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van Persie wouldn't get a game for us because he can't get his head on those diagonal balls that Sammy is good at launching.

Christ almighty. What has the world of football come to when players like Ben Arfa don't get a game because they don't contribute enough defensively? What in the fuck happened to being adventurous, fun, exciting? What happened to giving it a go? What happened to playing to win? We have an excellent player on our hands who will help the team a lot but we're persisting with shite like Obertan because they run around and do fuck all. If this is really the reason that Ben Arfa isn't getting games then Pardew's an idiot. I'm sorry, but it's true. He's more like Souness than SBR if this is true. We're actually a team which needs to score the first goal. When we do, we look so much more comfortable. When we concede and the other team drops back, we struggle to create chances, which is why players like Ben Arfa need to be played from the start.

Gervinho is an excellent player. He gets into good positions, has a good first touch, can dribble and he'll eventually start scoring more often. It's a timing thing at the moment; something that will take time to fix, but not unfixable. I'd rather have him than players like Ashley Young, Valencia or Milner when he gets settled into the league.

Alex Song is one of the best defensive midfielders in the world right now.

Arsenal look like they have a goal or two in them, but they can't concede first if they want to win.

It worked against Liverpool too. We were down 2-0.

Yup, that's true (to Jon). That's probably because they know more about the players - injuries and other issues - than we do, which is something that needs to be considered when criticizing Pardew. The timing is still the issue, though. There's no logic to waiting until 80 minutes have passed and we look tired before making a change. Let's make a change when the players look like they still have some steam left and the crowd's in the match. After 60-65 minutes, we should have made a couple of changes. Then make the last change at around 75-80 minutes if the score hasn't changed. Making one change - throwing on Shola! - after 70ish minutes then making two more changes at 82 minutes is just far too late. Vukcic had some good touches but he barely had a chance to join the attack. Sammy, as well.

It was a good first eleven, Obertan aside, and the players came out with some fire, which he deserves credit for. We could very easily have been up 2-0 at HT and no one would be talking about Pardew's decisions. The ball just didn't fall for us yesterday. It happens sometimes. His substitutions were very questionable, especially the timing because it was obvious after 60 minutes that we needed a change. It's been the case for many matches this season and it's something that is imo one of Pardew's greatest faults: he takes too long to make a change. Sometimes he gets the change right, sometimes he gets it wrong. Yesterday was wrong and so he deserves criticism, but overall, he's still done a very good job with the squad that he has - and let's be clear that it's a very thin squad with not much quality apart from the first eleven - and we look like a good football team. This wasn't a hopeless 0-0 where we didn't create much and let the opposition dominate the ball. It wasn't reminiscent of anything from the Souness, Roeder and Allardyce era, which is the silver lining. Let's hope he improves his substitutions, especially the timing because ten minutes isn't enough for a player to make an impact. I suspect that his subs will improve when our squad improves. We have a lot of kids on the bench so Pardew may be hesitant to throw them on too early, which is somewhat understandable.

He looks too eager to make the first time pass. When he gets used to the pace of the game then he'll take more touches and be much more effective. I like him a lot and so far he's been one of our best players. He clearly is an excellent passer and his work rate is very underrated. The opposition midfield hardly have any time on the ball when him and Tiote are in the middle, and that's the been the case since the start of the season.

I think about it this way: do Barca win all the titles they're winning without Messi? Not a chance. Everything goes through him. Do they win without Iniesta? It's much tougher, but I think they still win most of the titles that they have won. Do they win without Xavi? More than without Iniesta but obviously less than without Messi. Do France win anything without Zizou? No, and the proof is the 2002 WC, and 2006 WC. And that is if you want to compare them in terms of impact on titles and trophies. If you look at them in terms of their skill, touch etc., I don't think there's too many people who are comparable to Zidane in the history of football.

He's a great player now but he has to do it for much longer. He plays well in the big games, though, and that is something that needs to be mentioned, but Zidane in his prime was something else. In time, people will begin to form a proper perspective on the Barca 3 and Cristiano. We're too caught up in what they're doing now to be able to compare them with players who have retired. In a few years, I'm sure everyone's opinion will be different. If Real win two or three CLs in a row with Cristiano banging 40+ goals in a season, everyone's opinion of him will have to change drastically. It's too early to judge these players and compare them to past greats. For what it's worth, Zidane controlled the game in a way that I don't think Iniesta does. Everything Barca does goes through Messi. Everything Real, Juve and France did went through Zidane. That's the comparison that should be made (even if Messi is superior). I would put Xavi and Zidane on a very similar level, but I don't think it's fair on either player to compare them against each other because they are very different. Someone said on the last page that if you put Zidane on the pitch for Real then he would look anonymous against the Barca today. Sorry, but you obviously missed Zizou's prime.

No chance Iniesta is better than Zizou.

Will be as good as Enrique when he settles in to English football. There's no doubt.

Impossible to play against Barca when they have the lead. That Xavi goal was so important.

He'll probably just direct attention towards the league table. Barca are top if they win.

I wonder what Mourinho's excuse is going to be this time. No controversial decisions, no penalties, no red cards.

Come on, get a fourth.

Ramos is such a cunt.

Order being restored in La Liga.

Fabregas!!!

Ronaldo's just lost the ability to run at defenders.

Mourinho/Real fans are well funny. What?

Ozil has been Madrid's best player tonight. I don't know why he's been subbed.

Valdes, man. What the fuck?

Xavi!!!