robsblubot

Lol I guess it applies to both.

Isn't he too injury-prone? Makes his price tag a bit unpalatable.

because Wenger knows so much about defending... Terry is indeed a leader, but before that, he's a very good player and defender. Jose would say he's the specialist in a very different category.

that's factually incorrect as I've posted stats proving otherwise on this thread. Their "defense" was pretty good in the beginning of the season, while their attack was misfiring. Besides, there is no defense. This is not american football where there is a defense team. Otherwise we'd have to conclude that Thiago Silva is the reason PSG has been poor in defense lately as he was not playing in the beginning of the season when PSG were solid at the back. Just to clarify: I don't watch their league so he might've been really poor - don't really care. I actually thought he was pretty poor against Barcelona away (I do watch CL) and posted so on this thread. Their GK isn't that great either IMO. And Thiago Motta is a bit past his prime which will make things difficult for whoever plays in CB. Frankly, Luiz blunders or not, I don't think much of PSG as a team. BTW, Thiago Silva is overrated too.

I think you are both missing something quite obvious: mikel and cahill are playing at their best while Oscar isn't.Mikel is 27 and cahill is 29. Oscar is 23! u just don't buy the top players because the top clubs won't let them go. So u buy and develop the unfinish product... Oscar may or may not become the real deal, but chelsea and jose believe he has the potential. So does brazil management. There are no guarantees obviously. Here is a crazy idea: you both may actually have no clue about whether he will improve at all or by how much. I don't either, but I am not the one claiming to. Though my wild guess is that he's bound to improve some, whether enough that's not certain.

There are three certain things in life: death, taxes, and a reply from didierforever. Honestly, I obviously watched the game, in fact I did after already knowing the result, so I was paying attention to what the players were doing; how much they were contributing in their roles. Hazard had a poor game (isolated is the oldest excuse in the book) for me, as did William, and Fabregas. Oscar was at the same level, but managed to produce the final ball for both goals so I am not going to complain today. Because we did very little aside from those two goals. I reckon all agree that Oscar needs to improve, but being only 23, he is bound to improve.

Right my point is that things don't happen in vacuum. There is a reason our attacking mids struggled today. Hazard wasn't great. William had no shot on target did he? Oscar wasn't great but not as poor as you claim either - he did have a terrible start of the game though.

Not a great game but credit where credit is due. He made the run, which made himself available for the tap in. He had a freaking assist from a very clever flick. More than fabregas had going forward today. Or hazard? Also credit to Newcastle for making passing in the final third difficult for us.

frenchie... watch out for Wenger!

JT record number of open play goals by a defender in the PL. Richard Dunne record number of own goals by a defender in the PL.

Have a good feeling about that Didier striker kid - hope he has a good game tomorrow today. Call me crazy, but I reckon he's got enough potential to become an important player for us in the future.

he was definitely not at fault in any of the 5 goals. However, he did not make any fantastic save (perhaps one good one), which he is capable of. So, I'd rate him a 6/10, which is low for a keeper of his quality. On Courtois vs Neuer, it's like apples vs oranges... Courtois is better in a low block/deep line as his height helps dominate the packed area and Neuer is better for high and very high defense lines.

Agree with that. However, I think we are about 3 signings away from CL contention - unless one of the younger AMs massively improves. I'm not sure we are going to get the PL. City has a much larger squad, which helps them in a long competition like the PL. They've been out of Aguero and Dzeko, and Jovetic comes in and scores for them...

The most obvious one: Matic. I don't usually feel too bad when a player leaves the club, because unless he's forced out, he wanted out for one reason or another. Even if he's forced out, then the club did not want the player any longer (or the money was too good). Regardless, there was a reason for the departure and that reason wouldn't go away by sheer magic.

Way back then a number of us warned about this. * shameless self-quoting on my part. Cahill is not in bad form; he's playing his usual solid, decent, game. The protection around him is what has changed and he is struggling because he's now very exposed to attackers pace, skill, and power. It was no accident that he was doing so well for Chelsea last season and then suddenly, not so well for England. Again, he's not a terrible player, but he's not and never will be (at 29) world class either. As Terry ages and loses pace and power, we will need a proper replacement. Perhaps it's already past due as Terry shouldn't be playing twice a week+ as he has done lately. I think we missed out on Godin, but as we change the system, perhaps we want a different type of defender: a ball playing one, like Luiz, without Luiz eccentricity.

from him being a solid CB?! It's not like a completely different trade skill is it? Solid (tall) DM have been employed as CBs hundred times before... CBs in midfield too (D. Luiz).

People write here as if players were incapable of staying back, positioned, which is actually the easy thing to do. The difficult one is to go forward, beat players, and provide nice crosses - esp when under pressure and in pace. And then having to track back quickly when beaten. Come on... Ivanovic isn't a bad player. He's a very good defender both as FB and CB. However, as a FB he doesn't have the pace to recover, so he needs support when moving up the pitch. Here are the possibilities in my mind: 1) Jose instructed Iva to bomb forward - most likely scenario as Azpi doesn't usually do that. 2) Jose instructed Iva to stick to defensive position (deep) and Iva ignored his manager - reckon Jose would've subbed his big ass off in a heartbeat in such case. While we had a number of poor performances, a large final score points to the manager. Something in his strategy did not work; either because the players were too tired to execute, or it was just wrong; former far more likely. With all that out of the way, I don't think Iva is good enough as an attacking FB and much prefer him sitting back as a 3rd CB/defensive FB. Azpi and Iva are interchangeable as FBs, with Azpi better recovering and pace, and IVa better in the air with power. Both defensive. Luis is the one who can attack with some quality.

That's pretty much the definition of a center mid....

That's not what I wrote: he is always the one subbed. perhaps they know something we don't about his physique, in which case he may be in the loop.

I meant right now. Ramires looks physically weak going to the ground often which is not normal.

This game was never about creating chances. Would have been quite happy with a 1x1. Heh difficult to judge was we were chasing the game and the whole team was going for it. The defense was even more leaky in the second half though. No I did not like Ramires performance as he looked weak (physically).

Disagree on that one as our first goal came off an Oscar shot, misplaced yes, but he was in the right spot. Was passing well as well,but certainly wasn't doing the hard working part he is known for.For me the second half performance was worse than the first. We keep on subbing him on every match he may become delusioned as at 23 he needs games to develop.unless he wasn't 100% which is quite possible.

Or perhaps he couldn't do the things he normally does. Unfortunately we don't have access to fitness level information, obviously. Don't think Ramires was any better as he spent most of the second half on the ground.

Terrible performances all around with the notable exception of hazard who was amazing, and Azpi who was good. I honestly see more potential in Kane than I did in Rooney back then. Didn't quite agree with Ramires coming on for Oscar; Fabregas looked really tired to me. I do understand why Ramires hasn't been playing though as he is completely off form

Agreed Didn't see all that Spurs dominance, just an even game aside from our defensive mistakes.