Re: Mourinho: Get better or get lost classy ....yes they were very classy in the way the dove all over the pitch they should of won the gold medal in diving
Re: Mourinho: Get better or get lost Its pretty clear we wanted a new striker. Don't fool yourself. Your squad is as big as ours.
Re: Mourinho: Get better or get lost And I have little doubt one will be on the way, in addition to the returning Crespo. I don't think you understood my point. Chelsea have spent a significant amount on high-priced, internationally-proven talent, including squad players. Our squad players aren't like that, and for us many have been hit and miss. And that's not to speak of the age creeping into our first team starters. We've spent what we have so far in order to fill whatever needs we have.
Re: Mourinho: Get better or get lost He should be able to predict that United are going to take the Title back from Chavscum...... Just like predicting Rain in that commercial,........ What a Twat he is...............................
Re: Mourinho: Get better or get lost Chelsea have spent a lot on players but don't let the amount fool you. Chelsea's first team squad, top to bottom, is not significantly better than United's. If our second team featured Geremi, Jarosik, Tiago, Huth, Johnson, Smertin, C. Cole I bet we would still be complaining about a squadies. Areas of superiority in Chelsea last season, GK, two dangerous wide men, and Lampard. We have corrected the GK problem, and a healthy Rooney and Ruud along with a maturing Ronaldo should offset the effect of Robben and Duff. The final issue is in the center of the park. Let's hope this is addressed this summer. (Of course this evaluation assumes that, even thought Josie is the "chosen one", SAF hasn't forgotten how to manage.)
Re: Mourinho: Get better or get lost Smertin is actually an excellent player... combative, versatile... he's what Phil Neville should be, if he wants to justify 50k a week as a backup... Smertin is capable of starting and performing reasonably well at CB, DM in place of Makalele or in CM as well compared to Phil who can play all positions and not be worth one single solitary fart in any of them.
Re: Mourinho: Get better or get lost I'll still maintain that what it all came down to, more than squad depth (which Chelsea is better at, but certainly not by miles), more than injury issues (again, we struggled here, but should have done better at managing), was not having the right mentality when playing the weaker clubs in the league. You have to take maximum points against teams like Norwich, Palace, West Brom, Portsmouth, and Blackburn. Anything less is just plain unacceptable. Whether it was player attitudes or squad selection in those matches, the fact that we took just 16 of a possible 30 points against those clubs was a travesty; Chelsea took maximum points. If we're going to improve, that's a good place to start.
Re: Mourinho: Get better or get lost I'd say the biggest problem in those matches was squad selsction..... Just like the 2nd leg against Fnerbache.... Granted that game didn't matter but against any Premier league squad playing backups is a risk.....Fergie needs to realize that putting Rooney and Ronaldo in to a match in the last 15-20 minutes isn't a garanteed bail out.......
Re: Mourinho: Get better or get lost I always have trouble second guessing SAF, but I have to agree with your statement. When we were within striking distance, we should have become more agressive with the lineups and worry about resting people at the end of the season.
Re: Mourinho: Get better or get lost However, to a certain extent I feel like our second string should be able to beat the lower table teams. We should be able to have enough confidence in these guys to send them out there against teams like Pompey, WBA, Palace, etc, get our starters a rest, and get at the very least a draw. However our second string would struggle and then Fergie would send in Rooney, Ronaldo and Scholes to bail the team out, which they were not able to do.
Re: Mourinho: Get better or get lost You may be right ... I however believe that squadies are for subbing and not necessarily there to play against lesser opponents. It's alright to selectively rest when needed, but to take the lower portion of table lightly was and will be a mistake. The proof is in the pudding. The great teams do not play to the opposition’s talent. You play your best, always, and bury the lesser teams.
Re: Mourinho: Get better or get lost I would agree with you if our squaddies weren't guys like Phil, Fortune, Miller, Bellion, etc.......
Re: Mourinho: Get better or get lost What, no mention of the record breaking defence led by JT and Makelele?
Re: Mourinho: Get better or get lost Mst: As a team, Chelsea was superior defensively. Cech was superior to whomever United had in goal. However, I don't think that the respective defensive records of United and Chelsea would have been much different if Rio and Terry had switched places. (United may have scored off more corners.) Makelele is a (superior) product of a system that allows him to do what he does, possibly better than anyone. I didn't overlook him in my post.
Re: Mourinho: Get better or get lost Note the word superiority above. IMO your back 4 is not better than ours. The only difference was in GK.
Re: Mourinho: Get better or get lost As a neutral....I'd have to disagree with you. IMO, a rotation of Carvalho, Gallas, Bridge, Ferreira and Terry is a touch better than Ferdinand, Silvestre, Brown, Neville and Heinze.....not by much but still better.
Re: Mourinho: Get better or get lost No he's right, Chelsea are particularly strong at the back and in depth. But in general I really don't see much difference between the squads. Arsenal on the other hand have the first eleven, but have a thin squad. They better hope for a nicer season with injuries next time out.
Re: Mourinho: Get better or get lost Sigh. Your keepers cost you in the CL, not in the Premiership. Nor are your keepers really all that bad. We'll see how much Van der Saar changes things. Of course, we'll also see how much better our defense is once we actually have a left footed defender who can play more than 10 games.
Re: Mourinho: Get better or get lost True. I'm not bashing Van der Saar...because I honestly think he is quality....but for all of Tim's supposed howlers.....Van der Saar had what has to be one of the biggest howlers in several seasons when he let Reyes take the ball off his foot and practically walk it into the goal two seasons ago.