Only creating this thread now because I really dont want to talk about our Fiorentina match. Yet again, our mentality has let us down in the 1st half. Reina Johnson - Carra - Agger - Aurelio Masch - Lucas Kuyt - Gerrard - Riera Torres Subs: Cav, Kyrgiakos, Insua, Spearing, Yossi, Babel, Voronin Skrtel doesnt deserve a spot in the squad after his showing vs Fiorentina and Insua didnt look entirely comfortable. Aurelio and Agger in...please! Also...id be almost pressed to say that without Masch, we will not win and we will concede at least one goal. With him, im confident that we can keep a clean sheet and beat them. Chelsea obviously have Cech suspended...which, if he is on his game, would help. However, it has been a regular occurence that the opposition GK has been MOTM or had a big effect on the game. With Chelsea lining up like this... Hilario Bosingwa - Carvalho - Terry - A.Cole Ballack - Essien - Malouda Lampard Anelka - Drogba Which often turns into this throughout the match... Hilario Bosingwa - Carvalho - Terry - A.Cole Ballack - Essien Anelka - Lampard - Malouda Drogba There will, like usual, be a big reliance on Drogba and Lampard. Carra, Agger and Masch (if they all start) will be our most important players. If they all have a good performance, we can almost safely say that we would come away with at least one point. One way that Chelsea can be broken down is to put high pressure on their deep-midfield distributor (either Ballack or Essien). Neither of these players have excelled in this role and Wigan exposed Chelsea even when they had 11 men. If we can force Chelsea's defenders to play more directly to Drogba and force their full-backs to stay deeper to retain possession, we will be on our way to getting a good result. We cant back off Chelsea, like we did vs Tottenham this season and let their central defenders and full-backs have easy possession up to the half way line. The further away from goal that Drogba receives possession, obviously, the better for us. Lets just hope we turn up for this game
Re: Chelsea vs Liverpool - EPL - 4th October [R] In. We were stil in Merseysid in the 1st half while the boys from Firrenze clearly had their eye in from the first minute. All I ask of the players is that they at least turn up.
Re: Chelsea vs Liverpool - EPL - 4th October [R] Time for a decent showing against a quality opponent. We have lost all 3 games against decent teams this year.
Re: Chelsea vs Liverpool - EPL - 4th October [R] What's the word on Ca$hley Cole? He was stretchered off last weekend after being down for quite awhile, right?
Re: Chelsea vs Liverpool - EPL - 4th October [R] Apparently he is fine now , but i suspect Ancelotti to play Zhirkov for 45 and Ash for 45 so hes ready for Liverpool.
In- Big game- as much as I hate to say it- it could be season defining couple of games ahead with the Manures as well.
yeah - we have a tough stretch in october - @ chelski, @ sunderland, Manure, @ fulham. Would love to win this going into the int'l break.
for me Cech hasn't been too great in the past year and a bit, but Hilario is definatley no better. I can see a Gerrard long-range shot being decisive here.
in... sure hope masch can go... glenn will be looking to make a statement, i'm sure... i'm almost to the point of saying we should start the k-man and dagger at CB... could they do any worse?
I agree that Skrtel shouldn't start. After a shocker like he had yesterday, and with the CB pairing having not clicked so far this year, he needs to be sent a message. The problem is that Carra is the vocal leader that organizes the defense and he and Kyrgiakos would be too slow to play together. Agger/Carra could work but Agger's been out of it so long that I would imagine he's pretty rusty. I'm guessing it'll be Carra/Skrtel again this weekend and that again they'll give up a goal that they shouldn't.
Let's see what this team is made of. This is going to be very telling about our season in my opinion.
For some still unaccountable reason, we have always been slow starters. In fact we are awfully slow starters, almost always conceding the first goal. I recall reading somewhere that if matches only lasted 45 minutes, we'd have finished 17th, maybe rev can help with this. I hope having our arse thrashed and handed back to us in Florence will gee up some whose performances have been lethargic at best. It will also remind the manager that players are different and asking A simply to slot in and perform as well as B in a certain [key] position has resulted in us scrambling in more matches than is comfortable inn past and will continue to in the future.
I'm hoping it lights a fire under them as well. We have to get rolling because these thrashings of small teams followed by losses against bigger teams is very troubling and doesn't exactly pain and encouraging picture. I have confidence we can get a result at Stanford Bridge, the ability is there. I'm just wondering if the mentality is as well because its been missing so far this season.
hindsight of course - but I wonder if Rafa made a tactical mistake in slotting in Aurelio next to Lucas instead of Gerrard, and having Yossi, Babel, Kuyt or Riera in the 3 behind torres. As was evident - Fiorentina overran our midfield - had acres and acres of space. EDIT - I think we need to roll the dice and get Agger into this game.
You and me both, although I think hindsight has little to with it. If one was really observant against Leeds, it was palpably clear Aureio does not simply press and harry the man on the ball as required of a central midfielder. Against a ball-playing team, suach as Fiorentina, it's the kiss of death. And, of course, as bad is/was the inability of teh centre-halves to bring the ball out of defence and find a team-mate with it. One of Benitez's weaknesses, unfortunately, seems to be his expectation that players scan simply slot into certain positions without the team being serioualy weakened in some way. It was a tactical faux pas . In a way, the hinding we got is exactly the wake-up call that we needed. I expect a massive reaction on Sunday.
Agreed. Aurelio slottled in the midfield was a huge mistake IMHO. Riera should've gotten the start. It was no secret that 'tina clogged the middle, and we needed a strong wing presence that never materialized. That said, I think Rafa will learn from his mistake, and we'll see Riera back in the starting lineup with Yossi. Can't see Masch starting unless Rafa is not confident that Carr/Skrt can handle Dogba(sic) & Co. The 10amCST start agrees with my Sat night (and Sun) sleeping/drinking schedule!!!
Masch will 100% start if he is fit. I think this is the lineup (save for that I think Skrt will start though I don't want him to for this game so he can clear his head): -----------Reina------------ Johnson--Carra-Agger--Aurelio -----Lucas----Masch-------- Kuyt----Gerrard-------Riera/Benny ------Torres--------- Bench: Cav, Agger/skrt, Riera/Benny, Voronin, Babel, Kyriagkos, NGog.
Drop lucas for masch, put Gerrard in CM, with Kuyt in the hole, Benny on the right, and Riera on the left.
Doubtful. Lucas has performed very well this year and played admirably in big games last year. I think Rafa would rather sacrifice either Yossi/Riera on the right in order to move Gerrard up to the #10 spot that he's been playing. I'm guessing it's Riera who sits and then comes off the bench when Yossi runs himself ragged. I'd have no problem with that.