The only place to be

Nothing to do with Suarez or the hiring of a young manager with a vision of playing good football then? We sold them a number 10 when they already had a productive one in Rooney and needed proper midfielders. Already some of the more open-minded United fans are realising that Mata's workrate without the ball is somewhat lacking.

Last year people were moaning about Azpi's crossing, this year it's Ivanovic. Maybe it's a problem with targets in the box to aim for.

Not every poster who likes Mourinho 'bum-licks' him or 'worships' him. The majority of the people are glad he's our coach and feel an affinity with the man which is why he's not just like every other coach out there. We might have won trophies without him being the coach but I don't know if we'd have won as much as we have if he hadn't been our coach up to 2007. As for Mata, the move made sense.

Yes we are very much Mourinho FC, in that we embody the man's footballing philosophy, his spirit and his massive balls. That's what we've not really had for a while and what we needed - a single person's vision to lead this club forward, rather than some rent-a-coach for a few seasons. And there's disagreeing with a transfer decision and then there's hoping that the player sold (Mata in this case) comes back and 'destroys' us. Oh, and don't let your jimmies get rustled so easily.

Because they're both left-wingers who either are, or have the potential to be one of the best in the world. They're match-winners whose dribbling skills terrify opposing players and who fans purr about.

But they won't. West Ham were fighting for their survival in a London derby. Newcastle are safe from the drop, aren't going to get into the CL, are out of the cups and just sold their best player. Their season is over. They won't park the bus because there's no reason to. If they don't win, big deal. Pardew will probably try and play their normal game against us. If we get an early goal, then I can see this being a rout.

I did say to give him 100 games to get used to the league, much like Ronaldo had before exploding. 94 games in. 100th appearance by Spurs at home?

Most of us are just enjoying the fact that we've proved the 'experts' wrong. It's not like we're pining for him to come back or finding it painful that he's wearing another team's shirt. It's just a bit of banter.

The amount of shit we got in the press and from other fans about us selling our 'best player' always meant there'd be some comments about how much we don't actually miss Mata. Most of us are just happy that our manager and our club seem to have been proven right.

Their season is already over. Out of the cups and drifting towards a mid-table berth, they've sold their best player to PSG and their top striker is also banned (Remy). I can't see them parking the bus but they have a keeper who is capable of being a cunt (away to Spurs he had a monster game) and they have players who can be special on their day. If we can get an early goal then it could be a rout and the confidence in the camp will be sky high. What a novel idea to have a game at 3pm on a Saturday as well, finishing just in time to speed over to Twickenham for the Scotland-England Six Nations match. Anyway, predictions. Salah to get a debut of some sort, Oscar to come back in....maybe Ba and Cole back....Lamps back in....Schurrle maybe to miss out altogether?? Cech Ivanovic Cahill Terry Cole Lampard Matic Salah Oscar Hazard Ba Match against West Brom away on the Tuesday after so maybe a few more players will be rested but I'd be happy with this team, although I wouldn't be surprised if Salah made his debut off the bench.

He's a big strong guy, but his stamina is absolutely remarkable. He just gets up and down that right flank all day long, he rarely loses possession and he's always got a goal in him. He's gotten an undue amount of flack because his crossing isn't the greatest but he's a massively important part of our team. Every goal-kick and free-kick in our half goes to him, and he very rarely loses out. That puts us in a great position to start attacks. And that finish with his left....bit more than a swinger but that's what he does.

Oscar would've come on. I was surprised Schurrle wasn't on the bench but Hazard simply isn't droppable at the moment whereas Salah is a right-wing option. I wouldn't be surprised if Schurrle isn't included for Newcastle either.

Do us a favour and move that sign to the right a bit mate.

Midfielder.

For years we've measured any midfield target against King fucking Kong Toure. Finally we've got him. Beast of a player, fantastic distribution and that shot against the post was superb. Bargain.

