Blue Armour

Unorthodox..hasn't been used..but this makes the most sense to me...Lampard/Meireles are too inconsistent for me...and our midfield distribution is otherwise poor without any playmaker in the centre..heck they don't even help defend properly..we have been too reliant on our front three and full backs this season for creating chances..the only thing our midfield does is score from chances created by someone else... So I go for this formation that makes use of our forwards and our full-backs...Opinions?

I've already forgotten about this game (I don't know whether they were saving energy or just plain uninterested..probably just the lack of drive from Ramires )... Tomorrow, I hope (wrong ethics here) Arsenal do not win against city + Tottenham also fail to win....Don't really care whether the two teams from Manchester win...because over the last two games we would have at least gained a point over City, and as for United..they're behind City at this stage and therefore not really a concern

sshhh....don't give them ideas!

If the end of the previous match showed anything, it was that the team spirit was at an all time high. Hope it shows in the way we play this game....

Majority of the media just think that it opens new avenues for Man Utd to secure their title... Anyways, I'm frankly enjoying our new role as "David" since we seem to be doing it so well...miss the ol' "Goliath" days though...

Honestly, I couldn't care about what the press thought...City used to be ultra-defensive home and away, when we faced them last season and the one before, yet no-one questioned their tactics when they beat us...

The way most of the bandwagon Man Utd and Arsenal fans are reacting after this result, you'd think that one of their teams beat City last night...

A lot of the through balls he gives seem to come his left foot...including the two he gave to Cole to set up Didier on two separate occasions against Arsenal

Also true, but would not choose someone who has a chance of stopping the opposition over someone who would have no hope in hell? Anyways coming back to my earlier post about Paoulo..He could work against fast opposition if he stayed back deep like how he did against Gareth Bale one year ago. As for Jose, he generally does well against fast and tricky players like Ashley Young....Its the intelligent ones he has a problem with..

Ferreira is better at positioning himself than Bosingwa, but his lack of pace can easily be exposed by the opposition...

They started to print bull this season, and now that AVB has criticized one of their tv presenters they find no reason to hold back...

You're right..this is what Carlo used to handle a lot better, and I would love it if AVB did the same because, the press won't stop hounding him. But you should also realise things from AVB's perspective. He works meticulously and with great detail with regards to his tactics, training and game planning, and these guys sitting in some commentary box or in front of their laptops come out with garbage to undermine whatever he has done. Its only natural for him to get furious...I think he should (and I think he will) realize that at this point of the season its only a losing battle against the press and that its best to just ignore them, and occasionally come out with a sarcastic or stinging remark like Mourinho or Ferguson to put them in their place...

I have no doubt that Torres does try hard to make himself useful, but my biggest fear is what'll happen if he goes into another slump? How long will it be before he can pull out of that one? And many people say that the support from midfield is so poor, that Torres has nothing to work with. Now suppose we had Modric as well as Mata.. Its not as if these two players would be available in every game....Does that mean Torres will work only if the "right" players are behind him? I certainly hope he can pull himself together and prove to all his doubters that he's not just here for the trophies...

Its not the first time I've seen them come up with ridiculous scorelines...

More from Rob BEASTLy Honestly...I think AVB should just ignore crap like this from now on..

I think we should give City a taste of the same medicine they gave us back in 09-10.... Form two walls in front of the defense and hit'em hard on the counter.....(what are the odds that Mancini will try to do the same ?)

You make too much sense... (twat)

Press conferences are for the coach and the media to interact with one another and exchange views and opinions. If the media can question and criticize the coach, the coach has every right to question and criticize the media. After all its his job he's defending not yours....

Exactly..can't we just be happy for the fact that at any time at least one of them will perform?

I'm not against signing backup (why would anyone?)...I just feel that midfield/winger is a greater priority....

No more strikers, please! Right now we need to re-build our midfield and make it good enough so that any of our strikers can just walk into a one-on-one with the keepers...

We might "replace" Drogba eventually, but will that need to be a like-for-like replacement? No. The man is one of a kind, and to think we'll get a carbon copy of him to play in his stead will only tarnish our memories of him playing for the club. Even Lukaku, who people often use for comparisons, has quite humbly admitted that his game is nothing like (and right now nowhere near) Drogba's... So., I wouldn't worry about whether we'll have someone like Drogba up front in the future...Any in-form forward will do...The same applies to Lampard and Terry as well... What I DO hope is that we can get players who have BIG personalities and character like our three stalwarts here..that's what keeps this Chelsea FC team going I feel...

This may sound funny, but I can't help but feel that Torres has only helped Didier after his arrival..when he arrived, he inspired Drogba to up his game... and this season he was involved in persuading Mata to join us and even that is working in Didier's favour. In Jan last season I was hoping we would sign a supporting forward player to aid Drogba and our team, but instead we went and got Torres for different reasons. Ironically enough, he has ended up performing in a very good supporting role!

Its funny how that maybe one or two seasons back, Mancini would be looking at how best he could pack his midfield and defense together so that he could shut us out.... How times have changed....