Chelsea Legend 11

He played Zouma because we were without Matic. I do NOT want to see us play with both Zouma and Matic unless its late in the game (85min) and its 0-0. There is no need to play that defensive, we will definitely need a goal in this game.

They will still be without Moura who I think could've caused us loads of trouble. Motta looked awful on the weekend and probably will only play if needed. Luiz was fabulous in the holding role and will likely continue there.. Its not gonna be easy but I feel at home we are much harder to break down and PSG don't have any pace to trouble us anywhere on the pitch. If the game is slow and cagey it will obviously benefit us.

Diagonal crosses into the box will be our undoing on big pitches. I don't think there will be a lot of space for Zlatan between Cahill(Zouma) and Terry at the bridge though, we should be able to cut those out if we stay compact. My worry is when they start trying to win diagonals against Azpilicueta! On more than a few occasions this year team have been successful winning headers off him.

Just rewatched the first leg and I was able to take notice of a few important details that I didn't notice before. The first thing I paid close attention to was how PSG pressured our midfielders. In the first half David Luiz did a fantastic job of keeping Cesc, Willian and Hazard at bay. He was basically playing a zonal marking system where he sat on any of those players who came centrally to collect from deep. It was a strategy that seemed effective since none of them were effective at playing through the middle. If Luiz starts in the middle again I would suggest overloading the area on the pitch where Verratti is occupying, he seems to be the most rash and mistake prone of the three mids. I would also look to expand the pitch by utilizing our "wingers" on the touch line. Brana will definitely start since Apzi is usually the guy who sits deep and that we normally push on down our right to allow Hazard to have more freedom. This is the average shape I expect to see deployed if the same tactic is deployed by Jose. The second thing I noticed is the amount of fouls that went unpunished. The ref was very lenient with a lot of overly aggressive PSG players namely, Verratti, Luiz, Van Der Wiel and Maxwell. If they are allowed to press relentlessly without drawing any cards we could be in for another long night. Most of our chances to break were diffused by PSG players who literally pulled back Chelsea players (Jerseys stretched). I saw this at least 3 times and it went without a yellow, normally cynical fouls like that draw warnings. If they were carded appropriately we would've nullified their pressed and unlocked them at least twice. I know the match will be cagey and will likely be played cautiously by both teams so its important that we are extremely incisive when we do get opportunities to break. WIllian(if he starts) and Costa will be so important to how we play, Willian if he is successful at breaking with pace and doesn't dwell on the ball too long. Costa if he can do a decent job playing with his feet and holding up the ball. We are not going to beat them over the top through the middle so i'm hoping the long ball approach we employed at times last game will be less utilized. The third thing I took note of is how hard it was for us to keep ourselves compact at Parc Du Princes. It is a very big pitch 105m x 68m (Wembley 105 x 68, Old Trafford 105 x 68) compared to Stamford Bridge which is 103 x 67 and the difference was enough for them to find gaps of space to pull us about, mainly down the flanks but also just inside our own half where Luiz took up a DLP role and found channels to get the ball to Zlatan and Matuidi. We should have an easier time with gap control at home but something we will need to be mindful of is the positioning of Ramires and Fab, both players will need to be disciplined for us to be successful. I have a feeling PSG will start Pastore ahead of Lavezzi and if they do, Javier like to drift inside and link up with Zlatan. He is much better in the middle than he is on the flank so he's prone to getting caught drifting inside and both Ramires and Cesc will need to be mindful of him and also exploit the space he leaves on the flank. Our press should be much more effective with less ground to cover but the key is where we decide to activate the press. IMO we should look to press about ten yds inside our own half, this allows our defenders to keep a low block while giving PSG the space to get in behind our press just high enough where we can still be comfortable. Here is the shape I'd like to see for a medium press. In this example the press should be initialized right around where Ramires and Cesc are with Azpilicueta and Willian the important players in trapping them. If we do this effectively and Zouma and Terry deal with the Aerial ability of Zlatan and Cavani(if they try and go more direct) we should be able to put sufficient amount of pressure on their FB's and CM's and force mistakes. Just my opinion but having watched the game again I think we can get more out of it if we employ something close to this. Either way UP THE CHELS!

Okay I've seen enough... to the ignore list with you.

City and Utd way back in Oct? That's quite a bad habit we've got....

I'd rather have a full rest ahead of PSG Leicester midweek won't be too much of a worry besides, with any luck the league could be outta reach come the end of April.

Looks like we're ahead of schedule!

Do you believe PSG are a better squad? I don't.

Wouldn't you rather have a fully rested squad for PSG?

Stats aside he hasn't really played to the level we expect of him. He's not having as much of an impact on how we play as he once was... Its a lull in his form, I hope he gets back to his best soon

Welcome back! 100% agreement with everything said except this. a midfield 3 of Cesc, Pogba and Matic with Ramires as an option off the bench could dominate world football for years. I'm not discrediting what Oscar has brought to the team, I actually think he is an important piece. And as I've said before he's definitely increased his value since he was purchased for in and around £19.35m. Pogba gives us much more variety in terms of shape and style, I firmly believe he will be a world star if he isn't already at the age of 21. If its pogba or Oscar the choice is easy for me, Paul Pogba, but he's about the only player I will trade in Oscar for.

