15th Fixture: December 12, 2011 - Chelsea FC v. Manchester City FC [R]

woot woot can't wait!

 

Yeah I will be watching this match in the Streets of London...Ok, it's a pub here in Sac-town The biggest question is if Paulo Ferreira will start this match or not. Side Show Bob is suspended & Bos is injured. BTW, Billy Clifford got a knock in the last reserve team match, so does this mean Hutch (that's right Hutch the player that retired last season) will be on the bench for cover??? I am more worried about the defense, than the attack. Can we possibly talk to Alex to play for another month??? I mean he is still under contract right??? Like the good words of Rodney King, "can't we all just get along???"

 

I wouldn't mind seeing Paulo at RB for this. In fact I've been thinking a fair amount this season about how with Bosingwa's struggles and Luiz's unpredictability, we may have been well served to play Paulo on the right and Ivan in the middle with JT.

Paulo's quality and I'm totally comfortable with him in the side, especially at RB.

 

Can Drogba be fit and hungry enough for 2 games in a row? If he is, we will take this. We revert to the high line, we are dead. Aguero and Silva will run circles around JT and Ivan. I like Paulo at RB. He is pretty solid defensively.

 

Huge game for us . Im already having nightmares about Aguero/Silva/Nasri combinations.

 

Come on you blues

 

Relax mate. They are good players - very good players - but we have some pretty freaking great players as well. I do not see them overwhelming us. I see Luiz at CB having a great time - he won't have the time to get bored and make stupid mistakes, he'll have work to do and he'll thrive in that situation. He is a better player than Aguero

At the back I feel Citeh have some weaknesses - Kompany. Kompany is a great defender however - I have been watching him all season and to be honest he gets away with murder a lot of the time. He does these NBA style blocks that are technically fouls - they are fouls - and so far he has been getting away with it. A smart intelligent forward could really exploit that and could make Kompany very uncomfortable. Part of the reason I'd like to see Torres play to be honest.

Man Shitty? Champions League? Are you having a laugh? This Citeh team is very beatable - time to show them that they are not going to get everything their own way

 

'Didn't know Luiz was suspended. Damn. No defensive options. Then its got to be PF at RB, JT and Ivan in CD and Ash on the left.

IMO midfield will be key; if we let Silva and Nasri have their way we could be badly punished. If we can control the centre and break up their plays then we pose them lots of problems. A high line would be suicide.

Should we go with two holding MF for this one ?

 

Sorry Side Show Bob is suspended & can't play. Probably Paulo will be holding the fort there, unless AVB kisses & makes up w/ Alex

Personally I worry about De Jong impelling one of our players w/ his cleats. Dude is a straight hack & this will be a perfect match for him as we create quick counters against man citeh.

 

Boswinga is fit and passed to play per AVB

 

But Bos is gangsta

 

I can't believe the amount of hate Bos gets on these forums. You would think he has been abysmal in all the games. Anyways if Sturridge tracks back to help Bos, I am sure they can contain their wingers.

 

And you would be correct about that.

 

Guess I see some of the positives. Also the way he has been hung out to dry in some matches.

 

I liked Bosingwa his first season here, but since then I just don't see much in his play to make him preferred to PF. His main trick is to run really fast to the corner and either lose the ball or play in a bad cross. That's not how a fullback should play. I could live with that if he were a decent defender, but he's not that either. He loses his man frequently, is caught out of position a lot, and the worst part, he doesn't seem to realize when he needs to come inside to help support his CB. He's also very poor in the air and doesn't provide much of an outlet for the DM to play to. What exactly does he offer these days? I don't see much.

 

think it is a case of him hanging himself and his teammates out to dry more than anything else tbh

while he does offer some positive, imo his negatives far outweigh what Ivan can offer

edit- see maturin's post- very good one imo

 

Wrath, I hate to be the bearer of bad news to you, but if you go around the Roman Empire (CFC fans World-Wide) everyone is painting this image of Bos. Don't get me wrong, I love Bos when play teams that park the bus in front of the Chelsea attack. However, Bos does have some defensive issues. I believe if you checkout that CL match last season vs manure, Giggs exposed Bos. I love Bos, but he lost a step after his last knee injury. He hasn't been the same. Also, there are times where he seems to be more concerned in the attack than in the defense, where his position is. I agree w/ you about this unwarranted prosecution, but fans are going to be fans & you know the saying about opinions....They all stink.

 

so pointing out the obvious flaws in a player is now unwarranted prosecution



personally I see nothing wrong with having and honest and frank discussion about the abilities, or lack thereof, of this team and why there seems to be more give and less take in recent times when it comes to this type of debate is well beyond my understanding

 

Would like to see a Romeu-Ramires-Mikel midfield, Mikel in the lamps roll, he always looks much better and motivated when played further up the field.

Bos' only weakness is focus and concentration, which is a big weakness, especially if you allow him to run wild and play however he wants like AVB has been doing. But when the manager can get Bos to focus up he at his best can look like a right sided ashley cole, remember for example 2009 when he shut down Messi singlehanded.

 

It's true, but remember that in that match, he was playing to the left of Terry, who's perhaps the most positionally sound CB of the last decade. Even when playing RB that season, he usually had Carvalho inside of him, who rarely left any space exposed in the channel. It's a huge difference from playing to the right of Luiz, who's often found further upfield or tucked behind Terry, leaving space that the RB needs to occupy. I don't think Bosingwa can defend well when the CB on his side is as undisciplined as Luiz is, and that's why he's struggled this season.

Assuming Ivanovic plays CB on Monday, things could be better, but if I were the manager, I'd play Ferreira.