vs. ___________________________________________________________ Venue: Stamford BridgeDate: Monday April 1, 2013Kick-off: 7:30AM EST; 12:30 BSTCoverage: FSC HD; ITV1 HDDiema, Nexmedia; streams/P2P ___________________________________________________________
---------------Cheech Giggs--------Rooney--------Nani -------Cleverley----Carrick Evra-----Evans---Rio------Jones --------------De Gea Do it.
Yes. Good line-up, provided we instruct the players to play fast paced and to eschew possession at times in order to break quickly.
In certain situations, and for limited times, Giggs is still one of the best left wingers in this country, let alone the club.
When he is on, he is dynamite. But still, we should have at least one other winger on par with Nani who can go on a regular basis.
I know what you're getting at for sure. I just don't look at the situation as sad. More of a feeling about disbelief about Giggs, combined with disappointment that nobody else has stepped up. There really aren't that many left wing options in world football who would instantly be on that level for us. Not available ones.
That is fair, and I didn't mean to disparage Giggs. If we were willing to start him on the wing, every other match, he'd probably qualify in the top 5 for wingers in the Prem with ease. When he has his legs he is beastly. He can make many a defender go the other way with ease, but when he also has his legs he has that extra little burst and his passing on the whole isn't so erratic. Would be so much better if we didn't waste his legs in the center of midfield. This is more about annoyance with how Young and Valencia have been over the last year or so, or in general that we play a style which is so dependent on wingers, while we are severely lacking in quality wing play outside of Nani and on occasion Giggs.
Giggs still has some great skill, but Nani is our only winger with talent that could go 45+ games a season. Young and Valencia could play the games but Young was hardly ever MUQ, and Valencia seems to have lost his mojo. Giggs can't put in the sort of minutes to be our "number 2" winger. We need more. We have gotten by so far because of the ability to use Rooney as an LW, Welbeck on either flank, etc. Maybe that's enough. But I don't think so. If we could send Young and Valencia out for 1 player back in that's MUQ I'd be ecstatic. But I still have some hope for Valencia - that maybe he just isn't fully recovered from a core injury that is debilitating him. I have no hope for Young, you can count the number of MUQ matches he's had for us on 1 hand. Surely we deserve better than a body on the bench that may occasionally show skill for 18 mill.
de Gea, Jones, Ferdinand, Smalling, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Cleverley, Nani, Welbeck, Hernandez. SUBS: Lindegaard, Vermijl, Powell, Giggs, Young, Kagawa, van Persie.
So, no Rooney. Okay.... Apparently a hamstring problem. But why is Valencia playing? Very curious about how Danny and Cheech are going to work together.
Rooney out with a Groin Injury apparently. Evans and Rafael out too. Getting worried with that lineup.
And that's a completely different equation. Don't be daft. We will create chances... but we wont hold the ball much. I'm not terribly concerned. Well, that really depends on if side-show-lulz is playing. He fills me with confidence.
Team: Cech, Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, David Luiz, Cole; Mikel, Ramires, Hazard, Mata, Oscar, Ba Subs: Turnbull, Terry, Bertrand, Lampard, Benayoun, Moses, Torres Well they are going full strength. Ivanovic and Luiz give me confidence in their defence though.
Hopefully Hernandez sees blue and scores or maybe it is David Luiz that makes him that motivated against Chelsea. No way Valencia deserved to start after his performance at the weekend