Epic Swindle

I think J Cole is close to full fitness now. Lennon is the one who could miss out.

Now that the Beckham circus is thankfully over who would be your 23? I think there's a few versatile players who could cover a number of positions, maybe Milner as cover for both RM and RB and Lescott as cover for both CB and LB, allowing us to overload the midfield and forward positions. Keepers: Green, James, Hart. Defenders: Johnson, Terry, Ferdinand, Cole, Lescott, Brown, Upson. Midfield: Carrick, Gerrard, Barry, Lampard, Walcott, Cole, Young, Milner, Lennon (if fit). Forwards: Rooney, Crouch, Defoe, Cole.

Jamie does suffer from hoofitis but he also suffers from not having anyone in midfield making space and demanding the ball. It's a problem for all our defenders, who are often looking at a static team and no options.

I have no concerns about him playing against the mancs. It's important that we have a player in midfield who can keep the ball instead of us just aimlessly batting it away and inviting pressure. He also works his socks off and covers a lot of ground. Lucas is nailed on to start though as Rafa will want to deny them space.

Can't say I noticed. He looked well up for it tonight.

Gerrard, corners aside, was excellent tonight and set the tone from the off.

Nope. He, along with Aqualini, set the tone tonight and his movement and link up play was excellent.

Julian Dicks. Inusa is nothing special but he's still only young and we should stick with him, at least as cover.

Aqualini Maxi Gerrard

What's laughable is Brown being made out to be some innocent victim. He's a horrible dirty player who has got away with all sorts.

Sloppy defending. Kelly has got to be on his toes there.

I'm watching it with the 5 live commentary. Far better for your health.

Aqualini has been impressive, on and off the ball. We're so much better when we encourage our technical players to pass and move.

Well in Stevie.

Great goal, Johnson has been really impressive.

t***.

Sunderland will do well to get a draw here, they're abysmal. I think it'll go to the wire but City should get 4th. They just have that extra bit of quality in attack.

The problem is there's not enough multi billionaires around willing to spend vast amounts for nothing in return, so whoever owns us post Americans will use a similar business plan. The current model with lowish debt and a new stadium is about the best we can hope for. Though whether that extra profit goes back into the club and team remains to be seen. Or we can collapse completely and end up back in the hands of people who love the club but don't have the finances to take us back to the top.

I think Jamie is finished at this level, at least as first choice, but your point about Rafa not being strong enough should also apply to certain individuals who seem to play every minute of every game regardless of standards or place of birth.

Does that dilute the American's partnership and give this group a controlling stake? They're not football people regardless, although as long as they back the manager and don't intefere with that side of things it shouldn't be a problem. At the end of the day it all comes down to who is willing to spend money.

I agree about the Champions League but only because it makes it easier for them to pay off the loans, which the whole club is geared to these days. I'm still not sure it would be a disaster for them if we did slide further behind as they lose nothing if it goes t*** up. They own one of the biggest and most profitable footballs clubs in the world, even without winning a domestic title in 20 years. I don't think success is high on their agenda.

Wigan back to mediocrity, typical. Ferguson's little puppet, Dave Whelan, was patronising us after Monday night about a lack of heart. He never misses a chance to get on his soapbox, despite it being their 1st win since November and getting crowds that wouldn't look out of place in the conference. Maybe he should look closer to home.

Have to disagree there. I'm not sure success on the pitch is that important to them, it's all about squeezing an established brand. If it all collapses they'll just move on to the next vanity project without spending a bean. Maybe then we'll get our club back.

Great point that. I think partly because of Rafa's tactical demands, and partly out of desperation, we have become dependant on a high turnover of players every summer to give us the belief.

Man Utd lost the best player in the world, replaced him with Antonio Valencia and are now on course for another league title and the later stages of the Champions League. They're all proven, experienced, international players and should be able to keep up a consistent standard of performance. What we're seeing currently is not down to a lack of investment in the summer, it's just poor basic football and overly defensive tactics. As people keep saying, until we adopt a more aggressive approach all the money in the world won't have an effect. Even last season's finish masked a lot of the same issues that saw us slip away from top spot post xmas. Injuries have certainly hampered us again, but that's part and parcel of football and no excuse for implosion.