Papillon

Cornelius? Like... seriously?

Cool for him to do well after scoring the own-goal, many could have overreacted and done even worse (see Gerrard against Chelsea, trying to shoot more than Tonev in the second half). Now he has played at Villa Park and won a game, time to go back to League 1 where he belongs

**** yeah, we're safe :)

Haha, saw that he was in the line-up and then he goes on to score an own-goal. He probably knows he hasn't got anything to do on this level, let alone the Championship, and then he puts it in the back of the net. The sooner he leaves the better.

Looking at those, lowton was close to being player of the season last season. Sylla did a job when he came in last season. Tonev you can't really say he was dropped, I don't see how anyone could have made a decision on him yet. Bennett is decent back up and has at least looked decent at times. Helanius again is one that can't be judged yet and not sure how you get dropped when starting just a couple of games. So Bowery, Luna and sylla should be moved on, the rest kept as squad players and those 3 probably cost us £5 mil in total. Good God, that's naive! You are looking at made-up positives instead of looking at the ice-cold facts. Lambert tried to build a better team and squad, he is not trying to buy covers and semi-professionals that might or might not cut it in the Premier League. Most of these players have been failures and they are in fact not good enough to play in the Premier League. One thing is one or two players not hacking it, which happens at every club, but most of the players haven't been good enough to get into any squad in the Premier League IMO. On top of that, a few of the ones that are playing in our team should barely make the bench in my opinion. KEA, Westwood, Kozak, Lowton and Bacuna are all players that I want to replace with better players, which means there is space for them on the bench. Not that I don't like Westwood, I think he is a tidy player and he has some potential, but there are numerous players out there with much higher ability and that goes for almost all of his signings. We got Benteke, which was great, but that's about it. Even Sam Allardyce manages to pick a gem in the market once in a while.

Ryan Giggs in his prime cannot compare to players like Ronaldo in terms of their highest level, but he was so damn consistent. That is the most important thing, you cannot have highly gifted players like Mario Balotelli in your side, because he will only perform extremely well every 5th game or so and run 5 km the next. Giggs was of course a great footballer op top of it, but also very, very stable. To say he was overrated is of course foolish and extremely ignorant. You mention his long career and medals, I mean.... contradicting yourself a little bit? He has played 671 games in the league for Man Utd, scored 114 goals and won something like 35 trophies. You don't get to do that if you aren't a top, top player. Sure you can throw a Phil Neville or a John O'Shea back at me, but they didn't exactly play that many games for United and they weren't first-picks like Giggs.

I love Hernandez as a player. True professional, honest and aggressive when chasing chances. The new Solskjær so to speak. He deserves to play regularly, but I am certain he will leave for a bigger club - most likely in Spain with better climate

He has played all of the games since his return though, not a single injury or niggle. So 33 games is pretty good no matter what. Certainly lots more than Ramsey, Agüero, Van Persie et al.

True! Suarez is Liverpool, without him they would be 5th and people would be talking about their naive defensive approach.

That's a pretty simple and inaccurate analysis to be honest. Have a word with Dante from Bayern München last night, he must not have heard how the new rules complies. Same goes for the Spanish league, sure there are yellow and red cards almost every game, but that's because of reckless tackling and it doesn't stop the players from doing it again. Besides, Ronaldo played like 5-6 years ago, it's not like we are talking about Dirty Leeds or anything like in that era back in the 70's on whenever it was. It's not like Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi haven't been tackled right on the shin a lot in their careers, happens almost every single game.

People might disagree, perhaps because Ronaldo was a phenomenon and introduced many to the era of new tricks, football boots like Nike Vapor and many, many goals. I remember that time because I was a teenager and fell for all that marketing stuff just like any other kid. Those who disagree would be wrong though, Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi are by far the best players to have ever graced this earth. Sure you can measure Maradona against the level of the field back in the day and compound his level with the inflation over the years, but I wouldn't get into that algorithm. Cristiano Ronaldo has 176 goals in 163 games for Real Madrid and he has at least three seasons left at the top level. I immediately get mad when I write that, imagine that we are going to watch football in 5-10 years and not see Messi/Ronaldo anymore. Someone else will come along of course, they always do, but I doubt we will see many scoring 45+ league goals in a top league. Cristiano Ronaldo also has 16 goals in 10 games in the CL this season, could become more after the final as well (and he didn't play in two of the games RM played this season). The former Ronaldo, even though he was all about goals and being a central striker, "only" scored 83 goals in 127 league games for Real Madrid. He had tricks and pace compared to other players at the time, but let's not pretend Cristiano Ronaldo couldn't do exactly the same or better. Same with Messi, they do stuff nobody else has ever done and they score goals every single game in average. The old Ronaldo managed to score 30+ league goals only twice in his career, and that was for PSV and Barcelona, so basically just one worth bragging about in the big leagues. Cristiano Ronaldo has done it five times and who would bet against him next season and the one after that? In terms of being a model professional, there probably isn't a big discussion either - I don't think the currently active Ronaldo piles down a six-pack every night he comes home from training.

