Leif

People, as usual, seem to overrate almost all of our players and are blind. Yes. I agree with you. Our subs/reserve options on the bench are pretty shit. Not long ago you'd usually have either 1 of Essien/Ballack in their prime on the bench sitting alongside a ripe Deco. You'd have the likes of Alex/Carvalho etc. competing for a spot beside Terry (and Ivanovic during his central spells). Up front there could have been Drogba (prime), Anelka, Kalou (heh), and at times players like Crespo etc. For the wings there were options of Malouda, Cole, Anelka (again) & Robben at a point. Now we've got Ramires instead of Essien/Ballack, Marin instead of prime-Malouda/Robben, Motherfucking Benayoun instead of Deco, Moses instead of Coley or Kalou (who I believe is the more all-round player), and erratic Luiz, off-form Ivanovic, past-prime Terry & not-good-enough Cahill competing for the central roles. We even had Wayne Bridge competing for a spot with Ashley Cole! Now it's, er, Bertrand. We had Mikel on the bench, which is where he should be right now IMO (although there is no better choice at this point) with Makelele as the starter. We have possibly the 2 worst back-up 'keepers in the league (somehow) where at one point we had bloody Cudicini on the bench! People need to understand that both last season and this season we have been and currently are punching above our weight. This is how Liverpool began to fall. All the signs are the same. Not all that long ago our 2nd-string team could have consisted of Essien, Anelka, Mikel, Bridge, Deco, Robben (depending on form) and I just find it sad.

In our entire squad, excluding loans, look how many players are in their prime - Mata (maybe) Mikel (depending on who you ask) Ba Cahill That's 4 players in their 'prime'. Now out of those 4 players, how many of them could walk into almost any side in the world? Who is actually a top player? 1. Mata. That's it. How this loss comes as a surprise to anyone baffles me. We don't have top players. We have a top player. This is just a sign of things to come unless someone like Jose comes and fixes shit. Cech is past his best. As are Terry, Cole (yes I know he wasn't involved today), Lampard, Ivanovic, Torres, Ferreira, Benayoun etc. As for players yet to reach their best, Luiz is certainly taking his time, Ramires is a yo-yo, Oscar looks like he'll take quite a while, Moses doesn't look to have as high of a ceiling as first thought, Marin is shit, Azpi will be very solid in the near future, and then that's it. We are a shamble of a team. Full of has-beens and too many 'prospects'. The only players I consider currently good enough for a team with our aspirations are Cech, Cole, Mata, Hazard, Azpi. That's it. It's fucking sad. Fuck the board. This one is not down to Rafa.

"Give him time" - If i read that one more time I will flip. Me, along with plenty other members on here and people who actually watch the Bundesliga have been preaching since we signed him that he is not a good player. Werder Bremen fans were thankful when we signed him from them while Bundesliga experts questioned the move and some even laughed. I really hope people don't keep protecting him. He's done nothing wrong, but he's also done very little right and is not good enough for a top club.

Champions of fuck ups, We know what we are...

That Cork kid is decent. We should sign him...

Are we playing more of a 4-1-4-1?

Marin has 0% pass success so far. Okay that just changed.

On the bench yet again.

I just don't understand how Benitez is still a manager.

Good chance for Oscar to step up. Think Bertrand could get torn up today though. Do we say 'bye-bye' to Hazard's form now?

Oh shit you're right actually! GET MATA INTO INTENSIVE CARE IMMEDIATELY!!

Aside from 19 minutes for Spain, Mata has had 2 weeks rest... Surely he actually needs to regain match fitness after so long off? I would've had him travel and bring him on for the last 30mins or so if it was a decent move during the game to at least prep him a bit for United.

Apparently Mata hasn't travelled for the game.

Villa are much harder than Sporting IMO.

Told you guys Gourlay is a dickhead.

This season he averages almost exactly 1 goal every 2 games.

We're shit when it comes to loans (in general, but better this season definitely) and getting any youth players into our team, but we really do have the best young players in the world at our club IMO. A handful of our current youngsters have the potential to be playing Champions League football some day for some teams out there; hopefully one or two (or more) with us.

I can no longer just dismiss in my mind the obvious comparison between Baker & Lampard. It's just so.. blatant and there. I always thought of Lampard as a once in a lifetime talent, and he probably is.. but Baker is bloody close. Or maybe he's more Dennis Wise? I don't know. He's amazing though.

#DermotDrummyIN

Baker. Captain. Leader. Legend.

Well you can't say we don't entertain neutral fans.. heh

#DDOut

I'd be quite a bad football club owner you know. I'd do shit a la Roman. I'd sack Dummy over this, no doubt. I honestly would, despite anything/everything he's done for the youth team before. Or at least reduce his role and get a proper tactician in to coach the youth. Perhaps steal someone from the Ajax set up.

Dermot Dummy (not a typo) has thrown away the game completely. Taken off the attacking players and destroyed it for us. Absolute idiot.

Yep. Gotta blame the manager. Doing what our first team manager's do which others don't - Taking off our best, attacking players and bringing on average ones to 'defend a lead', thus invite pressure and allow the opposition to score.