MFletcher

We've got Finnan and Agger Alvaro and Carra And Pepe Reina in goal go-oooo-oooooo-ooooooo-al We'll have to see who nails down the left back spot this season before the song can be adjusted accordingly.

I think Riise is a limited player who - mostly - disguises his limitations with his pace, power and stamina. He isn't a good enough defender to be our first choice left back and he isn't skilful enough to be our first choice left winger. He can't cross a good ball consistenly, he always seems to shoot from distance and waste good attacking positions, he only has one move to try and beat the full back, etc. I could go on, but I'd like to see Riise's involvement in the first XI decrease as the season goes on - whether the LB slot goes to Arbeloa or Aurelio (or Heinze) or LM goes to Kewell or Babel - I feel they all offer more than him in their respective positions.

Charlie Nicholas is absolutely clueless. Absolutely clueless. He makes Kaizer look informed.

No offence mate, but you really do talk s***e sometimes. This Kuyt/Pennant bashing is ridiculous - especially when you continue to support the idea that Riise is not a one footed, one trick over-rated footballer. And your love affair with Quaresma is based on him getting 17 assists in the Portugese league, but how many of them wouldn't meet your exacting standards? You crossed off half of Crouch's assists last season because you didn't think they constituted real assists. How many did Quaresma dive for (penalties) etc.? You don't know and yet you constantly quote them as evidence of his abilities.

Too true mate. It makes him look childish.

I think he's a decent player, but not someone who is good enough for the long term. His crossing is too inconsistent and he provides no goal-scoring threat whatsoever. Clearly a second choice player who fitted the price bracket we were shopping in. Just to stress, I think he's a decent player. I don't think he's rubbish. I simply think we can do better and should be looking to improve our options in that position. I really don't think Pennant is the long-term solution.

Arbeloa Gerrard Torres

Kuyt was booked for three "fouls" - two of which weren't "fouls" to begin with. The "foul" that prompted the booking was scandalous as well. On two of our free kicks, they were nowhere near 10 yards and started to run as soon as they heard the whistle. He wasn't looking and simply shrugged his shoulders when told. He allowed the Chelsea players to crowd him and did nothing about it. Mikel had a kick at Gerrard and got nothing. Essien received two yellow cards but the referee lied. Their penalty... Well, what can you say really? No corner from Cech's save from Kuyt's header. I could go on, but that is only some of the things I can remember off the top of my head.

That was one of the worst penalty decisions I think I have ever seen. I'm convinced he showed the card to Essien as well, but realised as soon as he walked away that it should've been a red and decided to lie. A completely inept refereeing performance overshadowing a fairly solid display from ourselves. Torres' goal was excellent and I thought we had them under complete control. Pepe didn't have to make a save and their only shot on target was the penalty. I wish Riise would stop shooting from distance as well... On a more positive note, I got my Fantasy Rafa team selection right.

Tim Vickery claims the kid is a genius. £11M is a hell of a lot of money for a 17 year old who could find himself struggling to adapt to his surroundings. I reckon that's one of the reasons he chose Milan - a solid Brazilian contingent and some modern Brazilian greats already there (Ronaldo, Cafu, Kaka etc.).

I was the goalkeeper for my primary school team. I was pretty solid actually - I used to make the right decisions regarding when to come forward, when to stay on my line etc. and my reflexes were good. But there was absolutely no coaching whatsoever. Football "training" consisted of matches where people picked teams and the outfield players chased the ball the entire time. Before matches, I was told not to let any goals in and even if there was a puddle on the goal line, it was better that I got soaked than the team conceding. I reckon most coaches sacrifice "proper training" and simply pick the big kids to massage their egos. "Look, my young team are winning every game. I should do this professionally." We had some solid players as well. One of them is at Ipswich now, but our kick off consisted of passing it back to him and letting him thump it straight into their box. No concept of ball retention, passing etc.

This is true. It was on the main BBC News though, so I'd like to think they'd be pretty sure before screening the segment. If it was in some rag of a newspaper, I'd question it's authenticity a little bit more.

Bellamy just can't help himself. We heard nothing about him for months here, he seemed to have put his head down and decided to concentrate on his football. Then it was alleged that he threatened Riise with a golf club... He's the sort of person who will drag controversy around with him. I was delighted when we got shot of him. A great player on his day, but he can be a mouthy so-and-so. He certainly wouldn't have dared stand up to Rafa, because he'd have went straight into the reserves and rotted there. Curbishley will probably justify it by saying "I'm glad he has that level of passion - it shows he cares." It'd be much more entertaining if he put him on the transfer list, refused to let him train and refused to sell him to any club outside the Welsh League. At least he scored some important goals for us and we made a profit on him.

According to a lip reader at the time, Materazzi had said "I wish an ugly death upon you and your family." I think Zidane had heard his mother had collapsed and been taken to hospital before the game, so it's understandable that he lost his temper. It's not like he was an angel his entire career, he headbutted some German bloke in the CL when he was at Juve. Still the best player I've ever had the privelige to see play. Most of the best players are controversial anyway - Maradona, Cruyff etc.

He didn't get in the game. The couple of touches he did have were poor though.

When he's played in a full strength team, he's very rarely been caught out. And he's also demonstrated real attacking intent on both sides of the pitch (Arsenal home, Reading away). I thought he'd be another Josemi/Kromkamp when we brought him in, but he looks a real bargain buy. I like his attitude as well.

I agree with that. I thought Momo was excellent in 05-06, but when Masch came in he put his abilities in perspective. Masch can do everything that Momo can - as well as dribble, pass over distance etc. etc. Momo has real potential, but you have to wonder if he'll really be happy with sub appearances. I can't see him getting in ahead of Stevie, Xabi or Masch at present.

He was very, very static yesterday. He just didn't look interested for large chunks of the game. You know, he could quite easily because fourth choice this season if Torres and Kuyt continue Saturday's form and Voronin continues to improve. He's shown real glimpses of quality during pre-season and the past couple of games.

It was a tedious game because it was bitty, chances were at a premium and Dean Saunders was commentating. In no way does that take away from it being a thoroughly professional performance and an excellent result.

Mascherano Hyypia Voronin

I agree that the flick didn't make the goal. I thought he had a shocking game today.

Reina Finnan Carragher Agger Riise Benayoun Mascherano Gerrard Babel Torres Crouch 8/11 I think Sami's inclusion probably threw a lot of people off.

Good result given the conditions. We defended well and Toulouse were never likely to score. Babel gave a couple of glimpses of his talent - the way he took on three defenders and knocked it to Stevie was superb. I was very disappointed with the performances of Crouch and Benayoun though - disappointment turned to dismay when I saw Riise trotting on to replace Benayoun... A pretty tedious game to watch, but we got the right result and it's another away day successfully negotiated. We only drew the equivalent game last season against Haifa. Mascherano was MOTM for me though. A couple of misplaced passes, but he was excellent in defence and the way he ran the ball all the way up the pitch towards the end was world class - really took the pressure off us. (On a side note, Dean Saunders talks the biggest load of cr*p. Not only were some of his facts wrong, but he's not funny and is nothing but an irritation. Useless.)

Alves attacks with a reckless abandon that would terrify me if he was our right back. He's usually away up the pitch somewhere whilst the other team are attacking. He'd be great on the right wing, but that's not where Chelsea are going to use him. If Mourinho restricts him like he has with Ashley Cole, he'll limit his game and left wingers will be able to get at him. He's defensively suspect, although he's a great player to have in the latter stages of games because his stamina is incredible. To pay £25M for him is laughable though. There's no way he's worth anywhere near that.