Stats

Well bushman or 'dumbman' as I will refer to you as we still have a chance. I would rather us challenge for the league then throw it away. Like I said the PL has shown anything is possible. What if we do win that game then go on to win the league. Or perhaps lose the game then see Liverpool and City drop points. We would regret playing a weakened team. I think it is possible that City drop points. Less possible than Liverpool however I still think they go to to go to Palace at 8pm on Monday night iirc. By that time they may be 2nd or 3rd if things go our way. Pressure hopefully will get to them. I think you are the one who needs more maths lessons. If we have a chance of winning it that is mathmetically possible. Regardless of whether we have to rely on other teams it is mathemtically possible. Idiot. Palace has proved to be difficult for many teams. City were outsocring most teams before. Now would you have predicted them to batter Sunderland? I would of but no. A team who was last in the league nearly got 3 points there. Until the last day anything is possible. I will always keep believing.

We win and we are in the title race. Maybe out of our hands but it is possible. How is it meaningless from our point of view? We win, the pressure is on City and Liverpool who have tough fixtures remaining.

It is not meaningless. It may seem unrealistic but would you have predicted City to drop points against Sunderland? I don't think so. They have a dfficult game against Palace without Toure and possibly Silva. They can drop points there and at Everton. Opens the gateway for us. Now if we beat Liverpool 2 points behind and they have to go to Palace and from what I have seen Liverpool struggle against Palace. They certaintly will not find it easy to go to Selhurst Park and win. We should not give up. While we are in we are in it. I doubt we will do it but there is a chance and knowing the PL anything can prove possible until the final game.

Judging by the comments I think he is a mixture of both. Set peice specialist and open play specialist. Xavi desrcibed Koke has having similar abilities to him. Villa complimented his all round game as well and judging by what I have read many of Atletico's goals from open play has been assisted by Koke in open play. Averages itself out I think but have not watched him close enough tbh to know how technical and creative a player he is. But I guess you have a point in the fact that many of his assists are crosses due to Atletico's quick counter attacking style and his ability to transform excellently from defence to attack.

I don't support the idea of Liverpool getting into double figures. While the league may look unrealistic it is still possible if we win. Had it even been a game where there was literally nothing to play for I would still like to see a good/experienced team out for prides sake.

TBH, he pretty much has everything. He is leading the assist charts in La Liga with 13 which is damn impressive but on top of that is pretty much an all round player and has created a lot of chances in the CL despite doing a lot of defensive responsibilties. http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11946/9277493/why-atletico-madrid-midfielder-koke-could-be-a-key-man-for-diego-simeones-side-against-chelsea

I am not his biggest fan but please don't tell me people are giving him slack for his performance against Atletico? We set up utterly defensive and did not do much to win the game and when we did actually go forward he was the only one who looked dangerous. Won us a couple free kicks IIRC with his decent runs. The attacking support or team set up would be difficult for any striker in our team for that game to standout but he done better than I expected rather than looking like a complete ghost. Got to give credit when it is deserved. You would not stop hearing about it from some people had Costa had put in a similar performance in our utterly defensive set up.

Good draw but still frustrated about the lack of attempt to win the game. They made more than double the passes we did and while we got a draw a scoreless draw would have been better. If they score first at the Bridge we need 2 goals which will be a tough ask against one of the toughest teams to break down in Europe. Game is in the balance for both teams but while we aimed for a positive result tonight it would be nice if we done a bit more to win the game. They have an excellent defensive record but there is no reason to suggest we could not score tonight. But defence was excellent tonight. I will give my MOTM to Cole who was excellent, regarding he has not played a game for ages. Fantastic game tonight!

I have given my explanations in the previous posts. I am not disagreeing that we have had decisions against us for sure but there have been games where the ref has let us off the hook. Ultimately our team has not been good enough to win these type of games.

That is not the reason we lost. Did you not forget Ramires should have been sent off. That was the most obvious call he could have made but he did not. Blaming the ref is just not accepting responsibilites for our loss.

