Closed Chelsea v Man City

[Strike 7,489]

Petr Cech on The FA Cup preview show: “When you go to Wembley with Drogba, you know you’ve scored. Someone else will have to do it for us this time.”

[bababoom 4,478]

so why Oscar then?

In order to win the midfield battle we have to be up to it physically and playing midgets in midfield won't help that cause. Lamps at least has enough strength to hold up Barry or Yaya not to get robbed every time. Our maestros esp Mata and Oscar are so fuckin useless against City. we need strength, pace and simple, direct play. Lamps's long balls, Ba's holdup, Ramires stamina&pace and maybe Hazards trickery will do

Oscar is 5'11.

You don't need brute force to press the team into making mistake, we did it against arsenal, twice, Spurs and United. Yaya and Barry aren't technically great, they will give away the ball if put under pressure.. look at the Madrid vs City match, Yaya was terrible, why? because he was constantly hassled.

[Jase 43,479]

[Jase 43,479]

Mata singles out 'complete midfielder' Toure ahead of crunch FA Cup semi-final clash

Mata is just being too nice there......

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

Oscar is 5'11.

You don't need brute force to press the team into making mistake, we did it against arsenal, twice, Spurs and United. Yaya and Barry aren't technically great, they will give away the ball if put under pressure.. look at the Madrid vs City match, Yaya was terrible, why? because he was constantly hassled.

But there is a minimum of strength required when u want to rob s.o. like Yaya Toure. Height is secondary. Oscar looks like 60kg and he is an outstanding weakling. There is no way he can be defensively efficient against Barry, Rodwell or Toure

[Hutcho 8,443]

Yes but since City unlike UTD will have attack and have more possession we'll need Ramires' pace for the counter attacks. It didn't work at the Bridge since UTD were happy to give us possession but didn't want the ball to go to Mata,Hazard,Oscar because of their ability on the ball. That's why our only goal came when Mata dropped deep.

We need Ramires, Mikel pivot IMO with Ivanovic-Luiz partnership. Unfortunately Cahill will have to sit this one out despite his performance in the previous tie at the Ethiad.

I have a question though would a Ramires-Luiz pivot be good? With Cahill and Ivanovic at CB?

Might work. We are probably gonna get over run in midfield whichever pairing we pick, because we don't have a Yaya Toure type player. Which is why David luiz could be the closest thing we could have to that.

Or even play a 4-3-3 with Oscar in there as well to give ourselves an extra man, though i don't like having to play Mata out of position.

[The only place to be 11,313]

But there is a minimum of strength required when u want to rob s.o. like Yaya Toure. Height is secondary. Oscar looks like 60kg and he is an outstanding weakling. There is no way he can be defensively efficient against Barry, Rodwell or Toure

I think you're just struggling to come to terms with the fact that Lamps doesn't play these big games anymore. He plays Thursdays nights against Rubin or Saturday against Southampton, and we cross our fingers that he plays well.

Away to City we had Rami on the wing and Lamps in the middle - we need to go with Rami in the middle (alongside Mikel) and Lamps on the bench and pray that they have a good game. That's where the game will be won and lost.

[NishC300 1,865]

Might work. We are probably gonna get over run in midfield whichever pairing we pick, because we don't have a Yaya Toure type player. Which is why David luiz could be the closest thing we could have to that.

Or even play a 4-3-3 with Oscar in there as well to give ourselves an extra man, though i don't like having to play Mata out of position.

Mata will still drift inside though.

[Hutcho 8,443]

Mata will still drift inside though.

Yeah, but if we play a counter attacking 4-3-3, the point of it would be to use width and attack them, so we wouldn't really want him drifting too much. I don't think we will play a 4-3-3, anyway,

[English Freak 456]

I think you're just struggling to come to terms with the fact that Lamps doesn't play these big games anymore. He plays Thursdays nights against Rubin or Saturday against Southampton, and we cross our fingers that he plays well.

Away to City we had Rami on the wing and Lamps in the middle - we need to go with Rami in the middle (alongside Mikel) and Lamps on the bench and pray that they have a good game. That's where the game will be won and lost.

That's been one of our bigger problems this season. The lack of midfield depth has cost us quite a few games this season.

Lampard is ageing, Ramires provides energy but sometimes his passing is awful, Mikel is playing a limited role, Romeu would of been useful & Oscar isn't really a CM yet.

If only we had someone like Meireles or KdB as a squad player this season...

[The only place to be 11,313]

That's been one of our bigger problems this season. The lack of midfield depth has cost us quite a few games this season.

