Blue Armour

A strike partnership is a good idea, because our midfield distribution is generally poor..This is why I suggested a pairing of Drogba and Sturridge back in december. However if Essien can pass the ball like he did in the past 2 games, and can start games, then we could continue to rely on a 3 man midfield. A strike partnership is not just about co-operation however..one of the strikers should also be capable of moving wide or tracking back when needed. Drogba and Anelka used to do this beautifully in Carlo's old diamond formation and they were both good crossers of the ball....Torres has shown a capacity to work hard, and Sturridge can offer similar, so it should be worth trying in at least one game

I don't know...hardly anyone trusts even Sturridge to take up the CF role, because that requires a lot of experience to suit our style of play..Besides Anelka and Drogba, I don't remember anyone excelling in that position in recent times. I would still go with Torres, even if he can't score anything simply because of his footballing knowledge...with Lukaku we don't know what we're going to get and its risky when we need to get as many points as possible from the coming games

Like I said by the end of the first half, Sturridge and Ramires were also not upto speed. The latter hardly made any lung-bursting box to box runs, while Danny just lazed around and made himself an easy target for their LB..Hope this is the worst we ever see of them this season

Apart from the miss in the end, I don't think he was that bad...we gave up the win because of poor finishing

I hope Essien can continue his return to form.. His distribution was good once again, and can be useful in setting up attacks in our upcoming games...Should start some games soon (hopefully)... The race for 3'rd spot aint over yet, so lets hope we would gain a point over the spuds by next week

Yep...that's pretty much it...the overall performance was good, but the finishing was poorer than poor...

I said Torres has been playing well, but if this is as good as it gets then I don't know... We wanted a 50mill pound striker not a pseudo playmaker...Sturridge was cancelled by their LB, and with the only other goal scorer in Lampard removed there's no one to convert the chances which were aplenty...

Chances are there, but Norwich have defended well enough..Love the pace in our game but we should be wary of their quick counters... Torres playing well, Malouda linking up with Mata pretty good,....Want to see more from Ramires and Sturridge...Avb will hopefully introduce Romeu/Essien to bring back solidity to our midfield, since there are big gaps opening up there

The outcome is going to positive for us whatever happens..

This article echoes almost all my feelings regarding this Champions League...loved it ..Regarding Torres"n'Drogba...AVB should start with the striker that's in good form. If that man is Torres then he should start for sure. But, I'd rest a lot easier knowing that we still have a Didier Drogba to rescue us if we're in trouble

Probably because his dad doesn't want him to join our club

Yeah, do remember him saying that...its no secret that CF is his preferred position, but he did say that playing in the wing has its advantages

So what? This ain't Torres FC...

Alex was no longer interested in us...that makes nearly any option better than him

Lol...guess that's why Drogba never cuts his hair

I think so too. As of late he's been forced to play nearly the whole 90 mins of every game, unlike how AVB used him as the start of the season

Agree with that. Lukaku despite his size is very fast, even faster than Drogba at his peak. If he can learn to turn the defender inside out like Didier does, there will be no stopping him....

Bosingwa defends like this: With his back facing the attacking winger

There's a big IF regarding Essien... If Essien were to return to 100%, then I would remove Romeu, Ramires and Mikel and just play two attacking mids in front of Michael in the 4-3-3. This is because he can be the shield, and also bring the ball out of defense quickly. We don't yet know in what capacity he has returned, and that's why we're in this dilemma. Ever since his previous injury, he seems to have lost some of the tenacity to break up attacks and win the ball back. That's part of the reason why we used to concede possession so cheaply last season. Like Jaimin said, Essien can't just walk back into the starting 11 without proving himself. The same would go for Gary Cahill. Him and Terry should have a good understanding from the England games, but the defense doesn't revolve only around the centre-backs. Also, its not fair to write off Luiz just because there's another option.

I noticed how quickly he got back into "the groove"...A lot of his passing was forward, rather than the sort of sideways passing that you can expect from a player trying to get back on his feet..Went for the ball, and also had a chance on goal... However it was only for the last few minutes of one game, and is still yet to exhibit the sort of pressing and drive we've come to expect from him...So I'd wait for another couple of games before judging him completely.

Loved to see Essien back on the pitch and seemingly back in business, BUT..... Its indeed funny when a player who was out of action for more than 6 months can return to the pitch with 20 mins left to play,( and we're desperately holding onto a 1-0 lead) while McEachran couldn't even get a minute in more than 90% of our PL games..

Phil Toad...same useless character from the Man Utd game

Even if they lose the media will go on abt how Scholsey tried to save them

Then we're definitely going to win tonight!

Man....Drogba was such a powerhouse back then...