared for atletico like we prepare for a home game against QPR. adrian and arda turan's threat were never taken care of unlike the newcastle game where bertrand paid close attention to ben arfa. he got the balance of the team wrong here but i'm glad we didn't get the jolt we needed in a Premier League game. Now di matteo will surely be more conscious while picking the team

then yeah.. its true we were playing to Roman's standards in 2010 but i assumed sexy football meaning the one-touch passing thing they play

the thing is when we are on the ball, ivanovic, cole and lampard get forward to help the attackers. now this is good as far as we have controlled possession but as soon as the ball is lost and atletico start streaming forward, we are just chasing shadows. too often in the game, luiz, cahill and mikel were left to face a 3 v 3 counter-attack.... we really need to work on getting our defensive shape back as quickly as possible after an attack. edit: if newcastle at home was deemed as a worthy enough opponent to field bertrand and meireles, why not Atletico in a neutral venue? would've helped us stop few counters yesterday

it's been 6 hours since the game ended. i reckon the forum should be restored back to its normal self

depends on the definition of sexy. assuming sexy football meaning a high tempo passing style game, i don't think so. ance's team had a powerful attack but were by no means playing flamboyant one-touch football. it was the directness of our attacks and the sheer power of the front three along with lampard's late runs that won us the title

yeah.. under Mourinho we were a compact team with duff,robben, lamps and didier wreaking havoc upfront. under ance, we were a powerful team with malouda, anelka, lamps and didier but i don't think we ever played "sexy" football. our attacks were incisive. RDM has got the players he wants now and I can see us being as good as 06 or 10 with or without playing flamboyant passing style

yep. rome wasn't built in a day. if javi garcia is worth about 20mil, then the market is just not right on CM's. we will sign a CM though...eventually moutinho maybe available next window now that he pissed on Tottenham's wounds

they will get it together. anything we do next will be an improvement. but the defensive mishaps are worrying now. a defence which kept an attack of cavani, lavezzi, hamsik and maggio at bay a mere 6 months ago suddenly can't handle falcao and adrian? me thinks its because we are not regaining our defensive shape quickly after an attack

Oriol Romeu <---- that's why Essien was loaned out

atletico just took a piss on us but i don't think it's anything to worry about. just have to concentrate better in defence against quick counter attacking teams.

yeah mate. not serious but what happens exactly though? you look around for english forums of the club concerned and post your questions there?

Steve doesn't deserve the beer... TC members suggested the questions! but if anyone deserves a beer, its Derek Maaijen for the response he has given to the questions

Shakhtar Away 3 days before United at home in the league. Will have to rest players for that. shouldn't be too hard edit: Juve away right before City home. oh dear

this deal makes no sense. letting dan go will leave us with only 7 senior Home-Grown Players - Turnbull, Cahill, Terry, Cole, Bertrand, Lampard and Moses. that means we have to register a reserve player in the 25 man squad. Daniel Sturridge is needed in the squad for this simple reason

Let's see if they can make use of it this time

its allright. as long as we avoid dortmund in pot 4, this is a doable group

wouldn't mind valencia i guess Last two times we've got Valencia we've reached the final. And the final is at Wembley this time

oh come on mate. relax. it'll be fine. we'll probably get a russian or ukrainian team though. there are 3-4 of them in pot 2

the other half of the story

probably but the fixtures we have after the CL games look intimidating. so probably wouldn't want a toughish team as well.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19385661 A really good read about what actually happens on transfer deadline day across Europe