Closed Chelsea v Manchester United

[BluesChick 1,260]

excited the game is on early enough for me to watch and good God I hope we win!

[Sheva. 5,373]

Lampard is out for a few weeks, RDM said in his presser. And Marin might be in the squad.

[Ankit 3,176]

Di Matteo says Sunday's game is too early to be decisive in the title race but the team is in good shape and reacts well to defeat. #CFC

RDM says Chelsea FC are supporting the Kick It Out campaign but wearing t-shirts on Sunday will be an individual choice. #CFC

RDM reports Frank Lampard wlll be out for a couple of weeks with his calf injury. Everyone else is fit. #CFC

RDM says Van Persie has been a very good signing for Man U and they recovered well from defeat in their first game. #CFC

RDM says Chelsea must take advantage of having our home crowd on Sunday and play with the confidence we have shown this season.

RDM confirms that Marko Marin is now fit after injury and might be in the squad for Sunday. #CFC

[Jase 43,479]

This is what Fergie said in his press conference...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/oct/26/sir-alex-ferguson-chelsea-midfield

"Chelsea always had that alternative route of playing with Drogba up front," said Ferguson. "They could play it long or they could play it through midfield. Now it's straightforward. It's through midfield all the time.

"But it's not an easy system to deal with. Oscar and Hazard are similar type players. And with Mata as well they all play in behind the main striker. We just have to find a way of dealing with it."

Prior to Tuesday's Champions League defeat in Donetsk, the system had been an unqualified success. Chelsea have so far dropped just two points in the Premier League – a goalless draw at QPR – reached the last 16 of the League Cup and are second in their Champions League group.

Ferguson might hope that trip to Ukraine has brought some element of doubt to the Chelsea camp. For there will be none to come from a remarkable record at Stamford Bridge, where they have not lost in domestic combat to Sunday's opponents since 2002.

"It's an amazing record," said Ferguson. "It will change – sometime. Hopefully on Sunday."

Despite that lack of success, it could hardly be claimed United's visits to the King's Road have been uneventful. There was the post-match battle between Patrice Evra and the Chelsea groundsman Sam Bethell in 2008 that saw the Frenchman hit with a four-match ban.

Two seasons ago, Ferguson was given a five-match touchline ban following a rant at the performance of the referee Martin Atkinson during another defeat.

Last season, in an amazing game, United hauled themselves back from three goals down only to need an astonishing save from David de Gea in stoppage time to preserve a point.

"In the main I don't think we've played badly," said Ferguson. "We have actually played well in the games we have lost only to get bad decisions against us.

"Last season we did really well to rescue it after being 3-0 down and should have won it really. They could also have lost it though."

[Las7 951]

But realistically speaking, you can't seriously think of putting sturridge over torres? Right??

1st: Although not at his best (and highly unlikely to replicate his old form), still, he has played more matches and has gelled with our other 3 attackers more than sturridge, who not only has never started the game, but also we really cant know if the same level of understanding will be there, chances are they would need some game time.

Torres is loosing the ball more than any other forward out of our direct rivals, he hasn't got a single assist this season.53% of his pass going side ways and 21% backwards. Fernando Torres almost seems like he has no intention of going towards goal. Sturridge doesn't get dispossessed off the ball so easily once he has it under control - his first touch at the moment is miles better that Fernando's; his dribbling and close control is also far superior; he is able to make enough space for himself to have a shot at goal and to top it all off he is faster both in speed with the ball and off the ball.

2nd: Torres might not be the best header, but his height still plays a part (example mikel) so eventhough he isn't half as good as drogba, he can atleast mark someone whereas Sturridge cannot even mark. But more than defending, we might need his height or physical presence (though it ait much) in attack too, as we might have to play long balls, even if we prefer it in the ground, in circumstances like these Sturridge will be beaten everytime whereas Torres might win one or two, or atleast put pressure on defenders.

If we start playing long balls we are already conceding possession to Manchester United, we need to play it a long the ground because not only does Torres not win that many aerial duels but also lack anyone else up top like Anelka in the past to also be an aerial threat.

What some people don't realize about heading the ball is that you need to make yourself available taking up a better position than your markers inside the box in order to have any chance to actually have a free header inside the box - Torres is static inside the box usually behind a central defender unless we expect MU's defense to fuck up and let Fernando have a free header he won't get many opportunities to head the ball at goal - other than set pieces.

Torres defending set pieces is dreadful once again he is usually ball watching - so bringing up his height when he is not utilizing it is pointless.

3rd: Torres has more experience against big teams than Sturridge, and has also proven that he can play as a lone striker, Sturridge still hasn't, (or never had the opportunity too)

Considering Sturridge without even seeing him play one game under his belt would be worse than blind faith. atleast with Torres we know what we will get!!!

You are absolutely right with Torres I know what we would get.

We will get a forward who gets dispossessed with the ball;

Runs into defenders;

Scared of one on one chances;

Doesn't make space for himself to shoot because he takes too many touches allowing defenders to dispossess him without even test goalkeepers;

Is slower than Sturridge;

Doesn't provide any assists this season;

We know what we get with Torres - the question is do we want it. Currently the only thing Torres offers which is better than Sturridge is a treat from set pieces.

