The only place to be

Yep. Mick Hucknell is a massive ginger....sorry, red. Pretty sure Simply Red is a tribute to United as well.

Maradona was just an Argentinian Charlie Adam.

Mourinho says he likes inverted wingers (lefties on the right). He seems to be one of the top young guys out there and his fee isn't extortionate which is why he popped into my head when I was thinking who we could bring in (Hulk and Di Maria both too expensive probably). Moses to me is done. Not getting games at Liverpool and probably off to someone in mid-table in the summer.

Iniesta has never had a free role in the conventional sense. Every player in that team puts in a shift. In fact he's not a conventional 10 because Messi occupies a lot of the space a 10 normally would. He tends to be a left-sided midfielder in a midfield 3 defensively and in attack he can occupy any position on the left or in the middle. He probably could play as a 10, but Barca don't use him like that in the way someone like Mata was used last season. Barca are fairly unique in the way they play which is why comparisons with them are tricky. To me though, Iniesta is part of a midfield duo with Xavi with Busquets sitting deeper (but even he can advance into the final third when they're doing that thing where they park up just outside the opposition box).

i hate being that guy who says 'we should sign him' but apparently Liverpool are looking at him for £8-12 million depending on reports. Left-footed, right-sided, CL experience....cost is Marin-Moses money, direct runner, completely unsure on workrate, young. I'm definitely not saying we should sign him but isn't he the type of player we might be looking at to fill a spot on the wings?

Absolutely agree. Always felt he could dictate the tempo of a game better than Mata. Juan is better at those individual moments of magic, but I think everyone agrees that Oscar has the potential to produce those more consistently as well don't they?? I don't like the idea of us selling to United either, but I think they need far more than Mata to get back to the top. To me it's a desperation signing. I can probably name 10 players they'd probably want more than Mata who they simply can't get (and I'd include the likes of Pogba, Fabregas, Modric, Vidal, Herrera, Koke etc. who are all deeper midfielders), but they need to sign a 'big name' to appease the fans. It keeps coming back to PSG making a bid. Oscar would be included in the discussion of potential top number 10s alongside Isco and Gotze. Oscar to me is better at dictating the tempo of the game. Has been since I first saw him play for Brazil. He'll drop deep and move the ball around whereas Mata is currently more destructive in the final third. The thing is Oscar is still young. Up until a few months ago people were questioning Hazard's effectiveness but these young guys need time to really fulfil their potential. To me, Oscar has more potential than Mata. I've said that since day one. He is a potential ballon d'or if people care about such things and this is the first season he's been given such responsibility. But I'll say this - Oscar is capable of being as good, if not better than Mata. Madrid let Ozil go because they believed in Isco, and we're doing the same.

We were really bad in those first 50 minutes. Regardless of his response, the removal of Mata and Schurrle and the introduction of Oscar and Willian radically changed that match. In fact since Mata last played (including the 37 minutes after he was removed in the Southampton match) we're won 4 (2 away from home) scoring 10 and conceding 1. Mata's problem is that Mourinho sees him more useful as a right-winger. The funny thing is that United fans seem to envision him playing that role too because they don't want to move Rooney who has been wildly productive in the 10 position himself. I think he probably will start against either Stoke or West Ham but more likely in a wide role, and I hope he does well because he can offer us so much but I trust Jose. We keep waiting for that moment where Juan gives Jose exactly what he wants but if he doesn't or isn't able to then there is a lot of money potentially out there for him (ideally to PSG) and I trust the club to use it to bring in someone more appropriate. I tried second guessing them on the Willian transfer and they seem to have proven me wrong. Then they went and sowed up the Matic deal which had other teams green with envy. I'm prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt.

So you're going to question Mourinho if the player that you want to get 90 minutes doesn't get them at the weekend, regardless of the result and regardless of said player's performance? No it didn't work perfectly. It wasn't solely down to Mata, but we were a soft team for a lot of that time. We were disjointed between midfield and attack whereas now we're a much more cohesive, harder-working unit. Jose is starting Oscar in that role because he thinks he can win more games that way. There are some people who really need to have a word with themselves because they're spouting a lot of shit, not just about Mata but about their fellow Chelsea supporters. No-one has derided him as the Spanish Charlie Adam as one miserable soul as suggested. The constant shrieking accusations from certain members that the club have treated him disgracefully are beyond pathetic too. For the first time in years we have a manager who is world-class and getting results, and because he chooses not to play one player (instead picking other world-class players) people act like spoilt little children. It's embarrassing. We beat Man United at the weekend with ease and people are willing to question Mourinho if ONE player doesn't get 90 minutes in the next match?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJkXlA1sF6E

Saying he's hard-working defensively is like saying Rio Ferdinand wasn't pacy in his younger days. I know you think you're being 'honest and unbiased' but it's just coming off like bitterness and moaning. No-one wants to see Mata leave but there doesn't seem to be a place for him, so offers like this aren't to be dismissed off-hand. There are possibly players out there who we could buy to make our team even better, like a striker maybe.

