Closed Chelsea v Manchester United

[Henrique 9,133]

Rather win it defending with 11 then loose attacking with 11.....

FFS, what's the point of your post? What it has to do with the original subject?

[Strike 7,489]

Same here. Cahill is an avarage CB, despite his goals, for me he is a good squad player and no more than that, I dont know how some people even say he should be our next captain.

Cahill sucks when he ´plays outside the box, and if we play with MHO in the mid, and think we have a lot to be worried about, spcially with a team with great attacking players. I dont trust in Cahill + Luiz at all.

I'm almost sure RDM wont start the 3 guys in the mid.

not sure i agree. Cahill is definitely not average. in fact among Cahill, Terry and Luiz i would say Cahill is the better defender,

Luiz makes a ton of mistakes. forget the tottenham game, that was an excusable situation - he got blindsided by lennon's cross/shot but luiz hasn't been great so far this season. gervinho equaliser? maybe it was both terry and luiz but lunge on Walters, playing his way out of trouble and losing the ball against Newcastle. He always has this tendency to commit fouls. Admittedly he has matured and become much better now because in his first season at the club he gave away a fair few cheap penalties but still he's not great yet.

Terry - where do i even begin. he has been shockingly bad this season. gervinho equaliser - he was way too deep then and even in the Norwich game for the Holt equaliser. terible against Shakhtar, Juve. He has had his troubles with quick little forwards but he was very good against physical forwards up until last season but Struggled against Holt physically earlier this year.

among the 3, cahill is the more reliable centre-back. he is not a beast but he is certainly not average. keeps line and rarely loses his head. i can only remember the pogrebnyak header where he lost his man but that was so far out and it was a brilliant header by that giant.

[wj818 25]

How many matches did Bertrand start before the CL final?

If he is fit enough he should start simple as that - because he offers more than Torres. Like I've said Torres's link up play is nothing special he has 71% passing accuracy which is nothing spectacular when over 70% of his passes are sideways or backwards, when we have Mata; Hazard and Oscar always moving into channels.

Torres will be picked because he is a bigger name, Sturridge trains with the same players and within the same system as Torres; he knows most of our players for a longer time than Fernando - Sturridge is not some striker we bought this summer who is still adapting to the EPL and our team.

Torres - Height, 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)

Sturridge - Height, 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)

Yeah Torres is much more of an aerial threat than Sturridge in winning long balls or helping the defenders due to his height and Sturridge being a MIDGET!

You think stretching the back line by moving to the wing is something that exemplifies Torres from criticism about him never making runs in the box trying to beat his markers?

Fact is that any half decent forward can stretch the defense for such skillful players that require very little space to operate like Hazard; Mata and Oscar.

We shall find out, Torres looked nakered when he came off

Bertrand might have made his debut but it can't be compared to Sturridge situation. Ryan had a very specific/ disciplined role, cover A.cole  in the left wing and try attacking if opportunity arises. Sturridge on the other hand will be playing as our no.9 so his role is much more vital than Bertrand's cl final role and can affect the whole game if he fails to perform.( and quite frankly, though he was wonderful in Bolton, but he still needs to prove here and also I can't recollect him playing a Cf role in this club.) 

Lol, Im dumbfounded to learn Sturridge  is taller than Torres, are you kidding me? But he looks so small  So is he any good in air?? Cause I've never seen him. Anyway though Sturridge might be taller, I guess his physique won't let him win aerial challenge, so basically eventhough you made a fool out of 

me (lol, still finding it hard to swallow)  the facts remains that Torres is still better in air than him. And according to posts I came across in this very thread, Torres has won the most aerial duals, even more than our center halves this season. (posted by tricky) Which if true, perfectly supports my view. 

Sturridge has been here for a while and would Obvsly train with the team, but he hasnt got any proper real matches under his belt atleast this season. 

Gonna end this by saying, 

Even I wanna see Sturridge play, and challenge Torres for the no9 position. I do believe he will bring something to the table, but having said that, sadly not this match!!! 