I still know with certainty that Torres will start against United but I don't agree with the decision and I also don't agree with your reasoning.

[wj818 25]

Torres is loosing the ball more than any other forward out of our direct rivals, he hasn't got a single assist this season.53% of his pass going side ways and 21% backwards. Fernando Torres almost seems like he has no intention of going towards goal. Sturridge doesn't get dispossessed off the ball so easily once he has it under control - his first touch at the moment is miles better that Fernando's; his dribbling and close control is also far superior; he is able to make enough space for himself to have a shot at goal and to top it all off he is faster both in speed with the ball and off the ball.

If we start playing long balls we are already conceding possession to Manchester United, we need to play it a long the ground because not only does Torres not win that many aerial duels but also lack anyone else up top like Anelka in the past to also be an aerial threat.

What some people don't realize about heading the ball is that you need to make yourself available taking up a better position than your markers inside the box in order to have any chance to actually have a free header inside the box - Torres is static inside the box usually behind a central defender unless we expect MU's defense to fuck up and let Fernando have a free header he won't get many opportunities to head the ball at goal - other than set pieces.

Torres defending set pieces is dreadful once again he is usually ball watching - so bringing up his height when he is not utilizing it is pointless.

You are absolutely right with Torres I know what we would get.

We will get a forward who gets dispossessed with the ball;

Runs into defenders;

Scared of one on one chances;

Doesn't make space for himself to shoot because he takes too many touches allowing defenders to dispossess him without even test goalkeepers;

Is slower than Sturridge;

Doesn't provide any assists this season;

We know what we get with Torres - the question is do we want it. Currently the only thing Torres offers which is better than Sturridge is a treat from set pieces.

I still know with certainty that Torres will start against United but I don't agree with the decision and I also don't agree with your reasoning.

Ok I understand the fustration beh

[Sheva. 5,373]

Nice long post, but you said Torres doesn't have any assist this season? i'm not sure that's right but even if it is, he had shitloads last season and it didn't matter to anyone. So why does it matter now?

[Mufassir08 2,400]

Torres assisted mata's goal against wolves in the capital one cup.

[Zone 290]

This is what Fergie said in his press conference...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/oct/26/sir-alex-ferguson-chelsea-midfield

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.

[Las7 951]

Nice long post, but you said Torres doesn't have any assist this season? i'm not sure that's right but even if it is, he had shitloads last season and it didn't matter to anyone. So why does it matter now?

Last season Torres also didn't have a goal in 24 hours of football - not having a single assist is just proof that the perceived chemistry that he has with the 3 maestros isn't anything all that special. Besides I don't really mind him not assisting if he is actually taking shots a thing he is failing to do regularly.

[Tricky 301]

Torres is loosing the ball more than any other forward out of our direct rivals, he hasn't got a single assist this season.53% of his pass going side ways and 21% backwards. Fernando Torres almost seems like he has no intention of going towards goal. Sturridge doesn't get dispossessed off the ball so easily once he has it under control - his first touch at the moment is miles better that Fernando's; his dribbling and close control is also far superior; he is able to make enough space for himself to have a shot at goal and to top it all off he is faster both in speed with the ball and off the ball.

If we start playing long balls we are already conceding possession to Manchester United, we need to play it a long the ground because not only does Torres not win that many aerial duels but also lack anyone else up top like Anelka in the past to also be an aerial threat.

What some people don't realize about heading the ball is that you need to make yourself available taking up a better position than your markers inside the box in order to have any chance to actually have a free header inside the box - Torres is static inside the box usually behind a central defender unless we expect MU's defense to fuck up and let Fernando have a free header he won't get many opportunities to head the ball at goal - other than set pieces.

Torres defending set pieces is dreadful once again he is usually ball watching - so bringing up his height when he is not utilizing it is pointless.

You are absolutely right with Torres I know what we would get.

We will get a forward who gets dispossessed with the ball;

Runs into defenders;

Scared of one on one chances;

Doesn't make space for himself to shoot because he takes too many touches allowing defenders to dispossess him without even test goalkeepers;

Is slower than Sturridge;

Doesn't provide any assists this season;

We know what we get with Torres - the question is do we want it. Currently the only thing Torres offers which is better than Sturridge is a treat from set pieces.

I still know with certainty that Torres will start against United but I don't agree with the decision and I also don't agree with your reasoning.

Just wanted to point out that Torres ha won more Ariel challenges than anyone else in our team this year, centre halves included.

[Tricky 301]

Also scored 4 in 8 in the league.

Is he back to his best? No. But does he offer more to the team than Sturridge? Yes.

[wj818 25]

Torres is loosing the ball more than any other forward out of our direct rivals, he hasn't got a single assist this season.53% of his pass going side ways and 21% backwards. Fernando Torres almost seems like he has no intention of going towards goal. Sturridge doesn't get dispossessed off the ball so easily once he has it under control - his first touch at the moment is miles better that Fernando's; his dribbling and close control is also far superior; he is able to make enough space for himself to have a shot at goal and to top it all off he is faster both in speed with the ball and off the ball.

