Closed Chelsea v Barcelona

[Kieran. 6,317]

brilliant team choice but id have kalou instead of sturridge to start just because he defends ten times better lol

sturridge come on late with a quickfire hatt-trick? what you say? lol

I was thinking about Kalou, but I think Puyol is their makeshift LB at the moment. Sturridge's pace would rip him apart.

[warnie_666 1,081]

,

Playing with Mata and Sturridge on the wings would be the only way that would work, Which means very little tracking back.

I'd start

Cech

Ivanovic - Terry - Cahill - Cole

Mikel - Lampard

Rambo - Mata - Sturridge

Torres

Lampard used to pick up the ball and pass, I'd let Rambo drop back and Mata and Sturridge behind Torres and let those 3 attack. I think our best chance is to pump the ball into space for Torres to run onto it, and bring Mata and Sturridge into play. He will also close down, Bring Drogba on around the 60th minute mark, and start attacking more. Ivanovic and Cole need to be very wise with their timing of getting forward.

Another thing, Cahill, Terry and Ivanovic are all very dangerous from set pieces, If worked well, I could honestly see us scoring 2 goals from them, This is our best chance of beating Barca imo.

Very Little Tracking back is Suicidal.

We need to start the same team that we did against Spurs.

------------------Cech---------------

Ivanovic-----Cahill--Terry-----Cole

-----------Lampard---Mikel-----------

Rambo----------Mata-----------Kalou

----------------Drogba---------------

Subs: Sturrdge, Torres, Essien, Bosingwa, Meireles, Hilario, Ferriera.

Kalou and Ramirez are fantastic at tracking back. These guys need to fall back and make a 4 man midfield when Barca have the ball.

Drogba will be up against Mascherano and Pique. One is not so tall and the other is susceptible to mistakes. Long Balls to Drogba are a must.

Ramirez will own Puyol with his pace on the right flank. While Mata will be up against Busquets and I favor Mata to come up props.

Alves like to go up and play like a winger and therefore balls must be played behind him and have Kalou make that run. This way Alves will be pinned back.

Their strenghts are their front three in Fabregas, Messi and Sanches with Iniesta and Xavi behind. Their weakness is their defense and that is what we need to exploit.

And if Drogba wants to he can be absolutely unplayable.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Screw this game, we need to concentrate on the Arsenal match!

[Blue Armour 4,278]

Ask Malouda to work hard he will, he is better defensivly aswell. You Bahtat.

In a game like this I'd doubt any player will not play to his best.

Malouda's a good choice, as he will track back..but I don't know if he's the same player that frustrated Dani Alves in 2009.

[Santiago. 1,500]

Got a good feeling

[Amblève. 4,995]

Been around on the internet for some time now to see what our opponent's fans think about the game and all they care about are the pitch conditions LMAO

As if Chelsea was a Chamionship team playing every weekend on a field

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

Been around on the internet for some time now to see what our opponent's fans think about the game and all they care about are the pitch conditions LMAO

As if Chelsea was a Chamionship team playing every weekend on a field

Well we all know why is that.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Drogba will be willing to score and win more than in any game since 2009 barca semis.

I guess he is still deadly if he wants and this could be quite a threat to barca. Im sure he didnt forget that game and will try his best to rip barca. Apart from that, hard match, my prediction is 2:1 for Chelsea.

Defeat is not in my creed like that coach said

[robdog 2,084]

---------------------Cech---------------------

Iva---------Cahill----------Terry--------Cole

----------------Mikel---Lampard------------

Sturridge----------Mata---------------Ramires

-------------------Drogba---------------------

I like your line-up, but put Danny Boy on the left & start El Nino. Also, Bison Essien over Lamps??? I hate to type it, but fuck put Tuftie Meireles in there over Mikel. If CFC can not give up any away goals, then we done the business. Up The Chels!!!

[Jype 6,398]

Been around on the internet for some time now to see what our opponent's fans think about the game and all they care about are the pitch conditions LMAO

As if Chelsea was a Chamionship team playing every weekend on a field

That's what annoys me a lot about Barcelona. Their fans and even the whole club itself have become so fucking arrogant after a couple of glorious years and now they think all their opponents will just peacefully bend over and be raped without even putting up a fight. The pitch at San Siro was horrible when they played against Milan but so fucking what? It was in a bad condition when they played against Arsenal too and even Wenger, who usually whines like a baby over little things, just shut up and admitted that Milan were the better side. And what do Barcelona do? They lodge an official complaint to UEFA about the pitch condition and like the whiney hypocrites they are they then send Guardiola to tell the media they're better than the rest and a big club like Barcelona doesn't cry over such matters.

In addition to games in Europe they cry over pitch conditions in their domestic league as well. Barcelona and Real Madrid fuck over the smaller clubs by unfairly taking more money from TV revenue than the other 18 clubs combined whereas in the PL every team receives pretty much the same amount of money. In Spain the smaller clubs can't even pay their players' wages properly and these arrogant motherfuckers think it's fair to demand that every club should have their pitches in pristine condition because that's the way they like to play football. Bitch please.

edit: I take back my words regarding Arsene Wenger. It seems he was being a whining cunt after all.

