The only place to be

United will continue to drop points. Newcastle have been poor for a while yet they scored three goals. It didn't work when Keegan tried it, it won't work now.

I agree. In the second half he seemed to get tired, until Mikel went off and then he seemed reinvigorated. It's another good test in only his fourth game and another clean sheet. Nice to see Ake get a chance too - that's two young players getting their league debuts in the last two games if I'm not mistaken.

Good result at a tough place. Luiz had a poor game, but actually improved when Mikel went off. Moses was MOTM for me though, just edging Mata because of his tremendous work rate.

Mikel looked good when he was on, but we looked better when he went off in my opinion and Luiz improved without Mikel alongside him.

I think you've just to to thank god for giving you the ability to understand football at an almost molecular level. Not everyone has that - like you say they like 'flashy'....they like shiny things.

No. But I don't know if Lampard is 'good enough to come up against top level teams every week' so I don't necessarily agree with the premise of your point. Not old enough? If Luiz and Mikel are holding then that's two players about 26. Mata will be 25 and then you have wingers who are about 22. They also have the benefit of being pretty fucking talented and signing Stanley Matthews's corpse to bump up the average age won't change that in the slightest. The problem with breaking a policy 'just once' is that you tend to break it 'just once' over and over again. Once you've established precedent then it becomes meaningless. Let's just look at this in plain terms. We made a profit of about £1 million last year. Signing Lampard on a new contract where he earns 60% of his current wage would cost us roughly £5 million p/a. That is not an amount you spend to indulge a sense of nostalgia. Let's build a statue to the guy if you want to memorialise him. It doesn't even count towards FFP.

For every Giggs and Scholes, there's a Bruce, Keane, Schmiechel, Irwin or Hughes. The reason Scholes came out of retirement is because United didn't replace him, whereas we've got a crop of youngsters looking to break through. Out of all of our older players (Terry, Cole, Cech) he's the one who is less likely to play 30 games a season and the one we have most replacements for. There's a fine line between being respectful of out history and being slaves to it.

I tend to agree with the Cole point although his performances are less consistent than they used to be. I'd like to see Bertrand given an extended run in the team. Lamps has a different problem in my opinion. The role he played for us in the side doesn't seem to exist anymore and I do wonder if he can reinvent himself as a DM/double pivot/whatever. It's all very well saying he could be our Giggs but there are plenty of United fans who don't trust him in that role. Do we really just want to wheel out a player for a token 30 minutes when we're beating Sunderland/Wigan/Reading 4-0 at home? Does he want to be that player? Do we want him taking up a place on the bench that could go to Piazon/Ake/McEachran?

Cech - 30 Azpi - 23 Bane - 28 Cahill - 27 Bertrand - 23 Luiz - 25 Rami - 25 Moses - 22 Mata - 24 Hazard - 21 Torres - 28 One player aged 21 (could have put in Oscar to make it two, but then again I could've stuck in JT or Mikel). A few years ago there were moans about us being too old, now we've got too many youngsters??

Weird. He's one of those players we've always been linked with and it never seems to come off. Before him it was Vincenzo Montella. If we could get him on loan then it wouldn't be the worst move in the world, but it does make you wonder about our longer-term plans.

He's played 3 games in that position, impressing each time and you're prepared to write him off? There's a learning curve attached to moving to a new position and he will have bad games in that position, but so far he's been mightily impressive in defence and attack. I was actually very happy to see him covering for Azpi on at least two occasions when he ventured forward. And I'm starting to think I was very wrong about Luiz's leadership abilities. It's early days, but his personality might be something we need in midfield and it's something I think I might have underestimated. But it's early days and he hasn't faced the kind of pressure big teams can apply. Hopefully today he'll face a sterner test than previously and we can judge him fairly. But no-one has seen enough to suggest either way whether he can play in this position long-term.

Really? I know it's easy/fashionable to have a go at the board but I disagree with that assessment entirely. We're talking about Lamps leaving. Now he's a great player but there are 3 players who we might be looking at to replace him in the squad - Oscar, De Bruyne and McEachran. Those are three young players with massive potential whose combined wages are less than Lampard's. Yes Lamps is a legend and yes he played well against Villa but where was his experience and leadership in the CWC? The case for Cole is completely different because he's clearly still one of the best players in his position in the world, but the club has to stick by it's policy for players over the age of 30 otherwise what's the point?