People have extreme views about Lambert in both ends, and the fact is that he is neither woeful or particularly great. A very poor manager would have relegated us last season or this year, a better manager would have utilized the squad much better - and last but not least - gotten better players with the same budget. A better manager would have gotten the extremities out of our best players, treated the players better instead of ousting them and found a tactic better suited for our needs and arsenal. I feel Lambert can boast about Christian Benteke, but after that the transfers have been very, very poor. I am not going to take Benteke away from the equation entirely, but let's say Kozak was the one from the beginning and Benteke went somewhere else, we definitely would have relegated a long time ago. Lambert is a decent manager and he has respect from the players I think, which isn't a given since we are playing poorly, but I don't trust him to take us forward if he is given more money to spend on a new squad. Why? Transfers have been poor and squad utilization is just as poor. We play the same players and we never seem to find the right tactic, it always seems like we need the other team to be totally out of it to win the game. I think Lambert is the kind of manager that can do good work with a poor side full of hardworking players, the kind of sides that promote after fighting their way from the Championship, but those sides never do well in the Premier League for more than a year. When it comes down to actual tactics, playing attacking football and the lot, he just doesn't cut it. I remember when he took over and we tried to pass is from player to player and believed we were the new Barcelona for a bout 15 minutes. We all remember how that ended, we never played a ball over the midfield and looked foolish. And how are we playing now? Who knows, try to get a counter and hope that the other teams play a high line at the back. If not then we will lose.

He missed two games in the CL this season as well, so it could (probably would) have been even more. Galatasaray at home and Dortmund away I think it was. Fantastic player, just never stops scoring goals - isn't even happy with a hat-trick if he missed a sitter to get the fourth. That's why he is at 16 and not 8 goals so to speak

Yeah I know, but I am just incorporating the best players from this season, no matter if Ivanovic was RB or CB. Could have picked Cahill instead of Ivanovic, but I think the latter has been better overall. As for including Agüero, he has been out injured for a long while but he still has 27 (goals and assists) and is a much, much better player than Sturridge. Same goes for Ramsey, he has just played a little over half the games this year but his impact has been superb in my opinion. Gerrard has been very good, but take away his 11 penalties or so and his stats look a little bit worse than what it is in plain sight IMO. Goals are goals of course, doesn't matter, and it helps to have a diving little rat like Suarez up top.

Makes no sense to sack Paul Lambert at this moment. It does make sense when the players stop playing for the manager, like with Moyes, but in our case it's just the fact that our players are too poor. They aren't refusing to play for Lambert, I think they actually respect him, but it's just that their combined ability is extremely low. The problem is of course Lambert in the end, it's him that assembled this squad with absolutely no firepower. Take away Benteke and we basically suck balls, one player can change everything - look at Newcastle without Cabaye. It was like this the last time around as well, without Benteke we would have relegated easily. Benteke isn't the best player in the world and he doesn't create something out of nothing every game like Suarez or Ronaldo, but he does seem to get a chance every now and again and he's a very good striker. That's why I think he would be awesome somewhere else, I think he would thrive at Arsenal or even Everton under Martinez. We talk about our inability to sign certain players and that we have to pay bits and pieces for unknown quantity. Noble prospect, but we could have just left them out entirely. Tonev has 599 minutes on the pitch, with zero goals and zero assists, even Brett Holman did better last season and would have done more of a difference this season. That speaks a lot, because Holman was utterly inept. Sylla has 552 minutes on the pitch, even less than he had in 12/13. Both of these players look like they haven't kicked a football in their entire life. Bowery? 69 minutes on the pitch and loaned out to Doncaster (where he according to Wikipedia has played 3 times), Helenius 51 minutes and never in contention (22 years old as well, it's not like he is 17 and an up an coming talent - two years older than Lukaku by the way), Bennett 243 minutes on the pitch, Luna 1381 minutes on the pitch before he was basically thrown out of the squad due to his lack of talent - and so on. Our recruitment the last two seasons has been below any standard, no matter what the budget was (40 Mill isn't that low either in my opinion). Our team consists of Guzan, Vlaar, Delph, Gabby and Benteke, the rest wouldn't get into any team in the league Sacking Lambert right now does not make any sense because another person wouldn't make any difference with just a couple of games remaining on the calendar. Grab a result against Hull and we are safe, we'll probably make it anyway. The summer is going to be interesting though. It's a strange situation with Lambert, I actually think he is a decent character and I don't hate him like I would with any other manager in this situation, but the results speak for themselves I'm afraid. It's not about looking up, it seems we are just trying to avoid relegation. Not much fun is it!

You don't think Jose could have turned up at Liverpool, with players like Gerrard and Suarez and £100m to spend and made them title contenders by his second season? I do, I think that is exactly what he would do. Totally agree. Basically naming Rodgers a better manager is wildly inaccurate. Firstly, Liverpool have spent a lot of money and they have Suarez who is basically three players in one. Chelsea have had the Champions League which they still compete in and they lack really good strikers, something they will surely have next year. Rodgers has done a really good job and perfected their style, but he does have a lot of expensive players at his disposal. However, Mourinho is already a legend and Rodgers will be lucky to even achieve half of what he has done.

