Newcastle 0-3 Chelsea

[Wavy Crockett 190]

quite disappointed if Drogba gets the nod here, which I assume he will

[didierforever 7,349]

need all the creativity we have to win this one and i dont think we should go for anything else than a win before the valencia match. so my team would be

cech;iva alex terry cole; ramires romeu raul;mata drogba sturridge.

i would love to see sturridge as the striker but that would leave the right wing as an option for anelka or kalou who are not at all match fit so i would rather go with these 3 up front.

[manpe 10,861]

I'm bored so I'll post my expected lineup

Cech

Ivan - Luiz - Terry - Cole

Ramires - Meireles

Mata

Sturridge - Drogba - Kalou

Yes I named Kalou.. whatever

[bluephoenix 1,126]

I'm bored so I'll post my expected lineup

Cech

Ivan - Luiz - Terry - Cole

Ramires - Meireles

Mata

Sturridge - Drogba - Kalou

Yes I named Kalou.. whatever

i want to see 5-4-1, and if we still concede in that then there r serious issues

[Liquidator 5,176]

Don't see why Torres deserves to start tomorrow. He has done nothing of note in the last few games (in fact in almost every game he has played for us) so why should he get a chance to 'rebuild his confidence' at the expense of Drogba who needs to do the same thing. I'd stick Danny Sturridge up front with Drogba. Mata playing just in behind. Even if Drogba can't be fucked he's still be better than Torres at the moment

We do have a dreadful record in early kick offs so I'd be surprised with a win

[Wavy Crockett 190]

Don't see why Torres deserves to start tomorrow. He has done nothing of note in the last few games (in fact in almost every game he has played for us) so why should he get a chance to 'rebuild his confidence' at the expense of Drogba who needs to do the same thing. I'd stick Danny Sturridge up front with Drogba. Mata playing just in behind. Even if Drogba can't be fucked he's still be better than Torres at the moment

We do have a dreadful record in early kick offs so I'd be surprised with a win

I feel like nothing good is going to come from letting Torres average one start a month..how can we get him back to form..

We know the potential is there, I say let him start 10 consecutive matches in the league and maybe try out some different alternations in regards to formation etc. If he still can't produce anything of value we might as well let him go for a huge markdown but be prepared to see him flourish at a new club..

I also feel like Drogba might be past his prime (my opinion), havent seen anything impressive lately (granted he haven't played much)

£50m wasn't spent on Torres for him not to be our first striker choice, no?

[Wavy Crockett 190]

Mata, Sturridge, Luiz are given starters to me now..

shame Bertrand is left back, would definitely like to see more of him on the pitch..

[ABK1872 18]

Hope to see Torres starting tomorrow

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I want the same team that started vs wolves. I don't think Lamps should come back to the side, he had a very poor game in the CC.

[Sheva. 5,373]

I want the same team that started vs wolves. I don't think Lamps should come back to the side, he had a very poor game in the CC.

I agree, he gave the ball away a lot too.

[Ollie 4,400]

I don't give a shit who starts up front, both are playing shit so both are equally wank at this present time. Play both

I just want Romeu to play and cement a spot because he aint had a bad game yet and should carry on until he does. Mata and Sturridge i'm sure will play. Think we'll win this, got a good feeling for some reason.

[steve5221 91]

forget the striker, the most important thing for us is the midfield 3. If Romeu Ramires Mierlies play we win this game if mikel plays instead of romeu and Lampard instead of Mierlies we wont. Drogba is ok up front flanked by mata and sturridge. just hope avb keeps the same side v wolves as that team deserves to start.

[Blue Armour 4,278]

Its funny that we have this debate about who should lead the line, when its the defense that screws up game after game....

[Peace. 4,352]

I'd love to see this type of formation, but I like Meireles further up the ground creating since he has good vision and a soft touch when it comes to finding the wingers with a ball over the top. I think Romeu in for Lampard and placing him in the hold position you initially had for Meireles would be a good idea.

Yeah, my midfield would have been Ramires - Romeu - Meireles. I was jsut talking about the formation.

Diamond?

Hum, yes and no. There are two options. Either we use the diamond, or we use a 4-3-3 remixed, i.e. a formation with a midfield which works as a classic 4-3-3, but instead of a flat front three we would have a playmaker behind two strikers (like Argentina played in South Africa, if my memory serves my right). I think we should test both.

[The Big Drog 1,110]

I feel like nothing good is going to come from letting Torres average one start a month..how can we get him back to form..

