Barbara

I wonder who is going to post Eva and Mourinho's vids if they do it. Would they do it? Eva I'm sure will, but Mourinho, I have my doubts.

Luís had the decency... but Matic stayed in the pool (which is sort of humiliating for Cesc lol). At least Cesc had a hand and the guy was sitting

having a midget to throw a box filled with water in a giant. LOL Cesc that's why you hit him and why you had some sort of stair.

Iva looks a lot like Stepanek in that cartoon LOL

you mean for Schurrle's goal? Of course it was intended imo. He was ready to cross, then he saw Cesc raising his hand and passed to him. there wasn't anywhere near enough to Cesc for him to have aimed someone else, unless you mean another pass? Also I don't think it needs to have an excellent vision to spot that... it's what Choulo said, once you raise your head and look around before crossing, you know where it's better to put the ball. I'm not discrediting him, but I don't think it was a case of excellent vision, it was a case of very good vision imo. On Costa's goal I think it was a case we could say it was a fluke as it didn't seem like he was aiming to the goal, just what would have been a really bad cross, but things worked out.

come on, open a thread already and put all those vids there. I don't have Instagram and I want to see all those famous people being stupid - even if for a good cause. I'm not even sure those buckets are filled with icy water, lol, but let's suppose they are. I'm kidding about you opening it, but I wouldn't mind if you linked me to a place where I can see a lot of those vids.

I almost agree with you. I even had the same feeling watching the match live - while writing a report and sometimes posting in the live thread. Watching it afterwards only focused on it, he wasn't that bad. It pops to the eye the times he was dispossessed (he was quite a few) and the times he got rid of the ball quickly. But somehow it went unnoticed the times he didn't. He had a bit of everything - which is the norm with Oscar, rarely he excels on something and mixes many things together, good and bad. Did you have a chance to re-watch it? If you didn't, maybe you could try... he wasn't a coward all the time and although he was incisive enough, he did try to be a few times. I've mentioned two players by him, one of them this one that @DYC. showcased with the vid. He was trying the through ball for Hazard, but as there were too many defenders around Hazard, as usual, and it wasn't an unexpected and surprising pass like Fabregas to Schurrle's goal, it got blocked. The other example I gave was when he was exchanging passes with both Hazard and Costa inside the 18-yard box, but there were others that I didn't remember at the top of our mind. I did say in my first post about Oscar after the match that what really bothers me is that I know he can do better than that and that I fully agree with you, I just think you've been too harsh on how much he didn't try or didn't do the objective, forward, risky pass. You need to watch carefully the match to see it because most people overlooked even his role in the first goal for us. I didn't, but I didn't want to bring it up because maybe people would label me for something I'm not, so I'm glad DYC did. Fact is without Oscar's header, we wouldn't have recovered possession and there would have been no goal. It was literally two seconds before Iva's pass. Actually I do think I've mentioned it like that before, lol, so I didn't resist. Did anyone give him credit for that? For the pass he tried to give to Eden? For fighting for recover possession and be intentional in his header as a pass to a teammate? No, because he isn't as flashy as people wanted him to be. That's why I keep saying he doesn't get credit for what he does because what he does is subtle. But there's no discussion he can be a lot better. He misplaced passes he normally doesn't, he seemed afraid to go forward with the ball in too many occasions and somehow that was the image that lasted when that wasn't how he behaved all the time. Actually it may have not been even how he behaved most time, but it's still what people will talk about... I thought you were too harsh on him in the live thread and I see you keep being even now, but I know at least in your case is because you know him - probably better than most of us - and you're frustrated with his current form and how he has been hiding from the game on too many occasions, so I'm not even criticizing you, I'm just trying to show you the good things he did because sometimes it's hard to see his contributions, lol btw I miss watching matches with you on Skype. Let's schedule a re-watch again (although I'm not sure you like rewatching matches, I remember last time we did it, I have watched the match live and you haven't and you wanted to watch it, so we did together, but if you don't mind rewatching them, let's do it again some time. It's been a nice experience )

You can keep the ugly part of it blurred. That's mean, but in some cases I think it's fitting, but not with the nice guys here. They're just nice to me.And what I love the most about you is how sweet and cute you are. [emoji7]

