The only place to be

No. I think he could grow in the team though and that's what David Luiz's supporters say about him as well. The difference is that one is 19 and the other is 26 and has been here since 2011. You still get people saying his best position might not even be as a defender for fucks sake.

I explained my reasoning. Do you want me to explain it to you again?

I can't imagine many fans would want us to sign a 26 year old for £30 million who still plays with the same faults he had at 23. That's the bottom line - his staunchest supporters aren't supporting David Luiz. They're supporting who David Luiz COULD be and it's been the same argument ever since he got here. That's why I threw in Zouma's name. I know that he's young and that you're buying potential when you sign him, but that's still very much the case with Luiz. When John Terry was 26, we weren't still talking about what he could be because he was already at the top of his game. David Luiz is roughly the same age as Vincent Kompany - when you think about the maturity in both of their games then you have to wonder if Luiz will ever actually make that step-up everyone wants him to.

I love this guy. Amongst a fleet of ponderous flicks and 4th and 5th touches, this guy just gets it down and heads towards the goal. He just makes the game so simple - the ball needs to go in the goal, so I will take it there. Puts in a shift, has a shot on him, has a knack for popping up in the right place at the right time and that quiff :eyebrows: Hazard needs to stay on the left but I think we need to work out a way to use this guy almost as a second striker driving into the box especially in games like yesterday's. If Hazard is our new Robben then this guy can be our new Duff.

I agree with the person who said we were lucky to win, and unlucky not to win by more. There just doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to a lot of our play at the moment, and honestly we do look at times like 11 individuals who have been thrown onto the pitch with little instruction. In games like the one away to West Ham you could see what the players were trying to do, and they did it as a unit. We just seem resigned to being camped about 30 yards away from the opposition goal and relying on something to happen. Better teams will find a way to counter this, and worse teams already have but we're second in the table somehow so let's worry about that when it happens.

Newcastle away. We looked disjointed.

Zouma. Possibly Mangala.

Exactly...there is no anti-Mikel brigade We definitely don't meet on Thursdays and it definitely isn't my turn to bring the cupcakes this week....and what secret handshake?

I'm honest. The way you see Cahill is the way everyone else sees you. Enjoy your pint

Fair enough. You'll get the odd numpty moaning about him but I recall him being pretty decent in the first match back after the United game. Can be a bit of a twat at times but hopefully we'll get to a point where his appointment doesn't immediately remind everyone of that embarrassing incident.

Has the second highest shot conversion rate this season - 29.6%. Only behind Eden Hazard (shoot more!!), but not ready for us.

Your points are dull, repetitive, lack incisiveness and frequently incorrect. It's why no one likes them. You literally say two things over and over again in the most dull ways imaginable. You are the very definition of a troll. And the worst thing is that you lack the balls, the cojones, the class to even admit when either one of them has a good game. That's what sets you apart from everyone else here. You are the worst type of football supporter.

We should be absolutely demolishing teams like this but the blueprint for how to beat us is out there and I hate shit strikers like Chamakh coming into form when we play him. I've got the most horrible feeling that he'll score. Would like to see us having more shots from deep as well which means Schurrle and Lamps starting for me. Hazard is undroppable seemingly and that leaves us choosing between Mata, Oscar and Willian for the third spot. Wouldn't mind seeing De Bruyne get a start. This is a must-win though. The other teams around us are playing one another and I could even see United dropping more points at Villa.

I was actually putting his performance into context. Your problem is that you don't seem to have a clue what you're upset about. You moan about the same shit all the time and the amazing thing is that even with such a small number of subjects that you actually post about (Lampard is shit, Cahill is shit, Lampard is shit, Cahill is shit) you still manage to get your 'facts' wrong. You are the Tancredo Palmeri of this forum....except you're not even as accurate as him.

Kalas is actually quite a strong, fast player. He's got a great leap on him as well. I wouldn't be surprised if Zouma was actually a replacement for Luiz. Both have the potential to be great defenders - one is 19, the other is 26.

Football doesn't work like that. You don't always get to choose when you buy talent, you have to strike when they're available and who are we realistically going to get in January? This guy is an absolute no-brainer and I've seen no evidence to suggest that we couldn't get this guy and still have money for these other positions especially when you factor in his age (the length of the contract) and wages, plus the money saved on getting Bertrand off the books in January and a reduction in Cole's wages in the summer. THIS is the type of transfer the club should be making. He might not sell shirts, but he'll win you titles.

The guy isn't playing so it's only right he moves on. It does happen that players get a big move and then all of a sudden get called up, but Lallana, Lambert and Rodriguez have all been called up from Southampton. What Shaw needs is to keep playing well and getting minutes, and he might not get them here. What he might get is a chance in the Champions League though. Really want to get this guy though. Ticks every box and we need an English core of players at this club.

How many things could you say that about? Personally I'd rather we went after Cabaye for roughly the same money.

The bar is set so low for him that bad performances don't stand out that much. He's a great player if you don't actually have to sit through his performances. He's the least ambitious footballer I've ever seen.

How many did he make exactly?

Could he have done any less? Besides setting fire to the training pitches and shitting in a bucket in the youth teams changing areas, what could Jose have done worse with our young players this year?

You can also nick mummy's credit card, buy lots of points and win that way. That's what we do. We have young players who can grow into this team, who can become part of our history for a long time like the Greaves, Wilkins, Osgoods and Terrys of yesteryear yet we'd rather take 'risk-free' chequebook manouvres like signing Samuel Eto'o. Maybe then the crowd in the stands might feel connected with the people on the pitch. Mourinho could've actually got away with taking his time and building a young team with a distinct style, but he's probably blown that chance. Now he'll be judged on one thing and one thing alone - trophies. Because apparently that's all that matters.

Slowly grow perhaps, but then you've effected a massive change in the culture of the club. It wasn't like Barca gave Amor a go and that was it, they then had Guardiola come through, then Xavi, the Iniesta and then (or at least it should have been) Fabregas and Thiago.

It's his birthday today. Happy 19th.

Cech Azpi Kalas Terry Cole Chalobah Lampard Schurrle Oscar Hazard Lukaku Bench: Schwarzer, Luiz, Ake, Loftus-Cheek, De Bruyne, Mata, Torres Oh that would be nice. What we'll probably get Cech Ivanovic Luiz Terry Azpi Ramires Lamps Oscar Mata Hazard Ba...or Torres....or that old black guy who looks like someone who used to be good. Everton are playing Fulham at home at the same time - a team in blue, giving young players a chance and playing expansive football, plus that West London flavour.