The only place to be

Bet you were gutted when he missed that penalty in the CL Final. Were you crying into your Bayern shirt because he couldn't come back and destroy us? I don't think you call comment on Chelsea supporters considering your posts in this thread. As for Salah, he's probably a little further along than Atsu or Piazon and he seems more capable of fitting into this system than Mata or De Bruyne. As it is he'd be a squad player behind the player who beat Mata out for the right-wing spot - Willian. Enjoy your pint.

That's either a blatant lie or you're misinformed. It's always been known that he wasn't the hardest working player and that was evident last season, despite being a fantastic attacking force. Jose's arrival and his system simply made these flaws far more apparent and simply precluded Mata from being chosen on a consistent basis. You might have preferred Guardiola or Klopp but Jose is our manager and deserves our support. If you can't give him that then go support a German team.

But....But...he can't replace Mata, even though Mata was replaced on the right-wing by Willian and Jose wants an athletic, left-footed, right-winger and this guy is promising, cheap and young.

Fair enough. I still think Man City are weak in midfield beyond Fernandinho and Toure. Few clubs have the perfect squad and I think our's is approaching a very balanced state.

That's utterly pathetic.

Bollocks apparently (according to Twitter, so that could be bollocks too).

Watch the build up and movement before that deflected pass.

Sorry, I was limiting it to PL appearances. It seems unfair to preclude players like Essien and Ake from our list and include Boyata and Rodwell on their's.

How many outfield players have Man City played more than 3 times this season? I'll give you a clue. It rhymes with 17.

I like this move because it says one thing - At Chelsea, Mourinho is lord god almighty and the rest of ya'll can go fuck yourselves. This is Mourinho showing just how big his balls are. Fair play to him. We've wanted a manager who actually led this club for years, rather than just some temporary custodian waiting for a pay-off (and I would even include King Carlo in that - except for the pay off bit - who, despite him being a fucking great manager never really changed the identity of the club that much from what Jose established). This season Jose has set about creating a new identity for this club on the pitch and reinvigorated the club. The bad feeling that was here just 12 months ago has evaporated and we have someone in the dugout that we love. We'll miss Mata but this could be the moment that we look back on in decades to come as the moment we finally found a leader to take us to that next level.

Don't fancy your job today. People wishing death on people for transfers, Mourinho is going to get dogs abuse despite our league position and supporters crying for stability for years and a few new trolls signing up to rub this transfer in our faces. Think it'll be worse than the Benitez signing. Me personally, I'm just going to get the popcorn and see who can come up with the most extreme reaction.

To be fair I'm not the one who has resorted to name-calling, but congrats on achieving your aim.

Really? You don't think Oscar, Willian and Hazard link up well? Our first goal against Liverpool involved all three and was a thing of beauty. Give them time.

You don't though. You just post negative shit constantly under some pretence of being realistic. Throughout this whole debate you've posted sarcastic shit that isn't related to what this club is actually trying to achieve. I don't have my head stuck up Jose's butt, but I do respect the man and what he is trying to do. I also think he is getting results that suggest that his system does have merit. It's sad to see Mata go but we've got fine players like Oscar, Willian and Hazard as well as great young talent who might actually come through with some stability in the coaching position. Plus I doubt there's anything you could actually say that was worthwhile or interesting. Sorry, but having seen your efforts that's just how I feel. Players like Rui Costa, Laudrup etc. were great players but that means the square root of fuck all when we're discussing players' suitability to our coach's system. Maybe join your friend Gilvorak at the cafe. Neither of you would have to change your posting styles.

Give it a rest and cheer the fuck up. Real Madrid have Isco. Bayern have Gotze. We have Oscar. You stick with your Youtube videos of players who were in their prime at least half a decade ago. The game moves on, different systems emerge. If you don't like the system we're using then why not leave? You don't seem to have that great an affinity for this club anyway.

Shame that he's going to United and he's a classy guy who has been a fantastic ambassador for this club but at the end of the day it's purely and simply footballing reasons that have led to him leaving. Mourinho's style of football really didn't suit him so we had to make a choice between the coach and the player, and thankfully we've gone with the coach. Some of the stick, abuse, vitriol and downright pathetic comments from some members on this site towards the club, the board and even Jose are pretty embarrassing. The club will survive this and I think we have the coach, the system and the players to prosper. United have got themselves a great bloke but they're still in dire need of at least one midfielder....and a coach.

How is it stupid? Mata doesn't play because he doesn't fit the profile that Mourinho wants, this guy does. As for replacing Mata...WE ALREADY FUCKING REPLACED HIM WITH WILLIAN. Salah fits the profile down to a tee. He's a left-footed right winger, he seems to have a good amount of athleticism about him, he's got CL experience and he's relatively young and decent value so you wouldn't expect to lose much (if any) money on him in the next 2-3 years. Moses could return, but he's right-footed when Mourinho has said he likes inverted wingers.

A pathetic statement from someone who is supporting United the next time Man United visit the Bridge apparently. Willian was Mata's replacement because Mourinho saw Mata as a winger. Oscar has been one of our two best players this season and has no reason to worry if he keeps improving as he has done. The guy is Brazil's number 10 - he can handle the pressure.

What the fuck is wrong with you?

I agree he's a classy guy, but why the fuck would I want the club to be destroyed by him? He's not bigger than the club and this club is bigger than my pathetic whims. This club means everything to millions of supporters around the world and because my favourite player might be sold (because he doesn't fit the system for fucks sake) then I'm going to throw my toys out of the pram? You criticise people who support Mourinho in this but fuck supporting the manager....you can't even support the fucking team properly.

Part of the deal is that they have to keep Moyes.

And you're one of those supporters who wants Mata to come back with United and "destroy" Chelsea. Is there a name for supporters like this?

Here's a question....will number 10s like Ozil and Mata become a thing of the past? Look at Real Madrid, Bayern and us. We use Isco, Kroos/Gotze and Oscar respectively, none of whom is in the same mould as Mata/Ozil/Kaka but who are harder working players. They each has similar numbers of goals/assists too. Maybe the game is moving towards this more all-round AM? Just a thought.

One is that you could use Rami on the wing. The second is to use the 433. We're talking about suffering TWO injuries to Willian, Hazard, Oscar and Schurrle. Realistically if that happens then we're in trouble whether we have Mata or not. I'd still be inclined not to use Mata if that happened though and maintain the fast-paced pressing game by using Ramires who has the athleticism required. Good post by the way. It's a shitty transfer all round because we are looking to sell a fantastically talented player, but if a fantastically talented player doesn't fit the style of football you're playing then what real use is he? That's if these players get injured. It's the nightmare scenario and if it happened, then it would be tough all round. By that logic we shouldn't loan out any players just in case, but you make these decisions based on what is likely to happen. As for who we should buy, I don't know. One option might be Salah who is a value purchase who fits our transfer structure but might not have the talent required. Again though we could reduce the AM positions from 3 to 2 as we have done already this season. Decent source.

No, I think we need 5 players for those 3 positions or use the 433 we've used sporadically this season to good effect. Ideally we'd sign a 5th AM who wold be a right-sided, left-footed player who fits the system. At the moment we have Hazard, Oscar, Willian, Schurrle and Ramires (who can play on the right if needed) if Mata leaves.