Still trying too hard.

Jesus.....plastic fan trying too hard.

Got to give him credit, he did well yesterday. He killed the game off early and made some good runs for other players for the rest of the game. But Villa were awful and he still has to show it against better teams than Sunderland and Nordsjaellend.

He left City because they wouldn't pay him £60k after about a dozen games. We did. Contrast that with Mata who came to London on a reduced contract, proved himself and then got an improved one. We've moved on. We've got Hazard, Marin, Moses, Oscar and Piazon for the wings and we'll buy a new striker in a couple of weeks in all likelihood. Some people need to give the board some credit for making £12 million on a striker who could move for free next year - remember how much we laughed at Arsenal for putting themselves in that situation with RVP and now Walcott?? He had no future here so we sold him for about twice what we paid for him. That is good business.

Dude.....brevity. Just stop with the great walls of unreadable text. You aren't Shakespeare, so stop trying to invent new words too. Frank is a legend, but we're a business and he will be replaced eventually. But he's going to be 35 and his performances aren't as consistent as they were a few years ago so he's going to play a lesser role in the side. That probably means he won't play in the bigger games in future so his contract should reflect that. I really don't need you telling me what a legend he is over and over and over again because I've seen it in the flesh hundreds of times. We get it, you're a Lampard fan. Just stop trying so hard and be a little more realistic ok. :tophat:

So you think he could be the next Joe Cole?

I tend to pick out the salient points in the walls of text you post. I'm obviously not going to respond to each point you make. I honestly don't need you to tell me what a great player he is. But I think you need to take a step back from the overwrought sentimentality and recognise that the club has to make tough choices, and that we are going to operate in different ways. It would be great if he stays but it has to be what's best for the club too. I'm sure he'll find a nice home in Monaco or LA and he'll always be welcomed back to the Bridge with love.

That's simply not how clubs can work nowadays. We have to strike the right balance by acknowledging the roles players fulfil now, and not reward them based on reputation alone. The funny thing is that Frank Lampard would be the first person to recognise this. He had a good game today, but the opposition was weak. He's not the same player he was 5 years ago so he shouldn't expect to receive the same contract he did then, and he also needs to understand why the club is doing what it's doing. Two year contract. That sounds nice. In reality it's a roughly £10 million commitment to a player who will be 35-37, in a position where we have a lot of competition and tighter restrictions on our spending abilities. He's a legend, and we're a business. Hopefully the negotiations will find a way to marry these two concepts to reach a mutually beneficial outcome.

Has been mightily impressive since we signed him, and the board deserve some credit for picking him up at such a decent price.

Luiz has done well when he's played there, but he still needs to show it against some top-level opposition before we can say he's definitely a midfielder. He looks composed and steady but had so little pressure today that I'd have been more surprised if he didn't. It's encouraging but it's going to take time.

I think a few fans are just trying too hard. Today felt like one of those Ancelotti games in 2010 where we'd just stuff teams. The atmosphere was great, going in there was a real Christmas spirit which helps and I heard only sporadic anti-Benitez chanting. I enjoy games where the crowd is positive, getting behind the team and even the opposition get ribbed lightly. Like I've said elsewhere Villa were poor but Benitez got the tactics and the team spot on, and it was nice to see Piazon get some game time. Hard to judge against such poor opposition but that was one of the most complete performances in the league for a long time.

I assume they'll renew them if it's an equitable deal for both parties. The club has this policy for players over the age of 30 and has to stick to it and if they can't come to an agreement, it'll be a shame. But both sides have to want to come to an agreement.

Good performance which shows he probably still has a place in the squad but him and the club have to find a way to agree on wages, length and the type of role he's expected to play. He knows this, and he knows that the club will be here long after he goes so they have to look to the future, at the likes of De Bruyne, McEachran, Oscar and Chalobah. No Chelsea fan would want to see him leave but I also think every fan would understand if he felt he could still do it week-in and week-out for a club prepared to pay him close to what he's currently earning, on a long-term contract. Got a great reception today though and hopefully that reminds him how much he's loved by the Chelsea faithful.