The man is a genius. They have beaten both Liverpool and Man City away this year, who cares about the kind of football they play. They have a world-class squad and should have been ahead in the league, but a lack of a good striker has paid its price no doubt. Just let Man City win the league, I would love to see Gerrard crying after game 38, after yet another season without a trophy.

Embarressing

FC Gung-Ho (with a most steady defense): De Gea Azpilicueta Terry Ivanovic Coleman Yaya Touré Ramsey Hazard Rooney Agüero Suarez Comments: Only two players 100% sure to be in the team, Yaya and Suarez. Sturridge could be in the team, but Rooney is a much smarter player and he has played for a woeful team this season. Sterling is also a product of the way Liverpool play and because he has Suarez next to him, put him in the United-team or Tottenham-team and he probably wouldn't have played at all. Ramsey has been extremely good, same with Agüero, but they haven't played that much. Eden Hazard was extremely good at times, but then he went a little colder and got injured. Gerrard has been pretty good, but he has gotten a lot of attention because of his goals - 10 of which were penalties!

Yes it must be. There's a lot on Lukaku's shoulders now. One player you couldn't do without is Hazard. Hazard isn't even half as important for us as benteke is our whole attack was build on benteke now were like a bee without an angle Lukaku is not ready to carry the weight of our team and ofcourse it sucks for aston villa to i hope wer going to stay in the PL Hmm.. that's obviously not true. What about Lukaku? Many fans of other teams would say he is better (if only by an inch) than Benteke, and they are pretty similar. Insane physique, speed and an eye for a good shot, they are pretty much interchangeable. Hazard is a world-class player good enough for pretty much every team in the world, he can change a game from nothing. Imagine him playing for Man City or Real Madrid, he would hammer in goals and provide assists just like the best of them. He is of course doing that at Chelsea as well, but we all know Mourinho thinks team/result before any player in his setup.

Probably what everyone else were saying, but he is the only player being remotely fun to watch in our squad. Sad but true I guess. Sure we have a good goalkeeper, a decent stopper in Vlaar and a tackler in Delph (once in a while), but all of them are players most other teams have. The league is littered with good goalkeepers and every club has one or two enviable players, but Benteke is special. His top level is huge - so just imagine what he could have done with players like Lallana or even better players around him. I'm mentioning Lallana because he is the sort of player that we could have snapped up a few years ago on the cheap before anyone knew he was good. I guess that was the plan with Tonev et al, but we all know the score. Benteke's injury was the worst that could happen to this team, but in the long (cynical) run it means we get to keep him for a good while I guess.

In isolation the the game was boring and Chelsea was playing destructive. However, are you a fool or are you just trying to be one for the sake of it? It's about winning the Champions League, it doesn't matter how you play the game in the end. By playing like that away from home, the chances are extremely high for the game to be without many goals and that benefits Chelsea at home next week. Mourinho has won the Champions League twice and you can bet your ass he will win it again in his career. Mourinho chooses to play like this, but he also knows how to score lots of goals with his teams. This season they have played without a good striker and that's why they really have to think differently, especially in big games. If they had someone like Drogba they would risk a bit more, but this was pure tactical genius. Everyone knew it before the game, still he managed to play 0-0. The difference with Lambert is that we play like that even if it's at home to Fulham or away to Man City, basically he doesn't know what he's going to get each game.

Culture is a big thing though, I don't know if Simeone would instantly do well in England. Does he speak English for example? Klopp speaks English quite well, I imagine most Dutch people have a perfect accent as well. That's of course what separates Pep Guardiola from other people, he spoke German in his first interview and that's pretty cool! I remember Beckham spitting out a few words after a game in Madrid after six months in Spain, not particularly impressive to be honest. Mourinho speaks English, Wenger speaks OK (although quite pathetic level after living in this country for 15 years!) and even Pellegrini can utter the basic words. I don't know what language Lambert speaks though, he sounds like a drunk guy most of the times.

Very true, that's why I think it was strange that they didn't hire someone for a short while to take the fall. Someone like Meulensteen, before they hired the next guy this summer. Mourinho was touted, but people believed he was going to bugger off within two years. I guess the lesson has been learned, sometimes the step is too big for most guys. Moyes on a six year deal was naive, why try to replace an unique Scotting manager with another one? It was never going to be the same, not in a million years. Van Gaal? Don't know if he is the right one, he has had top jobs but he hasn't been in a top club for more than a few years at the time and his career has been a lot different from other coaches. Managed Barcelona twice, three years and then one season. Managed AZ for a few years, then took over Bayern München for two seasons. He can show results of course, won the Champions League with Ajax back in the day and also domestic leagues, but the lack of stability is probably a deal breaker. Klopp should be the first pick for every top club, he has been a lot of years at Dortmund and he has kind of hit the glass roof several times lately, but he seems to be a really loyal guy.

Guess Fergie lost his patience as well!