Village Idiot

Dos Santos in for Cesc... That's quite the non-impact sub

That a Catalan saying?

I was more complaining about the "we don't have a striker, let's stick Cesc there" mentality, rather than Cesc being played a lot in that position in absolute numbers.

Oh, FFS. What a shambles if we end up dropping points here.

He's still able to produce a masterclass (see Milan at home last year), but he needs to be rested more. He no longer has the fitness to cover so much of the pitch as he used to (he's always been the player with more distance covered in every game).

The whole "Cesc as #9" thing is a complete mystery to me. I have never seen a single game for club or country where he's excelled in this role, yet he keeps getting played there.

Liking the look of us a lot today. And yes, Cesc has been excellent in the Xavi role, so much more vertical.

Mental if RM really want to get rid. I understand that Isco has hit the ground running, but still... Selling Özil in order to buy Bale is nee improvement in my book.

Chelsea are crying out for an attacking midfielder, maybe its them. I'm going to dream and giggle while I picture him being part of the Bale deal.

Rumours pointing to an Özil sale are spreading. Just saw Juan Carlos Rivero (who I have as a non-wum pundit) tweeting he could be "London bound".

54 before Captain Sturridge's boni. 3 weeks over 50 points, not bad at all. Will check my Spanish team later, I'll probably shed a tear

I'm always torn when I see Villa score for Atlético. For one, I love him to bits and I'm happy to see him getting his career back on track, for the other, it shows us up as the mugs we are.

Despite Giroud's class goal, this game's been a bit shit. Spurs definitely looking less than the sum of its parts.

Based on what? After he came back from Bolton, he spent another season and a half as a bit part player at Chelsea. We should have laid down £15-20m that summer and got him. Sturridge was on obscene wages at Chelsea though. Absolutely no chance we'd pay close to what he's now on at Liverpool. I agree but that's because we're run by a detestable penny pinching c***. In this case wages are a relatively valid concern though; if you give a 22 year old with half a decent season in the PL the highest wages in the squad, that's going to upset the entire apple cart.

Was benched today and there's been rumours around him for a few weeks. I doubt the figure but the link isn't crazy talk.

Spanish Cadena COPE claiming that ManU have bid €55m for Özil.

Mourinho certainly wasn't the answer imho, too short-termist. Still the squad certainly isn't up to it, and that's partly SAF's fault too.

Don't fuck off Oakie.

Every time I see Mertesacker I'm reminded of that youtube song and I just can't stop laughing. "He's 6,5 - 6,6 he makes people look like dicks!"

I'd bin Henderson and move Aspas out right. This is without knowing how good Aspas is and if he can play there or not I've seen him play on the left, upfront or off another striker... dunno about the right. Aspas is a very decent player with a good mix of ability and mobility, but I really don't think he's top 4 material by a long shot. Good player to have in a squad though. Regarding his punchability, he's the charva version of John Hannah.

Wenger in full cunt mode

Wonder what will happen when Suárez is no longer banned, there's just no reason to displace Sturridge from the CF position at the moment.

Need to compete for that Asian market... The Friday/Monday games are much worse, imho. The odd noon start isn't too terrible if it doesn't become the norm (no way I'm getting up early for football on a Sunday )

If it makes you feel better, Herrera has been benched against Real Madrid after ManU bid for him.

Yeah, I've been using FISO, just checked their log and a few players changed price this morning. So that's my question asnwered. Definitely grabbing Redmond, seems he has enough to perform at this level and will free up quite a bit of cash.