The only place to be

I never liked Mikel as part of the spine of the team because I really don't think he's someone you can rely on in tough situations and I've rarely seen him dominate. Hopefully Matic becomes that leader in midfield for us and Mikel can go alongside him freed up from a fair amount of responsibility so he can express himself more. It could be the making of him, or it'll simply underline how unnecessary he is.

I think you may be right. We were unlucky to get both clubs when we did, because no-one could have thought United would have been as average as they were (probably too cautious in retrospect) and Spurs now are perhaps more effective but they're also more one-dimensional. Having said that it's still a Manchester derby and I'd expect them to concede in both games.

I said he was overrated and didn't want him here and I still haven't seen much to get excited about by him. At home they're fantastic but away from home (statistically almost half of all PL games are played away from home....read that on twitter the other day) they look vulnerable. He's got a fantastic squad but he just reminds me of a decomposing Kevin Keegan with better players. Newcastle away was their first away clean sheet since September, and that was only after the ref chalked off a perfectly valid goal. 3 or their next 5 away games are at United, Spurs and Arsenal, places we got 3 points from and conceded 1 goal in total.

And football is a very simple game when all is said and done. It seems to be working well for us too doesn't it? Exactly. David Luiz may well be a square peg for our round hole. See, this is the mindset I don't understand. Are his long balls from the back and free-kicks so great (how many free-kicks has he scored from this season by the way) that we should all be 'resigned to the fact and not surprised that he makes mistakes'? I'm just going to type that one more time because it is a fascinating thing to hear we should accept from a player. We should be 'resigned to the fact and not surprised that he makes mistakes'. Tell you what, that should be printed on the tickets so that when a guy works his bollocks off all week to be able to afford to bring his son to a match he doesn't get all uppity when Luiz throws in a performance like the one against Cardiff. Clearly any disagreement we have over Luiz is because I'm not so ready to accept this. That somebody might be Jose Mourinho....a guy not renowned for resigning himself to accepting a player making mistakes. But I do agree that he isn't playing to his potential, which is where the frustration with him comes from. If he was a limited player then no-one would care, but it's the fact that he is ONE OF THE MOST PHYSICALLY AND TECHNICALLY GIFTED PLAYERS IN OUR SQUAD (oh look, I'm a real hater) that makes him so frustrating. Well don't sound too excited about it. So we have a style that the coach wants, that seems to be successful and seems to be bringing out the best in players like Eden Hazard, John Terry, Willian and Oscar but it doesn't suit David Luiz? See this is where the 'couldn't give a fuck' side of me comes out. I feel no great affinity towards David Luiz. I find most of his off the field stuff juvenile, although he is great with the kids and his charity/community work is exemplary. I also think if he went to Barca then he'd fit in perfectly. He'd add a new dimension to their game, probably score in double digits and be FIFA TOTY for the next 5 years.....but I'd also fancy our chances against him if we got them in Europe. Here's the thing though - there is no anti-Luiz bandwagon. Anyone who has seen him play knows that he has EVERYTHING to be the best defender in the world. He's strong, he's fast, he's great with the ball, he can intercept better than almost any player in the league on his day, he can hit great passes....it's those top two inches that are suspect and unfortunately they are the most important thing in football. It's why we're talking about a guy who will be 27 in 3 months time in terms of what he COULD be. Are we still going to be doing that when he's 30? Potential? Don't hate Luiz. Think he has every tool to be the best defender in the world and gave him a lot of credit after the Liverpool and Hull games. Wisey never gave less than 100% and never bottled challenges.

His old man has apparently tweeted that he's upset with Southampton's owners. Essentially Cortese was the guy who knew about football and with him gone the fans are worried that the owner (Katharina Liebherr who only inherited ownership after her old man died) might look to sell some key assets whilst also looking to flog the club. This seems like the ideal time to try and raid their club and the reports of £15 million + Bertrand seems like another value bid. Fingers crossed on this one.

Shame he's cup-tied but he could be what puts us over the top in the league.

Great business done by the club. 6th choice AM out and a first-team mainstay (hopefully) in with just a bit of extra cash on top. Three days training and maybe he could start on Sunday.

We've signed a player we need for a price that seems not just fair, but almost a bargain. Fuck me what is going on at Chelsea?? Glad he's back. He looks a quality player and maybe one more piece of the spine we're developing for the next few years. The club deserve credit for getting such a value signing in a notoriously difficult period to do so, and the player himself seems to have a real desire to come here. :blue scalf:

He also has 3 goals in his last 4 starts including crucial goals against Southampton and Palace and he leads our pressing game well. Maybe Eto'o starts after scoring against Liverpool (and then doing his best to gift Liverpool a penalty....maybe betting patterns in the far-east need to be looked at for that game) but Torres has done well recently.

Who? No-one here is under the impression that Lamps can play 60 games a season anymore, nor that he should be an undisputed starter in the line-up but managed correctly he can be a valuable member of the squad.

Not one single person acts like he is 25.

Bit soon to write him off considering he's got 5 goals and put in some great performances despite being overplayed. Managed correctly he still has a role to play.