Technically it means nothing. The first story was that they would make a bid, they've just confirmed they haven't yet made a bid. Doesn't mean they won't, aren't preparing one etc. Maybe this wakes a few other clubs up to the possibility of signing Mata though. If PSG came in with a similar bid, would there be any objections?

Van Persie has only had 2 PL seasons where he's played more than 30 games...those last two seasons weren't the norm. That is not the best front four in the world. It's not even the best front 4 in England and teams aren't based on front fours - they're based on 11 players. Who is this other CM by the way? None of their main targets want to join them. Signing a player off the bench of a team who is 12 points ahead of you is hardly that great a statement, especially when Moyes is still the manager. Actually we'd probably sign a winger, not another midfielder.

He's a very good player. There just doesn't seem to be a place for him in the current team which is why this speculation is around. The main objection doesn't seem to be that we might lose our 2 time POTY, but that he might go to a rival. That probably shows where he is right now in the pecking order.

That's the thing....United can't get a CM. They want a Gundogan or a Herrera or a Fabregas or a Koke. Mata is only being linked because he might actually be available. If they could have their pick of players to get I doubt Mata would be in the top 8. The player they really need is probably Matic.

With Cleverley and Carrick still in the middle? Anyone who watched them at the weekend can see that their problems lie deeper than who they've got as a second striker (Rooney seems to be occupying that space at the moment and he has 9 goals and 8 assists, which is better than Eden Hazard's return). Plus £40 million for a bench player is a lot of money. Because people are analysing this deal and it's effects. He may not suit our system, but that doesn't mean he isn't a good player. That seems to be the concept that is confusing you. Surely it also depends who we get as a replacement....maybe a player who we can actually play without compromising the system??

Does any European team actually want him? The two big teams in Spain don't (sorry Atletico), I don't know if the Italian teams could afford him and does Pep need him at Bayern? That leaves PSG and the team one point above Newcastle and 12 points below us.

Sorry. Thought it was adding to the discussion.

Means absolutely nothing, even if you ignore it was said before Cortese's departure. Not saying he's coming but of course he's going to say stuff like that, otherwise what's the point in media training?

Iniesta, Xavi and Messi have all been praised for their contribution to Barca's pressing game. I don't see why Oscar is an exception to this. Isn't it the case that Mourinho probably sees Mata more as a right-winger so he's actually competing with Willian for a starting spot?

The funny thing is that Jose has stated that he likes left footed players on the right wing when talking about Mata, so his real competition probably isn't Oscar but instead Willian.

Ignoring the prostitution stuff (and the associated hypocrisy), these awards are about the history of the game and Ronaldo simply deserves to have won this award at least once in his career. He's one of the absolute greats of the game, so if there's a chance to award him the trophy (like Messi having an underwhelming season) then the authorities will look to take it. It's similar to Hazard being awarded it. He didn't deserve it but he'll probably be in the reckoning in the future so they include him now. Ribery had a great season but if he never wins it then it really isn't ever going to be seen as an oversight. If Ronaldo never won one then it would be a shame.

Maybe he should find another underage prostitute to cry to. Cunt. Ronaldo is too good a footballer not to win this award and that's why he got it. Ribery is a great footballer, but a shit human being. And yes Frank politics do come into it.

You're right. We do have a great bunch of supporters who aren't going to bitch and moan simply because a player isn't playing because the manager's system (which has seen us do pretty fucking well) doesn't suit him at the present time. That's one of the reasons I love this club. The vast, vast, vast majority are sensible folk who see that the club's needs take precedence over their favourite player playing (not just playing, but playing in the exact position he wants and in the exact system he wants) and don't whinge about him being treated disgracefully. What critics? We're playing well and most people couldn't give a fuck about Mata playing or not and do you know why?? Because Mourinho ALREADY silenced the critics. I like the idea that now we're doing well and have this system in place that we should go back to a type of football that gives Mata complete freedom from pressing. He deserves games but I don't see why out of the 20-odd players in the squad and 50 odd players at the club and even the hundred (s?) of young players associated with this club, one player should be exempt from certain things. And here comes the blasphemy....there are maybe 5 players in the world that you build systems around, if that. Mata ain't one of them.

Hmm....it's prudent to tie down any young talent to a long-term contract but he's really not kicked on as much as everyone had hoped. Still a fantastic talent but needs to sort his head out and he's facing some real competition from the likes of Bamford, Brown and Solanke up top, and Boga and the like when he's used deeper.

Need to get a result so no replays, but also a chance to try some new things and give players who need it a run out/rest. Yes Mata probably should play but I wouldn't be too surprised to see him on the right. Schurrle did well against them last time out and his absence yesterday was a little strange. Matic needs a solid 90, as does Frank and JT could probably do with a rest although I'm not sure that's likely against Stoke. Up front Ba seems nailed on in light of Nando's injury. Schwarzer Ivanovic Cahill Luiz Cole Lamps Matic Mata Oscar Schurrle Ba Bench could be interesting. A balance of youth and options to win the game if we're level after 60 (or losing). Cech, Ake, Azpi, Baker, Mikel, Hazard, Eto'o.....maybe Willian for Ake.