Stats

Mourinho complimented Lukaku in his PC yesterday. Jamie Redknapp speaking on Soccer AM said a similar thing and spoke on how ambitious he is to leave his boyhood club to play for a team where he will be no. 1 striker. He could have easily chosen to get a new contract on big wages and be happy to stay on the bench but he puts his football first. How people accuse him of being a coward is beyond me. As Redknapp was saying we bought Costa for £32m and although he looks like a retiring 40 year old, he is only 25 and he is never going to lose his place as he is a long term investment. The natural choice for Lukaku at his age and with his potential is to play. That is what he is going to get. Why people feel he should be obliged to stay and play second fiddle is mind boggling. The fact is he never was realistically going to ever be no.1 forward with Costa here and imo the logical decision for him was to move.

"Could" is a gamble though. Especially as we have aims of winning the league and are being made favourites by bookies. Bamford is still a rookie without any PL experience. Too much of a gamble to rely on him and I reckon Mourinho would not want to pile the pressure on him and probably thinks a loan will be more benficial for him. Because either way when Costa is fit, Bamford will likely fall way down the pecking order anyway.

Regardless of what happens with Costa, Torres and any potential new strikers I still hope Bamford goes out on loan. As good as it is to see players who have been part of the youth system break through and play I don't think he is ready yet to lead our line and needs a season out on loan again and I hope he seals his pending move to Middlesbrough.

The same way it was a no brainer to start Courtois over Cech due to the age difference it is a no brainer that Luis will get that LB position soon. I know Azpi came off an excellent season and so on but you don't spend around £15m on a LB to provide competition to another LB. If you buy a 28/29 year old LB for that amount of money they have to start so I hope it is a matter of time before we see him starting there. I know Drogba is a legend here and so on but would have liked to seen Luis been used as our final sub and eased into action and to get his PL debut. As much as we all appreciate Azpilicueta's performances at LB and he has not done anything wrong while playing there, we could still do with a natural LB like Luis there and I hope to see him there soon. He was quality for Atletico and last season was arguably the best fullback in Europe so hopefully we see those performances in a Chelsea shirt soon and as I was saying, with the fee we bought him for it at his age, it makes no sense for him to be on the bench.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11668/9432937/transfer-news-chelsea-starlet-islam-feruz-set-for-fc-krylia-sovetov Quite a strange move. They are playing in the second division of Russia. Would have preferred to seen him in the Championship. No idea what a loan move to Russia is going to do for his development. It seems he wants to go here instead of several other options in England and around Europe. Must be the Russian girls he has been seeing on the World Cup

No thanks. We have Nathan Ake who looks a very promising LB. Would rather we develop him and keep him around than go and buy other young talents. I reckon with the right development, Ake could develop into a quality LB.

Hope to see Filipe Luis from the start for this game. Can't wait to see how him and Hazard combine. Never had so much optimism going into games like I have now. We got the likes of Fabregas, Hazard and Costa all on one team. Hopefully another impressive performance as well and most importantly 3 points before we go to Goodison Park for a very tough game. Would like to see: Courtois Ivanovic Cahill Terry Luis Fabregas Matic Schurrle Willian Hazard Costa I would like to see Azpi at RB but think Mourinho will go with Ivanovic. Not really a problem though as he is reliable. Just want to see more offensively from him but hopefully if Luis plays on the left we see better offensive play with Hazard on that side. Mourinho probably will go with Schurrle, Oscar and Hazard again but I would like to see Willian in the number 10 role for this game. Schurrle, Willian and Hazard would be devastating on the counter and would provide us with more much pace and sharpness going forward imo.

1st game, 3 points. First half was very impressive. A little underwhelmed with how we played second half. Was looking forward to more of the same but we were very conservative and was a little frustrated that he went down the method of bringing on Mikel for Oscar when I feel we could have just finished off a much inferior side. The 3 points was the most important thing anyway so I am happy. Fabregas MOTM for me. Made everything look simple and is already leading the assists charts and hopefully he is at the top of the assists chart at the end of the season Good to see Costa get his goal on his competitive debut. I thought he was decent. Could have been worse, could have been better but he got his debut goal and looked quite promising first half. I know it is one game and against probably the weakest team in the league but if we play the way we did in the first half against most teams we could reach a goal glut imo. The big games was not a problem last season. It was against teams like Burnley and teams a little better but now we have that genius Fabregas along with a quality striker for once I reckon we will be much more successful in games where teams try to contain us. Anyway like I said we got 3 points. Impressive performance. Great first half. Everyone was solid. Fabregas the standout player. Bring on Leicester. I hope to see Luis at LB in this game though. Perfect game for him to start

Commentator on SS even said Willian "had a very good season last season". Yes!

