The only place to be

Did it seem 'inevitable' just then?

Not if we sign someone who fits that position or (god forbid) give a player we already own a chance. Here's the funny thing about the Brentford game - he actually missed a couple of chances before his goal. The deadlock was broken not by Lampard, but by Juan Mata and it wasn't the first time this season that he's done that. Arsenal at home, Norwich away, Leeds away, West Ham away, etc. all suggest that maybe we've got a guy who can get those important goals for us. The formation is only as good as the people playing in it and unfortunately, that midfield twosome has not been good enough in too many games.

It's all very good scoring goals but if the midfield isn't controlling the tempo and protecting the defence then it doesn't matter if he scores a goal every game - we're going to concede goals. This is the problem for Lamps. If we still played like we did a few years ago then he'd still have a place in the team. But even his most ardent supporters will probably admit that we need to but someone to play in the position he currently occupies.

Drogba did scare the opposition though. Maybe he worded it incorrectly, and I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt considering his clarification. As for our support, no they don't deserve criticism and especially not from you. You keep telling me about this club though, considering you were about 10 when Roman bought it. Regale me with stories of the Bridge under Ken Bates. Paint me a picture of what it was like. Has the club made mistakes? Absolutely. Which club hasn't? But they're trying to rectify them now and I'll give them credit for the steps they're taking. As for our supporters though, they've been put through the ringer over the last six months yet they were in Prague on Thursday, and they were in Newcastle last weekend and they were at the game yesterday, supporting this club and giving love to the players. Yes there are rumblings of discontent but that's not very surprising now is it? But they'll still be there, because that's what they do and if they're nervous and quiet for a bit then who gives a fuck?

They've got a great strikeforce, but defensively they're not that strong. That's why I don't think they're as good as they once were. It's funny but I went to matches pre-Roman when it was so quiet you could hear the players on the pitch from the second-tier. I was also at Chelsea-Liverpool in the FA Cup when the fans didn't stop singing for 90 minutes. We've always been a bit like that at home (at least in the years I've been going). Away support is a different story. Either way you having a pop at the people who pay their hard-earned money to support this club at a fucking shit time is really taking the piss. It seems to come easy to a few posters on here and I'll admit I'm not a big fan of it. Have we been quiet at times? Yes. It's been hard-going at points and the people dragging their arses to the grounds have felt tense and on-edge like they haven't done for a fair few years. But they still turn up and they still support the club. They love the club and I'll defend them against people like you every time.

He's in the same league as Keegan when it comes to managers who have been broken by Fergie. Can't stand the whisky-nosed old tosser, but when he reduces managers (especially Rafa) to gibbering wrecks I have to say...... I love it.....love it.

I think you're the only one who wanted to read that a Chelsea supporter was being racist because it fits your agenda. You've criticised our support in other threads so maybe that's your thing. Not being funny, but you don't seem to like this club or it's supporters very much.

Our game against United was close up until the point Torres was sent off. We can certainly match them on our day. They simply aren't at the level they (and we) were just a couple of seasons ago. They're not that strong at the back and they're lacking in midfield, but they have a fantastic strikeforce that have won them so many matches. As for our supporters, I think they've been tremendous in light of what's happened this season. There's a certain type of member on here for whom criticism of the supporters at the matches comes very easy and it's something that simply doesn't bear much relation to reality. At home, of course there have been moments where the away fans have been louder but that goes for almost every club in the league. But our away support has been their usual vocal, ferocious self at almost all times. Some of that has been to abuse Rafa but that's life. Also, you need to learn to read what people write before replying to what you think they've written. I was still talking about the supporters of this club when I said they were marvellous this season.

And that's what he said when he clarified his original point.

But genetics do and I think that's what Sovieticus was alluding to. We seem to work best with powerful men leading the line and Drogba is the archetype.

United are the best of a bad bunch. You've alluded to our problems, yet we're third in the league whilst Man City have thrown away easy points in the last few months. That doesn't mean we aren't capable of beating them. As for our fans, we've got Ruprecht on the one hand saying how awful they've been with their vociferous chanting against Rafa and on the other we've got you saying how 'silent' they've been. Honestly I don't think either one of you has a fucking clue what you're on about, but they've been marvellous this season in the face of some very trying situations.

Silent away support? What the fuck are you on about? And no, United aren't that good.

No-one's going to condone what he did, but isn't it nice to know he's got that bit of nastiness in him? It's something we've missed **cough**Mikel**cough** for so long and I think players need that in their locker, although using it on a lower division kid when we're 4-0 up is unnecessary. But next time Bale is running at him it might be in the back of his mind.

See, why would we plan to have our backs to the wall? Why would we give up possession and allow teams to dominate us? I think what you're saying (without wanting to explicitly say it) is that if we pick Lampard against a certain level of opponent then we simply won't be able to control the tempo of the game because that isn't, and never has been his strong suit. I agree he'd be a useful bench option/rotation player when we're either chasing a game or simply looking to rest players, but if we actually used him as much as we've been using him this season then I don't think we can contend for a title. He's scored some great goals this season but in far too many games the midfield (i.e. him and Ramires) have been the weak link in our side, neither offering the defence enough protection or dominating and retaining possession effectively.

No offence, but I completely disagree with the notion of going into a FA Cup game with the view that we're going out. United aren't that good and we're capable of playing great stuff so I really don't see the need for such pessimism. We've shown away to Everton and at home to Arsenal (for 45 minutes) that we can beat top teams, so there's really no reason to fear a United team who have other priorities. This is what the cup is all about.

Does anyone actually have him in their team for next season? Assuming we stick with the 4231, is there anyone here who isn't saying we need to buy someone to play in his position? Personally, if we're playing Man United then I'm picking this new guy (for argument's sake, Modric) next to a holding midfielder. Lamps is on the bench in this game. If we're playing some random 4th seed in the Champions League, then I'd pick Lamps to start. Now the problem in this scenario is whether that gets him in the England squad for Brazil.

Who says Ronaldo is arrogant in his personal life? There have been plenty of stories in the press about his work ethic and the fact that he's relatively normal as far as footballers go. With Malouda, he had chances to leave and it was made perfectly clear that he wasn't in our plans but he decided against moving on to play football and instead chose to waste a year collecting his wages. Now you may say that's not something most people would turn down but footballers are judged differently. He doesn't have many years left to do something most people would give their left nuts to have the ability to do, yet he's happy to throw it away and then have the temerity to moan about it. The club have done nothing wrong.

What a pathetic attitude to take before a cup game. Anyone can win on the day and we've shown we can give United a damn good game already this season. Isn't this the point of football? To see the best players go up against one another?

It's not that he didn't accept a paycut, but that he didn't leave when he had offers on the table. He was happy just to sit on his arse for a year and take the money which football supporters will never like. Throw in the fact that he's been largely shit for the last few years and you're going to become a very unpopular person at this club.

Mowbray and Boro are the perfect opposition for us. They play nice football (which is why it's a good place for Josh) and that means they're less likely to park the bus or simply kick the shit out of our players. I reckon we'll beat them 3-0 or 3-1.

Hopefully not another one of these (if we get through). The abuse Becks got before his goal was merciless.

If it's on ESPN then I'm looking forward to Burley explaining this (9:47 in)

Rooney.

Like I said previously, I've got a feeling you could diminish any manager's tactical nous if you wanted.

We could fill this thread with just left-backs from the mid-90s. Barness, Barnard and Myers (better as a centre-back) were all varying degrees of average. Amazing when we had Dorigo, Boyd and Le Saux before then.