and did I ever quote you that? I said in the very post you quoted me that I didn't expect him to start the first FEW matches of the season because of all players we signed, he's the one struggling the adapt the most (the other three are not even struggling). He's been struggling a bit (not even much imo) and when he's finally ready to start matches, one between Azpili and Iva won't see many matches. I sometimes favor Azpili, but Iva is so important as a player, a leader and a reference in the pitch that not even all the never ending dedication and work that Azpili shows during all 90 minutes can top it. If he wasn't struggling, if he was well adapted like his teammate Costa is, I bet you he was already starting as well. But he's struggling to adapt... it has nothing to do with proving anything. He is a better LB than Azpilicueta, there's no discussion at all about it, but he hasn't settled yet, so no wonder Azpili is playing there. The big question now isn't who is going to be our LB this season, the big question - and Iva made sure it happened - is who's going to be our LB. Once Luís enters the team - and it'll happen when he settles - he won't leave it anymore imo. He is in the bench not because he has to prove anything to Mourinho, but because clearly he's struggling and hasn't showed even in the slightest what he used to do at Atleti. Courtois did nothing exceptional (wasn't better than Cech, nor worse) in the PS to have 'stole' that position from Cech (he's barely featured in the PS to start with) and who was our #1 yesterday? So my argument in the previous post stands... the first match of the season says nothing about what Mourinho thinks is his first team. Remember de Bruyne last year? I know I do... he said he has a first team in his head and that he wasn't going with it yet because he had to take into consideration who was in shape already and who wasn't. I think the player he had in mind when he said it was Luís and someone else that got the nod in the last training sessions - as this interview was on Friday and the team probably trained at least one day between Saturday and Sunday...

so one match where we had three other guys debuting and have had only 6 training sessions with the whole team has defined his role in the team? I still think he's going to be our main LB when the season ends. He's just not being thrown there when he hasn't fully settled yet. I said in the live match thread a day or two before the match that my only doubt was if Mourinho would play Luís or not. It doesn't mean he hasn't brought here to be a regular. He has. Just because he didn't start the first game of the season didn't change that, so your point is moot. Come talk to me mid-season about that and if I'm wrong, I'll concede. And it seems like you skipped the last part of the post you quoted... have you read it at all?

try to keep you eye only in the player with the ball at all times. (Great exercise to realize how amazing he is, although you may get dizzy ) There's a speed before it reaches Eden and then it feels likes the speed of the FF was increased, when it was only Eden allying his dribbles with vertical, non-stop movement. He added pace without even running, that's unbelievable. I just posted about him in the Oscar thread, I did yesterday twice, one in the live match and other in the post match threads. He's relived of pressure, of responsibilities and he seems to even have a little more freedom now than he used to. He's not the only answer to our attack anymore. He doesn't have the weight of the world on his shoulders anymore. First of all, we have a striker and one that links up wonderfully with him - I agree with whoever said his linkup with Costa is better than with Cesc, simply because Costa is more often near him than Cesc is. So we have someone that will score goals, but that won't stand like a tree waiting for the ball. Costa is taking what Eto'o did for Eden last season to a new level (in terms of play, because the psychological aspect Samu had with him was amazing, hope DD takes over now), that alone relieves him some. But then there's Cesc creating, Schurrle running and getting in good positions, so if Eden doesn't score or assist, now we have 2-3 other players to do that - as it should be. He seems more carefree and his flicks come galore because of this. He did a bit of everything yesterday and although his classical rabona didn't work out, I'm sure we'll see it much more this season than we did in the last two. Back heels, fancy, elaborated dribbles, everything that is so mouthwatering about his style will flourish and being 'disciplined' last season by Mourinho makes it all much better because he's so objective right now. Last season, at the very start he would drive me crazy dribbling in our half, sometimes even in the first third, where he should try to pass and move to receive ahead. He took a long time to pass the ball in that area of the field, which is always dangerous and then when he was high in the pitch he wasn't too objective and instead of cutting inside, sometimes he went even wider, or didn't move much to any side, just dribbled. José disciplined him, and now as a disciplined player he can catalyze his talent and do what he's done yesterday. Cesc and Iva were out of this world, but if they weren't, Eden could have been the man of the match, his performance was high level. I still want him to shoot more often, but yesterday he wasn't even in the position to shoot tbh. Others were and he just stretched the defense, made space for others, and advanced with the ball for us. Talk about a team player. Wonderful by Eden.

we hope, but during PS (if that's any indication) he took corners even when either Schurrle or Cesc were in the pitch. Especially at the left side. Makes no sense. Anyone but him, doesn't matter if it's not the other guy's best foot, his weak foot is better than Willian's rightful foot for corners. It's no jab on him - not everyone has to be able to take corners. He works well in central FK, but in corners he's terrible. I re-watched parts of the match and I thought Oscar was better than in my first impression. He fulfilled a role well. Sometimes he did move forward, but he didn't receive the pass, I saw him a few times even higher than Costa (who comes back a lot to press, to receive, to everything, he's amazing). He's lacking a lot of creativity, but in the Costa goal (could be Schurrle's, not sure) he tried a through ball just a couple of seconds before the Cesc pass (probably Costa's, as for Schurrle's goal Hazard simply raped their whole defense all by himself). It was a nice ball by him, but the defender was lucky and could intercept. I remember another occasion he also completed a nice pass forward. The problem is/was he doesn't do it nearly enough and the accuracy isn't high. With Cesc creating like that, we won't miss it much, but the thing is, unfortunately, Cesc won't be this beast 38 games... Oscar should get the chance of being released of an overwhelming responsibility and flourish, just like Eden had. Eden didn't assist any goal yesterday, but he was amazing. He did his flicks, always very objectively, never just for the fun of it, and he played an important whole stretching their defense. We seem incredibly balanced now, but that's because Cesc was phenomenal. In a 'normal' day Oscar has to try harder and do better. Hazard seems to have already found his place there and he's working very good (oh I remember the other occasion, it was a sequence of passes involving Eden, Oscar and Costa, still in the first half, inside the 18-yard box - I guess it's from that play that comes the corner Iva scored? I could be wrong though about the timing). Oscar doesn't need to appear in the stats if he can contribute to the match like Hazard did. Of course, some matches the last pass before the goal will be theirs and not Fab's, but that's the step Oscar needs to take now. Be there, do the thing, try to shine some all while still doing his pressing, high work-rate, tackle things. It doesn't seem to overload him and as I said a few days ago, he tackles a lot of balls in the final third. That's invaluable. To recover the ball when the opposition's defense and pivot are moving apart, to start their transition is one of the best attack opportunities. If he does that effectively, it's nearly the same as assisting, because if he intercepts/tackles the ball and passes it quickly to someone near him that may need another pass before the goal, his contribution is relevant. So I'll be happy if he keeps those tackles there and if he tries to create a few times himself during a match. I don't need him to have double digit assists in that case. I do expect him to have double digit goals though. are you kidding me? Hazard was a pivotal player for us yesterday and yes, he's set the world on fire. He was amazing and contributed a lot.

