Leif

What's the point in recalling youngsters if they can't even play vs. these small sides?

That's just plain untrue. Dasilva is not 5'4, 5'5, nor is he 5'6, he's a stonking 5'7. I'm finding only one source online saying Dasilva is 5'4 (makes sense that they wouldn't update such minor players even more minor stats for a few years), that source is WhoScored. I can find you 10 sources right now, I have 5 open, which all state 5'7, including Chelsea-affiliated websites & Fifa & others. And I can find you Youtube videos of him playing alongside shorter players, and other players billed at 5'7 who look him directly in the eyes. He's even 5'7 on Fifa 17 & Football Manager. He was literally only signed on loan because their player was injured, and that player is no longer needing filled in for. Thus he gets no game time. Nothing to do with anything else.

He's marginally taller than Jordi Alba The greatest full back to ever grace our league was just 2 inches taller He's taller than Roberto Carlos wasHe's the same height as Lahm He's the same height as Dani Alves. He's 18 & playing against people twice his age in a league which values physical strength over technical ability (unlike the Premier League, where he should be playing), after being our best youth player despite being 2+ years younger than the rest. Ask him to build some more strength maybe, but he isn't diminutive A very quick Google/Forum/Twitter search reveals Charlton fans harp on about him not playing & are bewildered that he doesn't (and when he does, it's out of position in midfield apparently.) Let's not make up reasons for his lack of game time without even watching him. As is usually the case with feeder clubs, they'd much rather develop the talent which is their own, which will still be there next season, than gamble on someone they drafted in as back-up on loan. He isn't failing, the loan system is, again. But then again, he's only been there for about 7 weeks. Give an 18 year old being used as a substitute out of position, more than 7 weeks, come on. It's no coincidence our very best youth, Dasilva, Boga, Musonda, are now unheard of. They're flower-pickers who've been put into war zones. Or, military men put into gardening projects. It's nothing to do with them and everything to do with the environment the management choose to put them in. Put any of these players into Liverpool or Tottenham's teams and we'd be gagging for them. Questioning these players is questioning our own rationality.

Genuinely one of the most important signings we ever made. As instrumental to our CL victory as Lampard & Drogba. In every game that campaign he put in a MOTM performance. I miss his braces.

If we're comparing players who grew up & developed as strikers vs. players who grew up & developed as wingers I'll have to add I think Suarez is better than Ribery.

I'm so stoked at the scoreline so far Get it stoked

Unfortunately, Sanchez's 1.5-second-long giggle was caused by a fan running onto the pitch it seems, and obviously when the camera was on him he knew how it looked, so instantly got rid of the giggles. And yet despite that, Arsenal fans aren't even reading stories or rewatching the game to see what happened, just wrongly presuming he was laughing at the scoreline, and thus saying he needs to be the first one to leave. All their fans are lunatics. I'd say the majority of their London fans under 40 yrs old dropped out of school to sell weed for a rapper.

Other than Ibra, who in that United side often produces individual brilliance which leads to a goal? I can't think of any. The closest they have is our love Mata, who could likely strike something in if the ball falls to his feet during a corner, or if he gets a jammy free-kick. Rooney is done. He'll keep scoring sometimes, but he's no burning threat. But perhaps Mkhitaryan may be the biggest threat (I'm unconvinced regarding his big-game form though), followed by Mata & potentially Martial if he plays. He's simply too quick for all but 1 of our defenders. I can see him being our next Javier Hernandez thorn if he stays at United for a long haul.

Fun fact - the first time I saw Arsenal beat us was the first time football made me feel depressed to my core.

For once, a lot of Arsenal fans are actually saying, no, not Wenger's fault this time, it's the ref & the fact Bayern are brilliant. But, would Jose, Guardiola, Conte, even Poch, allow their team to be beaten 5-1 TWICE in a season? Nevermind vs. the exact same team that they've been given ample time to break down in the tactics room. Losing a player to a red card is no excuse; no other top team suffers like this more than once a season. It must be down to Wenger's fault; perhaps not on the night, but perhaps in the last, and the last, and the last one before that, transfer windows. Though in that case, the owner and co. need lynched too, which Arsenal fans are coming around to.

I'd like to see ex-managers or assistant coaches become commentators. They'd offer a brand new insight which nobody currently does on-air. These ex-players know a fraction about tactics compared to their bosses (usually).

