Hutcho

I think its because Mata can play on the Left wing and central, and it would appear that hazard is much better at CAM than at Left wing...Also i don't think you should look at it as being a players position as its whatever works best for the team. So if Mata at LW and Hazard at CAM is better than Mata at Cam and Hazard at LW, then it doesn't matter which individual is better in one position, though tbh it doesn't really matter that much as there should be a lot of movement in that front 3... Also with the arrival of Oscar, they both could end up on the wing.

I think we will get a better judgment when all our players are back, and we are playing in Full season games... It is hard to mark predictions off of pre season. Though my expectations, would be comfortably top 4, close to united in second... Anything better than that and i will be extremely happy. Fa cup final, Carling cup semi (or whatever its called now), Champions league semi vs madrid, and probably lose the community shield in extra time... But we will know more after City and first few games of the season, and how we play when it matters...

No words? I don't see what you are arguing against, i didn't say that we would be amazing defensively and the 4-2-3-1 would suddenly be supreme however i said that the 4-2-3-1 would be improved through the addition of oscar and mata, which you haven't argued against... .. I also said that we woul be better in attack and and as a result better in defence... Also why have you highlighted "greater posession", are you saying that the addittion of mata and oscar won't result in greater control of the ball? And i like your line up though i doubt RDM will play it...

If hulk comes picking the team will be , but it would be a good problem to have... If Hulk comes then i suppose it would have to be: Mata Hazard Hulk Mikel Oscar But i don't know.... it would be a completely different team, and is one of the reasons why i am not too bothered about hulk coming...

Literally i can't wait to see these 3 in a line, i am not saying we are gonna go from losing to brighton to world beaters but it should eliminate some (NOT ALL) of the problems we are having, and that should have a knock on effect... I.E. Greater players on the ball = more possesion = less posession for them = less need for our double pivot to play too advanced = less vulnerable on the counter = more chances for us = more goals for us.. Obviously this is way too generalised and simplistic and all "in theory", but the addition of oscar and Mata can only improve this squad... And Oscar gets free reign in the CAM position which he doesn't have in any other position, as he doesn't have the pace of someone like hazard to play on the wing, which imo would be a waste of his talents... Also him being too deep, will just cause what lampard did as he may venture forward and leave us vulenerable on the counter... Also i don't think he needs to be used in a defensive manor, but him playing at cam will help our defence as he can drob deep at times and drift across the pitch as we have all seen him do for brazil.

Which he should get, when our 3 behind the striker gets together and gets used to each other, mata only just got back and Oscar hasn't even seen stamford bridge yet...

Oscar should be a great thing for hazard as well as it would give him a bit more license to have a go and run at defenders, with oscar there to back him up and try and control the play, as in pre season, we were giving it early to hazard who then had less options ahead of him...

If we were actually parking the bus he would probably play: Cech Ivan Cahill Terry Cole Mikel Lampard Ramires Hazard Mata Torres Not what i would do if i was parking the bus but that is what i would imagine RDM would do...

I don't see how it would produce the same outcome...? You will argue that lampard isn't defensive enough and will venture forward which will cause gaps, however i think that firstly that 3 will produce much more chances than a 3 with Raul meireles and Ramires, which should well mean more goals, than we have and definately more creativity... It will also mean greater possession of the ball, which means less of them with the ball.... Also lampard will have less need to venture forward as we will have players capable of creating things, especially with mata back, who is great at setting people up... For me the outcome will not be the same with those 3...

Totally agree.... My biggest concern, is that he will play Mata Hazard Ramires... Which would really worry me... But i am fully behind RDM, and hope he will play: Mata Oscar Hazard...

Another semi-assist for oscar...

Got to play at CAM for us i think, can play all over and probably would do well in the double pivot or wherever but i would love to see him at CAM, where he can dish the ball up through to torres, or out wide for mata or hazard and really dictate the play; also he has the freedom to move around a bit more, in the double pivot with mikel, he has big defendive duties and will not be given free reign to drop back then run forward etc as he would at CAM, i am not expecting him to be the greatest player ever in the first season, but i seriously expect him to be a starter and the man to try and run the show, like Super frank used to do so brilliantly.. May take him a season or two to really get into the swing of things, but doesn't mean he shouldn't be given a starter spot, and when combined with the abilites of mata, then our creativity (which some have criticised) should go up...

