meetdoscar

Having calmed down I believe we will qualify albeit undeservedly, shakhtar at home will be too strong for juve plus unlike us both teams(especially shakhtar) have only one philosophy "Attack"...something has to give. If you think shakhtar will not be fighting for top spot by trying their best to win this game then you are kidding yourself...just imagine us in the position shakhtar are in, would we ever take it for granted? No. The only teams that ever take champions league matches for granted are those that have already secured top spot before the last game e.g manu or those that have already qualified and can only end up second no matter the outcome of their last game. Bottom line is teams never take decisive champions league matches for granted and its a decisive match for shakhtar but twice so for juve. Imo we will still go through.

Tinkering with a transitional team for me is the worst mistake a manager can achieve. Settled Teams like juventus/barca/madrid/bayern have played a similar line up week in week out and they don't complain of fatigue y not us even mourinho hardly tinkered while at chelsea hence the telepathic understanding of cech terry lamps and drogba. We get scared of fatigue too much. If at all we want to rest players or make a change at least one or two is ok not 5 or 6 in consecutive games. We should always start with our defined line up and personnel and if during the game they get tired then we can substitute. I don't buy the idea that because we draw or loose a match or two then we should change our formation, personnel or even strategy(except its barca). The formation and personnel we used against spurs, arsenal, manu and liverpool(but for the defense) is obviously our best and should not be tinkered with for any reason when fit. This will bring about more understanding within the team. Sorry to say but if torres isn't scoring or is fatigued then put sturridge in and rotate instead of changing the whole squad for the next game why not make one or two. This tinkering is really getting on my nerves..why did we set up to defend when we know we no longer have a clinical striker or finisher upfront how do we expect to score???.we have the personnel to create nothing less than 10 to 15 chances per game yet we want to defend when it has never worked this season. Against athletico, shakhtar(away),juve(home and away), swansea(away)...I just think the british media is gettn into RDM's head which is confusing him the more. I honestly think if we had played the team(formation) we used vs liverpool we would have been better off and we should from now on yes we might have been outplayed but we still would have had a lot of our chances because of our attackers but to defend and still concede three without reply is an insult to chelsea once again just like against athletico. RDM should make up his mind attack or defense what is his way forward...pls no tinkering.

On a positive note Europa league is a perfect platform for a team in transition to transcend. Ideal competition for us this season.

You know wat let's just blame it on torres. After all we all fail to see we are in transition and played against a well formed team.

With no Torres to always loose possession let's see how well we play.

.

The key to winning this game is in the middle so I don't mind RDM using defensively sound players on the wings. As much as pirlo is a good attacking threat he is also their weakness defensively in the middle and I hope oscar and mata can really take advantage of that as pirlo just plays infront of the back 3. If torres was any good he would be competent against a back three I hope sturridge does.

Doesn't that also mean cech marking buffon?

Oh Well, at least there are no brazilians in juventus starting 11 so no magical surprises, it would have been quite reminiscent of shakhtar game if there were any.

They shouldn't really be that confident because tomorrow they play the champions of europe.

Marchisio "chelsea game our BIGGEST this year" http://m.goal.com/x/en/news/3540219 They give us respect, hopefully they also give us VICTORY.

You are right by saying Playing moses on the right offensively could force asamoah to defend more which will nullify him automatically but RDM is italian he thinks defensively first rather than offensively as mathematically we enter this game in a position of a draw which if achieved will ultimately see us through....I expect a very hard match for both teams.

Your basis for selection are flawed. You talk about playing players out of position yet you mention bertrand of which he has never had any use offensively unlike ramires who is also by far more experienced and proven. Ramires on the right can nullify asamoah(whereas bert plays on d left) and ramires won't be playing offensively except the opportuniy presents itself (there is no point using moses if he is not being played as a winger but to man mark asamoah). Hazard is not in your team that's just nonsense hazard is our best counter attacking player along with ramires,mata and they both provide immense energy to the team so there is no way they are not starting. Mikel and oscar in the pivots because they are the best in possession technically. We don't want ramires loosing possession or making inaccurate passes in the middle of the field in this high pressure match. Having said this iam not arguing with you but Rdm used a similar formation against shakhtar away and juve at home... I think he will do something similar especially in the absence of experienced players like lamps. and terry he must go defensive.

When it worked last season did you complain? Juve have very effective wing backs this is what's best since they need the win more than we do. Any other set up (esp offensive one) means we will be SLAUGHTERED and moreover with this formation we still hve our three creative players on.

-----------cech-------- --Azpi---Iva---cahill---Cole-- -------mikel----------oscar------ --Ramires------Mata-------Hazard/moses(sub)-- --------Sturridge/Torres(sub)-------- Perfectly setup for counter attack.

I'm certain falcao is what we need. We've got different options in torres, sturridge and later lukaku but no pure finisher. Cavani will be good too but I wuld want him not for any other quality but for his finishing the only thing is falcao has proved himself on the biggest stage as a leader upfront in domestic league and in europe . sturridge is as good a player outside the box if not better than both but for his selfishness, may be sturridge could also learn how to finish from falcao.

He is not prolific. We don't need him

Dimatteo to axe torres http://m.goal.com/x/en/news/3538512 Best thing to ever happen to chelsea since MAY 19

Depressing. Get him off the team

Its official, we have no striker.

Osar should be rested has played so many games since olympics. Mata and Moses must start. Sturridge should start. hazard should be in second half.

Best in england=RVP, Best in spain=falcao, Best in italy= cavani. Best in big games(in finals, vs top clubs)= FALCAO. Best finisher=FALCAO. Most inconsistent= cavani. Who is most likely to replace drogba=Falcao

Benteke he meant...I think

Rightly so.

Right now I want Falcao but if wisdom is to prevail I think cavanni will be the better option as he is 2yrs younger and in my opinion will be better than falcao possibly in two years time. Cavani is already a better all round player though.