Hybrid Angel

Wow, not one mention of Willian today? Exactly what I said about him in the Moses thread. He has made a HUGE step in his evolution towards becoming a world-class player and that is taking responsibility when the team is playing shite. He was the only player who could be arsed to do something. I'm in love.

Glorified friendly or not, this was an important match in convincing the board/Jose that we desperately need new signings. I don't know if it's Jose or the board's plan to not sign a CM, but please, sign an/a Aranguiz/Witsel. I would kill for any of these two right now. One signing in the CM position is how far away we are from going after the likes of PSG. Please, do it Jose and Roman.

Terry and Cahill are holding us back with their constant need to be protected by other players. Signing him is a must. Get him, forget the price.

Is it just me or do our players lack confidence? No Risks, no movements. Even Cesc hasn't tried an ambitious pass.

Question: Who would replace Azpi if he got injured during the game?

I'm not that bothered with Ramires in the starting 11 XI especially if we're playing 4-3-3. What I'm sad about is Zouma being benched in favor of Cahill.

People complaining about Ramires starting should've got used to it by now. He is like Mourinho's child.

People who are complaining about the price are most likely the ones who'll be moaning if we end up not signing him.

Madmax for me.

I don't get why some people are asking for Falcao to start. Remy has deserved the right to start this game. Two 'decent' performances in pre-season doesn't make you qualify for starting the first match of the season, not to mention an important one. Remy has been on a very good form towards the end of last season and was also good during pre-season. I would wait for Falcao to pick up some form and then start him in a match like this.

Sign Witsel or Aranguiz. Can't do another season with Ramires as our first back-up midfield option.

Those who think Cahill was 'brilliant' in the second half of the season need to watch some more defenders to see what brilliant really is. A top defender is one who can take responsibility and dominate even without much protection. Once we go into next season playing attacking Football, Cahill will get exposed like he was in the first half of last season. It's not a coincidence he only does well when we are playing defensively.

I wonder sometimes, Ivanovic is so terrible under pressure that it makes him look like a player not on his favorite foot at right-back.

This an insult to not only Willian but Football in general. To make the statement that Moses is on the same level as Willian is as ridiculous as it gets. Willian is a top player. I'm not exaggrating when I say he is not far from world class. He is far above the Willian at the start of 13/14 and 14/15, ability-wise and more importantly mentally. Willian has even got to the point where he is starting to take responsibility when we're attacking, like Hazard does. At many games in the second half of the season, he was the difference. We have very few players who have made it this far in their evolution.

Cahill was good towards the end of the season because we played a conservative style of Football, where Cahill was protected by many midfield players. For that style of Football, Cahill is indeed a great defender. But I don't think anyone here wants to continue that approach to our games.If we are going to actually be useful with our attacking options(Oscar, Willian), we must press high up the pitch and that leaves space between the midfielders and defenders. This is why we are in desperate need of a proactive defender. Zouma is that defender, and certainly miles ahead of Cahill in terms of pro-activeness. It's a crime how Cahill is still in the starting XI ahead of Zouma. How many more top class performances is it gonna take?

It's not just him, Costa gets ignored a lot as well. Besides Fabregas, we really don't have any player to feed Costa or in fact any other player who makes a run in behind. It's crucial for us to sign an Aranguiz/Witsel. Either of these two will help us massively in terms of holding on to the ball and making space for Fabregas.

He just told the Chelsea tv reporter that it's the first penalty he has taken since being 12.

Jesus Christ Tibo, that's what you call a thunderbastard. If we press high up the pitch we play hundred times better.

We play better whenever we press high up the pitch. Coincedence? I think not.

Vic is boss.

Wouldn't give a shit if we parked the bus if we actually had a plan to counter-attack. Ffs.

Is it possible that we win this tournament? If anybody knows how the whole thing works could share would be brilliant.

I also think Reus is below the first three you mentioned but I would put him just above the second list of players.

Agree so much with the second part of your post. Mikel is very very much better than Ramires in posssesion. This is priceless in big games where the opposition press us heavily, something that we are very susceptible to.

I actually think he was one of our better players today. His link-up play was outstanding, movement really good and he was physically ready. Unfortunately the finishing wasn't there, but it's just a pre-season match.