Exactly what I said. But gradually I expect Luis to get that spot. Hopefully from the Leicester game. Time will tell.

He is a good player for mid-table teams but teams like us where we compete for major honours, no thanks but anyway back to Mata, I think he is going to silence some people this season.

TBH. I ignored the first part of that comment as I do believe it sounded rude. I am sure you did not mean to be racist at all. Can come across as racist to others but as the mods have said don't take it any further, they are doing their jobs. But just leave it as you have been advised mate. I liked your post because of this comment: "Not every player Asian player in Europe isn't the second coming of christ" which made me laugh and I also seem to think he overrates a lot of them. Like Ki for example

Inconsistent striker but hopefully he rips Arsenal next week like he done last season and then we will see the change of opinions as usual. God blind me. I know he has his limitations but Martinez even said Lukaku is not 100% prepared for this game and many expected him to be a sub. However Coleman was not fit enough to start, Mirallas was not fit enough to start, Barkley injured as well so Martinez was at his limitations and had to play him. Give him a chance. We know what he needs to work on but same excuse people used for Costa when he was not firing on all cylinders for Spain. The excuse we used was he was not 100% fit right. Lukaku has not even been involved in their pre-season so give him a breather. Judge him by the end of the season.

I am not defending Mata's flaws. But I just simply don't agree that Kagawa is better that is all. Korea has basically mocked Mata because of his performance today. They were missing tons of players and they need to integrate into the new system. Even if people don't necessarily think Mata is better than Kagawa by miles, I don't agree with anyone who can believe Kagawa is better. I am definitely agreeing with his flaws. If you ask him to defend it limits his attacking game and he tires out. But when used effectively he is a quality player. When RVP returns and United have a more balanced team there is going to be so much different views. But it is like Jekyll and Hyde on here. We wait for one player to perform and some will salute him, stating this is what we missed etc. Then one bad game, all of a sudden: "this is why he was sold", "does not influence the game" etc.... But yes I agree with both of your comments about his defensive side but I don't agree with people making judgments after their first game of the season. First game of last season, City lost 3-2 to Cardiff and Silva was largely ineffective. But how good was he as the games went on and they won the league. It happens all over the forum. Not just the Mata thread. People make knee-jerk reactions rather than realising it is a 38 game season and we are at game 1.

How long has Mata been there? 6 months or so? By the end of this season or even Christmas we will see whose stats look better ok? Deal? But there must be a reason why he does not seem to be favoured by Ferguson, Moyes and possibly LVG. Kagawa himself said he can play left or in the centre. He was given those chances. Maybe not as much but he has never impressed and I doubt he will. I just don't think he is suited to the PL. If he goes back to the less physical Bundesliga you probably will see him perform again.

Ok, so people should remember how good Torres was at Liverpool then? If we do we should use that excuse to still say he is up there with the best strikers in the world. Football moves on. Also find me quotes where people say Mata is much better than Silva please. Please do it. They have strong qualities but Mata is better. I am not taking offense to it. What annoys me is when people see Mata have one bad game and conclude he is an average player when that is rubbish. United were just an utter mess last season and tbh he still added his fair share of goals and assists. Kagawa has been poor in a United t-shirt. Yes, I do believe it is ludicrous to state Kagawa is better. He was good in the Bundesliga that is it. In the Prem he has been poor. Would it not be ludicrous to say Torres is better than Costa then? Mata was in a poor team for a short while and while he had his poor moments he contributed with more goals and assists than Kagawa has probably done in his whole United career. It just is not going to work with Kagawa at United. Kagawa was good in the Bundesliga. Below average in the prem. Mata is the better player. It is as simple as that. I don't pay attention to what players done in the past. Kagawa performed at Dortmund like 3-4 years ago right? What has he done since coming to the prem huh?..... I rest my case.