I am saying that if we have someone who is better in that position then it should help out the team more than Ramires being there... I personally cannot see us reverting back to a 4-3-3 which is why i said what i did, i also think that lampard will play in the double pivot with mikel... What i think and RDM does are two completely different things obviously, and i was simply saying it wasn't mad to think that ramires who was one of our best players last season could be left out, as i think its fair to say a 4-2-3-1 doesn't suit him... I agree he is very useful if we want to play defensively, though i am arguing that it is something we should not do... Drogba was amazing defensively, as he was dominant in the air, however the biggest help was that he was our out ball and had the stength to hold it up... We do not have that anymore, and torres, while sometimes tracks back, will not be able to perform that role anywhere nearly as efficiently....

I don't think anyone wants an all out attack as that would just be stupid, however i see no benefit of going into the game with a must win strategy lke the barca or bayern game... This should be used as a way of seeing how the players perform and the last game before the season starts. As you say the performance is important and imo it is much more important than the result.

Scott sinclair may be going to city...

I agree, i think DM is still a bit too deep for him, which is why if mikel is solid then it could work though he can't really venture forward much from there as it will leave it open... He definately shouldn't be at RW, and i would rather see someone like marin or hazard there...

http://www.mirror.co...ses-bid-1230595 http://www1.skysport...ore-Moses-talks More speculation of a bid, though as previous of posters have said that there are other sources which say we are further along... But we will see...

Ok mate, your telling me i know nothing about chelsea... Ok whatever, you clearly don't know how to have a reasonable debate. As i said imo, he is extremely important to us in a 4-3-3 in his cm role, however that role does not exist, RW/Ram is not Defensive midfield.... Playing any player there gives us an extra player in midfield, its simple maths as it gives us 5 people there... If you have seen ramires in pre season and last season, he is not his best at RW, now if we are going into this game with a highly defensive strategy then Ramires will probably play, however IMO as i have said we shouldn't do that and if we are playing a 4-2-3-1 we should have Ramires on the bench... Also Lampard should be able to sit in a lot more with better players who can create stuff ahead of him which he hasn't had in pre season as the likes of Lukaku, Meireles and Ramires have not been able to create much in attack causing him to have to play a more advanced role... If we have a team with Hazard, MATA, maybe Marin, and torres, then we will have more creativity and lampard will have less need to move out of his position...

How is putting Ramires at RW gonna be of great help defensively unless he doesn't play his position correctly, yes he has great stamina, but really shouldn't be at RW, and not playing with Ramires at RW isn't acting like a kamikaze, it simply means that we have someone who is more adept to playing there... Unless you mean playing Ramires in the double pivot which is a different debate. Also i don't see your point of "Phasing out Ramires" as we have a long season he will have a role to play, we also have Romeu, who is at least our second best defensive midfielder... Also our defensive style of play which isn't that defensive, except we used that tactic in the champs, wouldn't be different except no Ramires at RW, which is not gonna go from being solid to being ripped a new one... Also there i see little reason to park the bus against man city, we have had a bad pre-season, which they have had aswell, they have got a more settled squad, but as i have sad in earlier posts, for me this is our last pre-season game and i would treat it like that....

Don't know if this one has been posted... A bit vague, but another source... http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/chelsea-make-very-serious-offer-for-marseille-rightback--cesar-azpilicueta-8009849.html

We have a young RB in Sam Hutchinson... Don't really see the need in having him over ours, i haven't seen much of him tbh, so if he is the next superstar then fair enough but, i would rather Azpi tbh or an established RB as a backup to ivan...

How would it be mad? We have seen him be ineffective at RW, so unless we play a 4-3-3 i think he will be on the bench for this one... Unless we actually are going to be parking the bus which would be the craziest thing...

TBH, i would much rather see a great performance, where we give it a good go, whilst being fairly solid at the back, and let the result be what it will be than us parking the bus, showing nothing and being "extremely lucky" to win... I personally see this as the final pre season game... Yes it is a cup, but as i have said before preparation for the wigan match is 10 times more important than the community shield imo.

Well i am hoping my team will just score thier first goal of the season in my first game of taking charge, got loads of solid old defenders, so shouldn't be as bad...