Chelsea Legend 11

'Well done big man' is very different to 'Thank You' I hate the media.

LOL

Probably right. What's your team then?

Nothing wrong with being confident, just don't go overboard and start counting points on the board before they're won. I'm ignoring Van Gaal's weak attempt at mind games saying Falcao took a knock in training... He's no Special One, leave the mind games to Jose.

Every year they have a new bit of bullshit to spew... Didn't they say Kagawa was better than Hazard two years ago?? LOL Didn't they say Januzaj was better than Hazard last year? LOL Di Maria is further along in his advancement and at best is equal to Hazard...That is being kind too

Don't forget Rooney is banned too.

I think you got Carrick confused with Herrera Skipper

If I were Van Gaal(so glad I'm not I hate Utd!) I'd set up like this... Degaya Rafael - Smalling - Rojo - Shaw Blind Herrera DiMaria Fellaini Falcao - Van Persie. Bring on Mata for Herrera and drop Fellaini into the midfield

Carrick is out too. He played in the U-21 side to get match fitness.

If we lose, we lose... This is the first season ever that I feel like every game we play we should win, its taken some getting used to but we're that good this year. Expectations are high mainly because the quality of the football has been exceptional so early into the campaign, we have good momentum. Nothing is set in stone, if it were we wouldn't have to play the games. I will only be disappointed if we lose not resembling the side we've been this year, if we show up to Old Trafford and don't show the same desire to get a result as we have in every game this season that will be a letdown. After that I just enjoy this team too much to let a setback get me down.

Why so negative? we haven't lost a game all year and are coming off of a brilliant performance. There are loads of reasons for everyone's confidence to be up for this, its Man Utd!! We all want to win it and positive energy is always better than negative energy!

no doubt but the stats are inflated by that one lopsided game. Agree our defence and our overall play has been very good.

Its less impressive when you take out the Maribor 6-0... 10-2 is a two goal average, not scintillating.

The look on Van Gaal's face when he is asked if Costa will play is priceless! looks like he's shitting his pants just hearing his name! hahaha 7:11

Van Gaal interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LSs38996Po#t=264

Too bad... Are team is stacked though. Perhaps in a few years.

What I've seen from Man U this season leads me to believe they haven't figured what their best team is and also they don't have proper balance. The names will put fear in you(Falcao, Van Persie, Di Maria, Mata) but the style of play is nothing to fear at all. They look to make diagonal crosses to the back post, Terry and Cahill will devour that all game, not to even mention Courtois... Watching that West Brom game they looked like they are still looking for an identity.

Good point. Perhaps I'm more optimistic due to the fact that Hazard, Oscar and Fab are in form and have established some good chemistry. In my amateur opinion, most football games are won and lost in the midfield, not in the striker position. Remy got one shot away vs. Crystal Palace and you that game was more lopsided than the score would indicate. I guess what I'm saying is the approach or change from say, Remy to Schurrle is not that great. They both will look to stretch defenses and play better on the half turn as opposed to playing with their back to goal. I'm also not sure what to make of this game but our best players at the moment are Matic, Hazard, Fabregas, Willian and Oscar, if they build on recent form we should win. Utd's biggest problem stems from lack of understanding on the pitch. They have a bunch of individuals and lack a team...

This is true, but you could say that even if we had Costa and Remy fit.

Come on brother... different team on both sides. That was two games into Jose's return... We have a world class long range passer, we have a guy(s) that will bully them in the midfield. Its all about match ups and right now I think if we start with Schurrle in the 9 with Hazard, Oscar, Willian, Fab and Matic we will have too much for them. If we play on the counter they will be overrun for sure. PSG away presented the same problems...We didn't have a guy who could win the ball in the midfield and get on the counter. Its a completely different scenario, if you ask me if I think we should play false 9 against PSG I'd say no even today, but against this Utd squad we can definitely employ it with some success. What do we need our striker to do when we play on the counter? My belief is we need a willing runner and a guy capable of getting in behind the defense. I don't think lumping it up to Drogba is a bad option either, but I can't see him being effective for 90. Its not ideal, in a perfect world its Costa and perhaps Remy on at 70 but given the circumstances I'm not opposed to Schurrle getting a look in. You keep talking about past performances, I say the reason we haven't been effective in the past has more to do with personnel than it does with the employment of false 9. You need midfielders capable of winning the ball and also keeping it, we never had that at any point in the previous games... We tried to play on the counter and never had a guy in the squad capable of delivering the long ball accurately. EDIT: and I agree its all about executing an effective game plan by taking advantage of their deficiencies, we can do that by playing with our best players that are available. Jose is no mug, he'll want to go there and not lose first, then win.

You can't go on past performances. Utd's defense IS rubbish and we pose a different challenge for them this time around. The reason we didn't do anything the last time we tried it is because we didn't have the players in the squad to dictate the play. At OT we started with Lampard, Ramires, Oscar, DeBruyne, Hazard, Schurrle, that squad lacked ball retention... With Matic, Fab and Willian in that team it becomes much more likely to see false 9 have more success. Just my opinion... Against Juve false 9 wasn't the problem it was the defense... Hazard clearly isn't a false 9 though. I think Schurrle wouldn't be a bad call he's a willing runner and also a willing shooter. If he's provided the bullets it could get ugly.

After seeing how they struggled to handle the pace of Berahino, this might not be as bad as last year's episode. The blueprint has been laid... Give him 60 Drogs 30... Let Schurrle run them ragged and then bring on the battering ram that is Didier.

My best bet is he will play though he hasn't trained in a minute. If he's not training tomorrow it doesn't look good...

I hate to put fear back in you but... http://www.chelseafc.com/content/cfc/en/video/VOD/2014/7/25/140725_news_drogbafeat.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2522287/Jose-Mourinho-Id-love-King-Didier-Drogba-Stamford-Bridge-Galatasaray-16.html http://hereisthecity.com/en-gb/2014/10/23/chelsea-star-eden-hazard-on-king-didier-drogba/ I see you're side of it, its not a huge deal though... The King of Stamford Bridge will always be Ossie, Drogba has often been referred to as the King of Wembley... There have been so many players called the KING, its probably the most transferable moniker out there (see Cantona and Henry)

Are we speaking of King Ossie? Sure he was the first king but as history shows there will always be a successor to the crown. I never saw Peter play but I respect him as a club legend, historians rave about him! But the KING moniker can't be a one man show... by the way, I call Drogba KING more for what he does off the field than on it