Barbara

the scheme may be correct. But Cahill as the pivot player? This is stupid. Also Luis should be playing this match, as pivot player or FB. This is a mess waiting to happen.

the shit many here swore Mourinho would never use because we didn't play yet... also known as the 3-5-2 shit I shouldn't even bother watching this match... seriously, this is as shitty as it could be. The king of backing off is the pivot player? Come on, Mou, you should know better than that. Cahill will back off until his back hits on Cech and Ericksen gets inside the goal. Also Costa will so isolated it won't even be funny...

It's part of the same interview. I still believe his words were taken a little bit out of context - he has been asked about still feeling the same way about English football after the whole campaign against him and his team. But if his literal words were those and he meant he would stay in England if Abramovich fires him, I feel like he's putting pressure on the board to keep him. 'Bad with him, worst against him' something along the lines. There had been rumors just this week about the club offering him a 5-year contract extension. I believe he just meant to instill some pain on Spurs by saying he'd never go there if there wasn't a clause in his contract and as the journalists insisted on the topic of working in England despite his recent disappointment with the FA he said something like that.

hun, members here are just as predictable as Arsenal on UCL and as dramatic as Mexican soap operas. Get used to it, will do you well. I read some comments with a smile on the face because I always expect them... but I must admit some of them surprise me - such as the KdB one, as even with all the predictability and drama and spoiled behavior, I didn't see someone relating Oscar to Kevin's departure. I mean, that's the same as relating Word War II to Brazilian's carnival, lol.

Do you think this City loss take away some of the pressure today? We all know we desperately need to win a title. There's a lot of pressure on the club, players and manager to win something... 2013 was way too long ago and we aren't Arsenal that can go 8 years without winning anything. To play under the pressure of in theory being only 2 points ahead of City would have affected our 'need' to win today and assure at least one title, as the league could be under real jeopardy. I'm not saying a 5-point lead is big with still 11 matches to be played, but if we have a bad result against West Ham, for example, City still couldn't take the lead, even if we have the Leicester game in hand. But this game will only be played at the last week of April and given the seemingly frail mental strength of this team, if we lose the lead, even if an easy game in hand, they could crumble. So I think having the 5-points lead assure will take some pressure from the team today and Wednesday and I think it could happen us to win both matches. Or am I reading too much into it and they aren't as mentally vulnerable as I think they might be?

The reason Kevin left had absolutely nothing with Oscar. Zero. Mata, yes, Mourinho chose him over Oscar. Kevin was offloaded for completely different reasons - one of them, José didn't like how he trained and even sent him to the U-21. Also, a lot has been said between how suitable Kevin was here and how suitable he is on Wolfsburg. It never ceases to amaze me how people have such simplistic approaches on football and ignore so many factors. We could do an upgrade to Oscar, maybe we will, it has nothing to do with Kevin and it won't be Philippe Coutinho.

Ignore everything I said. I just checked the source. ESPNFC Asia? huahuahuahuahuahuahuahuahuahuahuhauhuahuahuahuahuahuahuahuahuahuahua Almost as good as Sky Nigeria. Espn FC out of Europe is written by fans....

West Ham played shitty football yesterday... they aren't in great form... if we need Matic to beat them, then the problem is us, not them and much deeper than missing one key player. they're so boring and predictable. It might help me fall asleep and sleeping I won't be anxious. It might work

okay, that was the only distraction I had since I woke up at 6am today... what will I do with the two remaining hours? I'll have an anxiety attack at this pace...

^^ maybe he's telling the truth.... or maybe he's just putting a lot of pressure on the board and owner... if they let him go (and they know he's quality) he'll manage a rival and make it all much harder for Chelsea to win titles (let's no kid ourselves, the only reason that City squad doesn't win more titles is because they have incompetent manager after incompetent manager, Wenger has been holding Arsenal back for years now). He really believes in the 'don't strengthen a rival' philosophy. He sold Mata to United knowing Mata wouldn't strengthen them, the same with Luiz to PSG. Maybe he's hoping the club also believes it, because I feel that was a bait. But if he's telling the truth, I think he's aiming the Arsenal job. He knows the club gives stability to their manager - otherwise, why would Wenger still be there. The ball is on Chelsea's court. Would they let him go knowing he could end up at the Emirates?

but... but... but aren't City the best thing on english football? Their attacking minded game isn't what we should learn from? wasn't it a shame we had a tough game against Liverpool? You know what? I guess this just proves that if we win the league, we'll get a trophy that could named 'the best among a bunch of embarrassing teams'.

I still count as a young woman at 35 so he can be a young player for many years to come

and while one normally plays better the first half of the season, the other is a very slow starter and normally starts playing better around December or January. So let's have both, Oscar to play the first half, then we loan him and Coutinho to be loaned the first half and play for us the second. As an Internazionale and Flamengo fan, I've watched Coutinho way more than I've watched Oscar before Oscar moved to Chelsea. I know the kid very well. And you're right, they're both inconsistent, but Coutinho also has a larger creative arsenal than Oscar. He isn't nowhere as tactically aware or does the defensive job Oscar does.

