The only place to be

They might lack goals from midfield, but they've scored 54 goals in the league this season which I think I'm right in saying is the most in the league. If you actually talk to United supporters who know what they're talking about, they'll tell you that what they're lacking in midfield is a more defensively-minded presence especially since the absence of Fletcher. Lamps will be 35 and I don't know if he directly addresses a specific need of United's squad.

AVB lost the changing room for a number of reasons, so his position became untenable and the Ibrahimovic deal was seemingly a big mistake all round. Pretty much everything else I've heard about Guardiola's man management skills is positive.

They already have Carrick, Cleverley, Fletcher, Kagawa, Anderson and possibly Giggs and maybe even Rooney. Plus they've got young Nick Powell who will be looking for more game time next year. They could go for Lampard but I don't know if they'd want or need a 35 year old Lampard.

I think he's the best choice all round. I think we're set up for him, I think we've planned for him, I think he's the one guy Roman might give enough time to and I think he's probably the best man manager we will have hired since Mourinho. If we don't get him, I don't know who else is available who we don't repeat the same old mistakes with.

I'm not going to boo him because I don't think it's his fault. I think his injuries have robbed him of whatever it was that made him special. To me he's like Tiger Woods, where circumstances and injuries just robbed him of that 'x' factor that made him so successful. That's lasted for two years now and he's lost all confidence in his abilities. So I'm not going to boo him simply because I pity him more than anything. I've called him a cancer in the past because his presence is detrimental to the club, but that's not something he has much control over. We signed him, we've kept faith with him and unless someone comes in with an offer for him, we're lumped with him. But I've always thought the booing of our own players is classless. I've booed the likes of Saunders and Hunt because they were cunts. Torres isn't - he's just not very good.

That's bollocks and massively unfair. He was probably our worst player other than Ivanovic and offered absolutely nothing. He has his place when we're counter-attacking against stronger teams and need to hit them on the break or work hard for 90 minutes, but when we've got plenty of possession and need something from midfield he can look a little bit lost.

If it was going to be anybody promoted from within the club then first name on my list would be Steve Holland. I do wonder what his career path will be like and if he could one day be not just a Premier League manager, but our manager but that's a long way down the line. I hope whoever comes in this summer keeps him around and involved. But I honestly don't think we're going to make any moves until the Summer. A lot depends on the next 3 games but if we start like we started last night's game and have Ba in the team then we've got a chance in all 3 matches.

I've been impressed by Ake, Feruz, McEachran and a couple of the younger ones. The problem isn't just a Chelsea one when it comes to developing talent, but a league-wide one.

I love when people say 'sack the board' but don't say exactly who they want to sack and who they want to replace them.

We started with the major investment when Roman became owner - now we're seeing the results with the likes of Chalobah and McEachran. We just have to start utilising them effectively.

We really didn't. We lacked a little incisiveness but that comes from having Torres up-front. We actually had more of the game then a pretty good Swansea team. Their goal came against the run of play and as I've said already, both goals came from individual mistakes. If we play like that against Stoke and have Ba up-front then we should be able to get a result. I can imagine quite a lot of matches. Who would you look to to solve the problem now then? And what problem is it that you actually think needs solving?

Again, stop looking just at scorelines and watch some of the games. Swansea are a good team and we outplayed them last night. The problem came down to one man not doing his job (Torres) and one man making two mistakes. The managerial issue is a problem, but it will hopefully be solved in the summer. The Lampard situation is a cloud that will be gone in the summer too. Hopefully we can move on Torres at some point, whatever it takes but let's not get too maudlin about the situation.

I'm not asking him to do it all, I'm simply pointing out that having a striker who does his job can change close results into victories. It's amazing how much Torres impinges on those around him's ability to do their jobs. I think he can be an important player in our last 18 league games this season.

We played well last night. Two sloppy mistakes and a shit striker were the reasons we lost. Personally I would only change Ba for Torres and Ramires for someone else (I expect Lampard).

There isn't a 'truth' There's your opinion and that's what you posted.

I agree. No, he's not.

You forgot to post any words of wisdom. Ba has played one game, the team looked far better with him. All the stats in recent games against QPR and Swansea point to a team without a cutting edge - having Torres up-front is the definition of lacking a cutting edge. The team will get better when Ba starts.

That is massively unfair on the guy.

The reaction to Luiz doing it is 'For fucks sake, not again'. Branislav gets a bit less shit because he's dependable, reliable and a good servant to the club. Luiz may have all these physical tools to make him better but he has mistakes in his locker. It comes down to what you personally want in a defender.

Why are people comparing Luiz with Ivanovic? I like David Luiz but he's nowhere near as stress-free to watch in defence as Luiz. I trust Branislav even after last night because they were uncharacteristic. When I watch Luiz play, I enjoy him but I know he's going to have the odd brain-fart.

Second game where we've lost because of his selection, although last night wasn't as painful as the QPR game. Let's be honest, we outplayed a very decent Swansea team and lost due to two uncharacteristic mistakes from a usually dependable player and having Torres up-front. As soon as Ba came on we looked ten times more dangerous. That suggests we're good enough with the right team to beat most other teams in the Premier League which should hopefully see us make top-four, although it's going to be close. The cups are almost certainly gone though which should undermine his case to stay on past the summer. At the moment there are no obvious candidates to take his place so I can't see anything changing until June.

He's not a winger. The one thing I loved about him before he joined us is that he plays with his head up - when he's on the wing he's always looking down at the ball because it's not his natural position. He should've been moved to Ramires position because we had so much possession and territory but nothing coming from there. If we carry on as we are we might as well sell him because we're ruining him.

Is it true that other teams aren't putting in bids for Torres because they're worried you'll follow him to their team?

He made two uncharacteristic mistakes. I personally think he's been one of our most important players all season and the people criticising him are wrong. He gives his all for the cause and they were simply 'un-Ivanovic' slip-ups, but I'm trying to think of the last time he had a rest.

Think he becomes the odd man out in the summer. Doesn't fit as the more defensive midfielder (Romeu, Mikel, Luiz, possibly Fellaini) and doesn't have the ball skills to be the playmaker. Great engine, lovely guy, should be able to flog him for £13million-ish.