Magic Lamps

NOt exactly a beautiful game, but exactly the kind of game that wins u a title. 3 points against a stubborn opponent and with a meagre but in the end effective performance.

sturridge and Lukaku. The way they were treated was not entirely retracable but we don't know what was behind the scenes. Obviously we could have used 2 homegrown strikers. Lampard, Deco and Ballack were released a year too early IMO. Robben could have been what he has been for FCB, if he had provided the medical support he got at BAyern.

Love it when our Blues habe a game on my birthday. DD prolly only plays bc solanke has a game yesterday, no way a 36 y.o. would play 2 Games in almost 48 hours otherwise

Penaldo will surely win it. should be Neuer even though I hate the one arrogant shithead just as much as the other one, u have to admire their ambition, drive and commitment.

Will the game even be broadcasted?

Exactly. This season we are head and shoulders above the rest that is why we should have easily won those 2 games against the manc scum. Also with the relatively poor performance we had, it should have been enough. The only reason we did lose those 4 points in the last minute is because of our inability to close matches down against a opposition that is really fighting. WE conceded an unnecessary equalizer vs Schalke, late vs Palace and many more completely unnecessary goals, many of those late. So far this does not matter. We will probably still win the league unless an extreme loss of form or a massive injury crisis cost us, but in the CL this will not be good enough. We can not go to BAyern or Real and perform the way we did in Manchester so far. Not clinical enough in attack and not consequent enough in defense. But the season is still young and Mou should finally get that we can't secure a result that way and work on it.

we will have more trouble than necessary if we always try to shut down matches that naively. The equalizer was bought. Dive, yellow, freekick goal in the last minute classic ManU stuff. Should have had 2 penalties anyway. You just have to beat ManU 5-0 to be sure the ref does not manipulate the game.

I don't know how much of the great work the board has done in the past couple of years can be accounted to him but I hope we continue our shrewd transfer policy. But IMO we could do better on sponsorship deals.

With all British and Irish teams looking to have good chances to qualify altogether, I once again wonder how amazing a Team UK would be. It would not only have enough talented players in every position to finally make the British challenge for Cup glory again. Also the unionizing effect this would have on the UK should be enormous as football is a passion all Brits share. Moreover it would provide all British countries a clean break from a struggling history. Esp england's players would not have to carry the weight of all the painful exits of 50 years. To from a BFA or so should not be a problem provided its elections are all democratic and transparent. Of course this is a long term project and it would take a few years to bridge the gaps between the cultures.

Keane is such an idiot for getting excited about Mou leaving early. His behaviour towards Mou is disrespectful. Who gives a damn whether the opposition coach leaves a min early? Does he really think Villa could have turned it around during that period? Don't buy that "sunday-league park game" narrative either. Never seen a manager getting punched for neglecting formalities in my sunday-morning games. On the other hand talking disrespectful shit behind one's back would probably get yourself in trouble here. Especially when you are such an attention-seeking cunt like Keane. One should tell him big beards look hilarious on skinny men. Overrated footballer and excuse of a coach anyway.

True he is probably no leader. On the one hand I fear what will happen to us when we get in trouble and have no real, natural leader on the pitch. on the other hand I have seen the German NT often enough to see that leadership might be a tad overrated in football. The last generation of GErman football had a bunch of true, natural leaders such as Torsten Frings, Arne FRiedrich, Bernd Schneider, Oliver Kahn and most importantly Michael Ballack. I have in person and his character literally enhances the impression his anyway imposing appearances gives you. He is very cheerful and friendly but at the same time demanding and will always get the best out of you. The current generations is full of cunts and pussies like Neuer, Lahm, Schwein, Özil, Boateng. Still they have finally won that elusive World Cup. Ok the opposition they faced was not on the same level as Spain of 2008-2012. Still they knew what they had to do. All players in the team were technically and tactically perfectly educated to play the football they needed. No one was required to make the one-man-army show players like Ballack, Drogba or Lampard did so often. Some people like Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Hummels took more responsibility than others. But there is no way those are the natural born leaders of old. When the team has developed enough of coherence, it suffices when everyone steps up to motivate each other in the most crucial of times which is exactly what leaders do. The doubt whether Cahill is enough of a leader to take that bit more of responsibility remains. Iva might be a more obvious choice.

