Closed Chelsea 2-3 Man City

[nyikolajevics 2,420]

This will come as a big surprise for a lot of people here, but I'm pretty confident we'll win by a 2 goal margin.

It would be not as surprising as a Malouda hat-trick.

[Pizy 17,860]

How awesome would it be for Hazard to have his best performance yet against City and win his first trophy with us this quick?

I'm pretty confident that our offense will be fine, it's the defense I'm worried about. Wouldn't start Luiz in this one.

[xPetrCechx 13,546]

Last season we Parked the bus because we didn't have the quality players to play an open game.

This transfer window we must to sign players in the highest level because we can't park the bus all the season again.

[AndersonBLUE 819]

No-one usually bothers keeping up with pre-season, so this is the first game where alot of football fans will be watching. I just hope we give a good game so we don't look like a laughing stock as european champions.

[Heisenberg 1,824]

We parked the bus under Di Matteo , i think we'll do the same against City , see us win 3-1 , optimistic supporter.

[chealsist 23]

Well, I'm expecting big changes after Brighton match. I saw many comments about bus parking we can not play like against barcelona and bayern we need to change our system because we have new player and new quality so we can win this game and would be very good motivation for league.

Cech,Cole,Terry,Luiz,Iva.Essien,Lampard,Ramires,Marin,Hazard,Torres.

[capriccioso 2,545]

Bus it or lose it.

As I've said many times, none of our attacking players are in the prime of their careers. We can't rely on them to consistently win us games.

[chealsist 23]

Bus it or lose it.

As I've said many times, none of our attacking players are in the prime of their careers. We can't rely on them to consistently win us games.

Yeah but how many game we can play with parking bus

[capriccioso 2,545]

Yeah but how many game we can play with parking bus

Every single one where the opponent is too good for us to attack them.

I make that out to be:

Man City

Man United

Arsenal

Spurs

Newcastle

Barcelona

Real Madrid

Valencia

Borussia Dortmund

Bayern Munich

Juventus

AC Milan

PSG

Porto

Benfica

We can play our game against everybody else, but for the time being we're still far too shit to try taking on the above teams with an attacking approach. At the best, we will have to counter attack against those teams, at the worst, we'll have to bus.

[capriccioso 2,545]

What I really hope is that we don't go down the route Liverpool took after Istanbul and get complacent. That squad, like our current one/the squad that won it last season, was nowhere near good enough to win something like that again, finals in 2007 or not.

We absolutely have to keep investing in the team for the next 5 seasons or so. Those two trophies we won were a nice taste of caviar, but we're still in the gutter, compared to where we were in the early years of Roman's era; and we have to remember that we still have a long, hard, road to go back to the top.

[Heisenberg 1,824]

Absolutely , we are not that good Chelsea , and with Drogba gone , we dont have the hero that saves us , we need to re-built again , and we still lack of creativity.

[Django 83]

The pessimism is unbelievable, you'd think we defended for our lives in every game last season. Hoping to see the lads give it a good go and get in City's faces, give them a real challenge, take them on properly and with pride. Keep The Blue Flag Flying High.

[Heisenberg 1,824]

The pessimism is unbelievable, you'd think we defended for our lives in every game last season. Hoping to see the lads give it a good go and get in City's faces, give them a real challenge, take them on properly and with pride. Keep The Blue Flag Flying High.

Not Pessimism , realisme.

[DDA 9,570]

I'm beyond pissed off that I have to drive all the way to Birmingham from Kent to watch this game but having said that I am busting a gut to see our new boys in the flesh.. ...

The only thing about losing away is the drive, coach or train journey home.. I HATE that ride home so we best bloody win lol!

[manpe 10,855]

If it's true that Silva and Balotelli won't play, then this makes things a lot easier for us. Of course the loss of Balotelli is no biggy, they can still slot in Agüero or Džeko But Silva is very important for them, we can take advantage of his absence. Whoever plays in central attacking midfield, will be in for a treat against De Jong and Toure. I think Hazard will be the best option there, because he can keep the ball well, as well he can draw fouls and he's bound to get quite a few.

I wouldn't also mind a Mikel-Ramires pivot, because Mikel-Lampard is too slow and static against the likes of City. Ramires can be the ball winning midfielder and hassler, while Mikel is the defensive shield and provides cover. Lampard is good at distributing the ball and being the extra body in front of the box, but in defence he falls short to Rambo. If it does not work out, Robbie can always sub him or move him to the wing and sub someone from there. But I am pretty sure it will be a 4-2-3-1 with Mikel and Lampard.

[Jase 43,479]

After the pre-season that we had, just hoping for the best. Would definitely like to see us win but not having too much hope here.

[mtowle182 79]

Very excited for this game. Expecting a great performance from the lads.

[The Rising Sun 696]

i am expecting a 3-1 loss here.

We simply havent shown enough this pre season to suggest we will do anything other than lose.

We really need mata and Oscar back fast and need to get a Pacy RW.

While Mata will probably get some game time , he will not have an understanding with Marin and Hazard, so he wont be as effective.

While Parking the Bus is Embarrasing, i agree with some others here that even if we wont intend to do that in this game, City will be so strong that we will be forced to do a lot of defending and then the odd counter attack.

Whether its the double pivot, lack of speed on wings, style of play, or whatever else..... Something is wrong i feel, as we have played pretty shit football over pre season, not really improving game on game.

All we can do is hope that Mata and Oscar are the solution.