Closed Shakhtar Donetsk v Chelsea

[Ryan Fong 2,776]

Tell that to West Ham, Southampton, Stoke, QPR (to a certain extent) Norwich, west brom.......actually almost everyone in the PL is physical to some degree, bar arsenal....and a select few others. Physicality is a GOOD thing anyway, we dont want a non contact sport. Its what made the PL stand out.

That's the reason why they are in the bottom half of the table.

And exactly the opposite, it's what made EPL slightly fallen behind in recent years and now more and more teams have realized that hence all the technical players in EPL. All the top teams in Europe are not physical. Agility, Pace, Sleek passes and Constant pressing/interception win them matches.

[TheCount 146]

That's the reason why they are in the bottom half of the table.

And exactly the opposite, it's what made EPL slightly fallen behind in recent years and now more and more teams have realized that hence all the technical players in EPL. All the top teams in Europe are not physical. Agility, Pace, Sleek passes and Constant pressing/interception win them matches.

Are you telling me that the Giants of the invincibles in the arsenal years, the man utd team of the treble, the Chelsea teams of 2004-2010 etc etc etc were not physical tough teams? Really?.....jesus....the PL and the english league before has ALWAYS been more physical then europe and has always given european teams trouble because of this.

You just described barcalona their btw bar the pace,

The PL became popular for its counter attacking football, extremely fast pace compared to the rest of europe,(and still is) and its hugely physical game. Which attracted technically gifted players from all around the world and made it the strong league it is today, the unique blend of physicality and high pace left many european teams in the dust for many years and the year we lost in the CL final to utd was the height of this perfect blend, before barca took a strangle hold and started falling over.

Also it dosent matter where they are in the table, their still in the table and as long as their there, they will be tough games to be had.

If you want a less physical game i suggest watching la liga or the brazilian league.

[Rmpr 8,977]

Too small, not tough enough (least their can be something done about this) too much of the same thing with hazard and mata, has a tenancy to dive, not a ideal PREMIERSHIP replacement for lampard either. He can only play in an *ideally* attacking possessive style, so in that regard his versatility in the position he plays wont suit every type of game we have to play, something lampard in his prime could do. He also represents a move away from a style of football i loved, to a more "barca" style which i personaly dislike. He also looks about 12 and isn't very intimidating on the field, neither does he look like a future leader of men.

Say that he's technicaly great and all, he just isnt what i think is needed to compete year in year out in the very physical PL, a plan B is needed for his position, by no means sell him, but rotate where needed.

All these charateristcs fits some guy named Messi...

[Kieran. 6,317]

PL is still very physical, don't kid yourself.

[Ryan Fong 2,776]

Are you telling me that the Giants of the invincibles in the arsenal years, the man utd team of the treble, the Chelsea teams of 2004-2010 etc etc etc were not physical tough teams?

Tough teams, have the ability to deal with physical opponents, but certainly not physical themselves.

I think we need to hold an unanimous definition of "Physical" before further discussion.

[Ryan Fong 2,776]

PL is still very physical, don't kid yourself.

Compare to other leagues, maybe, I'm not arguing that. But you can't deny teams in EPL are changing their styles slowly.

My point is, you don't have to be physical to win trophies, even in a so called physical league.

[Jase 43,479]

The referee for this game will be Damir Skomina from Slovenia. He has previously officiated two of our games, the 2-1 home win against Benfica last season and that 4-1 defeat to Atletico Madrid earlier this season. Skomina has also officiated a game involving Shakhtar before and that was way back in 2007, where they lost 1-0 to FC Salzburg. His most recent match in the Champions League that he officiated is Madrid's 3-2 win over City last month.

Just to add, Shakhtar are unbeaten at home against English oppositions, having won 3 and drew 1 of the 4 meetings and funnily enough, all of those came against London teams. They beaten Tottenham and Arsenal(twice) there. Only Fulham escaped with a draw against Shakhtar in Ukraine back in 2010 in the Europa League. Here's the UEFA Match Press Kit, if anyone is interested with all those said information in it as well as others too.

