Cronky

It won't last. They're running on adrenaline atm, the 'magic' will quickly dry up. You don't need magic when you've got a good spine, ambitious owners and a manager who knows the game inside out. Ambition? Good business yes, but until they start spending their own cash there's no sign of ambition. Not being afraid to spend what they generate in sales is a start. The whole Torres / Carroll situation was more complex than that. Chelsea were desperate to sign Torres and Liverpool were happy to get rid, providing they could bring in a decent replacement at the same time. Carroll was therefore key to the deal, and by digging his heels in until the last minute, Ashley was able to drive the price up, with Abramovich effectively financing the deal. If we'd sold Carroll earlier we'd have had a chance to spend some of the money, but we wouldn't have got £35m. Time will tell who has got the best out of the situation. Assuming we stay up and then use the money wisely, it could be us.

Given W.Barton Albert Woodgate Bernard Lee Tiote Dyer Bellamy Shearer Beardsley Struggled to think of a good RB.

They've not been top five all season until four hours ago and they took a comprehensive arse-kicking up here in December from an NUFC with Sol Campbell playing at centre half. They have more quality because they took the bull by the horns in January, used the window sensibly and will now play in Europe next season in all likelihood. From a level playing field, we have collapsed. Perpetuating the idea that "we can't compete" is nauseatingly pathetic. There was no reason that we couldn't do what they have. I didn't say we can't or won't improve from where we are now. In fact, I'm pretty confident that at the end of the next transfer window, we'll have a better side. I think you're looking back at the game in December through rose-tinted glasses. Their morale was low, their manager was under a lot of pressure, and though we won, it wasn't a 'comprehensive arse-kicking'. There are various areas where we can improve, but a glaring and predictable one was the lack of any attacking threat from midfield. Jonas was good going down the wing, but we had nothing down the centre. Nolan has his good qualities, but you really need someone with far more pace and energy in that position.

We looked a bit inhibited for the first 20 minutes, but after that, I didn't think there was much wrong with the effort. They just had a bit more quality. We just have to accept that, at the moment, a lot of the players aren't quite good enough to compete against a top-five side.

Two rank bad decisions by Williamson, but overall they're still a class above us. Their third goal was the sort we couldn't score if we'd played for a week. Suarez made a big difference for them. Very good, inventive player. I'm pleased we kept going and the heads didn't go down. But our limitations were exposed today.

Yeah, he's not getting anywhere near the ball in open play. However, the bloke does have a knack of getting near the ball in the penalty area so I'm sure we'll leave him on.

Well, we're not doing badly considering they've got better players. We've successfully slowed the game down to our pace. Our strikers are still struggling to get on the end of chances, so if we score, it'll be with a slice of luck.

Tmonkey - I wouldn't see passing and shooting as in any way weak areas of Messi's game. In shooting, he may not have Pele and Maradona's raw power but he makes up for that in his accuracy and the range of ways which he uses to get the ball past the keeper. And he can give the ball a fair old wack. Obviously you're right in highlighting his ability to get past opponents, but he also seems able to do that in all sorts of unpromising situations. He's able to employ that skill far more often than you'd expect, and in that respect his size works to his advantage. He somehow wriggles out of situations where even Pele and Maradona might have struggled. On a second point, we'll all remember his second goal last week, but in his first goal he showed a real poacher's instinct in being quicker in thought and action to get to the near post before the opposition and flick the ball in first time. That's where his 100 % concentration and footballing intelligence comes to the fore.

Same, who gives a fuck if he's gone however-many years without a trophy? That's normal in the life of a football club, he should be getting nothing but respect for what he's achieved. I'm not talking about the trophies I'm talking about his recent petulant behaviour, stubborness to change key things and his general Gallic countenance. ah right. His behaviour can be really embarrassing, but if you look at our top three managers - Fergie, Mourinho and Wenger - they all seem to be prone to bouts of madness following a defeat or disappointment. It's like their self-belief and will to win are so strong that they can't accept they've been beaten fairly at times. It's odd to see these intelligent men behave like children who are convinced that they're being picked on, but their determination -which rubs off on their players - leads them down that alley at times. I don't think it's necessary and when they cross a boundary and accuse refs of corruption, they should be punished severely. On the stubborn accusation, it usually relates to his failure to bring new players in, but as I said before, I think the very top players are financially out of Arsenal's reach at the moment. Where I think Wenger has got it right, despite all the criticism, is in two particular areas - a - he won't pick a purely defensive midfield player. It's important for his strategy that every midfield player can pass the ball, and so even a player like Song is actually fairly comfortable in possession. There's no point in winning the ball if you can't then use it. b - He keeps attacking till the final whistle, even when the team are defending a lead. Some say he should shut up shop, but how many times do you see a team surrender all the initiative in that sitaution and end up pinned back in defence for the last 10 minutes, and concede as a result. For him, the correct percentage decision is to keep attacking, and I suspect he's right, providing his players can buy into it and keep their nerve.

