Cronky

I'd say we need to stop protesting.

The first goal was going to be crucial, and our back four always looked a bit dodgy. It was a silly challenge by Edgar for the penalty. He got the wrong side of the player and then panicked. We still aren't great at keeping the ball. The minute we're put under pressure, we either hoof it long or give it away. Still, at least Butt won't be playing next match.

I'd bring on Lua Lua. We're not creating anything at the moment.

Got to make the change now. We look well beaten at the moment.

Bassong at fault there, missing his header completely.

Very naive challenge by Edgar, I'm afraid.

I don't know every forum, but personally I've found this one better than the other ones I've tried, from the point of view of people behaving themselves. I tend to accept a certain amount of abuse and winding-up as being an occupational hazard of posting on a football forum. I don't like it, but it's the price of free speech. And you don't have to react, of course.

It's a silly price for the player, and AC Milan would be silly to turn it down. I don't think it's the right move at the right time for Man City though. They're trying to run before they can walk.

I thought Shane Ferguson looked promising. He didn't always get his crosses in at the right time, but he did show a lot of skill. Possibly too puny to make the top level, but you never know. Tavernier didn't look like a defender, but looked very comfortable in possession. He could make the grade. And last but not least, the beast. Ranger really is a very good athlete. He can move from a jog to top speed very quickly, and top speed is very fast. Best player on the pitch though was their number 9, German. He caused us problems every time he had the ball.

I only saw the highlights on ITV, but I did notice right at the start, an incident where Xisco headed the ball down to him and Owen pulled out of a 50-50 challenge with the defender who came across. So it wouldn't surprise me if that wasn't the only incident.

I remember watching an interview where mourinho was really bigging up Bale. I know he rates him as a player plus Quaresma hasn't really set the world alight and mancini is better on the right side (at least he was for roma). Bale has the potential to be a really great player. Mourinho's not daft.

Arsenal Youth 3, Wigan Athletic First XI 0. I've never seen a side that young play so well.

He deserves the award for all those goals he scored last season. That was quite an achievement. Not the best player in the world though. No way.

I'd say that N'Zogbia's not a bad tackler and is more powerful than he seems, but his positioning and general defensive awareness are awful, so I don't think he'll ever become even a mediocre left back I'm talking about him as a winger. Does he help the full back during the game (ie do his fair share defensively, cover the full back when out of position ect..). He's not one of those wingers that just stand around and look lazy when they've lost the ball? Does he go in for tackles?. The last thing we need is another pussy tbh. Depends what mood he's in tbh. I'd say he was more of a headless chicken covering ground than someone who wouldn't track back, generally covers a lot of the pitch I reckon. Yeah it's hard to fault his workrate when he fancies it. If he has a fault it's that he'll get back, but he just defends space and very often wont pick up a runner until it's too late. I'd agree with that. It's like he thinks that just getting back is enough. He doesn't show enough initiative and ends up reacting to situations rather than controlling them.

Signing Berbatov was the last piece in Man U's jigsaw. Now that he's bedded in, they'll keep on improving and should win the league quite comfortably. Rooney now has a licence to roam, and is looking the complete player. When I saw the teams on Sunday, I thought Chelsea had a more than decent chance, but Drogba is now playing like he'd rather be somewhere else, and as others have said, the midfield lacks balance.

From the Times - Olivier Dacourt will be released by Inter Milan and has been offered to NUFC. I didn't think he was still alive.

Yet again, I thought Rooney was awesome. It would be interesting to know how many times he touched the ball, because he was all over the pitch. Re that corner that they took just before the first goal, where they fooled Chelsea into thinking that the kick hadn't been taken yet, the commentators were describing it as an old trick. I've been watching football for 40 years plus, and I've never seen or heard of it before. Can anyone remember any previous examples?

I wouldn't agree about no end product with Jonas. He does win a few free kicks and gets in a few crosses. A difficulty is that we're completely reliant on the strikers to get on the end of the crosses. None of our midfielders - apart from Butt occasionally - get on the end of those sorts of chances. That would help a lot.

He relies heavily on his timing and his reading of the game, because he's not very strong or quick. Most of the time he gets it right, but if he gets it wrong, there's no way back. His defending from set pieces is also pretty poor. I don't think it's too early to judge now. He does a decent job and we've no-one better, but I'd like to see us get a new CB and try Colo in the DM position.

I totally agree with that. Colo looks a bit slow and not that strong, so if he gets caught in the wrong position, he can't recover in the way that Bassong does. His passing and his reading of the game though is excellent, so let's push him forward.

Full backs with midfielders making themselves available to pass to don't usually make that mistake. What guarantee is there that Enrique would find that available man? He only seems to have one pass which is a swing of his left foot which curls the ball inside. Half the time it finds a black and white shirt, half the time it doesn't. It wouldn't be so bad if he was solid defensively, but he often seems to get caught in the wrong position. I like his positive attitude (ie if he fucks up, he still makes himself available for the next ball), but if we're going to progress from our current position, we've got to look for someone better.

You can't have a full back who regularly gives the ball away to the opposition near the half way line with most of the team upfield. Total liability. If you're going to hack it forward, at least clear the first man, but he doesn't always manage to do that.

Swap deal for Palacios, yes please. Won't happen.

Two thoughts after the game - Long term, I don't think Coloccini is the answer to our problems at centre back. He's not quick or strong enough for the top level of the Premiership, and once he's beaten, he stays beaten. We don't have a better option at the moment, but I'd like to see us find another Bassong and shift Colo into the DM position. For once, Zoggy showed the sort of attitude that you want from a top professional. He really imposed himself - not just on the opposition but on his team-mates - and looked eager to take responsibility. I hope he wasn't just trying to catch the eye of other clubs, but if he keeps showing that kind of initiative, he'd get more games.

We have to be realistic in that the likes of Riise are the best signings that we can expect to make. As usual in the January transfer window, the prices for the players on the next level are just stupid. I mean - £15 million for Defoe? £18 million (allegedly) for Santa Cruz?