robsblubot

Interesting point. Not sure I would, or whether it's even possible to measure talent as a single gauge in football. For example, there are things the manager can ask of Oscar, but not of Hazard and the same works for Hazard too. A point I made in a different thread however would have me agreeing with you in terms of valuation, as attacking players are indeed more valuable; which would make Hazard more valuable. In general though, they are very different players and reckon a team which has both - very talented with very complementary characteristics - must be a very lucky team indeed. Is it just luck though? just look at Arsenal and how they pile up on the same player which leads to a very unbalanced team.

If the blocking is done as of closing down the player about to take the shot then absolutely. Now shots from outside the box when the defenders are far away, our CBs are usually far away as they always stay deep, then I completely disagree (that they should attempt to block) and the first goal was also a mistake to me. All that these blocking attempts accomplish is to deflect the shots and make it a lot harder for Courtois. We have a World Class keeper and should trust him more. Shots from afar should not be blocked unless of course the GK is out of position.

Fabregas and hazard were a bit below their usual, but the opposition has merit when our players struggle, when being put under pressure at all times. As good as Matic was, for me without Costa there was no win today. Subs were spot on as Ramires was not doing anything Oscar couldn't do. That Oscar pass to Ramires was really something. One of our biggest weaknesses was showcased by that goal. We can only defend deep so if ours cms are slightly out of position, which can be due to opposition movement, these types of shots can happen. Thankfully our gk is WC. Have to say that was a pk for me though. Gary should not be doing that type of blocking - trust your Wc gk behind you! Despite the goal thought Gary wast that great to be honest. Azpi was absolutely fantastic. Humiliating coutinho was just the icing on the cake.

Normally I'd agree with that, but reckon Savage is spot on this time around - fluke or not. Gary Neville is now to biased, especially concerning English players.

agreed, but it really gets interesting once you start looking into the subs.... would Willian and Andre NOT start for liverpool? How about Cech or even Zouma?

Not sure whether it's been linked on this thread, but I thought it was a pretty good read: http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/29945991

Andre is 23, so I'm pretty sure he'll get his playing time to develop. However, I am not so sure about Willian, 26.

I guess you are right - all because of that stupid draw against Shalke

Starting lineup is way too strong for this. If Ake, Baker and Christaensen can't play today, perhaps they should be on loan elsewhere? Otherwise what's the point?

Only Sterling is being rested - the others are interchangeable. Hope you are not referring to Gerrard.... even though to be fair, he prob did not ask to play as the sole holding mid. Though I can't imagine why we wouldn't rest some players tomorrow. The club know which players are in need of a rest of course - there are routine tests that determine that.

Wish Jose had played a far more adventurous line up in the first match against these guys, and now used the lineup he actually end up starting with back then. An away game is not for youngster with no confidence. Game could get physical - "No one comes into our house and pushes us around." Do not play costa under no circumcision.

I disagree it was a mistake. He could have done better, but it was't a punch so he did not have that much control there. The defense was sitting too deep and did not react quickly enough - kinda see that too often. He is already a lot better than Cech, so I don't think it's a matter of giving the younger player a run because "he is the future." Jose is merely starting the better player. Obviously Cech is still an excellent GK, which makes him staying all the more surprising.

We had most of possession, but we did not control the match. QPR are a very poor side and still managed to create us problems. We will always struggle against teams who park the bus at the bridge. Again, just by arithmetic and characteristics, we just know we cannot attack with 10 players because our defense line has no attacking quality aside from set pieces especially when they sit deep. In the last two PL matches, Cahill attempted 3 long balls and he missed all 3 of them. Terry did not move up enough to even try them. So, it is still a cautious low block even when playing QPR at home. That's the difference from the Cl outfit wheen even Terry managed to score: we moved our defense line up because the opponent was crap, even compared to QPR. We won because of the brilliance of two players: Oscar and Hazard. BTW, that was not a penalty for me.

Don't worry about losing Rio for this match, we still got Richard Dunne.