Well he once kinda did, we know how that ended.... In general there is only taken action against unspotted offences when they are not against Chelsea players. 8 match ban for the Suarez bite on Ivanovic was a joke. I also got no idea why anyone would have Iva as the target of choice. If I could pick one player not to start a fight with it would be him. Maybe it is because Ivanovic is barely able to feel pain he does not mind.

Is it only me or was anyone else reminded of this one Fab-Costa is our new title guaranteeing combination. HOpe they can do it as long and as successful as their predecessors.

Schalke might suit him very well. They got decent funds, talented youth players, some ok players with international reputation like Hunter and Prince but also a lot of deadwood. RDM did a good job of making the best of the player material he got. It will be interesting to see what he is capable of building his own team. If there is one guy who knows a thing or two about annoying Bayern then it is Robbie.

When Schürrle plays, there will be chances for us, that's for sure. He definitely creates more than Oscar or Willian, but his finishing is not up to it yet. The way he squandered those in the last few games was Torres style. But IMO that is not too grave a problem so far. I am sure he will recover, the team will work on its decision making in front of goal and recover and in the next few weeks the goals will come. As for Schürrle he is not yet up there. He will not be a regular starter soon, but that is not problem either. He is still only 23 and with his attitude he will gradually mature into a world class one that's for sure. He might very well be the best german winger since Bernd Schneider. In Germany we always had a problem with wingers. That is because in our talent development we focus on technical attributes and neglect physical ones. WE got a lot of fast guys here in Germany, but they don't teach you how to run the lines and get a good cross. All this boring tiki take BS is the way to go. You develop some skill they make you a no.10 or a second striker when you are less talented they say like "all you can do is run" and make you a fullback. Fullbacks as well as wingers are not really appreciated in Germany. Luckily our midfielders have somehow compensated that failure. That is why Schürrle has my respect for making it in Germany as a winger.

the good thing about this season is, even though we have already conceded first far too often, we have been able to come back and turn the game around. Last being a goal down would at least have meant that we would lose 2 points. Costa is the player who can win us those games on his own. HIs share of scrappy goals from near offside positions, pouncing on a deflection or exploiting a defensive error is what wins you those ugly matches vs resolute but limited teams. absolutely love this lineup vs those kind of teams it is perfectly balanced and expresses our ambition to score. When Schürrle, Costa and Hazard have their scoring boots on this should be no problem.

good draw. We can field a lot more youth players this time.

Let's not fool ourselves. It is never about "love" in professional football. He is a legend because he scored an unbelievable amount of goals, had an incredible number of great performances and won us a load titles not because he loved or pretended to love the club some much. He might very well have developed some affinity to the club, which he displayed e.g. by his friendly and honest communication with the fans and staying here despite offers from BArca, Real and INter. Yes he milked it and got a big contract by flirting with those clubs but that contract was no more than he deserved. But in the end his carreer and also his personal benefits were more important to him and that is totally fine. When you have been at a company for 10+ years and now your contract ends and you get a better offer from a rival company, you'd probably take it too. The ones outraging about Lampard joining another club have probably been deluded by some imaginations of love. Love is seldom found in football. You, he is not the first club legend to join a rival club after they got no extension. He is a goal machine and a winner, which is why he is a legend and he has continued to be so and we seen that from the other side now. He has never been disloyal to us. Infact he has been loyal to us as long as he was our player. 13 years is a long time in modern football. He will return to the club, because he is a legend and will be loyal again. IN truth to most players football clubs are companies, employers. People very seldom love their employer, even if they have performed well for them for over 10 years.

sry wrong thread. thx for the link

Oscar is a rather poor header of the ball. Lampard used to score a fair share from headers.

This is why Schürrle was the player with most shots wide in his last two bundesliga seasons.

Our defending has been under suspicion since the beginning of the season. We might need some more versatile, more modern defenders when we try to play more posession football with a high line. Ironically Cahill, who was bought by high-line-fan AVB does not look any more modern than JT

can we please once just once keep a clean shit. I somehow knew that big man would score after I saw that Azpi marked him. bit of a mismatch

look at zouma, how happy he is. LUcky goal but not that bad a finish, toe-poling it into the roof of the net while stretching.

no disrispect to Azpilicueta but Luis is on a different level technically.