I don't know if I've said this before (probably have) but I've never known us to have a player like this. He's potentially the best player in the world and he's only 23. Never looks like he's going to lose the ball, fantastic awareness of everything going on around him, strong, skilful and plays with a smile on his face.

The best manager in the league. If you want some fun tonight go on the United forums and watch them cry about not getting Jose. We've got the guy for the next lord knows how many years. THIS is our man. Thank fuck.

That lads is a statement. Best manager in the league and a team that's growing into something very special indeed. Went to this 'scary' fortress and outplayed the team that too many people have already given the title too. Never doubt the great man again. There were 14 lions out there tonight but the two standouts were Cahill and Hazard. Eden is becoming the world class player we all dreamed he could be, but Cahill was a fucking hero out there tonight. Too many MOTMs tonight. Get the fuck in. :blue scalf:

Everything for them is coming down the left - Ivanovic on a yellow. How many times have we isolated Demichelis - he's on a yellow. Matic is on a yellow too. I think you might be right.

That 45 minutes was so important on so many levels. We've burst this myth of City as some unstoppable behemoth. They're good but they leave so much space behind them because of their high press. If you can disrupt them then the gaps behind the midfield and full-backs just explode. They're just another football team at the end of the day. Jose must surely have silenced any of the doubters out there. Is anyone missing Mata at the moment? We're creating chances and working as a team and it's beautiful to see. Anyone who was scared of this match....have faith in future. And Ivanovic....be careful in the second-half but if anyone needs to ask why he plays, watch where EVERY goal-kick goes and how often he either wins the ball or disrupts his opponent so Ramires can pick it up behind. Lovely finish too. Anyway....big second-half but we've sent a fucking message with that 45 minutes. They can moan about our football all they want but fuck me if pushing it wide to Kolorov every single time isn't just as boring. I love having Jose back.

Not surprised Luiz is playing in midfield. He actually presses pretty well but it's his stamina that might let him down over the course of the 90. Wouldn't be surprised if it's a straight 433 too. When Mourinho first came to England the three man midfield immediately gave us the edge over teams who went with 442 and maybe he thinks it will do the same again. Hazard and Willian need to stay wide though and make that pitch massive. Willian in particular might find a bit of luck with Kolarov pushing on and Silva tucking in. No Fernandinho or Aguero is a big lift for us though. Can't be afraid of these guys....need to front up from the off and not do what Spurs did when they just invited pressure on themselves. Time to break out the big guns....

He shouldn't bitch too much about the wind. It moved the ball better than his teammates.

Superbowl, best offence vs best defence. Defence wins. Look, I don't think this is going to be an enjoyable experience. I don't think it's going to be an instant classic, but I think it will be a test of character and I trust the guy in charge. Spurs went into both games scared and they got whooped. Newcastle stood firm, held their own and but for a linesman's 'error' they were well in contention. We need to be fearless going into this game which is why some of the defeatist comments are really rather annoying. Thats how other teams approach matches like this, not us. Win, lose or draw I expect us to give a good account of ourselves.

If he is coming back, I'm not sure how we keep two top class keepers happy. I'm also unsure how we let them 'fight for the shirt' in a realistic way. In that spot you want one thing - certainty. The number one needs to be undisputed in my opinion. We talk about spines and keepers are an integral part of that. How many times do you think the cameras would be trained on the keeper who is on the bench waiting for the slightest slip-up from the guy in goal? It's just one more unnecessary narrative we don't need. So who do we go with? Who is the better keeper at this moment in time? A year or so ago it would have been Cech unanimously but now I'm not so sure. Cech's already been dropped once this season and deservedly so. He's made more errors in half a season than I can remember him making in years. My view is that if the talent level is comparable then you probably go with the guy who is 21 and not 31. Keep Schwarzer as back-up, let Cech leave and build for the future. Plus the Cudicini/Cech comparisons aren't fair. Cudicini got injured and Cech has the chance to stake a claim for the shirt without competition. In my view that's what Courtois could probably do with.