Some decisions did not go our way in the match and same with Sunderland but this is going OTT with this conspiracy stuff for Liverpool to win the league. Remember when we played Liverpool at the Bridge earlier in the season. Eto'o should have been sent off. One for a studs up challenge on Henderson IIRC and made a blatant foul on Suarez in the penalty box which Webb ignored. We were very lucky as Eto'o made 2 clumsy challenges which he got away with. When we drew with WBA earlier this season it was a clear dive from Ramires to win get the penalty. Had that not of been given we would have lost 2-1 at home. The ref saved our ass that game. Had their really been an agenda for Liverpool to win the league, the ref would not have sent off Chico for his challenge last week but he did Decisions that don't go our way happens but decisions that go our way which have been fortunate have also happened. It is 50/50 really. We only have ourselves to blame.

Decent striker but....

Just imagine if we had him now while Oscar has been in a slump of form. Would have been an excellent option with his vision and ability to score goals. We sold him for good money but as many people stated before we could end up regretting this. I would have Mata over Oscar no doubt now and let Oscar rest for a while. We sometimes just lack the creativity in the final third. Oscar is not a playmaker and Mata is and the loss of those abilities he gave us has had a part to play in the games we have messed up.

Scored another 2 this afternoon in a 4-2 victory over WBA. Now reading that he is on 16 goals and 10 assists for the season. What a season he has had for a CM including making his first team debut Hopefully a loan at a championship team is on the cards for next season.

People using the ref as a scapegoat need a reality check. Ramires should have blatantly been sent off in the first half but was not. No point in pointing out incidents in what Mike Riley missed because we got away with murder first half. Even I did not expect to win the title this season actually so pissed of that we managed to lose this game despite us knowing what we were getting ourselves into with City's draw against them. Just depressing! We scuffed our chances big time. Games like this is where I will reflect on if only we had Hazard...

Exactly. I was listening to the commentary of the City and Sunderland game and when they kept throwing men forward for counter attacks and set pieces the commentary team were surprised as they thought Sunderland should have been content with a point but of course they were not content with a point as they are 6 points from safety. They needed that win and that draw might not do much favours for them. Especially as they are going to us away from home and still going to Old Trafford. So I don't think we will see a game where we are playing a bus like you said because a point just reduces their chances of staying up. They need wins and hopefully an attacking impetus from them will allow us do to what we do best. Pick them off on the counter. While I can see why you may be concerned in how they outplayed City, City were missing Toure and Silva. Hopefully our midfielders are able to dominate the game, even without Hazard playing and I also think that game will give our team a warning to never become complacent.

You do really chat a lot of shit

No break. Been confirmed as a fresh wound. Whew! Bad news he probably will make it for us but good news is he may be the world class striker we capture for the summer. Had it been a break, all of a sudden the search for a striker goes into chaos again.

Just suffered a horrible injury. Hope it is not a break but did look bad. But with the gash I reckon he is a certainty or possibility to miss the first leg if not both games. Hope it is not as bad as feared.

If Tottenham can beat them 5-1 we can do the same. We are at home. Sunderland are awful and leak in goals left, right and centre. Even without Hazard I expect a victory and hopefully a convincing one. Should be another 3 points ahead of that big showdown at Anfield.

Awful performance but guess what? 3 points. At this stage of the season only the points is crucial. Firmly in the title race. Toure out possibly for the remainder of the season and they still have to go to Everton. Palace will be no easy task as well. We have to go to Anfield. We can make this happen. COYB!

Skrtel (CB) has scored 7 PL goals this season. That is three more than Torres PL tally and the same amount as him and Ba combined in the league. Ridiculous really. Sums our striker situation up

Don't understand why many want City to win. If City win they have virtually won the PL. If we and Liverpool win tomorrow there is a big chance that we can win the league if we win our remaining games as while it will be tough we can beat Liverpool at Anfield. City can easily flop up at Everton but if they win tomorrow there is a huge chance that they can lose to Everton and still win the PL. Liverpool win tomorrow and we beat Swansea and the points difference between us and Liverpool remains at two while we would go 5 ahead of City who would still have 2 games in hand but like I said have a very tough task going to Goodison Park. For those who have faith in us maintaining a title challenge a draw or Liverpool win would be to our benefits. Definitely not a City win!

Finally starts 2 games in a row. Nice to see especially starting in the semi finals. Come on Wigan!

Thinking about it this question will be more worthy asking at the end of the season? If we win the UCL or PL or perhaps both it is a definite success. If you stopped the season where we are now and went out the semis and finished 3rd for instance then maybe their is more discussion for debate but one can only truly answer this at the end of the season.