CurlyHairLikeLuiz

Or we could do what we did to Kane and stop the supply.

I'd like to see Zouma in front of the defenders and Matic and Cesc just ahead of him. It'll stop us getting muscled out of midfield. If Remy is unavailable then we can put Oscar in midfield and use Cesc how Spain use him as a false 9. Zouma Matic Cesc/Oscar

We can't play how we usually do against QPR. No width, we get muscled out of the game. It's not just us, Barcelona would be severely hard done by to win. Plus we have such a shit record at LR. We last won there in '96 with Hoddle...and that was "lucky" too. It's like Tottenham when they come to SB. I just can't see how you can be so bitterly disappointed, especially with such a hostile atmosphere. Just last week against Stoke (STOKE) we played lovely football. Just be patient. Let's not forget too, these days our team is closer to Arsenal to old style Chels, and they scraped a 1-0 win vs Burnley away in the same fashion. You don't see the Gooners moaning about it.

Maybe he wanted to keep him fresh for said UYL final. With 10 mins to go, there was no point in putting him on. IMO I think he was misunderstood, Zouma as a striker as in shutting up shop and hold out for 5 more minutes, which is a legit tactic when you know their players can outmuscle yours.

Incredibly pleased for the lad, had a great game yesterday. He's earned his place back.

might play if Remy stays out. Tbh at this point in Drog's career, Solanke and Brown might be better options anyway.

It didn't go well for City, now, did it?

Yes, yes, yes. Mou has clearly seen that the players are too tired to perform like they did before. The stark thing I noticed though, is when we added Oscar against QPR he completely rebalanced the team in a fashion that we instantly passed better. I elaborated on this more in the Oscar thread. The general gist of the post though is that we see Oscar is ineffective in offence (hence frustrating fans) as he covers for Fabregas' lack of defensive ability. We accept this in Ramires as he is classified as a CM rather than a CAM, while due to Oscar's official #10 denomination he is ridiculed for not producing the same form he puts on for Brazil. There is no reason he cannot play as a CM, however. He's probably still stronger than Ramires is and he has the vision Fabregas offers. I fail to remember the match but he played in a 4-3-3 (DM-2CM) once. He performed well next to Fabregas, and I'd like to see him there again. I just feel maybe we should change our perspective on how we actually view him as a player. Another thing I noticed is that I think Jose has underestimated how short injuries would leave him, and also made the wrong choice in keeping x players and buying y players. For example, for the role he plays, we might as well have cashed in on Ramires, kept Lamps, and used him in the same role as he is used for City, as Ramires has demonstrated when he's pressured and his ball control lets him down. Salah should not have been sold(effectively;there is no reason Fiorentina will not use their buy option) although maybe some might argue he should never have been brought. The sale of Schurrle means there is no cover for Hazard in case of injury. Cuadrado should have been a summer buy, for obvious reasons. And he should have brought in a direct replacement for David Luiz. I also believe Cesc's slum was due to being rushed back from injury rather than "just a pattern". I do feel that when Oscar is off form or otherwise not fulfilling his designated role that Willian should be played in the middle. He looks great there when he plays, maybe putting Oscar on the wing! Personally though, we need a domestic cup squad really. Otherwise in the first half we are run ragged. There's no shame in putting some youth players in to do a shift. I'd like to see this: -2nd keeper-/Blackman Christensen/Iva Zouma Kalas Ake/Luis/Azpi (or one of Terry and Cahill/Varane, for leadership) Cesc/RLC Ake/Mikel Cuadrado Oscar Kakuta -2nd striker- you know, or other out of rotation players. I feel a little sorry for Oscar though. He doesn't get a shummer break until like 2018 or some bull. Maybe he might do well (long with Cescy) having a midseason holiday.

4-3-3...

Zola'd be nice. However, Mou has still got us the title. Can't moan about everything, lol.

Huh? I thought he looked energetic, laid people on...

So happy Cesc scored it too. Looks fresh again - maybe the prophecy of tapering off will end

Courtois Dave Gazza Terry Luis Matic Oscar Cesc Iva Remy Hazard

tbh as long as we don't leave the wings and midfield so open like City have today we should be fine.