We know the potential is there, I say let him start 10 consecutive matches in the league and maybe try out some different alternations in regards to formation etc. If he still can't produce anything of value we might as well let him go for a huge markdown but be prepared to see him flourish at a new club..

I also feel like Drogba might be past his prime (my opinion), havent seen anything impressive lately (granted he haven't played much)

£50m wasn't spent on Torres for him not to be our first striker choice, no?

I feel like nothing good is going to come from letting Torres average one start a month..how can we get him back to form..

We know the potential is there, I say let him start 10 consecutive matches in the league and maybe try out some different alternations in regards to formation etc. If he still can't produce anything of value we might as well let him go for a huge markdown but be prepared to see him flourish at a new club..

I also feel like Drogba might be past his prime (my opinion), havent seen anything impressive lately (granted he haven't played much)

£50m wasn't spent on Torres for him not to be our first striker choice, no?

It's not as if we haven't tried playing him, we have, it hasn't worked.

Do we know that the potential is there? How long has this dip in form been going on? At what stage do we accept that this isn't a dip in form and that he is past his prime?

Drogba is probably past his prime too but a past his prime Drogba is still a hell of a lot better than Torres, Drogba's performance against Leverkusen was better than any Torres has played in a Chelsea jersey.

No we spent that money expecting him to be first choice, its a testament to how bad Torres has been that Drogba has gotten this run of games and fair play to Didier, he has played well enough to retain his place and I expect him to do so again tomorrow.

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

Has Drogba really been playing well this season? For all of this talk about him bring that target manthat Torres does not have, his first touch has been horrible lately and it means we constantly give possesion back to the opisition when we try and lump it to him. And witth the new style we are trying to develope he constantly sticks out like a sore thumb and just seems to be a hinderance. We complain about Torres not scoring, but 2 goals in 10 games is not exactly covering yourself in glory for a supposdly top striker. And the worst things is this. If what his agents says is true, then I am not comfortable of giving a consistent run of games to a player who will be worrying more about where he can get that big juicy paycheck then how the team is performing. He is simply not gonna give a shit

I think we should think about putting Danny up in the middle again and risk it with Kalou until we can get another winger. The transfer window is opening soon.

[The Big Drog 1,110]

Has Drogba really been playing well this season? For all of this talk about him bring that target manthat Torres does not have, his first touch has been horrible lately and it means we constantly give possesion back to the opisition when we try and lump it to him. And witth the new style we are trying to develope he constantly sticks out like a sore thumb and just seems to be a hinderance. We complain about Torres not scoring, but 2 goals in 10 games is not exactly covering yourself in glory for a supposdly top striker. And the worst things is this. If what his agents says is true, then I am not comfortable of giving a consistent run of games to a player who will be worrying more about where he can get that big juicy paycheck then how the team is performing. He is simply not gonna give a shit

I think we should think about putting Danny up in the middle again and risk it with Kalou until we can get another winger. The transfer window is opening soon.

Yes he has. His performance against Liverpool was good and he was amongst the best of a bad lot. His performance against Leverkusen was close to vintage Drogba, he was easily our best player on the night and his performance against Wolves was understated but impressive. Check the Leverkusen game, still nobody makes a ball stick up front quite like Drogba does, at any given time we can play it long, let Didier hold it up and bring others into play and build the attack from there. Luckily Didier has (and has always had) a lot more to his game than goals, unfortunately Torres doesn't. Also luckily his integrity and professional attitude is exemplary, he is a leader on the pitch and judging by his performances so far, his future hasn't had any kind of impact on his performance.

No, nobody needs to see Kalou again.

[Blue Armour 4,278]

Has Drogba really been playing well this season? For all of this talk about him bring that target manthat Torres does not have, his first touch has been horrible lately and it means we constantly give possesion back to the opisition when we try and lump it to him. And witth the new style we are trying to develope he constantly sticks out like a sore thumb and just seems to be a hinderance. We complain about Torres not scoring, but 2 goals in 10 games is not exactly covering yourself in glory for a supposdly top striker. And the worst things is this. If what his agents says is true, then I am not comfortable of giving a consistent run of games to a player who will be worrying more about where he can get that big juicy paycheck then how the team is performing. He is simply not gonna give a shit

I think we should think about putting Danny up in the middle again and risk it with Kalou until we can get another winger. The transfer window is opening soon.

Please don't exaggerate.. I agree he's been below-par this season, but its his so-called "horrible" touch that has led to at least two goals in the past two games, namely the one against Bayer and the one that set up Mata's against Wolves..He can still bring down the ball from the air better than anyone else I've seen this season