The only place to be

Seen on Twitter that a few people think Jose is getting the sack. What a fucking joke these 'fans' are. Honestly, they're nothing to do with this club. At best they're parasites attracted to Roman's money and our recent success but they don't represent the support of this club in any way, shape or form. They're the worst type of scum that any club can find themselves picking up because they do nothing but moan. They don't lift the team or support the players. They seem to enjoy losses as it gives them a chance to reconfirm their biases. If you happen to see one of these fans in the street, you should treat them like any other vermin by crushing them under the heel of your boot. Repeatedly.

We played what was essentially a three man midfield against West Ham and had great success, so why would you change that for Basel? The problem then arises that we only have three men who play in that midfield role available. Essien wasn't registered and Van Ginkel is out injured so who exactly was available? All three midfielders were awful last night, and they can't all be dropped for Southampton. I'm sure some will now say Lampard has been awful all season (as they had been doing incorrectly before the West Ham game) but there's an extended rest between now and the Southampton game and I'd back a few of those players to get back to the level they were at on Saturday.

For a moment there I thought you meant Uncle Ken. Who is this 'Bates'? Not sure why you're bringing Lampard into this. He had a bad game but Mikel also had a very poor game, yet he escapes criticism.

Or maybe Hoddle was spot on in what he said about him.

Have to agree. Played well at West Ham but then throws in a performance like today where he offers nothing going forward and no protection to the back four.

You sir are a fucking disgrace. Hoping players get injuries is beyond a joke.

Thought he was appalling last night, yet Lamps is getting a massive amount of abuse across the forum. It's one thing to have a loose touch all night and almost get sent off but kicking a player off the ball when we're putting together a decent attack is absolutely boneheaded. Looked tired for the first time ever and needs to get back to his best against Southampton.

What the fuck are you talking about? I don't know if this is an attempt at humour because it's completely nonsensical.

A complete waste on the wing, especially with no support from the midfield. Worryingly we already knew that after the Newcastle game.

Probably could've waited until tomorrow to open this thread. A lot of the kids are all hopped up on fizzy drinks and the result hasn't helped their moods. I await a slew of posts about Mata.

Who here is defending Mourinho like he's a god (apart from Phil)?

Yes, but Rafa was a cunt and I have a very clear anti-cunt policy.

He brought on £90 million worth of talent, including De Bruyne who everyone has wanted to play since day fucking dot. He dropped Cole, played Azpi and even brought in Mikel yet people are still not happy. Some people on here are a fucking joke and the reason they don't get told more is because the decent posters who get frustrated would be the ones who get punished. So we basically have matchday threads dominated by people trolling about the SAME FUCKING THINGS over and over again. It's fucking laughable.

Most supporters just learn to take the rough with the smooth sometimes. You don't become a great team overnight and sometimes you're going to put in a stinker. The trick is to realise that you're in this for the long haul and one match is just that - one match in thousands. Perspective dear.

Nice to see that it only takes one game to go from praising Mourinho on Saturday to slating him tonight. If Mata leaves, some of you should probably go with him.

Pfft...young'un. Take That's great songs came in the 90s. :eyebrows:

So many bad performances that it's pointless mentioning anyone in particular and reminiscent of the Newcastle game, but Oscar on the wing is utterly useless. Oh well, we've qualified and hopefully we'll be back to normal on Sunday.

Is there a chance that you and Phil could dress up as Mikel and Lampard and have really furious sex somewhere? I think we'd all appreciate the break from both of you to be honest.

You're kidding right? He's been remarkably favourable to us.

Oscar off - Hazard on. Oscar's been completely lost on that wing so why not bring on a proper winger?

Benitez might be too tactically rigid. What we need is someone who's a little tactically rigid, but not too tactically rigid. What would be ideal is someone tactically limp, or maybe someone a bit more tactically floppy because I've had enough of tactical rigidity yes siree.

Tactical rigidity has got fuck all to do with this performance. The fact is that this is the ideal game for counter-attacking tactics but the players have failed to implement ANY tactics thus far. Defensively there are too many gaps in the middle and going forward the movement has been dismal. I guess you must have read that Jose is tactically rigid but it really doesn't pertain to anything that you might've seen in the last 45 minutes of football.

The midfield simply isn't doing enough. I don't think I've seen Ramires so anonymous in a game or Lampard so sloppy. Oscar is being completely wasted on the wing and can't dictate the play like he has done and Willian is working his bollocks off but not getting any support. It's nothing that can't be fixed at half-time though. What's more concerning is some of the comments in this thread. Once again a few posters gleefully taking potshots at certain players like they do every week. It's apparently all they watch football matches for. A poor 45 minutes on a shitty pitch against a team who have worked their bollocks off, but it's only half-time and we ain't losing.

Everything that was so positive on Sunday has taken a backwards step today. Oscar is being completely wasted as a conventional winger.

Already looks like a much more conventional 433.