Henrique must have the best timing in the world, no? LOOOOOLLLL WHS for president!

and he's played in this position before. Not too many times, but enough to be more used to it than Azpili imo

This match is always going to be down to which Chelsea shows up, regardless of Spurs. if we play well we win and if we don't play our best, they win regardless of which kind of team or display they have (and they've been very shaky lately). They're basically a non-factor because we lose or draw most time because of our stupid mistakes, not opposition's brilliance

He needs to pick up some form there is no doubt about it . but people should also consider that he's been injured and he needs time to heal properly and to get back in form. yeah he's not playing up to his best but it's not only because he doesn't want to play well at this time of the year or that he can't play well at this time of the year but it's because he's been injured.It doesn't change the fact though that we've been bad without him on form and like Skipper said yesterday when he was playing well we played much better than we do when he's not playing well. we need him to pick up form but he can only do it when his body is ready to do it. he's being sick and injured and he's probably been tired as well. It sucks but it also happens...

funny you call me lazy when it's you who hasn't read the short post I wrote to summarize my previous big one. I said Bayern has had more ups and downs - domestically and continentally - than a roller-coaster. If that doesn't cover what you're saying, then I don't know what does. Also, the part you quoted is my assessment about the current status of the league. If you want to convince yourself, me or someone else Bundesliga now isn't a one-trick-pony, be my guest, but I'll tell you what, you won't convince me.

my point is - why does how a team performs on UCL decide the quality of their national league? Atletico was irrelevant in Europe for decades, RM for nearly a decade - without passing R16 for 7 years in a row - with only Barça representing Spain (in a time they were way ahead the rest of all teams in the world - still we beat them). Then Germany have only had Bayern with their ups and downs - domestically and continentally - for also too many years. English teams took advantage of that with United, Chelsea and Liverpool reaching finals, SF and titles in the past decade (Liverpool early in the decade). What does it say? So now just because Spain has three teams doing well in the league - although Barça did leave the competition on QF last season and Germany had a final a couple of years ago, as well as Spain last year so now those leagues are stronger than ours? That's a weak argument and 'fact'. Bayern, RM, Barça and Atletico may be better than us, it says nothing about any league in any of those countries. Some prefer a polarized league like Bundesliga where they watch a team smash the rest, a league with a lot of money bringing a lot of stars such as English or maybe even a league that is closer in the top like the Spanish is now - despite the very recent Barça domination. Others prefer a league where small teams make big teams life tough. This is down to preference, not only about what entertains you more but as well what YOU think or I think is best. There's absolutely no absolute true because this is a very subjective matter. People ignore the deep (and probably long) transition united just started after Fergie left, City is a mess with a lot of money, but heavily badly managed (both board and managers), Arsenal is stuck with an outdated and stubborn manager and Liverpool is appreciating their history, hoping the media will win them some title as they decayed quality wise. So yeah, some English top teams are going through tough moments, it happens from time to time to any big league.

