Best CM Pairing?

[Phil Driver 503]

chouou ,give up son ,Mikel was not even in the squad and rightly so ,he was at Cobham Essien was sub ,what game are we saving him for now ?

[Tomo 21,751]

chouou ,give up son ,Mikel was not even in the squad and rightly so ,he was at Cobham Essien was sub ,what game are we saving him for now ?

Im by no means a Mikel lover, but wasn't hepart of winning teams at The Emirates and WHL this time last year?

[Phil Driver 503]

He was certainly on the pitch ,you may have noticed he was not even on the bench today ,you think that being in a winning team a year ago guarantees a place in the team today?. No the performance at Spurs this season has more relevance.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Kinda felt Lampard was quite decent today. Ramires was running all over the pitch, so having Mikel on instead of Lampard wouldn't have made much of a difference.

The plan was to play long balls over the top for Demba Ba, at least in the first half. So Frank was by far the best option as was evident by the first goal which was created by Frank's first time long ball. But still, his passing was in excusable at times.

And someone who can miss the first man needs to start taking those corners.

[hjperdeath 2,226]

The plan was to play long balls over the top for Demba Ba, at least in the first half. So Frank was by far the best option as was evident by the first goal which was created by Frank's first time long ball. But still, his passing was in excusable at times.

And someone who can miss the first man needs to start taking those corners.

yeah passing was a bit off today. atleast in the second half.

[Strike 7,530]

Lampard can't be starting as many games as he has so far. One quality midfielder is needed

[Phil Driver 503]

This debate is now closed . Lampard and Rammy Jose has decided and he is right ,I did not think it would take him long and it has not ,Essien now is back up by the look of the subs today.

[hjperdeath 2,226]

^Against the mighty Norwich.

[Phil Driver 503]

Yes Mikel could not even be trusted on the bench v Norwich ,I know reality is tough for you fanboys ,but you will learn

He has been dropped .

Jose saw "a big problem in the first half " v Spurs ,the problem has now been rectified and the action is plain to see for all those who have their eyes open .

[zolayes 14,489]

Im by no means a Mikel lover, but wasn't hepart of winning teams at The Emirates and WHL this time last year?

a year is a long time in football ...change that a week is a long time ,,,change that 15 minutes was a long time for spurs today ....CHANGE THAT ,,,I wonder how

the posts changed in the match thread in just TWO MINUTES

[hjperdeath 2,226]

Yes Mikel could not even be trusted on the bench v Norwich ,I know reality is tough for you fanboys ,but you will learn

He has been dropped .

Jose saw "a big problem in the first half " v Spurs ,the problem has now been rectified and the action is plain to see for all those who have their eyes open .

Could not be trusted? I hope you don't become a manager and put a defensive midfielder on the bench who maintains possession and is not good at breaking down opposition who defend in blocks of four.

Me the fanboy? Oh the irony.

And the 'big problem' you keep going about wasn't Mikel. It was Ramires on the wing, which you would have seen if your eyes were open. He was brought in and voila, Paulinho and Dembele had problems. Obviously Mikel had to be substituted cause he won't be able to break down. Though Lampard was quite decent that game, the fact that you give Lampard the credit for the hard work Rami did brilliantly shows how the English media works.

[Phil Driver 503]

Who was training alone at Cobham ? You really do not do perception do you ? Essien was on the bench ,Mikel is out of the picture ,what game are we supposed to be saving him for now? Mourinho has sussed him . Mourinho has Essien in front of Mikel now and he is right ,he is a special manager who agrees with me .

[hjperdeath 2,226]

Who was training alone at Cobham ? You really do not do perception do you ? Essien was on the bench ,Mikel is out of the picture ,what game are we supposed to be saving him for now? Mourinho has sussed him . Mourinho has Essien in front of Mikel now and he is right ,he is a special manager who agrees with me .

Technically he wasn't training at Cobham alone, cause um, you can't on a matchday. Perception. Meaning interpretation. Ways of interpreting a game? Innumerable. Correct ways of interpreting a game? Two or three max. Essien was on the bench as a right-back cover too, not just as CDM. The only reason we need cover in the pivot position for such a game is due to injury. There is no other reason, cause even if we were to change our entire tactical outlook, that position would be left unotuched. The story would have been different if Ramires started on the right wing again. So Essien was on the bench for a few games, and Jose has sussed him. brilliant analogy there. Special manager yes, agreeing with you? He'd probably having a right laugh after all he did to bring Mikel to the club.

[Phil Driver 503]

Phewwww you fanboys are still in denial .

Which match are we saving Mikel for now?

[hjperdeath 2,226]

edit : I'm done.

[nadavTKL 1,787]

I thought Lampard was better than his original performances in the pivot this season, but i want us to get someone like Cabaye in January. Im giving Lampard the chance to improve in that role under Mou but i dont think he'll ever be good as a younger and quicker midfielder+he cant play all games and its a problem when we have Mikel and Essien as the rotation players, who both fits better to be the Ramires replacements.

Cabaye could fit the need i think, and in the summer Gundogan i wish.

[ChelseasMessiah 304]

I think need we need someone tougher defensively than Cabaye, someone in the mould of a Luis Gustavo, who is strong, quick, two footed, great at tackling, positioning and anticipation as well as being able to do the business, on the rare occasions it has to be said, going forward, bonus for being tall as well, and being able to cover the centre half position in case we wanna go three at the back and still be able to use Iva (or preferably Aspi) as a wing back.

Basically someone who is gonna bullet-proof the back four but still technically sound to play and participate in intricate passes.

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

I think need we need someone tougher defensively than Cabaye, someone in the mould of a Luis Gustavo, who is strong, quick, two footed, great at tackling, positioning and anticipation as well as being able to do the business, on the rare occasions it has to be said, going forward, bonus for being tall as well, and being able to cover the centre half position in case we wanna go three at the back and still be able to use Iva (or preferably Aspi) as a wing back.

Basically someone who is gonna bullet-proof the back four but still technically sound to play and participate in intricate passes.

Luiz Gustavo would be a start but s.o. who can also help the build up play, so our AMs don't have to retrieve all the time would be even better. Xabi Alonso is out of contract next summer...

[ChelseasMessiah 304]

I feel like Alonso would leave us a bit exposed at the back as well. And I don't mean Luiz Gustavo per se, but someone in that mould, United signed Fellaini for top dollar and he so far isn't cutting it, it's tough finding these sort of players who can take top clubs like ours up a notch. Spurs and City have excellent options for their two pivots.

[nadavTKL 1,787]

I feel like Alonso would leave us a bit exposed at the back as well. And I don't mean Luiz Gustavo per se, but someone in that mould, United signed Fellaini for top dollar and he so far isn't cutting it, it's tough finding these sort of players who can take top clubs like ours up a notch. Spurs and City have excellent options for their two pivots.

Gustavo and the likes of him wont take us to the next level, Gundogan and Alonso will. I disagree with you, we dont need a DM when we have Ramires, we need a DLP who knows how to defend as well, but his biggest role would be to control our game.

City and Spurs have a good pivot in PL standarts, very good, but not in the same level of the likes of Real, Bayern, Dortmund and Barca. Maybe its surprise you in City's aspect, but only because Toure is tremendously overrated as a Central Midfielder. Both teams would never be real world beaters with their current pivot, you can be sure. We want to be as good as the Top 4 of Europe, so we need more than a Gustavo-Ramires pivot.