Why is 'right' decisions in quotations? Doesn't everyone want him to make the 'right' decisions rather than the 'wrong' decisions? Isn't that what a 'defender' is supposed to do so that we have a better chance of 'winning' games? British CBs have come in various forms and it's fantastically simplistic to imply they're all ball-hoofing neanderthals. Bobby Moore was English, so is Rio Ferdinand and many others who were more than comfortable on the ball without compromising their defensive responsibilities. And like fuck is it a copout to say a defenders first job is to defend. That's the first thing their teammates want from them, it's the first ting the coach wants from them and it's the first thing the supporters want from them. Bullshit. I didn't see glee in the eyes of supporters when he allowed Cardiff to score their goal. I saw resignation in the eyes of supporters, and no-one looked at all surprised. Now we're just being silly. The pairing that has been solid and keeping clean-sheets in the last few games that provides a stable platform for the likes of Hazard to show their world-class talent and give us a chance to win the title.... but David Luiz hasn't been playing as much... Don't apologise. It was quite good, if overly sentimental. You seem more concerned with how David Luiz does than how Chelsea do, but I get that. He's a fun personality with that crazy hair and the way he sticks his tongue out and gives a thumbs up. In some ways that's more important than winning matches.... Here's the thing though. He does make mistakes in defence and he has put in some fantastically lacklustre displays this season whilst also ducking out of challenges at Newcastle. That's why he's been dropped twice. We aren't driving him out. We're treating him like every other player in the squad and whilst Cahill might be 'mechanical' and 'boring', we have kept FIVE clean sheets in our last SIX games and the goal against Liverpool came from an Ivanovic mistake at a free-kick. We're looking better so I'm not entirely sure why there's fuss being made about Luiz. In fact he's actually been rather good in his last few outings in midfield and was my MOTM against Hull. In that position we still get to see his skills on the pitch (and his sideshow Bob hair) without him being in the last line of defence.

He's in a completely different position to Mata. Mata doesn't seem to fit the system whereas Luiz can, in multiple positions. As for who might be in for him there's probably Barca, maybe Bayern and maybe even PSG but that could all change after the World Cup.

I don't think you'd find many people who would think Luiz is worth any less than £30 million in the current market.

Ferdinand's pace used to actually be pretty special, but we're talking about five years ago at least. In his West Ham, Leeds and early United days he had fabulous technique and great physical tools but never had the understanding of an Adams or even a Terry. He wasn't Micah Richards but he definitely used to dig himself out of holes with his pace...actually probably not that far removed from where Luiz is now.

Ferdinand always used to rely on his pace to help him out of tough spots. His reading of the game was always suspect which is why you needed someone like Vidic (and Terry ) alongside him. The fact that he actually had a pretty decent season last year was somewhat surprising, but since Fergie's gone he seems to have focused more on his 'media career'. Oh, and he's a twat.

Is it weird that I read all of your posts in this character's voice?

I actually think this move could be great for Mikel. It'll free him up a little and could transform him, or it could just be the death knell for him. Either way we've got some physically imposing players in that position with Mikel, Matic, Luiz and eventually Chalobah and Loftus-Cheek. Athleticism, technique and power freeing up the attacking players to do what they do best. The general consensus seems to be we're getting a bargain and only a few mentions of the fact we let him go in the first place. Could be a nice move for Kakuta - let's face it he's verging on being a free transfer at the moment.

Haven't wanted to jinx this but it does seem like a relatively good deal, especially for January. The price seems extremely fair, it seems to be running relatively smoothly and even the requests for players don't seem to outlandish if they're looking at the likes of Kakuta who is roughly our 9th or 10th choice attacking midfielder. When your rivals are envious of the deal you've struck (United fans can't get over this especially in light of the Fellaini deal) and the team you're buying from have fans moaning about being ripped off, you've got to give the club some credit.

So would I, but I've got a funny feeling we might get Guarin still. His versatility, his strength, his directness when he's in possession....honestly, there's a part of me that looks at him and thinks that Mourinho would rather him on the right-wing than Mata. In terms of building a squad, he's cheaper than Essien and Mata and could cover both of their positions probably just as well in the current system. Like I said it's a long shot but he does look like a Mourinho player in a lot of respects, although obviously there are plenty of question marks over him.

I knew that type of thought might come up because it seems the obvious thing to say. I think the transition from the role he's been playing at Benfica to the role he'd be asked to play for us is relatively painless. Someone like Hazard had to deal with so many different things being asked of him, especially defensively that it would be very tough for him to be chucked straight in. I actually don't see there being very much difference between what he'd be asked to do on a tactical level. The two things we're going to need to do against United are press them when they're in possession (Carrick especially) and look to break quickly when they're in transition and that requires accurate passing. To me, those are two things he does far better than Mikel who is in all likelihood his competition for that spot. Now I don't know if there's any specific aspects of our system that you think he'd have trouble picking up, but in that position I think his natural game and the game he's been asked to play for Benfica are actually a very close match for our's.

It's an outside chance, but is it totally inconceivable that Jose sees Guarin as a guy who can cover a spot in the pivot and as an attacking midfielder? He's not that expensive (especially if we were to let Mata go for at least double what this guy costs), he's got the type of physicality that Mourinho likes and he'd be taking up the spots that Essien and Mata currently have in the squad (fifth choice AM and fourth/fifth choice defensive midfielder). He's by no means a guy who makes our starting XI much stronger, but in terms of squad make-up it wouldn't be the worst move in the world.

It sounds like you're trying to be sarcastic, but it's not the worst idea in the world to stick him in. He's a good player, he's match-fit and I'm not sure he'd take much time to work out what he should be doing. Would including him make us a better team?

Could we still be in for him, not just as a pivot option but as an attacking midfield option?