KTBFFH!!

[Jase 43,479]

I think we can afford to draw this one, but we must not lose.

Agree. Would like us to win this considering that we are at home but it won't be a disaster if we draw on Sunday though that would mean City closing the gap on us to 2 points as they are likely to beat Swansea at home. Would have taken 4 points from the Spurs and this United game prior to last weekend.

I can't wrap my head around this. I have massive respect for Sir Alex for what he has done at Man U. However, this is just being delusional. How can you claim this when you were gifted 2 goddamn penalties and a world class save from De Gea to walk away with a point..

I'm sure he forgot about the CL game were Evra went through Ramires and the referee thought it was a fair challenge. Anyway, his pre match tactics are pathetic and I can't wait for the game.

Did you expect anything new from Fergie? Most managers are often biased towards their own side but some of them can still be at least objective and impartial at times. Not Fergie though. He has complained about the Drogba's offside goal at Old Trafford from 3 seasons ago but conveniently turned a blind eye on Macheda's handball goal in the same game. Hypocrisy at its best!

[Chelsea? 892]

No way Danny is 6'2

[Naked Mole Rat 437]

Sturridge isn't that tall. Drogba's 189 cm.

[Strike 7,489]

No way Danny is 6'2

yeah. unbelievable but its listed 6'2''

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Sturridge

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/85291/daniel-sturridge?cc=4716

http://www.goal.com/en/people/england/15696/daniel-sturridge

[wj818 25]

If you were Fergie, would you play a diamond formation and try to stop our attacking MAZACAR ( I hope i said it correctly ) , keeping in mind that by doing so it would free our fullbacks?? Or would you play the usual 4-4-2 and attack from the wings, leaving some space for our MAZACAR???

IMO Fergie wouldnt dare to give our attackers free space, so as he shudders by the very thought of MAZACAR running lose, he would choose the diamond formation.

Your thoughts???

[Ankit 3,176]

Red nose will use the standard tactic of Valencia high up on Cole and play through their inside left from Ivanovic's side. This shit always works, has worked for them and we will be left wanting for width while they nick a sneaky goal. Against Chelsea their approach is different from random crossing, it comes with a pattern. Apart from one Chickpea cunt header last season, they play through Chelsea's weakness of not having width and having Ivanovic as RB. We have to exploit their left flank.

[Sheva. 5,373]

I'm almost sure RDM wont start the 3 guys in the mid.

What other option does he have with Lampard out injured?

[Strike 7,489]

If you were Fergie, would you play a diamond formation and try to stop our attacking MAZACAR ( I hope i said it correctly ) , keeping in mind that by doing so it would free our fullbacks?? Or would you play the usual 4-4-2 and attack from the wings, leaving some space for our MAZACAR???

IMO Fergie wouldnt dare to give our attackers free space, so as he shudders by the very thought of MAZACAR running lose, he would choose the diamond formation.

Your thoughts???

we may have "MAZACAR" (not really comfortable with that name) but they have a much more direct Wayne-Persie who can finish half-chances. this is a weird game as over the years, both teams have come in with a slightly defensive formation and kept things tight waiting to nick the odd goal but this time both teams have a struggling defence. that's why rooney and van persie scare me. they are gonna get spaces by pushing wide and once they put away a chance, it'll be hard for us to get back

[Stingray 9,441]

The whining, pfff. + if you want just tall, get Lukaku back. He is taller then both Nando n Sturridge :-)

[Strike 7,489]

The whining, pfff. + if you want just tall, get Lukaku back. He is taller then both Nando n Sturridge :-)

yeah. height maybe a part of the game but the way it's been used around here, we should go out and sign Carroll, Crouch and Pogrebnyak as our front three

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

we may have "MAZACAR" (not really comfortable with that name)

Hate the name and refuse to use it or any other abbreviation. Why do players need a nickname? Did we call Terry, Lampard, and Drogba DROMPRY or something?And they played together for years, not a handful of games. It reminds me of being in grade school and trying to come up with a cool nickname for our group of kids. Mata, Hazard, and Oscar are three players with different skills, who bring different things to the game, and who will have different futures. Why is there a need to try to combine them into one entity?

