The only place to be

:lol2: Pretty much this. The only worry is what's in their contracts. Some might have release fees which are dependant on us being in the CL, but even then they'd be almost prohibitively high. Mata almost certainly doesn't, Hazard and Oscar haven't had amazingly good seasons that would entice other teams and the reality is that there aren't many teams who could or even would put in a bid. Then there's the youngsters like De Bruyne, Lukaku and Chalobah who could slot into the squad. I'm not saying it's ideal, but WHATEVER happens this season I expect us to push for the title next season. Maybe we go for Pellegrini or Moyes and they surprise us all. Maybe we throw in a youngster or go for an unheralded player and we MAKE a star for once. People need to focus on the most important thing about next season - how fucking nice is our home kit going to look??? :blue scalf: :blue scalf: :blue scalf:

Should have gone where? I don't think Liverpool came to us and said we need a striker and we'll pay what you want, and we asked if they wanted the white one or the black one. Torres earns a lot of money. He's also not very good. Other teams see this, so why would they be in a rush to buy him? We're stuck with him for the foreseeable future so you can either let this giant drain on your resources rot or you give him EVERY chance to succeed, even if it costs you in the short-term. Unfortunately he didn't get better. But at no point in time was it a straight choice between Sturridge and Torres as players - there are massive financial and commercial aspects involved.

Wouldn't it be terrible if we lost amazing supporters like this by not qualifying for the CL.

Hopeful.

So you only had four minutes? I had at least 90 seconds each for the penalty and the free kick. Then you've got FOUR substitutions which is about two minutes. Then there's the Oscar injury and the Bertrand fracas. That's easily six minutes - then we brought on Lamps after the ref had communicated the extra time to the fourth official. But please, if you think I'm off in my workings here then say so.

More insults - have some respect for people who support this club.

So how many minutes did all those stoppages take up? I had it as at least 5 minutes. What did you have? And what minute did we bring Lamps on? Wish I could like this twice.

Agreed. Carried that midfield again today.

Get a fucking grip. He isn't the only manager capable of taking this club to glory. If he doesn't come, we're still Chelsea.

But he wuvs us..... Seriously, if he doesn't want to come here because he won't have Champions League in his first season then that's his choice. If he doesn't want to sit in our dugout, in front of our fans, coaching some of the best young players in Europe because he doesn't get Champions League football for one season then I won't shed a tear. But whoever comes in has a team that is capable of winning this league.

I'm well aware at scum at every club bringing up things like this and using it to mock and abuse other clubs. Disliking it doesn't make me prudish in my opinion. But if you honestly don't think all those stoppages add up then that's fine. I think you should re-watch the match and look just how long the free-kick and penalty took to set up because I think it might surprise you. I'm happy to be proven wrong on that because it's a worthwhile discussion. The rest of the shit I think is best left alone. It does no-one any good to discuss such things in the context of this match.

No.

I know. Unfortunately they are important in this whole discussion. Next year we move forward with Ba and Lukaku hopefully and this thread can die in peace because we'll have better things to discuss.

The only reason you can't convince me is because I've pointed out where the six minutes might have come from. Ridiculous conspiracy theories aren't going to do it. Either way, this is a discussion about the match. Bringing up people's deaths like it's got anything to do with the match is fucking ridiculous and one of the more disgusting aspects of football in this country. Thank god this part of the forum is hidden. Spot on. This came down to us defending a 2-1 lead and failing for the umpteenth time. Lack of character, lack of leadership and lack of bottle primarily in midfield.

And if we hadn't made the financial commitment to Torres we probably could've given him more chances. Fortunately we'll move onwards and upwards.

Our penalty, their free-kick, Oscar's injury, Bertrand's injury off the top of my head. Oh, and apparently 96 people dying had something to do with it. It happens in sport. The first New York Giants football match lasted about 3000 minutes when they played after 9/11.

Jesus fucking christ. Are you serious? You don't think the amount of time it took to set up our penalty, their free kick, Oscar's injury and the fracas after Sturridge fouled Bertrand had something to do with it?? There was enough going on in the match today without people having to drag the deaths of people into it. It's cretinous.

Refs add 30 seconds on for substitutions, we made a substitution around the 90 minute mark after the ref had told the fourth official there would be six minutes. The biggest travesty was us not being able to defend a lead, and it's nothing new. Lack of leadership again showing it's head.

So Brendan Rodgers said Suarez was right to bite Ivanovic because the ref only gave a yellow card to Torres for his elbow to Carragher? He actually said that?

Apples and oranges. Financial realities matter unfortunately.

Thank god this forum is only visble to members, because I really wouldn't like other teams seeing us bitching about the ref, Suarez or anything else related to this shit performance and someone bringing this up. Have a word with yourself.

Torres cost £50 million PLUS wages. You have to remember this because it does matter.

Was that the Leeds match where you wanted them to beat us? We have looked at the mistakes of our past but we have to live with the ramifications of them for a while. We had to give Torres a chance because of the financial commitment we made to him. It's easy for people like you to say we should sell him or bench him but you don't have to think about the finances of the club. You make it sound like it was a straight choice between Sturridge and Torres, but there were other factors in play. He's gone now and he had a good game against us. He's also had bad ones and was benched for this one. As for my limits, I think I'll comment on what I want, when I want. If you don't like it, meh.

We just have less to spend for a few seasons. I still think we have enough quality in our club to win the league.

The time spent setting up the penalty? The time spent setting up Suarez's free kick? Oscar's injury? The fracas after Bertrand's injury? And we made a substitution just as the clock turned 90 (Lamps for Mata) which adds another 30 seconds on. Ultimately though, who gives a fuck? We didn't defend well enough at the end. Same old story.