Just mark Eduardo Vargas who is their best player by far. This guy has been on loan for ever. Napoli doesn't seem to like him even though he plays very well for Chile.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/02/jose-mourino-eden-hazard-chelsea-sacrifice-himself I understand your points, but my point remains: it's Jose's team. He did not like a flamboyant defender and sold him. He did not like an assist machine and sold him. Despite of what people on here say, Oscar remains his go to man. @Rom2013, agree to disagree because for me Ozil cannot defend to save his life. His languid pace prevents any serious defending from happening.

Ozil cannot defend. He will never be able to defend because he's not quick enough. He also has very low work rate; some would say he's a bit lazy on the pitch. Hazard is our Ozil (but quick and works harder) and Jose only allows one player to have somewhat of a free role on his squad and that role is taken by Hazard. There won't be another. Once again Ozil was available. As was Mata (for free too!). And yet Jose sticks with Oscar because he doesn't want a 10 (already has one); he wants a number 8 - take a hint from the number on his back.

Costa

easy guys... freshly arrived young players typically go through some physical preparation to increase this or that physical aspect (usually muscle mass), which in turn hinders their progress a bit short term. Now, I am not saying this is the case here as I don't have the info, but it is typical. The club won't say it though as this would be fodder for our opponents.

Very similar player to David Luiz in terms of characteristics. Just can't see Jose going for him, and not sure Hummels himself would be happy having to keep position as he also likes to move forward when in possession. Player for a different type of manager and team setup.

This Oscar some people around here want, the guy with lots of creativity, great touches, an assist machine... who cannot defend to save his life... well that was Juan Mata! Yet Oscar stayed and Mata is gone. So, it really comes down to jose's preferences as to how his squad should play and the characteristics of the players in the starting XI. Reckon that what people dislike about Oscar, that he is too defensive in the AM position, is exactly what Jose wants from him. Which brings me to my last point: perhaps Oscar cannot do ALL defensive work that Jose asks him to do AND produce as much when going forward; I mean something's gotta give and perhaps Oscar is indeed sacrificing himself for the team. Whatever it is, it seems to be working.

Oscar is far more similar to Fabregas than Willian. While Fabregas has better technique, Oscar is more rounded and better at defending. Pass completion is a useful stat for players whose jobs involve keeping possession of the football. That is hardly what Oscar is on the pitch to do. Granted, his pass-completion should never go into the teens, but having a high percentage of completion means very little without realizing the quality of those passes. Was the team setup for counters or possession? That’s another big variable in taking that controversial stat – all down to not knowing what Jose told them to do. He did misplaced most if not all his through balls in the first half. Kudos to United for blocking well, but also shame on Oscar for not mixing it up a bit. However, on the second half he did much better and I reckon Jose taking him off was a mistake. He also set up a goal by making the run and brilliantly waiting until the play unfolded so Didier could get into position – shocking miss by Didier though.

Opposition... Been warning people (or trying to) that the trashing of that outfit midweek was only natural due to the difference in quality. in football, your opposition has a say in what you can accomplish on the pitch. United had a good match and that caused us problems. I'm glad Falcao did not play otherwise the "problems" might have been goals. It was difficult for Fabregas and Oscar to pick up passes and keep possession as gaps were quickly closed and pressure was constant. This was even more evident against City as they are better than United atm. Still we had our chances and missed a couple of siters (Hazard and Drogba), so can't complain too much of our volume of play - it's not like United had 70% (cityesque) possession.

proof that you watched a different game... --- Had we faced united of old and this would have been a good result. This united however, will lose points to many teams as they have already. We did not play a great game and Courtois was incredible. I concur with others... if your keeper is MoTM you cannot claim dominance. Fellaini is really good in the air, so it was always going to be difficult for Cahill. Though RVP was all alone and that was the real mistake IMO. We lost control of the match as soon as Mikel came on and even by his (IMO low) standards he did not have that great a match giving the ball away when under pressure. Oscar wasn't great, but was obviously doing important things on the pitch with interceptions and making good runs like that one fantastic assist to Drogba.

The difference between Oscar from this and last season is Fabregas. Oscar is improving obviously as he young and learning the trait, but it is quite obvous that having Fabregas on the squad has made a huge difference for him. Fabregas (and Costa too) is opening up spaces that were not available for Oscar last season. This oculd be Oscar's season. The conditions are there for him to shine.