End of the day I'm elated Salad is playing so well! It will only drive up his transfer kitty and help us purchase Pogba.

Because its a bigger and better league. Because what Jose asks for from his wingers is different to many teams. Because he isn't playing regularly enough to find his stride.

I'm a little confused? Are you implying we paid 30m for Cuadrado?

Always considered him a squad guy, change of pace, direct runner. He's been that but not yet to the standard I expected of him. January transfer is always a tough time to bed into a team particularly when you don't see much time... I think Henrique said it best, his first season will be next. Willian needs to score more but his overall play has been decent for us. Juan needs to be at least as good as Willian if he's gonna challenge for a start and right now he's still adjusting.

Well said! I think the problem here is Lionsden is a xenophobe and of that list only two are english born. Though I'm sure Baker and Brown have made it into the matchday squads.

Can you point out one game where you thought "Wow KDB has really put in a shift here!" He's not the type of player that works well in a balanced squad, he doesn't retain possession, can't defend and never puts in a tackle. The reason he is excelling in Germany is because that league is played at slower pace and it fits his style more. He's just another in a long list of players who works better in any league but England.

You can throw the Oscar/Mikel rhetoric in there as well. I dare anyone to point to one thread where I'm pissing and moaning about this 1st place club, its players, the management, the directors or the style of play. What many need to realize is you're never gonna get things to be 100% to your liking, its impossible. When you can come to grips with that you may start to appreciate what you have a little more. UP THE CHELS

Anything can happen in this league that's why its the most watched competition in the world. Sure the overall quality of the games are poor but I wonder if that has anything to do with the accumulation of matches around Christmas time? Last nights game at West Ham where we rode our luck and got three points is the type of game where you come away from it thinking "We could win this thing!" We weren't at our best but we weren't exactly poor either! We just had a few players playing in roles they weren't accustomed to... Having said that the results this week show we have the sort of make up that champions have. City just don't look as threatening or imposing as they once did. Pellegrino wants to play expansively when clearly his best players are out of gas and its showing. Their inability to play compact and break with pace has been exposed time and again in 2015. With the next 5 games being relatively easy(forget the champions league for now) against Burnley Away, West Brom home, Palace Away, Man Utd Away, West Ham Home, City need to be taking 15pts from those fixtures. We've got ourselves a bit of cushion and even when we don't play well we've been getting results. The team has only lost 3 times all year and twice in the Prem... It would have to be a monumental collapse for a Jose to surrender a 5pt lead with a game in hand at Leicester. We don't have to win a lot just not allow the pressure of not winning to get to us. We are well within the drivers seat and only need one more decent run of games to be crowned champs! Its now go time... Go out and win the title! Don't have it handed to you like City did last year, WIN IT!

Wouldn't say a long way to go 10/11 games left 28 games played. It definitely starting to wind down now

Hoping I don't get blown up by saying this but I thought he was very good today. Faded in the second half mainly because he was all over the place filling gaps left by every midfielder we played today. He showed a spark in the 1st half... Hope he can build on that.

Just a few observations I had on what I would call a workmanlike performance from Chelsea. 1. We got away with a gamble playing Zouma out of position in back to back games. His instincts had him much to deep and we surrendered a lot of space just outside of the 18. Matic is back now so order will be restored. 2. Cesc, when tired is a shambolic defender. On a few occasions late in the game he just let players jog around him with no effort at all to get back in position, it was scary. Matic is back now so order will be restored. 3. It was clear to me that the midfield provided little stability and were often beaten to second balls off of aerials. The guys were tired, Zouma didn't know where to be and Ramires, while putting in a great shift, was all over the place in the midfield. Matic is back now order will be restored. 4. We had nothing on the bench to change the problems we were having, for this I say this is a huge win since they found our weakness and exploited it but never scored. Jose must be breathing a HUGE sigh of relief! 5. Hazard is unplayable. If you don't bring him down he will hurt you. 6. Today was the first time in a long while I felt we were getting the rub of the green from the refereeing decisions, there were a couple that could've went either way and the majority of them went to Chelsea. 7. Ramires had a bossy game, he is the perfect squad player because what he does well will always be an asset at any point in the game. He deserved a goal worked his ass off. 8. Courtois was phenomenal... I don't think world football has seen a team that has two keepers of the calibre of Cech and Thibault. All in all I thought this win has perfectly set us up for the rest of the season, I'm not gonna say what I actually feel because I don't want to seem as though I'm getting ahead of myself. A bookie already paid out....

Really? how many times have we lost this season? You'd think we were midtable with the assertion you say that with

I was expecting you to say that. its not what Wiki says but where they are saying they got their source from. Every one of the publications you've mentioned have a propensity to misquote prices as pounds when they are actually Euros... They did the same thing with Matic in January, they are victims of lazy journalism. http://www.lancenet.com.br/internacional/Internacional-confirma-venda-Oscar-Chelsea_0_743325724.html