kellzfresh

He's a goalscorer, if he's given games, I don't see him not claiming the starting spot

What if cech exposes Mourinho's tactics to wenger

Loved his movement, speed, passing and left foot. Haven't seen enough of his other attributes to judge him on but I was happy with his speed and willingness to get behind the defence. Fabregas will have a field day in creating chances with him on the right wing. If he keeps working hard, and showing desire he has a big chance.

Exactly. Mourinho knows that defending in every single big match will become predictable and everyone will start tactically preparing for us to stay deep against them. So we have to surprise some people by attacking like we did in the first half against Barcelona. They won't see it coming...

Does this mean he's looking to buy someone????

Cheeky Madrid bid for aguero??

Where was he?

We should have bought cabaye as a substitute for when fabregas isn't playing. Big mistake imo not to sign a technical, creative midfield player on the bench. Moses at least tries to dribble past his marker (alba is not easily beaten) he could claim that substitute role from cuadrado easily. He's a Mourinho type of player except the delivery of his crosses.

We don't have anymore quality on the bench, all we have is mikel and ramires on the bench so this is what you get. I'll say it again, the day fabregas or hazard goes off injured we can say goodbye to any title next season.

Lmao..... At least we got our entertainment in the first half.

Only one midfield signing would be the difference between being confident against champions League teams or getting doubtful and hoping for luck

This is the only part I don't like. I accept any style of football as long as we have more than 6 shots on goal. Proper chances at that. Those matches where we had only 2-3 shots for 90mins are unacceptable imo. We should improve from that this season, with proper counter-attacking football our chances created should increase. The main problem is immediately fabregas leaves the pivot, we don't have anyone who can pass or keep possession flowing from midfield, and if fabregas stays in the pivot he can't defend at all because of his speed. Maybe if we aren't buying anyone we should change formation to 4-3-3 in big games like against tottenham in the carling cup final. And push oscar deeper...

It hasn't just worked for Fabregas when he plays 10 in the big games. He's very good in the pivot but I think he should play in the 4-3-3 midfield so that he has players around him.

Since we obviously won't pass well if Barcelona press us, Let's hope we field mobile midfielders to compensate for the energy spent to chase and press them while they are passing.

Who would have thought he'll have a shot at our right wing two years later. I have a feeling he's exactly the kind of player Mourinho loves... strong, energy to drive past players, and loyalty to defend when asked. Let's see if he can challenge willian

That's where Mourinho comes in to balance the odds

The reason why the midfield 3 of Oscar, Willian and ramires worked well is because they were more mobile and faster compared to the firsthalf (Matic-Mikel-Fabregas) so so slow.... It was easier for us to press and cover space with the 2nd half midfield. If we are a team that holds all the possession in the big games, then a very slow midfield can be managed. But we mostly press the opponent, so a more mobile midfield should be what we should be aiming for.

Most important is no mikel-Matic, too slow. Box to box fast technical midfielder needed. 2nd is we have to press, if we don't know how to hold the ball under pressure then we have to put the opponent under pressure too instead of sitting back. Having none of them is unacceptable. 3rd is 4-3-3 >>>> 4-2-3-1 against big teams.

Please stay in the CM, it's your calling. All that defensive ability and awareness to position yourself for the team goes to waste in the AM.

Clear example of how we need a goalscoring midfielder..... Hazard alone is not enough in the Champions League

We need a faster, and better midfielder with strength than Mikel for the big games. It's unacceptable to play with that low quality against champions League level teams. We should stop this joke of not signing any midfielders before its too late. Or else we'll turn out to be local league champions like mancity while being shite in Europe.

We don't know how to press from our half anymore. Then every champions League teams press us but we don't know how to pass, so we have no tactical advantage at any point. Solution is to get faster midfielders because Matic -mikel - Fabregas is the slowest in the Champions League. And get players that can hold the ball under pressure. We are just going to repeat our champions League performance again this season, pitiful... Nn

We want to manage this when we all know our weaknesses from last season. Teams have defenders that are better passers than our midfielders

All we need is a vidal type of player in that midfield in the big games. Even David luiz was a better option than Mikel 2 seasons ago, we can surely do better than Mikel.

I wish everyone can see this view. This is exactly the true weakness of our team we can improve on. Getting midfielders who are excellent under pressure, and another creative player incase fabregas or hazard injures would go a long way in improving the team. But we are still a strong team tbh, it's just that I like improvement season after season.