This is my first and hopefully last time experiencing Phil Neville on commentary. I wondered why Gary was making stupid statements which all of us could see, adding nothing at all to the perspective, then of course, realised the voice was just that bit higher/more annoying, and of course it is indeed the less talented brother. How on earth do some of these ex footballers get these presenting jobs? Do they have the best agency behind them in the world? It's not good business for whichever network hires them, i don't get it from their POV.

Oh absolutely. Costa > Drogba, Alonso > Cole, Matic > Ballack, Kante > Essien, Cahill > Terry, Courtois > Cech, It's obvious.

Finally he's matched the goal tally of rival winger Mane, who is 2 years younger, and was away for the AFCON. We're kidding ourselves if we say he's above and beyond the best in his position in the league. Most talented? Without doubt. Most effective? Nope. Joint-1st place with like 4 other players. Still very glad to have him. But I won't rest until we see him with more realism than idealism.

Being signed by the team you apparently grew up supporting, achieving the true dream which so few players get the joy of experiencing, and leaving while you're still underage to drink in many countries, shows terrible mentality. It doesn't matter if he thinks he was ready for a bigger role (he was) or if he believed another few seasons on the bench would've ruined his career (to an extent it would've). Who the hell just leaves the club they grew up supporting, especially when they're not being forced out? If it was about proving himself, he could've asked for another loan. He's simply an odd bloke, and my gut tells me he supported us for around 3 years after growing tired of only following a side in Belgium, especially since his brother picked up Arsenal. How else could he be so hot-and-cold? Regardless, I can't be the only one to see through the mirage of marketing surely, especially that video of him at Stamford Bridge, and the stories put out (via his agent & publicist) comparing him to Drogba etc. All geared towards Lukaku getting a big deal from us. He didn't show an ounce of desire on the pitch for me. He still doesn't now. He's already made it; playing in the best league, compared to his 'idol', signed by a real top team, etc. There's nothing left to motivate him, and I want motivated players. If we're talking about on-the-field attitude, he jogs like Berbatov and throws a frustrated face and up-in-arms gesture towards players who aim a perfect ball for him, only for himself to not anticipate it correctly and have it end up with the opposition. When he does score, his celebrations then imply he's been trying hard for 90 minutes. He's no upgrade on Costa; same weaknesses, same strengths. To a T. Except Lukaku is an inch faster, and scores an inch more goals (which I myself still barely accept as reality since it's so messed up when taken into account what's been said about both.)

Well yes. That would be exceptional. Being ahead by 3 points wouldn't be, that wouldn't be great. Ahead by 10 points? Now we're in the territory of good, for some people great. But there's plenty of great teams, and you only come out on top again and again if you raise your game to exceptional. So yes, I do expect us to do what Juve have done, essentially twice, what Arsenal have done, twice, what we would've done only if we implemented our formation from day 1, not after the Arsenal loss. With the consistency of formation in place, all you need is 1 player more in this team, whether he replaces Matic or Costa, to push us over the edge into exceptional. Managing to upgrade in solely 1 of those 2 areas would bring us just into the level for my exceptional standard to be met next season

Would anyone happily take a hybrid player who was made of Lukaku's touch, Defoe's scoring ability, Giroud's pace and Aguero's heading ability? He'd be about as strong as that Lukaku bloke too, or even Akinfenwa. Does that sound enticing, and good enough? Or does it sound sickening like it should? To me it sounds familiar.

Yup, if there were 3 players I'd rush to put in my top 10 Premier League strikers of all time, it'd be Ibrahimovic, Costa and Harry Kane. Because I'm 13.