Tbh Coquelin is doing a good job of it. If they get a Diego Costa-esque goalscorer that fits their system like he fits ours, they could be big challengers...Giroud is...not clinical enough, I guess. As one of my old Arsenal schoolfriends said "Sometimes I love him, other times I wonder how he's playing professional football" As for us, we just need to thicken our squad up a bit. As we learned, you can't fight for a quadruple or even a treble with such a small squad of players. Imo we'd need a "designated" cup squad for LC and FAC, maybe with some of our youth in, like RLC and Christensen and our otherwise out of rotation players. Obviously with some movement.

Yes I did and they looked toothless without Yaya. Strikers were ineffective and the back line was rubbish. One sided? No way. Palace had just as many spells of possession in the game as City did and just like Jose Pardew loves his wingers and his strikers to work hard, and we both know had Pardew been at Palace at the beginning of the season they would be in contention for Europa League places. With some better players they could be looking at Champions League. Oh and with regards to your little dig, I'd just like to see somebody stand up for our team rather than tread all over it whenever we get even a slightly below amazing performace. Finally, I'm pretty sure Palace was a big game for City, knowing they had to win to stay in serious contention for the title, similarly just as every one of our games has to be with similar atmosphere to a final. My comparison carries water because other than us being a London team the fixture was similar to City's - QPR are undergoing a good run of form under the honeymoon period of Ramsey atm.

He looked nice and fresh though! Hopefully a sign he's coming back on form. Perhaps Jose altered his training routines? Something's clearly working.

He looked fresher, that's for sure. Great super sub today.

We didn't actually lose a game in the Champions League and we have the 2nd least goals conceded in the league, how much more fucking solidarity do you need?

Are you fucking mad, just last week they lost to Palace away and were dogshit. You can't cherry pick your evidence. What makes us champions and not them will be that we can grind a win when we need to and change the method, while they can't.

If Remy's calf problem is >3 weeks we'll have no choice but to bring him back.

yep, and that's how teams have sussed out the only way to defeat us is to mark Matic and drag him out of position to even get at our defenders. Tbf regarding Spurs away too the rest of his midfield and the back 4 behind him weren't doing him any favours either.

Mikel/Zouma-Matic please. Cesc can be #10.

I just read a post on WAGNH, and it's changed my perspective on him again. The fact he is constantly covering for Fabregas' defensive deficiencies when out of possession means that his end product is lost. Of course, at the moment he is in aa bad run of form, coincidentally while Willian is currently in a good run. Willian's pace means he can make up for these things, while Oscar...is not so quick. Which is fine. At previous clubs he's always had good visions for passes etc. Which leaves various possibilities open for his Chelsea career to further or terminate: A: We continue to move towards the Barcelona model of possession based football. This includes the possibilities of being left open to getting bullied off the ball by strength; ironically a common fixture in our historical midfields. This would include utilising a quick back 4; Azpi-Zouma-Terry/Varane/Stones-Luis will be the final solution for the next 2 or 3 seasons, Matic playing Busquets. Iniesta being Oscar in a new CM role for him, and him getting stronger too, which gives the luxury of time to pass that is afforded to Fabregas. Similarly he can use his vision to be "Xavi" in Fabregas' absence for whatever reason. This seems to me to be the direction we are beginning to move to as a team. B: The next option is that we bring in a more defensively competent midfielder. Such as RLC, Koke, the list goes on, with Oscar being able to be the true number 10 he is for Brazil and his old club and he is the one who provides the incisive passes. C: We lobby the Premier League to clamp down on physicality, with the Spanish league the model for this. I don't want this, not at all, as I am not a fan of the league. But nonethless it is still an option. D: We sell or loan Oscar and use Willian, who is arguably more equipped for the job we ask of him (if we wish to play the same as we do now) in the number 10 and use Cuadrado and soon our academy grads on the RW. E: We do as above on D but rather than selling Oscar, we simply just invert Willian's and Oscar's positions with Willian in the 10 and Oscar on the RW. But I'm almost certain he will not be sold. Apparently coaching staff regard him as one of the best talents we have, alonside Hazard.

...so everything we want Oscar to do?