[capriccioso 2,545]

I'd like to see Kalou start. We can't have a situation where Alves gets a whole flank to himself just because Sturridge won't defend.

[Strike 7,217]

I'd like to see Kalou start. We can't have a situation where Alves gets a whole flank to himself just because Sturridge won't defend.

The only problem with kalou starting is he gives away possession on the counter. we saw that happen numerous times early on at wembley and if that happens on wednesday, barca will fry us . i think rdm should have a talk with kalou and calm him because he is better than sturridge for this game although i like the idea of the napoli game - sturridge on the right and ramires on the left

[Rambo 1,729]

Fuck is Luiz out?

[capriccioso 2,545]

He's not the calmest on the ball, but he can produce some superb passes. The through ball to Mata was as good as any pass I've seen all year.

Maybe he's the technical playmaker we're after

[communicate 2,703]

That's what annoys me a lot about Barcelona. Their fans and even the whole club itself have become so fucking arrogant after a couple of glorious years and now they think all their opponents will just peacefully bend over and be raped without even putting up a fight. The pitch at San Siro was horrible when they played against Milan but so fucking what? It was in a bad condition when they played against Arsenal too and even Wenger, who usually whines like a baby over little things, just shut up and admitted that Milan were the better side. And what do Barcelona do? They lodge an official complaint to UEFA about the pitch condition and like the whiney hypocrites they are they then send Guardiola to tell the media they're better than the rest and a big club like Barcelona doesn't cry over such matters.

In addition to games in Europe they cry over pitch conditions in their domestic league as well. Barcelona and Real Madrid fuck over the smaller clubs by unfairly taking more money from TV revenue than the other 18 clubs combined whereas in the PL every team receives pretty much the same amount of money. In Spain the smaller clubs can't even pay their players' wages properly and these arrogant motherfuckers think it's fair to demand that every club should have their pitches in pristine condition because that's the way they like to play football. Bitch please.

edit: I take back my words regarding Arsene Wenger. It seems he was being a whining cunt after all.

I don't think they are being arrogant, their game rely on quick ground pass and a bad pitch really hinder their game.If you watched barca vs milan. The pitch was really poor, player kept slipping and the ball moves really slow.

[Shane 2,275]

Chelsea 1-0, Lampard to score - 100/1

[Jype 6,398]

I don't think they are being arrogant, their game rely on quick ground pass and a bad pitch really hinder their game.If you watched barca vs milan. The pitch was really poor, player kept slipping and the ball moves really slow.

Of course but I'd say it's a little arrogant for them to think their opponents will just make the pitch on their own stadiums to be just the way the away team likes it to be and therefore reduce their home advantage. Wouldn't that be a bit counterproductive? When Barcelona are already the better side then why should they be helped by these little things too rather than try narrowing the gap between the teams by making them play on a pitch they're clearly not comfortable playing on?

[Ben. 57]

We are a fucking small club, we want to be a fucking small club, why do they think thats an insult to us? Small club > big club any day. We still have a soul, an identity. This mes que un club shit may have been true in 1899 or whatever but not today, you are more than a club if you're a big club, you are the reason for footballs downfall.

We're just a small club in Fulham, just a small club in Fulham.....

Edit: Right, lets see what being a big club gets you. Here's a post from a die hard Barcelona fan born and raised in Chelmsford:

You get glory hunting twats like these supporting your club. Crushing a club and teaching lessons? What is this, primary school?

I know that it seems hypocritical of me to defend myself as a non-plastic and yet accuse him, because both of us are overseas fans but let me put in some context. Outside of Europe and South America, the Premier League receives by far the widest coverage, and in the case of Australia, the only coverage on the media. Other leagues are never acknowledged here, Barcelona are never spoken of as current La Liga champions they're always the Champions of Europe. Add into the bargain that our domestic league is pretty poor barring one team and was only created 5 or 6 years ago, I was a Chelsea fan before we even had a league at all, the NSL was nearly defunct by the time I started paying attention to football. The same can be said for the multitude of non-European fans of any other English club. Once you leave English shores though, it begins to look a bit suspect, unless you have a family tradition of supporting that club. I can confirm that its not just the Anglo-Saxon world where the EPL gets the biggest coverage, I have been to Sri Lanka and India and in both countries the EPL was the only football broadcast- the domestic leagues didnt even get a look in on pay tv.

This guy, however, is from England, where I imagine La Liga gets not much more coverage than it does over here, he has a very good league to pick a team from, I'll bet his country had a league that didn't fall apart before he was born, and yet, he supports Barcelona.

Very good points mate. I don't however see how supporting a team from another country makes you plastic? I've supported chelsea for an easy 3-4 years more then I started following A-league, and will always love chelsea much more, have stronger support for and follow closer than any A-league club that I will ever support, why? because football in our country is purely fucked. They couldn't get their shit together with the NSL, and they way things are going the A-League is going to be dead in a few years. So supporting international clubs is an okay output for situations like this. However this bloke from ENGLAND, being die-hard about a spanish team just isn't right, when he has one of the worlds biggest and best leagues on his home soil. I'm not having a go at anyone, just giving my opinion, and reading this as I'm writing it I think i've somewhat agreed with your argument