Leif

Cech sounding like a captain here:-

If he gives Marin a start vs. Fulham i'll happily lick his presumably cheesy feet.

I'd probably go with; Cech; Azpi, Ivan, Cahill, Cole; Mikel, Ramires; Hazard, Oscar, Sturridge (is he back yet?); Torres If Studge still isn't available I'd go with Marin or Moses. I really want Mata to get a game off. Lots of people on Twitter are saying Bertrand and Marin should play. I personally feel this is a must-win and Fulham shouldn't be underestimated. We're also now building on our defence with Rafa in charge, and after our first clean-sheet in ages, it would be a shame to make drastic changes to the back-line.

His penalty was one of the best I've ever seen.. although the camera angle may be deceiving me a bit. http://footyroom.com/atletico-madrid-4-0-sevilla-2012-11/

At least Stamford Bridge is a fortress again!!!... for around half a week.

Half-way through Atletico Madrid - Sevilla. Atletico winning 3-0. Maybe this is the actual reason Falcao isn't playing in the Europa League this season? Maybe Atletico believe that they can actually challenge the top 2 for the title so want to keep him fresh? It's not impossible! (Oh and yes, Falcao scored...and assisted the other 2 I believe.)

He wasn't actually that great today infront of goal. Took him a few golden opportunities to seize one. That aside though, his passing was rather good, and he put a few teammates in on goal multiple times. Elsewhere on the pitch, Kalas was great as usual. He hasn't been anything other than great this season really. PvA had one of his better games. Got forward lots, but didn't defend well enough. Usually he doesn't do either too well though! I think he's still settling in and finding his feet. He would have gotten an assist near the end of the match to make it 1-3 if a striker was in the box, but instead of cross just scuffed across goal and went out for a goalkick.

When defending, we're playing 2 banks of four, Torres up-top, and then Oscar in a Gerrard-type role as support to Torres it would seem with Mata out right.

We're getting the ball out of the back quite well when we're about to counter-attack. It's sort of a pronged shape of 3 players. A triangle I guess. 2 deeper players; 1 more advanced player, and then they move forward together. Good stuff.

Passing aside, it looks like our team has more 'direction' than usual. Good sign.

Assuming we don't lose this 10-0, I have to say... I'm already seeing a huge improvement. There's a bit of zonal marking going on and, so far, I like it.

That one pass from Luiz invited all that pressure for a minute.

Hi. Try and defend Luiz for giving Manchester City that dangerous attack there. Anyone. Thanks.

Someone answer this please - Why are Fox Soccer showing Ramires on the right with Mikel on the left in the centre? WhoScored do this too as does Fifa 13 in the default Chelsea formation.

GOAAAL!!! BONY GIVES VITESSE A 1-2 AWAY LEAD VS. TABLE-TOPPERS PSV!!!!

Man City XI: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Nastasic, Kolarov, Yaya, Barry, Silva, Milner, Dzeko, Aguero

SWANSEA CITY: Tremmel, Rangel, Williams ©, Chico, Davies, Britton, de Guzman, Routledge, Hernandez, Michu, Shechter

LIVERPOOL: Reina, Johnson, Agger, Skrtel, Enrique, Allen, Gerrard ©, Henderson, Downing, Sterling, Suarez

I had a dream surprisingly about this game last night! We lined up - Cech; Azpi, Ivan, Cahill, Cole; Mikel, Romeu; Ramires, Mata, Moses; Torres. Long story short - We got destroyed 1-7.

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The first assist was very good. The 2nd assist shouldn't have lead to a goal. Very bad defending. Still counts though. Never saw a 3rd assist. Is everyone counting his penalty win as the 3rd?

Can't wait to see his assists on the League Show tonight!

REAL BETISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3

This made me smile

Arsenal just pass to the feet these days. They really need to ditch this 4-3-3 and go back to what I think was a slightly hybrid version of a 4-2-2 or 4-2-3-1 from a few years ago. It was ultimate attack and counter-attack (depending who they faced). Not fancy rubbish. Just goals, goals, goals. I know it looks like this doesn't focus enough on defence, but I'm sure it'd outscore the opposition and still retain possession well. They need a new defensive midfielder, that much is obvious. But with the players they have now, I'd say that assuming Podolski and Cazorla worked on their defensive duties more and the 2 central midfielders held their position in the middle well, this should be an option for what they go for the rest of the season (if no one is/was injured, of course). Walcott would play as a nippy little striker who assists and scores - and completely confuses the opposition defence. Allot like Hernandez does when he comes on for United. Giroud needs to work on his aerial ability a bit, but once he does, he'll be great at holding up the ball and laying off little balls for Walcott to take advantage of. Podolski has a good enough work rate to be an all-purpose midfielder on that side while Cazorla can drift in at times when needed, with Walcott going out wide to the right when the wing needs more pace and the centre needs more control.