If we start playing long balls we are already conceding possession to Manchester United, we need to play it a long the ground because not only does Torres not win that many aerial duels but also lack anyone else up top like Anelka in the past to also be an aerial threat.

What some people don't realize about heading the ball is that you need to make yourself available taking up a better position than your markers inside the box in order to have any chance to actually have a free header inside the box - Torres is static inside the box usually behind a central defender unless we expect MU's defense to fuck up and let Fernando have a free header he won't get many opportunities to head the ball at goal - other than set pieces.

Torres defending set pieces is dreadful once again he is usually ball watching - so bringing up his height when he is not utilizing it is pointless.

You are absolutely right with Torres I know what we would get.

We will get a forward who gets dispossessed with the ball;

Runs into defenders;

Scared of one on one chances;

Doesn't make space for himself to shoot because he takes too many touches allowing defenders to dispossess him without even test goalkeepers;

Is slower than Sturridge;

Doesn't provide any assists this season;

We know what we get with Torres - the question is do we want it. Currently the only thing Torres offers which is better than Sturridge is a treat from set pieces.

I still know with certainty that Torres will start against United but I don't agree with the decision and I also don't agree with your reasoning.

Ok I kinda understand your fustration, but First and foremost, we have to understand that Sturridge has never started a game this season, and even though he has played a handful of minutes here and there as a sub, it's hasn't been enough time for him to familiarize with our new attacking player. Whereas Torres who has started almost every match, has already showed us, he can link up with our attacking playmakers. (well atleast when he wants to) 

 So it's not about Sturridge is in a better form than torres, hell!! Most of the strikers in pl must be better than him currently, (so comparing with our rivals is not even a question, Obvsly dey are better) but out of all the strikers, we only have Torres who is familiar to our system and players. This is the sole reason why he will be picked.

Have you thought without Torres, our attacking players (hazard, Oscar and Mata) have an average height of a midget, and would provide no threat whatsoever in any kind of aerial duel (Sturridge being the same). Imagine out of all the 5 attackers upfront, non of them having atleast the capability to challenge for a duel, that is just ridiculous. And your statement that if we End up playing long ball, we wil concede possession is sound, but in a 90 min game we will have to throw long ball ocassionally, you think Sir Af won't try to capitalize on this weakness?? What if the United players put pressure high up the pitch, and Cech has the ball, he can't keep holding it can he?? He will be forced to throw a long ball, even if we don't wanna, and when this happens we would need a target man,and that role is better suited for Torres than Sturridge. Same in set pieces (defending or attacking) Torres height will be key as it would add another threat/marker. And it doesn't matter if his good at defending or not,  cause the reason he is there is not because he is good, but because we don't have any option as we lack players with height, so torres is simply there out of necessity, a necessity that Sturridge can't help us with!

And Agreed!! Torres might be bad, as he seems to have lost his pace so he can no longer beat defenders like he used to, and he looks too scared to shoot and miss. But one thing Torres does is stretch the back line, he will pull them left, right  and center, not to mention he leads the line really well (well not really true), and most important thing is he creates space for our playmaker , that you cant deny!!! 

Ps: I wonder why Torres never got any rest specially in Cl this week, because it would've been the perfect time to check out Sturridge, and how he would fare. Plus Torres would get some rest too. Maybe RDM has a secretive plan to play Sturridge afterall

[Zone 290]

Also scored 4 in 8 in the league.

Is he back to his best? No. But does he offer more to the team than Sturridge? Yes.

That's ridiculous. How can you that when Sturridge hasn't played 90 minutes of football for ages.

[GhanaBoy 104]

Guys who CARES!!! I just want CHELSEA to win!! no matter who plays as our Forward. THey just need to give their all.

PS= Torres is a former scouser, most likely to be up for this game than anything so....

[Chelsea? 892]

Also scored 4 in 8 in the league.

Is he back to his best? No. But does he offer more to the team than Sturridge? Yes.

I disagree. I think Danny is more of a goal scoring mindset player. While Fernando wants to be a #10. Danny should be more useful since we already have HOM. But I might be overrating Danny cause I'm mostly thinking of him under AVB.

[Tricky 301]

That's ridiculous. How can you that when Sturridge hasn't played 90 minutes of football for ages.

No it's not, your all slagging the guy off (with made up stats sometimes), fact is he has 2:1 goal ratio which is good, his conversion rate of clear cut chances is better than RVPs this year, he has won more aerial duels than anyone else in the team and he is third in terms of key passes.

Getting tired of the constant criticism of the guy. We don't win it's Torres fault, we do win and he obviously did nothing.... can only imagine what kind of fracas would have occurred on here had it been he rather than Hazard who practically gifted Shaktar there second goal.

[Tricky 301]

I disagree. I think Danny is more of a goal scoring mindset player. While Fernando wants to be a #10. Danny should be more useful since we already have HOM. But I might be overrating Danny cause I'm mostly thinking of him under AVB.

I like Sturridge, I think he should start games over Nando (who has started every game this year) but Utd is not the time to throw him in the deep end of leading the line. Anyone arguing otherwise needs to prove to me that he can do it.