Chelsea 2-1 West Brom

[manpe 10,855]

HILARIO

IVANOVIC ALEX TERRY COLE

McEACHRAN

BENAYOUN RAMIRES

DROGBA LUKAKU

TORRES

Subs- Turnbull,Bosingwa,Bertrand,Lampard,Romeu,Mikel,Anelka

Drogba and Lukaku 'on the wings' is definitely arguable, but neither of them are slow, they will both bully any right/left back out of the game, drog can put in a perfect cross, and lukaku can link up and get involved and switch around with Torres when he moves more central...

We surely have to score from set pieces now!

Attacking Corners- JT,Alex,Brana,Lukaku,Drogba,Torres- McEachran taking the corner.

Doubt that will be the line up but i believe it should be,

no disrespect, but I'm glad you aren't the manager

[wisey11zola25 142]

no disrespect, but I'm glad you aren't the manager

Pfft.. i've got more clue than anyone who thinks Bosingwa,Mikel,Kalou and Malouda should be involved....

and if any of your disagreement is towards not including Lampard...he is a legend but his legs arent what they used to be, cant be played week in week out when we have Ramires, young josh and someone who works as hard and is as creative as Yossi (proved hes worth a chance in pre season)

[J.F. 1,484]

[manpe 10,855]

@wisey - Naah, I can deal with defensively lacking midfield against inferior sides (even though WBA are not to be underestimated, that would get us into a lot of trouble), but Drogba and Lukaku on the wings is not something I fancy. 2 big target men playing out wide (and Lukaku isn't faster than Kalouda), not to mention it would destroy a certain youngster's confidence, because having played as a striker all your life and now suddenly thrown on the wing being ordered to beat your man, give crosses and not be on the receiving end of them... that's just bad man management. Have Malouda or Anelka there, I can deal with Drogba being fucked around because he probably wouldn't give a shit anymore and he can actually cross. I would actually prefer Benayoun on wing instead of Drogba, and then you have room for Lampard/Mikel in midfield. But I'm also not the manager, and it's probably a good thing... but I would never consider playing Lukaku in the Zola/Duff role That would be just too funny to watch, a 1.91m giant against dwarf full-backs doing stepovers and trying to outrun them.

[Peace. 4,352]

Pfft.. i've got more clue than anyone who thinks Bosingwa,Mikel,Kalou and Malouda should be involved....

Yeah, and you have enough clue to play two central strikers on the wing

[didierforever 7,349]

i dont think we should play mikel this match... but instead of playin our 4-3-3 we should try 4-2-3-1 (which we did against kitchee in pre season)... so

jose-alex-terry-cole;lampard-josh; ramires,benayoun,anelka;drogba....

jose chosen ahead of iva because i feel we wont be doin much defendin and with 2 holdin we would be havin enough cover...

[wisey11zola25 142]

Yeah, and you have enough clue to play two central strikers on the wing

we dont have any wingers so might aswell play two players that will make an impact until we sign an out and out winger.

May be a different way of looking at it but if we're not making anymore signings and playing 4-3-3 we have to think of something better than using Anelka,Malouda and Kalou

[manpe 10,855]

I would much rather prefer any of them playing on wing than Lukaku... They are not THAT bad to prefer an unproven target man, or have you ever seen Lukaku playing and excelling on the flanks? Drogba, MAYBE, but it won't happen under AVB as he favours more natural wingers and Drogba isn't quick enough anymore. Mind that, I am sure we will get a proper winger or two before the end of transfer window, if not, then we will see a lot more of Nicolas Kalouda or change the system from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2. Have you ever seen a winger like that? I mean 1,91m with such body build, he would be completely useless against the far quicker full-backs and I doubt he would like such a sudden change in position either... Managers all over the world would be ridiculing AVB over that decision.

And how can you say that Lukaku will make a bigger impact on the wing? On what evidence is that opinion of yours based?

[Mulumbu 0]

Welcome to TC. Hope you stick around to get your views after the game. Given that you are a WBA fan, maybe you know if Odimwinge will play against us.

