The only place to be

Holy fuck. Penalty to Cardiff..... And they've scored. 2-2 so Watford can still go up automatically.

The trick is to not actually watch games involving Mikel. That's just madness. What you want to do is wait for the match to be over and then look at his stats for the game. Marvel at his pass completion stats and ignore things like heart, performance and effort. I could maybe forgive his poor performances if he didn't show such disdain and lack of effort whilst wearing our shirt. People pay hard-earned money every week to see the team play and to have cunts like him put in the bare minimum really does irritate supporters.

But is that us? Drogba was our main striker for 8 seasons and in only 2 of those did he get more than 20 goals.

Rafael didn't have PL games. Fabio didn't have PL games. Darron Gibson didn't have PL games. Darren Fletcher didn't have PL games. Zeki Fryers didn't have PL games. Macheda didn't have PL games. There's a lot of players who got starts for United in the league without going on loan in the PL first. The reason I used United as an example was mainly because I think Chalobah would get a shot at the first-team next season if he was there. I've watched this kid for years and he's impressive on every single level. He's a proper professional and he'd add something to our first-team that we're lacking whilst also setting an example to some of the younger players.

I was being somewhat sarcastic but okay.... The last player he threw in without PL experience would probably be Nick Powell. Then there's Rafael....maybe Buttner? Then you look around their squad and they've got Smalling (13 PL games before going to United), Jones (a season at Blackburn), De Gea and Fletcher. Next season you'll probably see Wilfred Zaha part of the first-team squad too. But you have a point that he's living off the reputation of the '92 squad.....although bringing through one of the greatest generation of youngsters ever and letting them form the backbone of your squad for 15 years of fairly constant success does tend to stick in the mind. Yes Nani and Anderson have failed to live up to expectations - but who will replace them in the squad next season? Cleverley, Zaha and Powell. It's interesting that you bring up Pogba considering he and Chalobah were the two standout performers in the Youth Cup a few years back. We're just lucky Chalobah is under contract.

There's 2 possible reasons. One is that he's out of contract in 12 months and hasn't signed the extension that has reportedly been offered to him. The other is that Florentino Perez is still the same idiot who let Makelele walk out the door a decade ago. That's a fair point, but I'm not sure who this mystery 'long-term solution' is right now. I think we need to figure out what's going to happen to Oscar. He could be our Modric and he's looked handy whenever he's played there. The same goes for McEachran - I really can't think of many clubs where he could go on loan and get the role he needs. Then there's a few dark horses like Swift and Baker, and further down the line I know everyone's got high hopes for Loftus-Cheek. In the market, I don't know if there's one player that everyone thinks is the one we need. This is why a stop-gap like Alonso has such appeal. Of course we shouldn't go back to our policy of buying predominantly 30+ year old players on big wages, but if there isn't a younger option then why not wait until there is and in the meantime give some of our homegrown players a chance?

This is the point though - is there a 22-25 year old midfielder out there that we could get who does what we need? I'd have loved us to have gotten Martinez, but lets not forget the guy cost €40 million and we're talking about a 'cut-price deal' for Alonso. He's a short-term option but sometimes you need to go for that when there aren't obvious long-term options readily available (there's a cluster of players like Witsel, Moutinho, Benat etc. that are all likely to be more expensive and are relatively unproven). He's definitely an option and when we've got players like McEachran and Oscar (who I still don't think is a wide player) at the club, maybe the long-term option comes from within.

Bayern set up with Schweinsteiger and Martinez who are strong players, but definitely not in the Ramires mould. The guy they have closest to that would be Gustavo who I think came off the bench in the second leg, but not the first (could be totally wrong on that). I think we could cope with Alonso and Chalo.....Romeu. What we need is guys who can provide a stable platform and good ball for Mata and Hazard to work their magic. I actually think Alonso is a pretty robust player to be fair, especially now De Jong is on an Italian treatment table, and he never looked outmatched in his time at Liverpool. If you want to really get stuck in physically then I doubt Moutinho or Modric would offer much more so you'd be looking to go for a Ramires/Romeu/Mikel/Luiz midfield anyway. Ultimately it comes down to how much he costs and if the price is right then he provides more options.

Special Juan and Strike Found myself liking both these guys' posts for the last few weeks so that's an obvious one.

I'd be for signing a player who does exactly what we need if it was for a good price. I love Frank as much as anyone but being realistic I'm not sure where he fits in the team next year. With Alonso I can see exactly where he'd fit. In all honesty I've always been a fan of Alonso because he's just such a great footballer to watch. I also wanted us to sign Gerrard back in 2005. The whole 'he used to play for Liverpool stuff' is a little overblown and he's almost played as many games for Real as he did for the Scousers. That said if Mourinho comes in and re-signs Lamps because he has a specific role for him in the team then I'll trust him and be happy, but at the moment I'm not too convinced that will happen.

I haven't forgotten that Mike Riley is inept.

Fucking hell. :lol2: :lol2: I'm going to put my cock on the block and just say it.... I don't think we'll be signing Casillas anytime soon.

