The only place to be

Mikel actually had one of the better games he's had in a while. We deserved to win but didn't have the cutting edge. Eto'o showed more of an attacking instinct than Torres has in his entire Chelsea career and in a few weeks time we'll be winning these games. The big worries were Mata and Cole for me. Cole is putting in more of these types of performances than he ever has done previously and Mata just looked completely lost. Maybe that's a fitness thing but he's looked like that before as well. Missed Oscar's energy in the middle and Ramires threw in another catastrophic touch which led to the Everton goal. No need to panic but things we need to work on.

How about you wait for them before the holier than thou bullshit? Here, have the like you so desperately want.

Ashley Cole is having a shocker in defence and attack.

Need that change. Mata has looked slow and off the pace and it's not just a fitness thing. He looked like that a few times last season.

Mata has had a bad game - if you want to use the caveat that he's getting back to fitness then that's fine, but he's just not been good enough in the first half. Some players have had poor games and people have pointed that out. No need to get all dramatic about it is there?

Why start with this type of shit? Cech looked slow and apprehensive.

Good first half performance from him.

Oscar for Mata.

Luiz positioning for that goal was atrocious but it was Ramires giving it away mid-transition in midfield that fucked us. Mata has been awful. Eto'o looks 32 years old. Mikel has been rather good. We should be winning easily.

Why is that funny?

I think most people would settle for consistent, imposing performances. Don't buy into the scapegoat bullshit propagated by certain members.

Any truth to the rumours that clubs were put off bidding for Mikel because they thought Choulo might follow him?

He also had a good couple of seasons before that which saw him named to the PFA Team of the Season on a couple of occasions, so more than just a couple of good months. Just never established himself at United.

Yeah, giving us all this money and improving the product in so many ways over the last two decade.

Must've missed that. It's a shame because this is a fantastic community with a diverse range of views but Choulo seems to want to ruin it. It's why I've stopped logging on so much and won't donate a single penny more to the running of this site. Quite how he's still got a position of power around here when he started that thread about me (which he then had to close because it was such a embarrassment to this site) is beyond me. You don't get the same thing with other mods/admins.

I got a whole thread started about me because he got upset with something I said in a private conversation....implied I had a problem with international fans (despite me attending matches and drinking with fans from around the world for almost two decades) to garner sympathy for himself/start a bit of trouble. In his defence I think he has to make a certain number of posts per day and he's not too fussed about the content/quality.

And I stand by them. What's up Choulo? Short of your required post count for the day? Quality over quantity dear. Maybe take a few days off in a quiet room. I'm sure we'll cope.

I've questioned his commitment to the cause, much like I did after his comments before Rubin Kazan and his subsequent performance. Do you need that explaining to you again or are you capable of finding those comments and the explanations associated with them at the time?

Because we don't have any other possible scapegoats, like maybe a £50 million misfiring striker? Why start up with the scapegoat bullshit again? Trolling?

Not sure if this is a parody or not. Based on previous interactions with you, I sincerely doubt it. He has to work with these people day in and day out so of course he wants a good atmosphere. Seriously can't believe there are people paying much attention to this.

Good on him for answering a question honestly. I like footballers who are honest so I'm not sure why people want "political answers' to prevent their feelings from being hurt. Some people really need to worry about real problems.

Pretty much echoes my own points. Courtois is an elite-level keeper. He's a keeper with whom you can compete for titles both domestically and in Europe. The idea of rotating keepers is a silly one in my opinion because that role demands consistency - the defenders need to know instinctively what the guy behind him is going to do. You forgot the one or two CL games he'll get and there's always a chance of an injury to Cech.

And if Courtois is sold then the same applies, but lasts a decade longer. Anyway, I've said my piece. Nothing more to add and honestly wish I hadn't bothered logging on again.

Courtois is better. Talk to any Atletico fan. So when do we go with Courtois? Another season? Maybe another after that? At some point you've got to piss or get off the pot. If you're saying to me right now Courtois isn't good enough for a top European team to compete on all fronts, then I'll leave the discussion. Is that what you're saying?

So he gets a game against Swindon (or similar), a game or two after Christmas and maybe a cup run, and dead rubbers (games which don't count) in the CL to prove he's ready to play week-in and week-out? I don't believe even you believe that's true because you know a bit about how football works. Barca could spend £20 million+ on Courtois and then buy a second keeper to challenge him. I just think it's unlikely. Again, let's be realistic otherwise what's the point? I don't know that though. I'm fairly arrogant, but not to the extent that I'd say with any certainty what would've happened in the 2012 season. Personally though, I'd prefer to stick to talking about the future. It's unknowable as well, but in a far more exciting way. I'm sorry, but keepers don't win positions in training. Cech didn't - he got LUCKY because Cudicini got injured. You're asking Courtois to give up on CL football and glory to take a chance on Cech being injured or for Mourinho to be so impressed by his performance against Torquay United in a League Cup game that he decides to make him number one? If you were Courtois, Courtois's agent, his friend, his father or just someone who liked him would you advise him to do that?