Biskitt

The word world class gets thrown round far too much but Eriksen's set pieces are absolutely that.

in the current climate i think its more about his determination to get that goal, could easily have stopped running after the push (ronaldo) or gone down with bartra snapping at his heels in the box (suarez) i really think there arent many players who would (rather than could) have scored that goal, speed, honesty, control, strength, composure, it was a great goal Completely agree. Great goal

The only semi final I don't want to see is Atletico V Real Madrid. Any of the other possible outcomes would be interesting though!

Great finish. Really really enjoying this game, some wonderful footballers on display

Horrible miss from Benzema. Really good open game though.

I think Stoke will come here to park the bus so any early goal for us is vital as it would open the game up which suits us down to the ground. Sadly I think it will be 1-1 or 0-0. Good news that Charlie Adam is suspended for them though

When was the last time we won 3 home games on the bounce ?

Have to say, that red was very very soft. Kinda makes up for the Ivanovic one at Stamford Bridge though

Hoolahans a real tidy little player isn't he. Can see why lambert was so keen to get him, just links everything up nicely. NorwIch must be sick of the sight of us by now

Demichelis is just a fat Darren Peacock

I genuinely do not think Villa would obtain any more than 15% possession against Barca. I think you might be missing a decimal place

One that hasn't been mentioned yet is Yohan Cabaye who was apparently lined up to join us before Houllier left. Exactly the kind of player we are crying out for right now

Why didn't gabby take it first time there ?

WTF

**** off

Need to get at least 4 points from today and Tuesdays game against Cardiff, 6 points would put us on 33 points and I'd say we would be definitely out of trouble then. Wouldn't be surprised if we went 4-4-2 today. Guzan Lowton Clark Baker Bertrand Bacuna Delph Westwood Gabby Wiemann Benteke Either that or 4-3-3 with the same players would suit me. No Grant Holt in the starting line up please although don't mind if he comes on if we need to close the game out West Ham have got quite a lot of injuries too, Diame, Cole and Obrien are all out so wonder if their Italian loan signings will start ?

Yep that is the team i would pick! And me

Quite often, the differences between winning a game and drawing/not winning a game in the premier league can be really quite small. Does having a crowd that is known for turning on players or getting negative quite quickly helpful for the team in the long run? NO, of course if **** isn't. If we had a crowd that properly got behind players the team and made it a real cauldron for away teams, I have few doubts our home form would improve slightly. People keep saying "their professional footballers blah blah blah" but they are still people at the end of the day and most people still respond better to encouragement rather than negativity. Some people have mentioned about our home fans being "awesome". I'm sorry, it really isn't when you compare it to teams like Crystal Palace etc who keep supporting their team regardless of how each match is going. Oh, and anyone who boos the team needs a long hard **** look at themselves, your doing a disservice to the word "support"

It's a bit of a vicious circle though isn't it. If the home fans are quiet, uneasy or getting on the backs of players ( which lets face it, we have got a reputation for ) then it will filter down to the players which in turn can affect performances. I'm not saying it's the only factor ( lack of a number 10, over reliance on counter attacking etc ) but I certainly think it has some influence on things Our away fans are always fantastic and you always hear them above the home fans in pretty much every game, maybe that's why they players appear to prefer playing away from home ?

He's certainly seems to be made of strong stuff this lad. The initial report said he would be out for 9 months but if he comes back in say, mid March, he will have only been out for 6 months in total. Absolute Tank Unit.

Apart from winning a league cup ( which Mcleish has also won ), how exactly has Laudrup proved that he is better that Lambert ? Back to back promotions and then comfortably keeping Norwich in the premier league is a much better acheivement IMO. Laurdrup came into a settled team with a very distinct philosophy already in place and whilst admittedly they did very well in their first season, they have struggled massively this season and as has happened in his previous managerial roles, when the going gets tough he either walks out or is promptly sacked. I will say that he brought some good players but he has shown that he is tactically inflexible ( have they ever played 2 strikers in a match ?? ) and there are also several mentions of him not being totally committed to the job as well. For a club like us that is trying to rip things up and take a longer term approach, he would be an absolutely disastrous appointment. Lambert came into a far more difficult set of circumstances and our league positions since they were both appointed are very similar. I know Lambert has his faults but he is a much better fit for us than Laudrup will ever be.

I really like him as a player but he is a bit of a funny one. On the ball, at times he looks like a rabbit caught in the headlights and then next minute, he'll do something of real quality! His crossing is decent, his free kicks are excellent and when he's got a bit of space to run into, he can be really effective at going at players. Good to know that we've also got a good backup penalty taker as well. Defensively, I don't recall many occasions where players have got past him in a 1v1 situation as he is quick and strong and doesn't dive in. That said, positionally he can be a bit suspect and can switch off at times. When you consider he cost £800k and he's only 22 years old playing his first season in the premier league, to get 4 goals ( 3 very important goals ) and 1 assist despite playing in multiple positions, he's been a real asset to us and an absolute bargain.

I thought he was excellent as well, has a real physical presence, reads the game well and good on the ball too. Would kill for someone like him shielding our back 4

Chelsea have been fantastic here, Hazard has been an absolute joy to watch. Think those 3 times they've hit the woodwork might come back to bite them though

I actually really enjoyed that first half