LOL, you thought he is good enough to be in our midfield. No, Ki is a good player but not good enough for Chelsea. Now with Mata, where do I start. Your logic is because when Mata had his best season and we finished 3rd and when Kagawa had his best statistical season they won the Bundesliga that means Kagawa is better. OK, for a start Kagawa was excellent but they were a much more balanced team. They had a complete defence, excellent pivot pair in midfield, they also had Reus and a clinical striker in Lewa. Now compare our team back then and see the differences. OK, so guess what. Mandzukic got over 18 league goals for Bayern last season and they won the league. Benzema got 17 goals in the league. But because Mandzukic had one more goal in the league and won the league while Benzema did not win the league that means Manduzkic better according to your logic? LOL, pathetic. Using Kagawa's stats at Dortmund to prove he is better than Mata is the most ridiculous thing I have heard/seen. He has moved on, came to the prem and apart from one hattrick once for United has been totally shit. You really think Kagawa would ever take Mata's place in United's team? No chance. Like seriously something is wrong up there if you believe Kagawa is better than Mata. One of the most ludicrous comments I have ever seen on here.

Just stop your rubbish. I don't need to get into a debate about why Mata is better than Kagawa. Are you seriously trying to state Kagawa is better? No surprise considering you are the same person who believed Ki Seung-Yung is good enough to be playing in our midfield LMAO.

And what has Kagawa done in the premiership? Mata joined when United were in despair and under Moyes. Jesus Christ! Don't be ridiculous. He has been for around 6 months. Kagawa has been shit nearly every time he has been in a United shirt. That is why he can never make a start. If we are going to judge players on their past like you did with Kagawa, that means Torres is better than Costa then? No of course not, because football is not played in the past. Use your head. Please don't even go there with Kagawa. Mata is a much better player.

Your a utter clown if you reckon Kagawa is better than Mata. What has Kagawa done since coming to the prem? Can't believe people are making assumptions on one game. When they have their proper WB playing, RVP comes back from injury and actualy centre backs you will see a more organised team. Mata started slowly at United last season but ended well. It is just the start. They have things to work on but I think he will come good. The PL is played over 38 games, not 1. Jesus Christ. Some of the fickle opinions I see on here really pisses me of. It will take one or 2 games for people to change their minds and think he is a quality player again.

I am not saying that he will not be off but it seems people have assumed he is off way too quickly. 10 years is a landmark so even if Courtois was not here he probably would have tweeted that anyway. He has not indicated that he will be moving on to pastures new. He is saying he is looking forward to another 10 years. That may be elsewhere or may be at us. Think some people have jumped to conclusions way too quickly. Would be funny if he ends up starting and people will be made to eat their words But seriously he has reached a landmark at his time of the club so he has declared how much of those 10 years he has enjoyed and how he hopes the next one will be as "exciting". That for me does not indicate he is leaving.

They see Torres upfront and realise there is no point of doing a through ball because as usual he probably will do anything but score. His own teammates know he is that bad they are not bothered to even attempt a through ball to him

Preferably I would like Luis to start against Burnley as there is no reason why he should not. On paper we are better than Burnley on every angle. It would delight me to see him start. I just have a feeling that Mourinho's choice will be to play Luis for the Leicester game and go with Azpi at LB for the Burnley game.

No he is not. He will start a lot games. He is not the first name on the teamsheet. When we play 4-3-3 he probably will start a lot. When we have games against the bigger teams he probably will start for tactical reasons but he will be a sub a few times as well. For instance when we play Leicester at home I would expect Jose to go something similar to: Fabregas-Matic Willian Oscar Hazard Costa You get the picture. I assume from the CM to strikers position the oly guaranteed starters are Fabregas, Matic, Costa and Hazard. Willian and Oscar are not certain starters but it is just an example of how we may line up when we don't need Ramires. Ramires is a very useful squad player but we don't need him in every game. Especially now that we have Fabregas. I don't get how you think he is a certain starter. He has certain qualities but we don't necessarily need him for games where teams are not really going to attack us.