It all depends on his price and his demands. If he cost £10 million and his wage demands were £100k p/w then that's roughly £25 million over three years. He'd have almost no resale value but we could get three years out of a top quality playmaker who knows this league. Moutinho would cost at least £20 million and Modric closer to £30 million before you factor in wages. Josh is a long way off but I'm not ready to say he isn't likely to be a starter for us. Give him three years sitting behind one of the best playmakers around and maybe he can take over, and if he can't then maybe someone like Loftus-Cheek will be ready. Who? Which young buck are we going to have in the midfield two that we've been playing this year, that our youth teams have adopted and that Mourinho has used in Madrid? De Bruyne? Well he hasn't played there this season but he could be worth a look. Oscar? Potentially going forward. He has the work rate and passing ability to do a job there. Essentially we're looking for someone who plays like Alonso does, right? Someone who can recycle possession, spray the ball around and contribute with a goal or too? Ideally he'd have knowledge of this league, have experience playing in a system similar to our's and maybe even have experience working under our (hopefully) future manager. He used to play for Liverpool yes, but he's a Real Madrid player now. The last midfielder we bought from Madrid who was over 30 was some guy called Claude Makelele, but he somehow overcame his overthirtyness to be a decent player from what I recall. Alonso and Lampard are different players. They're slightly different ages, but they do different things with the football at their feet. Alonso won't score 20 goals a season. No midfielder that we sign this summer will probably score that many, but that's okay. That's not what we need in that position to be honest.

It wasn't rough tackles that were the problem, but complete brain farts when he'd cause us to concede a goal or put us under pressure. The fact that he's cut that out of his game is something he should be given massive credit for.

Chelsea supporters? Capable of admitting that he's improved? I know plenty of people who have been going to the Bridge for years who had doubts over him and thought that if Barce came in with a £30 million bid then it might make sense to cut our losses. Please, you tell me what you think those people are?

A return to form from a player who cost us £50 million in transfer fees and roughly the same in wages over the length of his contract.

Loyalty is one thing, but sentimentality for it's own sake isn't what I'd call a character strength. if he leaves he'll leave with many thanks as one of our greatest players and representatives of all time but there are financial and sporting realities that exist in the real world. £5 million per season to someone who might not fit what we're trying to do as a club is a lovely tribute, but mightily stupid at the same time. What was special about Josh was evident in pretty much every game he played in the academy. He has something that 97% of players will never have, but he's struggled to make the transition from youth team to professional football. He's had a season under his belt in a team that doesn't really suit him but that doesn't mean we should write him off. I have no idea if Frank will stay if Jose comes, but I wouldn't be surprised either way. At the moment, I don't see it happening though because I don't see where he fits in the team.

Yes, but the club we trade him to still needs to want to sign him and traditionally 'goals' have been one of the top five things clubs look for in a striker. Scoring goals in high-profile matches like last night's can only be a good thing in our efforts to ship him off.

Give it a rest. He's greatly improved as a player but he was a liability at times. He should be commended for his ability to learn from his mistakes and grow as a player. That doesn't make those fans who criticised him 'blind', although you don't miss a chance to insult people. Maybe you should use David as an example of how to improve upon weaknesses and be less insulting.

Josh hasn't had the best of seasons but he could still be a very good player in the right circumstances, with the right guidance. Saying 'oh please' isn't exactly constructive. As for Frank, I don't know if you've heard but he's out of contract and we don't seem to be rushing to give him a new one. He's been a great player for us but the role that he used to play doesn't seem to exist in our team anymore. If we're looking for a deep-lying playmaker then Alonso would be a great short-term option for us if the price was right.

Because a striker who isn't scoring is easier to sell than one who is??

We have young midfielders coming through though (McEachran, Oscar, possibly even Baker). If Alonso is relatively cheap as the stories suggest then there's a compelling case to bring him in rather than going for someone like Modric who would probably cost considerably more. They play different roles in the team. Alonso is more adept at playing a deeper role than Lamps - in my opinion Lamps problem hasn't been that he's too old or that he costs too much, but that he doesn't seem to have a role in the team going forward.

I think he's become one of our most important players and one of the leaders of the team, and I'm delighted to have been proved wrong on almost everything I said about him. In terms of leadership, he's simply grown and grown in stature but also matured a little bit. His performance last night was one of restraint without becoming a passenger in the team. As a defender he isn't perfect but he seems to have shown an amazing ability to work on his weaknesses. We still need someone alongside him who is a bit more no-nonsense (JT at Old Trafford I suspect) but I'm really excited to see him next season with better protection in front of him. In my mind, he's still a CB and pushing him into midfield is simply a matter of necessity. If we had suitable midfield cover then he'd be at centre-back every game, but at the moment we have players who can play CB without us losing too much which affords us the chance to use him in midfield.

The Mail and The Sun are both reporting it's a done deal after Roman and Jose had dinner had a rather nice Italian restaurant last night. Apparently it won't be announced before July 1st which means we could be managerless for about a month.....

Easy to say now, but I never felt we were in that much danger. We were coasting for much of the match and stepped up a gear (literally in Hazard's case) and went off into the distance. I really don't know how this team gave Spurs so much trouble in both legs to be quite honest. It was another performance where we actually looked like a team, where the defence was connected to the midfield and the midfield was connected to the attack and I think Rafa deserves some credit for that. Cahill looked good in defence, but Ivanovic got caught out for the goal. Azpi is getting back to his best after that dip in form too. The two main guys were Luiz and Hazard though - the former's goal was absolutely sensational but what I was impressed with was his restraint throughout the match. Before his goal he managed to perform his normal duties without getting into trouble, although once we were three goals clear he really did hold a lot back and I wasn't at all surprised to see him hoof the ball out when Ake was ready to come on. Between his goal and coming off, he was making sure he was about 2 yards away from any possible contact with a Basel player which is understandable because I would have been devastated if he had missed out. Hazard provided the difference though and was MOTM in my book. Just such a special player and I'm so excited to see him kick on from this season now that he's got experience of the league. But yeah, another final and a trip to Amsterdam. Got a chance to display my geographical ignorance when trying to work out how to make the journey by road when I suggested it might be thousands of miles away. Turns out it's about as far away as Newcastle....thank god for Google Maps otherwise I'd probably get lost going to the corner shop. BTW, how the fuck do UEFA work out that less than 10,000 tickets is acceptable? Twats.