Pizy

Hazard and Willian barely involved at all this half. They're starting to get better and better and will score if we don't change things.

Morata once again having one of those games where he's on his ass most of the time. The ref ain't giving those type of niggling fouls like he always got in Spain. He has to realize that and be stronger.

Seems like all the goals we've conceded in recent times have been the same. Not from awesome skill from the opposition but from sloppy, scrambling defending from us. Or unlucky mistakes.

I think if we lose this today we can forget about top 4. We ain't beating City at their place next weekend. Liverpool and Spuds are in great form and I read last week that Spuds have the easiest run in of any top 4 challenger.

Come on, Alvaro. Big, big chance for him to kick-start his season again. Reassert himself as our main man up top.

Drinkwater isn't really a surprise. With Baka out "injured" and Barkley not quite fit yet there's no way Cesc can start against Barca, both Manchester clubs and then Barca again. His legs need to be kept as fresh as possible.

Have that feeling this'll be a Mourinho special. Can see us being the better side, having lots of good chances to score without finishing, and then Rashford or Lingard will race through on one good counter attack near the end to win 1-0. Also, my mood will immedietly turn sour if the XI comes out and I see Cahill starting. Watching him get tossed around by Lukaku or destroyed by the pace of Rashford/Martial/Lingard. Just please let it be Rüdiger.

Think Cahill is nailed on to start somehow. I'll be shocked though if Baka comes back in. If Cesc can hold up in a midfield 2 against Barca than he should be able to against United. No false 9, please.

They really don't look to be in good form at all here. Very slow with terrible attacking buildup play. Of course, you can be sure Rashford or Martial will probably be starting against us and add another dimension to their attack. But I'm glad Herrera the cynical, cheating cunt won't be.

Probably because, unlike us, everyone they play in La Liga other than Real Madrid and Atleti are scared shitless of them. They go behind and Barca just blow them away. We showed balls and character today and didn't let their best players take over the game.

Their goal felt like a gut punch. Cant be too upset considering Barca's only goal came from a mistake from us. None of us expected it to be so close. We're not out of this yet. No way can we play with the false 9 at the Camp Nou, though. They wouldn't have been expecting it today but will be ready for it next time.

All it takes is one little lapse in concentration for them to slip a ball in behind us like that diagonal Messi tried to Jordi Alba which I think is their most likely route to scoring. Absolutely MUST focus.

Excellent second half of the first half! I feel like if we'd have had Morata out there as a focal point in Pedro's place we'd have been better.

This really is embarrassing not even being able to get a sniff of the ball on our home pitch, and when we do finally get the ball we punt it up to the tiny Hazard who can't do anything with it.

It is very strange that Emerson isn't even in the squad. Alonso's first match back in a couple of games against arguably the best side in Europe. What if he gets roasted or injured? I'd rather have Emerson (a natural left back) coming on than shoehorning Zappa there. Hopefully he's not injured and is instead just being eased in due to the nightmarish fixture list we have coming up.

Woooow. He actually did it. This is either going to be genius or fail spectacularly. Morata must be seething, tbh. Probably been dreaming about playing against Barca in the CL as a former Madridista.

In this particular case he'd be going against midfielders who are similar to him. None of Barca's midfielders are the type that Cesc struggles against (powerful, dynamic, athletic, fast). For this reason I actually think he can start tonight. He's not going to get bullied by Busquets/Rakitic/Iniesta or beaten for pace. The biggest problem I see is us not having much of the ball meaning Cesc will be expending all his energy chasing shadows.

Such a headache for Conte in terms of selection. Go 3-4-3 with both Hazard and Willian in great form and hope like hell that a midfield 2 of Kante and Cesc can withstand the pressure of dealing with Busquets, Rakitic, Messi, and Iniesta or go 3-5-2, sacrifice a bit going forward, and solidify the midfield. We can either go balls out and try to play with them or go conservative and somewhat cowardly to minimize risk of away goals. For me we have to go 3-4-3. Let's be honest, we probably ain't stopping them from scoring no matter what we do so we may as well have a go with our best attacking XI. I'm praying that Cahill doesn't start. Absolutely praying. Azpi/Christensen/Rüdi is our best back 3. Cahill will be his infuriating passive self that he always is against top opposition. He just back peddles and let's his man run at him. He cannot start tonight. But sadly will most likely.

I just keep repeating in my head "please don't get embarrassed, please don't get embarrassed." Losing to one of the 2-3 best sides in Europe in a hard fought, narrow defeat would be sad in the moment but not unexpected. If we just get hammered, let them have 80% of the ball, play like cowards who are scared of the occasion, and lose by 3-4 goals at home it'll be depressing and that same feeling of Chelsea being in crisis is back. And then we have United, City, and our kryptonite Crystal Palace all in a row. Things could look pretty fucking grim in a couple weeks time depending on results.

Has Man United player written all over him. Mostly for marketing purposes. Biggest English speaking market outside of England where United have a massive following, the future face of the USA National Team, would be absolutely huge in terms of shirt sales. Pulisic and Pogba would be their two poster boys. What may stop him going there is that they're already well stocked in the attacking midfield areas. Unless they sell fan favorite Juan Mata.

Willian has to start against Barca for me. Better ball retention and link up play than Pedro. Having Giroud and Pedro to bring off the bench is good firepower. Would also be a ballsy move if Conte throws Emerson into the fire instead of Alonso. Marcos hasn't played in a while and even when fully fit and in form would get roasted by Barca. We need someone who can run.

Giroud was involved in all 4 goals. 😂 What a half he had!

Center of the pitch and center of the defense look a bit sketchy but we should still be wining this. Cahill and Ampadu without the protection of Kante in front of them is a recipe for some fuckery. Also a complete lack of pace in midfield with Drinks and Cesc.

So the last 3 midfield signings we've made (Baka, Drinkwater, and now Barkley) have either been injured when they signed or got injured almost immedietly afterwards. Fucking great. This run of fixtures we have coming up would've been the ideal time to have Ross fit and now who knows how long he'll be out.

For someone so clearly talented Neymar is just so unlikable for me. Constantly diving and rolling around, constantly moaning to the refs. If he just played his football and stayed on his feet I could tolerate him.