Blue Armour

Same formation with Iva at RB, and Mata and Lamps interchanged

Kalou or Torres could have come on as subs to exploit the lack of pace of the their 30+ yr old CBs. Though I doubt the latter would have done anything useful.

I don't think ANYONE is in there..I think Lampard is a bit peeved with AVB and that's about it...

To tell the truth he should be forgiven for being played out of position...the holding role doesn't suit him. He needs to run free like a bird with someone like Mikel/Romeu/Essien behind him

Don't you mean Meiruseless?

[ Thanks, and some of you Naples fans were fun talking to....hope our team will actually give you a guys a challenge in the return leg!

Its not the formation that was the problem..it was the personnel..rather the 2 from that 4-2-3-1

If AVB's solution to Lampard's indifferent form is Meireles, its clearly not working.

If the armband can get him to play any better, by all means we should give it to him.

My point is he just can't..he tries but he's just hopeless when it comes to it...he doesn't even have the physique to knock people off the ball. That and the fact that he can't run or contribute to our attacks have made him one of the most useless players on the pitch right now.

Anyway what's the point...this weekend we're most likely to see 4-3-3 (or 4-2-3-1 ) with Meireles back in the "driving" seat

I've seen him try several times...after each attempt he leaves enough space for a truck to go through

Not going to happen to us this season.

Just for that formation I wish you would

Each time I decide on a lineup I give up because our central midfield is basically useless...I can think of Ramires, just because he has been effective at times this season but I just can't place my bets on anyone else. In any case I wouldn't include Meireles in my starting 11 anytime soon.

The only gripe I have with AVB today is for starting with Meireles. Its clear he was tasked with a holding role that he's not suited to, and he failed at it miserably. Even Ramires is not suited for that. The formation was good, but I wish he had gone with Romeu or Mikel in place of Meireles. Even Essien who's lacking fitness would have been a better choice.

When the commentator asks Mata, he says there was no surprise that we conceded as we are set up too offensively. Maybe this is the point of contention between the supposedly revolting players and AVB? The fact that we're too open? I remember during late Nov-Dec, we reverted to a Mourinho style of game where we shut out the opposition and still managed to score in 2's and 3's on counters. Either way, something has changed or to be more precise something has snapped

I keep asking that...but after looking at Drogba's and Torres performances throughout this season, I'm pretty sure the problem with any formation is in Central Midfield. There is no-one from the center who can effectively link up with our strikers. Occasionally you will see Lampard and Malouda (when he plays there) try to link with Drogba (because they're so used to playing alongside) but that's about it.

Mine too..but I think he might spare us for just another season. Would be better if we could clinch top 4 though...without JT we're no better than Arsenal

To be frank, I was actually hoping he would bring either Kalou/Torres on. All their defenders were like 30+ somethings and were slow...If we can somehow race into a two goal lead at SB before half time..nope..don't wanna jinx it

So nothing to look forward to in the second leg then...

I know..but hasn't it always been like this in recent seasons when JT is out? There's no Carvalho or Alex who have the tactical knowledge to defend in situations like this.

Ivanovic was the one who practically allowed Cavani to take the lead

To me the worst news today was hearing that JT needed a surgery..anyone know how long he'll be out for?

I'm so surprised at how easily we have caved in. Their defense is shakier than jelly, and we could easily have been 2 or 3 up. If we had made it 3-2 then I would have said we have a chance...but now we have to keep a clean sheet and score 2? Very difficult, even if we get JT back.