Odemwingie will start from the bench I'm sure. Long had a very good debut last week and 442 would be suicidal at the bridge. He will come on however, run a knackered/ageing Terry ragged, get a penalty, Terry will get sent off and we will bag our first premier league win over Chelsea. That would be lovely that.

[Madmax 9,219]

Odemwingie will start from the bench I'm sure. Long had a very good debut last week and 442 would be suicidal at the bridge. He will come on however, run a knackered/ageing Terry ragged, get a penalty, Terry will get sent off and we will bag our first premier league win over Chelsea. That would be lovely that.

You obviously haven't accounted for King Kalou netting a hattrick.

[tmessy 139]

I hope Torres starts, there's a glimpse of his form returning and if he starts and plays well, it'll be 4 games (Villa, Rangers, Stoke...) in a row where he's done well. A run of good form is needed. It'll be good for him to get some chances against WBA and Norwich rather than hoping his first goal comes against Sunderland or Man U in September.

Torres needs to start! finding his form and confidence will help him BIG TIME! AVB choosing him again will help him in his confidence... and i personally think if we run a 4-3-1-2, with nico as the CAM, hes great at giving the ball up in good areas and really smart... run torres and drog together up top to get that triangle...

[dodojojo 510]

i personally think if we run a 4-3-1-2, with nico as the CAM, hes great at giving the ball up in good areas and really smart... run torres and drog together up top to get that triangle...

Yeah, but Carlo tried that a couple of times and it didn't work. AVB had them on for a few minutes against Stoke and honestly, when it was Anelka, Drogba and Torres on, it didn't look that great. I think it's better if it's Anelka, Benayoun and Torres. But I doubt AVB will go for this because I have a feeling Yossi is on his way out so he's not going to bother with a strategy that won't be used again. Plus, he'll need to insure Yossi doesn't get injured. Apparently, his arrival at Tottenham is imminent. Maybe plug McEachran in Yossi's role?

[Guest justin_3d]

I won't be able to watch the match live cause i got to work. New job yay!

So i will see it for the night.

For the game against West Brom i would love to see a 4-2-3-1 formation

Hilario

Bosingwa/Ivan, Alex, Terry, Cole

Mikel/Romeu, Josh

Ramires, Yossi, Malouda

Torres

[tmessy 139]

Yeah, but Carlo tried that a couple of times and it didn't work. AVB had them on for a few minutes against Stoke and honestly, when it was Anelka, Drogba and Torres on, it didn't look that great. I think it's better if it's Anelka, Benayoun and Torres. But I doubt AVB will go for this because I have a feeling Yossi is on his way out so he's not going to bother with a strategy that won't be used again. Plus, he'll need to insure Yossi doesn't get injured. Apparently, his arrival at Tottenham is imminent. Maybe plug McEachran in Yossi's role?

true but was torres as dangerous as he his now? i just dont want drog to go to waste cause we need him, but i really am behind torres and what he CAN do... i do think yossi needs to be on the pitch the same time as torres, hes the best creative midfielder we got... that or josh....................i guess... oh boy, how good does saying modric in that sentence sound now

[tmessy 139]

i think what has hurt us in the past year-ish is that we dont have a deff starting XI and a straight forward formation... we need to get that down first... (and that may be easier with more SIGNINGS!, ugh)

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I hope AVB chooses Lukaku to start against West Brom instead of Kalouless.

[EskWeston 696]

I hope AVB chooses Lukaku to start against West Brom instead of Kalouless.

Lukaku will not be playing on the wing. I would imagine our front 3 would be Malouda, Torres and Anelka. Unless AVB springs a suprise and plays with 2 up top Torres and Drogba. Would expect us to make a statement in this game, first home game of the season and a real chance to show what we are going to be about this season. Losing Cech is a blow but we should be able to soldier through until Man Utd without him.

[Badboy 1,526]

I want us to play a 4-4-2 formation with Drogba and Torres up front, Bosingwa on the right and Malouda because a lack of options on the left.