Muzchap

Fair point Good call on City's away matches - you would have expected them to beat those teams - and I guess their midfield did look poor against the Spuds, just lucky the Spuds couldn't score in a brothel at the moment... It's a tough call though - 50% of me wants to win at all costs, the other 50% wants to see flamboyant attacking football... I guess this is where Roman got to a few years back.. Oh well - let's see what happens next match - like I said - I'm probably expecting too much... I did go back and watch his opening 4 games last season and he is a different player this season.

No denying his ability - but City today had a front 4 that were doing that and more. I actually thought the other 7 City players looked hopeless, but the front 4 (Aguero, Navas, negredo and Nasri) looked unplayable - that's what I hoped our front 4 would play like... I think we're someway off that this season... That's all...

Oh - because 'experts' say so - I'm not allowed an opinion? I guess you still think the Earth is flat? Seeing as the 'experts' used to peddle that theory... I'm well within my rights to demand more of a £30million player...

He just looked a little lost tbh. Sure his flicks are important and credit where it's due - I just thought for a guy with all of his attributes he would be absolutely ripping defences apart - maybe I expect too much? He's so quick and has great balance - just want him to show more in a game, flicks are cool and linkup play is important - but I honestly thought he would be the one marauding down the line and taking the game to the opposition. I honestly thought he played better last season and this season he would kick on another level... Maybe he needs to adapt to Jose's management. It's not his worst game - massively far from it... It is just my opinion though perhaps, like Lampard, I expect too much from him and it's hard to consistently hit those standards. I would have given him a 6-7 for that match - but I really want to see a 9-10 Hazard performance - with our up down season, if he can hit some form and some goals, we will be realistic title contenders... Maybe I have rose tinted glasses - but did he seem more 'explosive' last year?

I agree - how anybody can say Hazard played well is beyond me - he's looking distinctly average... Happy to be proven wrong - but he isn't really doing what I expected he would do - he just seems average this season, slightly better than Moses... I had hoped he would have pushed on like Oscar, but he's nowhere near... Quite disappointed in him TBH.

Mathematically? Did you watch our Park the Bus - Champions League Story - culminating in a Win? The problem with statistics is interpretation - sure if you had 80% possession and 70% of it was attacking you might say you have a higher probability (note the word probability) to win the game - but there are no guarantees. There's a lot more to football than possession - don't be fooled into the Spain/Barca mentality... As for Lampard/Ramires - not too many other options, DeRossi would have been an awesome signing...

Wow yet another Hero to Villain thread... Seriously - the guy is a YOUNG player he won't hit his prime for another 2-3 years and you're already bashing him? Yes he played amazing last season and that has skewed some people's expectations - but lets get realistic, he's had what 3 managers in 1 year - been taught different things and has 1 off game and suddenly he's the worst player ever and should be benched... Are you guys really fans? What he needs is people understanding he can't be God every game - this is real life and not FIFA! The whole performance was bad - we have to stop singling out players - win as a team, lose as a team - yes we hate losing - but is it really all Edens fault? Quite simply NO!!!

Agreed Hazard was poor - but is that Jose's fault? Players like Hazard can be dogshit for 89 minutes then produce 1 minute of brilliance and score a goal... So it's a justified gamble. The players have potentially had 3 managers in 1 year - that's going to affect people - what we need now is patience and consistency whilst our team finds it's form... Better to splutter at the start and finish in full steam at the end... The old tortoise and hare fable... Right now we're a tortoise...

Money DOES NOT EQUAL success... I don't know how else to say it - but it truly doesn't... We paid the money for the players and we pay their wages - it's up to the club to get the best out of the assets it has procured. The manager AND the players need to share the blame (if any needs to be levelled?) - a young inexperienced squad being built for the future - exactly what fans demanded - is now not living up to ridiculous expectations - SHOCK / HORROR... It takes time to build a squad and we potentially have too much depth at the moment and plenty of players out of form - but it will come - patience is what's needed. Again - I refer you to Utd and what SAF achieved after being 1 game away from the sack...

For gods sake - MASSIVE overreaction again - Basel did this to Utd... They are in the CL - there are NO easy games. It's gonna take time to get this squad playing as a cohesive unit Keep the faith and stop bashing everything and everyone - it WILL work out - so what if we have a few more dogshit performances... That's what football is all about, supporting your team through thick and thin...

Give it a rest... All you ever do is bash Jose.... It's a young squad and enforcing a playing style takes time - it's people like you with quick fix mentality that are ruining football.. Go checkout how Sir Alex Fergusons first season went... Yeah thought as much - you can't tell fuck all from a few games....

I know it's been done a thousand times - but I'm still convinced the way we play makes it harder for a striker to shine. If Eto'o comes in and fails to play it will be because he's washed up blah blah Lets face it - the only striker to ever really settle in our team was Drogba and even then he had some off games I think Torres will get much more chances with Schurrle and Hazard / Willian on the wings... Even when he's playing for Spain - the midfield piss around too much and he just drops deep - his best (and only) position is on the shoulder of the last defender - with balls slid in behind or across. Give Torres too much time to think, he fucks it, let his natural instincts take over and he scores... More whipped in balls and more through balls is needed - along with a higher tempo and that's not just for Torres - that's for Lukaku, BA and Eto'o ....