Familiar story. Chelsea over-powering the opposition in the later stages of a game. I hate to admit it, but games involving Spurs are nearly always a good watch.

1981-ish. Cup Replay, Exeter 4, Newcastle 0 Freezing cold night, long journey, terrible result, terrible performance, and I had a cold.

Jonas has made a great contribution, but if we're looking at moving to a 4-3-3 - and I suspect with Ben Arfa that we might be - then I don't know where Jonas would fit in. Whatever, I'm sure Pardew would like to retain 4-4-2 as an option, but Jonas as the specialist winger may find his opportunities more limited.

Maradona and Messi have in common this exceptional change of pace and change of direction that allows them to go past opponents - and stay past them - in situations which would defeat all other players. Messi in particular seems to be able to get through the tiniest of gaps in a defence. Wenger has pointed out that what marks Messi out even more is his temperament. He always seems to be 100% focused on the game and his contribution to the team. He never seems to lose his temper, get discouraged, show off, criticise his team mates etc - all the possible pitfalls for the star player.

I'm still nurturing the hope that he could end up here. There's a meeting of mutual needs. He'd get regular football at a good level and then be able to move on to one of the uber clubs after 4 years or so when he'd still be only 22. Mike would get his money back on the deal, and more. I suppose there's the money angle, but otherwise I can't see the point of a young player joining Chelsea. They're not prepared to give developing players the necessary first team experience.

In the lead up to the game, Mourinho was doing his best to put pressure on the ref by pointing out the previous occasions where he'd had a man sent off. Perhaps he needs to consider whether that's wise. It must be very difficult for refs in that situation because if they do issue a red they know they'll get accused of being part of the corrupt conspiracy, and if they don't they'll get accused of succumbing to Mourinho's pressure. So how they keep their judgement relaxed and objective when they have a 50-50 decision, I don't know. For what it's worth, I didn't think it was a red, but if Mourinho tries to mess with the ref's mind before the game, perhaps he can't complain about poor decisions.

It was a pretty horrible game, especially considering all the talent that was on view. The build-up didn't help, of course. Last week, I saw Arsenal and Spurs tearing into one another in a real feast of attacking football. Neither club made the Champions League semi-finals but give me a game like that every time.

They are a team who are setting new standards in how the game can be played. The only other team in my lifetime who I would say that about are the AC Milan side of the early 90's.

Bit of a stalemate. Barca are unwilling to push too many players forward, for fear of the sucker punch. It's not their natural game, but I suppose you can't blame them.

This may actually be to our advantage. If he'd stayed fit, we'd have had a tricky decision about whether to sign him or not. It's now easier to justify another long loan, where we can see a bit more of him, risk free. In fact, it's almost too convenient.....

It is actually a really poor attitude. Deep down, players should have a love of the game and being a bit-part player should hurt them.

I'm hopeful, but not completely confident. There are bound to be grey areas and room for interpretation, and the test will come if and when a club threatens to challenge a decision in the courts. Institutions such as UEFA don't usually have as much stomach for the fight as an entrepreneur like Abramovich. An example I can think of is when West Ham were caught out in breach of the rules over the Tevez transfer, but got a large fine rather than relegation, which would be the usual punishment. I think the FA didn't fancy getting embroiled in the courts and chose the punishment that West Ham would find acceptable.

Schalke played with no aggression at all. If it was boxing match, their purse would have been withheld pending an enquiry. Crawley Town put up more of a show.

Agreed, they are nothing alike. If Owen had suffered the same problems as Shola over the years we would literally have never seen the gutless wanker. Another difference is that when Owen played badly, loads of people blamed it on 'the service'. Shola is expected to be self-sufficient.

Shooting to the Leazes and last week against Manchester United - a ball is dropping to the back post for Williamson with no opposition player near him - great chance to get a header on goal or head back across the face. As he's about to meet the ball Shola comes flying through the air and clatters into the back of him - ball goes out for a bye kick - Williamson is flattened and Shola is lying on top of him. Everyone around me asks what is Shola doing? Commitment some might say, others another example of how useless and brainless he can be. I remember the incident. Shola was moving forward to the ball and Williamson was moving backward - Shola was definitely in the better position to head it. Shola shouted for it so loud that you could hear it on camera, but Williamson either ignored him or was too committed to adjust. The two of them had a bit of an argument afterwards. Whoever's fault it was, it wasn't clear cut.

That's a very zonal-marking-esque analysis, in the sense of using more complicated language than is needed. Arsenal have always placed an emphasis on playing through a defence, rather than around it. They don't seek many goals from crosses from wide positions, so if there's a sense that the full backs don't contribute as much as they should going forward, it comes from there. I actually don't think there's much wrong with their midfield, or their full backs. What they lack, compared to their better days, is a really tricky striker like Henry or Bergkamp, who can add that bit extra and make their system productive. The very top strikers are now at other, richer clubs. They could also do with a really dominant centre back, like Campbell or Adams, but again I think they're now losing out to wealthier clubs. It would have helped if they could have kept Toure.