seriously? is there such a thing? Pics or it didn't happen!!!! kisses on you, luv

thanks, mate. edit: oh, I loved the angle they had by Cesc's side in the corner assist. you can see the ball's trajectory perfectly. Amazing stuff by Cesc am I? I thought Schurrle was yours

and when they used the 05 FA Cup argument to prove he's a bottler and then a couple of guys corrected a few others that Cesc didn't even play that match? HILARIOUS It's like a house of bushman there. Next they'll start writing as if they were Yoda.

sorry, love I loved this one too: I almost feel pity for this soul. Almost being the key word. It's hilarious that he thinks 1) they're a force again; 2) three players isn't a big change and a lot; 3) he forgets that 3 new players with Wenger is the same as needing a new squad, he won't spend, 4) the last line really makes me pity this guy, lol. Poor thing. Everything the arses deserve though

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x240ji3_ivanovic-good-reaction_sport do share then, I'm interested.

that's my fave post there so far. Absolutely priceless: MaestroCesc (Forum Member) on Yesterday, 8:34 pm

I hate everything Barça related, especially as he embraced the cules as if they were the best thing on earth. Even in the week long speculation before he came I was moaning at first, but then I tried to look at him as a footballer alone, and as such he's always been great. I have no doubts his best years will be with us. He was wasted in Arsene's outdated tactics and he was unlucky to go to a Barça that weren't even a shadow of what they used to be. He's that kind of player that needs a team like us to show his best and we'll give him just that. I don't even remember he's an ex-ass (both arse and cule), just when I want to see the arses crying over their loss. I'm not saying I like him as a person, he seems a tad arrogant or just annoying, I can't say. I called him a cunt, but said I was happy to have him as he'd be our cunt. I don't care about his personality and I believe he'll even learn to be nicer with his time with us (although we can use his fire in some tough matches). I love him as the player he is and he's wonderful. ALTHOUGH I must confess. I didn't use to think he was that great of a footballer either. I've always thought he was overrated, I was blind by my annoyance and hate.

that back heel pass to Iva in the first goal was simply orgasm inducing. Seriously, this man is amazing. I need a gif of that!

did he nominate Rafa Benitez? Unless is his plan all along to mock the FSW He probably is, right? I mean, there's no reason for him to like Benitez... I love the gifs version of this. His woo scream and face in the fourth gif is priceless. x And @, if you ask him to give you away to your bride you'll be giving her away too and we all know there's no denying with JT, he just scores Talking about JT, the player, though. A few atypical mistakes by him today and I'm a bit worried. He was highly motivated last season to prove he was still a top defender given the chance and he has proved it alright. What if he can't motivate himself as much now and a few mistakes start showing here and there? I mean, he's a year older now, we have to hope he doesn't get injured, and I'm a bit, just a bit, concerned about it. The moment JT steps out of the defense, we may be at risk with Cahill too. While Cahill improved a lot, JT makes him look much better than he actually is (although he is a good defender, I'm not negating that)

Brana is the Chuck Norris of the football players #respect

he definitely needs to improve. In matches like today when he didn't impact negatively and propped Cesc as he offered cover we won't complain much, but there will be matches we'll need him to do more than he's been doing. He needs to improve. He can improve. If he was one of those guys that weren't much better than this, we could maybe accept and move on, but he can and had showed much better than this. He needs to find the way back to his good football. Even offering balance and making our midfield solid, he has to offer more in the attack and his passing went MIA. It's a shame he's been like this.

cescf4bregas: Good start to the season @cesarazpi @thibautcourtois @ft9_official #ivanovic cesarazpi: Very good win!! In the bus with man of the match @cescf4bregas and @ft9_official #cfcfamily Enjoying his award. The first of many. Maybe even player of the month? I'm in love