[ZOS 580]

Too small, not tough enough (least their can be something done about this) too much of the same thing with hazard and mata, has a tenancy to dive, not a ideal PREMIERSHIP replacement for lampard either. He can only play in an *ideally* attacking possessive style, so in that regard his versatility in the position he plays wont suit every type of game we have to play, something lampard in his prime could do. He also represents a move away from a style of football i loved, to a more "barca" style which i personaly dislike. He also looks about 12 and isn't very intimidating on the field, neither does he look like a future leader of men.

Say that he's technicaly great and all, he just isnt what i think is needed to compete year in year out in the very physical PL, a plan B is needed for his position, by no means sell him, but rotate where needed.

[Emmanuelpee 12]

There is a Hazard coming out of Eden,so that no Mata what the opponent do,there will always be Oscar to scare them when holy Moses leads Blues to victorious outings

[KonohasOrangeFlash 2,607]

I think Robbie will field the same lineup as Tottenham which I wouldn't mind. However I would think its time for Marin and Moses to get a game. If not, the United Capital One Cup game should see lots of rotation.

[Milan 17,853]

John Terry will be asked to wear anti-racism armband if he captains Chelsea in Champions League tie at Shakhtar Donetsk.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/john-terry-asked-to-wear-united-1392328

[Ashtarak 4]

Hello, My deapest respect to Chelsea and its fans. I'm writing my first post in this forum thanks to my friend HG who told me about it. I am a Chelsea fan, I'm also a great fan of Armenian Nation Team and its leader Henrikh Mkhitaryan. I'm mentioning about him because he will be in the starting line-up in Shakhtar. He's fast, creative, intelligent in the football field, let your defenders have good amount of luck to cover him, he is everywhere in the field and usually runs the most among both teams. Along with the Armenian international Mkhitaryan, Shakhtar has some other quality players in the attacking midfield. Be couscious of the potential danger from Vilian, Srna, Fernandinho and surely Mkhitaryan. If Mircha Luchesku brings up the best line up, Chelsea will certainly be in a trouble. The Shakhta players are all now on the top of their form. Good luck to both teams, let it be a fair game, so we can enjoy every second of it!

Thanks for reading my first post.

Hayk

[meetdoscar 335]

@ TheCount wrote:

He also represents a move away from a style of football i loved, to a more "barca" style which i personaly dislike. He also looks about 12 and isn't very intimidating on the field, neither does he look like a future leader of men.

My Opinion:

Thank God you are not a chelsea scout/manager or we will have TITUS BRAMBLE as our captain.

Talking about size is an insult to mata,ashley cole,marin also which means u don't know wat mata and cole represent for chelsea fc

Oscar isn't intimidating on the field? U make me laugh. Just ask pirlo and arteta, oh and paul scholes on sunday

Lastly TheCount observes oscar to be a cunt funny considering your name

[KonohasOrangeFlash 2,607]

TheCount's post was the most farcical I've seen in a while. Agree with the above poster, thank god he isn't making the decisions.

[meetdoscar 335]

On second thought I think this game is a tougher match than manu @stamford bridge and of similar significance bcoz they have same points as us so we need to stamp our authority on this group. I remember watching shahkter vs barca and boi where shaktar very good they caused barca all sorts of problems and also juve recently. To get anything out of this game we need to be at our best and also play our best players available never mind the manu game. This is going to end in a win(hopefully for us) or loss bcoz of the attacking prowess of both teams. RDM will surely set up for a win bcoz a draw will b much more difficult and tricky to achieve. Really exciting game to look forward to.

[underdrog 18]

This game is on delay here in india. Looks like I'll have to block out all media and this forum for 4 hours so i won't know the result till i watch it. That's going to be tough

yeah ten channels suck united and barca's ****. anyways gonna stream...

[zolayes 14,489]

There is a Hazard coming out of Eden,so that no Mata what the opponent do,there will always be Oscar to scare them when holy Moses leads Blues to victorious outings

Moses kept back to part the Red Sea next week

[Blue Roar 240]

yeah ten channels suck united and barca's ****. anyways gonna stream...

my computer is down so Will have to wait. They are showing it on ten hd. But i don't have that channel on Tata sky