I think this is quite the overreaction, a simpleton way of thinking and even slightly alienated idea. Championships are different in their own way. Teams approach them in different ways and some teams know how to play certain knock out competitions. A league is competition that goes through 30+ rounds throughout a whole season - nine months of football nearly week in week out. Nothing beats that for me, imo national leagues >>> UCL. I want my team to win the league more than I want them to win Europe. We already have an UCL under our belt, it's no obsession anymore, so while it's a great achievement, it'll always give me more pleasure to know my team was better than its rivals - Arsenal, Spurs, Manchester teams and Liverpool - then beating some small and big names in Europe. Knock-out competitions are way more unpredictable than long run competitions. A team could have a bad day, could pile up injuries, could have one individual mistake decide a whole competition and it says NOTHING about said team being worse than the other. So this whole trendy new topic around here diminishing English teams is overreaction imo. As if Germany had 2-3 top teams. Spain has it now, but Atletico was a non-factor for many years, and RM were 7 years without going through the round of 16. In this meanwhile England had Liverpool, United and Chelsea winning titles and making finals and semifinals in other occasions. Our smooth transition from a team with limited resources and chances to a big deal makes people think that it's easy to achieve. PSG, City, Anzhi are the norm, we're the exception that proves the rule. Money doesn't buy everything, it's not enough in sports although of course, it improves many, many things and gives a team many, many more chances. Now just because we were very smart, lucky and well managed (board and managers) in those 10 years and rose many levels, it doesn't mean it's an easy thing to do. And also people got spoiled and they want us to become the next Barça or Bayern in a handful years. Barça had it coming for too many years and Bayern worked to make it where they are for 8 years. And those were teams that were already in a very high level. Now we came basically from scratch, but people already want us to be the best thing in football since Pele... I teach five year-olds and it never ceases to impress me some of them can't even fathom what the word 'wait' means. It's like a foreign concept to them, I ask them to wait and they look back at me puzzled. It seems they aren't the only generation who doesn't know the first thing about waiting. I'm not advocating English teams are ahead of everyone else, but dismissing and diminishing the English Premier League like some of you have been doing it's beyond pathetic imo and honestly, it sounds even stupid. I agree with someone that made a post the other day saying that English teams didn't get worse, but didn't adapt to modern football as quickly as others have. And guess what, the same way tiki-taka was the hit a few years ago, then total football, the next one is coming soon and no one knows what that will be or when it'll happen. Things in this era change way too much - maybe that's why people have such a hard time learning how to wait - and someone can come with an old-new idea tomorrow and we'll have a new winning football style replacing the current ones. Barcelona are reinventing themselves, Atletico showed how physicality can still be a winning formula, Dortmund showed total football, Bayern attacking football, RM counter-attacking football. The fact that United is going through a deep transition after losing Fergie, that City is and has always been a hot mess taking advantage of other teams messing up, that Arsenal can't find a way to be competitive because of its outdated, stubborn manager and Liverpool lost themselves in their adoration to their own history should be taken into account. Mourinho may not be as sharp as we wanted him to be, but he's managing the best he can. We've been outplaying every other team out there in terms of business and sooner or later we'll start collecting the dividends in the trophy room as well. We're changing our profile, but the process has been slowed down because Mourinho, the club and the players have been feeling the pressure. It doesn't mean English teams are a fraud or that EPL is weak. This is a wild idea that some insist on trying to make popular around here these days. Spain 4 years ago had only Barça, Bayern have had more ups and downs than a Disney roaller-coaster and who was taking advantage of those things in those years? English clubs. Trying to see football in such a black and white way always misleads people and make they have the oddest notions. We're far away from becoming Italy 2.0 - but guess what? England, Spain, Germany and even Italy themselves have all been there and done that before. But as I said, in this postmodern world change happens way too fast so we're just witnessing things with the forward button pressed. All those big leagues have been through 'crisis' moments. Who knows? Maybe Juventus pull many shockers and win UCL. Then people will say what? EPL may not be the very best league in the world, but it's a top 3 to say the least. Also that's a subjective matter. Some prefer a close and unpredictable league, others prefer a polarized league with a team that is probably the best in the world playing there, others prefer more clubs getting more money to have more stars in the country. So in such a subjective matter, dismissing or diminishing the league as if it was the MSL (which is a new league and also progressing quite quickly if you ask me) sounds rubbish.

Hey, but that's what counts for blood geniuses in the Mourinho thread saying 1) shit about his style all the time and 2) praising City's and Atletico's styles. But who cares if they lose at home or ends a match with RIDICULOUS pass completion of 57% against a struggling Bayern... It's all about attacking football or a team that knows how to press. City and Atletico just need to add 'winning' to their repertoire. Other than that they're the dream teams, with mouth watering and effective football styles

OT - I miss you so much... not only on the forum, but privately. Don't be a stranger, love

lol, somehow Willian's 3-4 very good matches recently were converted in two months... the things I read in people's post quoting other people (because obviously I can't read the originals). Oscar has a lot of goals on him, and maybe he could develop into the player that will earn his place in a team - Chelsea or other - because of it. Either way he needs to produce more than he has.

the problem is if we don't win... and I guess it's a 50/50 Hopefully we'll win, but the team have been having too many ups and downs. The key players aren't doing well or deciding and we just lost one for the final. Here's hoping for an Iva winner. Or Terry. Or anyone actually, but I feel like if anyone was going to get us the winner would be one of those guys. that's my concern to the final and the match against West Ham - and reason why I keep saying instead of addressing CAMs and wingers we should be addressing our pivot backup players. Who can we play? Even if we move Cesc to the CAM position, who's going to play alongside Ramires? Mikel may be as good as gone imo, but at least he could have done a defensively job for the most part. Now what are we supposed to do? Some said getting one of the defenders. I've watched Luís playing a few times, it wasn't Luiz's level, but maybe the kind of protection Cesc+Ramires could use. Just have a triple pivot and see how we cope. It could be Ake as well, but is he ready to play a final, a derby nonetheless when the club, the manager and the players have a lot of pressure to win?

I think right now it could be, but earlier the season he wasn't coping well defensively. We should see him more often now - especially on games at home. I think in the calendar year - the matches we could watch - Luís showed to have adapted to the physicality and he has been doing well defensively. Up to that point I think Mourinho was fair with the opportunities he gave to him. I really expect to see him and Zouma in all home games and even a few away adventures. Azpili is better than Iva defensively, but Iva has been saving our arses way too many times to risk benching him, so unfortunately I feel like Azpili should be sitting a few more times, not sure Mourinho will do it though. If he doesn't, then I'll agree with you.