He has 6 more league goals than a winger the majority believe doesn't score enough. He currently scores as much as we expect from an assist-orientated player. And it's his goalscoring which is apparently his strength I look at these 17 league goals of his, and wonder, if the people thinking that's good enough witnessed Drogba get 30 in 2009 (a certain midfielder got 22 that season). In 2011 RVP got 30. Next season, he got 26 while Suarez in a 1-man-team got 23. Next season, Suarez got 31, Sturridge got 22, and Yaya Toure of all people had 20. Next season, Aguero had 26, Kane had 21. Costa had 20 (his highest still.) Last season? Kane had 25, Aguero & Vardy had 24, and Lukaku with his shortcomings and weak teammates got 18 (which he's yet again surpassing this season; strides). Costa got 12, which is less than Ighalo ("who did he play for again?") Kane consistenly gets 20+ season after season, as do Aguero, Suarez, (get ready to add Lukaku to the club), Higuain, Lewandowski, Benzema, Icardi and more. Will Costa ever get us 20 league goals in back to back seasons? I seriously, seriously doubt it. Clearly he isn't a clinical poacher then. We've established he's no target man (that's what Drogba was, and what Lewandowski is. It takes link-up play.) He isn't Mr mc. Pacey, nor is he some sort of Dybala/Bergkamp freak-dribbler. So, he's just a bog standard, jack of all trades striker compared to every other top team, and compared to the standard that's been set here. Don't forget, all of these players especially Drogba, got far many goals while also bringing qualities to the team, like assists, link-up play, defending set-pieces, taking set-pieces. Costa would have to give up his entire shoddy game and do nothing more than creep outside the box in hope to get those numbers. But it's not like he does a single thing I just mentioned anyway. He's half the player Drogba was, and Drogba wasn't even Henry/Messi himself. Laughable that this guy is lauded a goalscorer We've seen some real top strikers, and Costa's about Anelka's level. Too good to be on the bench, but not good enough to say 'there's no way we could do better in the striker department, we can't be strengthened there.' He's basically a Mario Gomez without the heading capability. Gomez being an incredibly prolific player, who was hunted out of Bayern regardless, because their standards are where ours should be. They'd never let a player continue to stay in the XI despite having only 2 positive qualities, when there's around 15 things a player can be good at.

All teams will improve next season, so this is unreasonable, but I do expect better next season, both from Conte but moreso the players. For the sort of runs & records we went on this season, to drop some of the points we did, for all that domination and sweat, to only be 10 points ahead now, isn't good enough. It's good, but we want to be great. What we're doing now is the norm; winning the league by having around 3 more wins than the teams around. A normal league title, but based on those figures and the terrible management around us (esp Guardiola), not near exceptional. If we were as exceptional as we could've been, we simply would and should've been 20+ points ahead right now. We shouldn't have lost to Arsenal, nor any of the other small teams (which Juventus simply never did, so its the players more than Conte for sure.) We would've drawn with Tottenham, and our record would still be alive (I believe?). Good season. But an exceptional one would really cement us back as the top dog. That said, it's not like the leaders of La Liga, Ligue 1 or the Bundesliga are ahead by even 4 points or more (Juve ahead by 8). Compared to them, a less rocky season. Yet if we don't raise our standards they'll surely slip in just a year or 2. Our expectancy should be to win the league every season; and doing so more confidently can be the only next aim.

Each time we lose to West Ham though, unlike other 'bogey' teams like Tottenham or Everton where we've simply underperformed, there's always a glaring tactical error from the first minute with our set up. Mainly, we don't give their strikers any respect, and let them do whatever they want. Too often do we have our full back marking their tallest striker at a set piece for example.

He was Udinese's best player while there, better even than Di Natale. He's been Arsenal's best player (by far) consistently for a while now. He held his own in one of the best squads of all time at Barcelona, averaging about a goal every 2nd game. (Same output at Arsenal, only marginally different.) Yet, he hasn't even experienced being in a 'best circumstance' situation yet. At Barcelona, he was trying to get ahead of undroppable players, which was & still is impossible. He made the best out of a not so great situation. At Arsenal, he's been managed by a guy half the fans dislike (toxic atmosphere), he's been spanked by every big team he's been against due to being a shining gem playing alongside coal (often being their only respectable player, but he's had his lapses to be sure, largely due to Wenger I think), and at Udinese he had around 4 very good players in his team, the rest being fit for Serie B. When have we seen Sanchez be a consistent starter for an absolutely top team with top players? Never in our lives, none of us. He didn't get the chance at Barcelona, & Arsenal, Udinese + Chile don't offer the platform for him to fully perform. So I want him for that reason, for the unknown territory. Going from linking up with Tello & Pedro, to Walcott & Chamberlain, to... Hazard & Pedro, is a huge upgrade in support. To go from underused squad player, to the only top-class talent a team has, to being surrounded by top class players week in week out, is a revelation. We simply haven't even seen the best of him - unless he's a player who's best when there's immense pressure, then we have. In which case, he should be a big-game player at least. If not, we are indeed going to see him become better once there's less reliance on him.

He's one of too-few defenders from the next generation who can be dubbed Mr. Reliable. Not just dependable like a player who scores 6.5-7/10 ratings most games. But a player who scores 8/10 ratings every game.

When we bought him, he was a big fish in the small pond that was our youth - now our pond is massive, and this fish is very average.

If 2011 me had control over our transfers our backline would've included Jones, Stones & Shaw