[Muzchap 8,966]

Hate the name and refuse to use it or any other abbreviation. Why do players need a nickname? Did we call Terry, Lampard, and Drogba DROMPRY or something?And they played together for years, not a handful of games. It reminds me of being in grade school and trying to come up with a cool nickname for our group of kids. Mata, Hazard, and Oscar are three players with different skills, who bring different things to the game, and who will have different futures. Why is there a need to try to combine them into one entity?

Great post TC :)

[Strike 7,489]

Hate the name and refuse to use it or any other abbreviation. Why do players need a nickname? Did we call Terry, Lampard, and Drogba DROMPRY or something?And they played together for years, not a handful of games. It reminds me of being in grade school and trying to come up with a cool nickname for our group of kids. Mata, Hazard, and Oscar are three players with different skills, who bring different things to the game, and who will have different futures. Why is there a need to try to combine them into one entity?

Yeah. Touche'

[Henrique 9,133]

What other option does he have with Lampard out injured?

No doubt he will play Bertrand in the mid, as he did in first games of the season, unless Roman told him to never do that again.

[Strike 7,489]

No doubt he will play Bertrand in the mid, as he did in first games of the season, unless Roman told him to never do that again.

Bertrand was played in the wide mid position - the left side of the 3 AM's. don't think he's in for a CM role. has to wait for his chance at LB i think. Mikel, Ramires, Romeu and Oscar are over CM options now

[Henrique 9,133]

not sure i agree. Cahill is definitely not average. in fact among Cahill, Terry and Luiz i would say Cahill is the better defender,

.

I dont agree with that, but even if I did, it means we are in trouble, because Cahill is not even close of being one of the best defenders in the world. I'm sure when he was playing at Bolton nobody would say that. Moving to a top club doesnt make him a top player.

I dont have faith in any of our defenders right now, but as said before, when Cahill is playing we are more exposed to counter attacks, opponents with skills can easily pass through him.

People say he is our best defenders because Terry are getting old and slow, while Luiz's mistakes are "uglier", and Luiz and Terry get more games than Cahill. The guy arrived here this year, people love new players. Soon they will find he is far from superb.

[Strike 7,489]

I dont agree with that, but even if I did, it means we are in trouble, because Cahill is not even close of being one of the best defenders in the world. I'm sure when he was playing at Bolton nobody would say that. Moving to a top club doesnt make him a top player.

I dont have faith in any of our defenders right now, but as said before, when Cahill is playing we are more exposed to counter attacks, opponents with skills can easily pass through him.

People say he is our best defenders because Terry are getting old and slow, while Luiz's mistakes are "uglier", and Luiz and Terry get more games than Cahill. The guy arrived here this year, people love new players. Soon they will find he is far from superb.

he's not superb, i'll give you that. but he's easily the best defender at the club now. him and maybe Cole have been consistent since the start of the season. just because he was at Bolton doesn't mean he's not great. just because he doesn't figure in the discussion of "best defender in the world" doesn't mean he is not a good defender. he is no-nonsense in his approach and reads the game well.

"more exposed to counter attacks, opponents with skills can easily pass through him"is a generic excuse to underrate him. actually the same criticism is more suited to luiz and terry. terry has trouble handling franco di santo now and luiz gets clumsy around tricky players. he gets drawn in and players like suarez (see below) get past him with ease. He has struggled to defend against Suarez, hernandez, lavezzi. gary cahill on the other hand was excellent against Bale last season when he had to cover for Bosingwa struggling on the right.

i'd say overrated defenders in our squad are terry, luiz and ivanovic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aIMPrUJ81w