Weird me too - I was working late and driving home and texted my bro that exact scoreline he didn't believe me It's just everything balancing out again - next time we'll smash them and when it counts - maybe in a CL Final. We and Utd destroyed them twice in a CL Final - let the Munchens have a worthless trophy, we all know they are Sausage eating surrender monkeys when it counts

Yup - awesome post That brings it all into perspective!

Ok - who would YOU have signed that's available, wants to come and is better than Eto'o?

Yup spot on assessment there Phil... I see exactly the same as you during a match... I do think Van Ginkel has the attributes to succeed in this position, but will need blooding in... Mikel is essentially lazy (or that's the appearance during a match) - if he ran like Ramires he would be starting. I think that's what Jose is trying to say to the players (like Lambert at Villa) - I don't care who you are but you will give 100% for the 90 minutes or you ain't stepping on the pitch...

Well one of us is.... I'll bookmark your post and remind you after he scores his first hatrick for us The thing is - ask ANY great player (well rely on a journo) and they all say playing with better team mates, makes you play better! Plus the vodka is good in Russia and the women even better - I imagine Eto'o was probably scoring off the pitch more than on... That won't happen in London Have a little faith in Mou, you think he'd bring in a washed up player with our current striker crisis?

Wow - I love how this guy is written off already.... See what I don't get is that the Russian league is arguably like the French league, but Hazard can make it and Eto'o (who has won more than Hazard) cannot? 32 is not over the hill - go watch Shearer and Sheringham at 32... With the right fitness plan and mental preparation - we will have a proven striker in our team. He will help Lukaku develop and hopefully show BA where he left his scoring boots... Can't we just be excited that we have a new player?

I thought we had a great chance of making this happen... Very similar to the Gerrard situation a few years back... Oh well - for whatever reason Rooney has made his decision (or lack of) and will continue to be a Utd player. None of us can judge this move until the end of the season - but I hope Rooney (in a non-nasty way) will regret Utds empty trophy cabinet, whilst we push on and deliver yet more silverware It was a 50/50 call - and Jose has done what he does best - undermined the Utd hierarchy in front of the world media... That's why it was imperative we didn't lose against them on Monday... Overall I'm happy how this has panned out. Jose knows Eto'o from his past, so if he believes he can do a job, then I will support him...

I think the criticism of Ramires has been a little unfounded. From my recollections against Utd and generally over the past few seasons, our players in front of the guy with possession don't always make it easy - they are either marked or static... Generally making playing the ball forward that bit more ambitious. The stats don't lie - he has gone from one of the worst passers to the best (in front of Toure) - Jose is certainly helping him. We do need more movement up front though, we are still easily marked out of a game and then we try all the flicks and quick touches that break down - resulting in the opposition attacking. I guess we need some maturity in our play. I said this in the pre-season thread, it will take a few seasons for Jose to get this drilled into the players, so it's second nature - I just hope you guys can be as patient as I will be to see it happen...

That's great news Good on Steve - hope he shines! To all those saying Mourinho doesn't support 'youth' - what's your answer here then

Swindon is an ok place and decent ish ground.... Plenty of good looking blonde women there as well, so Torres will feel at home!

Contradictory though! If its good for them, why isn't it good for Wayne wanting to leave and make a fresh start down south @ Chelsea... Moyes is a hypocrite - in fact all managers are - we just have to accept that I guess Mata won't be sold - but one of Oscar, KdB or Moses could be loaned - maybe even Schurrie? I don't mind loaning players out

Kinda agree - but we need width and Hazard and Willian have the dribbling and pace to be more effective slightly wider... Our biggest problem is controlling the pace and setting a tempo - we can start well, but soon lose it and then give impetus to our opposition - it will take a few seasons of coaching I feel to get that right, we don't look fluid like United, City and Arsenal - or even Swansea... I actually think LB is our weakest area and possibly RB - Cole doesn't link up so well anymore and Azpi doesn't always overlap - which means we get to good areas, but fail to press the advantage... It will be an interesting solution that's for sure Couple of players out on loan should also help - guessing West Brom and Watford will be interested maybe even Steve Bruce after his buttering up of Mourinho and I don't have a problem with that

Ok so we are all working on the assumption that it's the DM / CM position that's fucked and that's where we need replacements, along sight the strikers right...? Well what happens if the problem is actually Mazacar - e.g it just doesn't work!!! By signing 1 player for 30million we have saved ourselves the cost of 3 players (2 additional players and this transfer which we all thought would be Rooney)... Just because Mata, Hazard and Oscar are great players - doesn't mean they can all work together in the same team at the same time - I think we became obsessed with trying to make it work and I personally do not think it does... So I'm happy to explore other options