Pascal Newton

I'm sorry. Please accept my sincerest apologies.

You can't read?

If he refuses on the basis that they are from Israel, then of course it's crappy racism! I'm shocked you are asking this!

HUGE potential. Frighteningly good on the ball, extremely pacy with the ball (different to being just pacy). If he gets coached/developed properly, in few years we could have two Hazards on the wings. P.S. I only hope that he cuts the crappy racism that he's supposed to have shown in national matches. I'm from a Muslim family myself and understand his frustration with the situation in Palestine but those players had nothing to do with any of that, and it was classless and childish of him to refuse to handshake. I have zero tolerance for that kind of thing, and even if he turned out world class I wouldn't be able to bring myself to like him if he continued with that. Hopefully though it was one of those stupid things we do when we're young then grow out of it.

Congratulations! You have just discovered a media phenomenon known as transfer rumours. You will find that most of these are utter tosh thought up by journalists staring at blank pages at newspaper desks who then feed them to a public addicted to muppetry. What's muppetry? Thanks for asking! It's the act of shutting down all senses and sensibilities, and abandoning logic to wank over a transfer rumour, however outlandish and unlikely.

The gif doesn't do justice to that pass. Oscar waited for Neymar to pull back from an offside position, touching the ball ever so slightly and passed it when Neymar came on side. Less of a player wouldn't even notice that's he's offside at such a crowded area and big occasion/match and would pass to him, or if even if he happened to notice that, would have made some unwise move elicited by panic. But not Oscar. He's mature beyond his years and as cool as cucumber.

The true definition of a plastic fan!

Who was the best #10 in the world last season? Mata had more goals and assists than anyone in Europe apart from Messi and Ronaldo. He had more goals and assists just for Chelsea than Ozil had for club and country - and Ozil had Ronaldo and co finishing off his chances! Oscar is doing a good job because (a) Oscar is a terrific #10 himself, though not as good as Mata of course, ( has a season in the PL under his belt, and ( we have a better manager who is bringing the best out of him. It's laughable that you think Mata wasn't even close to being the best #10 in the world.

Maybe replace United with Bayern.

You know what's funnier. When people are examining this issue they start with an assumption which they then try to justify. The assumption is that Mourinho is right to bench Mata. I love Mourinho, I know he builds unbeatable teams, and have followed his Inter and Madrid teams, but I don't remember him ever making a decision seemingly as bonkers as this one. I think his reputation makes people search for good reasons for his decision rather than the obvious one - namely, that he might have made a mistake.

Did anyone see his run for the Oscar chance? He left Man Utd players for dead in the split of a second.

Do you honestly believe that? Don't you think, if Mata has a big role to play, he would have been given substantial chances over the past few months and trusted more? He has been treated as if he was Benayoun.

A promising kid who had a couple of good games for probably the best #10 in the world last season? I would stop watching football if that happened. I'm not joking at all. I would switch to something else.

Oscar to sit out vs Southampton!? Come on, bruv. This is the type of game where he's indispensable.

Weird game to test Essien's legs. I've faith in the legend, though. For once, we're playing proper central midfield.

I can understand Mourinho saying Mata should serve different role than he did in the previous year. Fine. But to not give him enough chances at all, that's just not right. I don't think I'll forgive Mourinho if Mata leaves. In my opinion he was the best #10 in the world last season. He had more assists and goals than Ozil in all competitions. Come on, I know we have a good team, but there's no way any team can't find a place for someone like that. Alright fine if you say I'm going to play Oscar as #10 to make up for the unfortunate fact that we partner Ramires with Lampard (why we don't play Mikel instead is beyond me, quite frankly). But I'm not going to buy that we're unable to accommodate Mata because of the quality of our attacking midfield. Here's what I believe. If we kept playing Mata on the right wing right and gave him the time to get used to that role, we could have been in a much better position now. For one because Mata is actually a winger - he played for Valencia as a winger, and described himself as a winger several times. He disappointed at times as a winger our 11/12, but that had more to do with the quality of the players alongside him. And this season he hasn't been given enough time at all. For another because the two guys he's been constantly replaced with are new to the club, and have been taking some time to not only get used to the roles, but also the team, club, manager everything. I just don't buy Mourinho's excuses and his actions don't make sense at all.

The word effortless is overused but it's really apt with regards to Willian.

He also looks he lost a bit of weight.

Brace. Amazing performance, though.

Mata vs Tottenham at White Hart Lane (aka The Juan Mata Show) is surely up there? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyHwa8D1wv4

Oscar to continue his European form!

Is that for real!?

The guy who ended Ballack's career? No!

That sounds like a fair deal.

I don't like how people are coming up That's different. The only fault of Torres is that he isn't as good as we thought he would be. He never bad-mouthed the club. I'm not going to forgive someone for bad mouthing our club just because they came and gave us 20 assists/goals or won us a Europa league etc. Never!