Lampard is ageing, Ramires provides energy but sometimes his passing is awful, Mikel is playing a limited role, Romeu would of been useful & Oscar isn't really a CM yet.

If only we had someone like Meireles or KdB as a squad player this season...

Romeu has been a massive miss for us. He could've really made that position his own and saved us from having to endure Mikel so much.

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

I think you're just struggling to come to terms with the fact that Lamps doesn't play these big games anymore. He plays Thursdays nights against Rubin or Saturday against Southampton, and we cross our fingers that he plays well.

Away to City we had Rami on the wing and Lamps in the middle - we need to go with Rami in the middle (alongside Mikel) and Lamps on the bench and pray that they have a good game. That's where the game will be won and lost.

The game is won in the middle of the pitch. Games against City always are. Ramires and Mikel are not enough against 4 city mids, we need three men there hence 4-3-3 and Lamps is still the man for a that.

[Santiago. 1,500]

I still have high hopes for Romeu in our 4-3-3 in terms of our future, so many similarities with him and Busquets

[The only place to be 11,313]

The game is won in the middle of the pitch. Games against City always are. Ramires and Mikel are not enough against 4 city mids, we need three men there hence 4-3-3 and Lamps is still the man for a that.

If you want to outmuscle them in midfield, why not Ake? He was solid against Kazan getting team high interceptions and distributing the ball well.

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

If you want to outmuscle them in midfield, why not Ake? He was solid against Kazan getting team high interceptions and distributing the ball well.

Do you really prefer Ake over Lampard in a game againt ManCity? Your hatred for Lampard really must be deeply personal.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Do you really prefer Ake over Lampard in a game againt ManCity? Your hatred for Lampard really must be deeply personal.

I don't hate Lampard, but the argument you're putting forward is purely sentimental. If you want to outfight that Man City midfield then why would you pick Lampard over Ake? By what metric is he a better option for that role in 2013?

Ake works harder, he intercepts more passes, he tackles better and he's a better defensively-minded player whilst also having solid technical skills.

I love Lamps, and I really am not a fan of Mikel but I'd pick Mikel ahead of Lampard in this game every time because he's better suited to that role in the team. In fact Lamps doesn't have a role in a 4231 because he's not good enough for a position in the double pivot.

People wanting to change to a 433 have to acknowledge that they're pushing Mata into a position where he's not as effective despite him being our best player.

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

I don't hate Lampard, but the argument you're putting forward is purely sentimental. If you want to outfight that Man City midfield then why would you pick Lampard over Ake? By what metric is he a better option for that role in 2013?

Ake works harder, he intercepts more passes, he tackles better and he's a better defensively-minded player whilst also having solid technical skills.

I love Lamps, and I really am not a fan of Mikel but I'd pick Mikel ahead of Lampard in this game every time because he's better suited to that role in the team. In fact Lamps doesn't have a role in a 4231 because he's not good enough for a position in the double pivot.

People wanting to change to a 433 have to acknowledge that they're pushing Mata into a position where he's not as effective despite him being our best player.

Mata is useless most of the game against City, no matter what position he plays. The good thing about him is even, in a game where he is subdued he only needs one brilliant pass to change the game.

Ake is about the same size as Oscar and will do fuck all against Yaya. Lamps still is good enough for us in a 4-3-3 where he can play his best position. Ake is a CB. Surely Lamps is better than ake in general Of course he is better than ake in CM. Lamps is much better suited to that tole. Lamps performance against Kazan was also better than Akes. I did not see Ake intercepting or tackling that well, acutallay, Akes performance was average at best. Lamps is better technical, the better passer and finisher. A midfield of Mikel, Ramires, Ake would have no creativity at alll. Lamps's long balls will be instrumental in such a game.

I know Lamps is aging, should not play every game, esp not every big game but there is no way, s.o. like Ake with less than 10 professional games should start this knd of game

[bushman 2,043]

If Chelsea falls behind for some reason, let´s say by two goals, Rafa should rest the key players then.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Mata is useless most of the game against City, no matter what position he plays. The good thing about him is even, in a game where he is subdued he only needs one brilliant pass to change the game.

Ake is about the same size as Oscar and will do fuck all against Yaya. Lamps still is good enough for us in a 4-3-3 where he can play his best position. Ake is a CB. Surely Lamps is better than ake in general Of course he is better than ake in CM. Lamps is much better suited to that tole. Lamps performance against Kazan was also better than Akes. I did not see Ake intercepting or tackling that well, acutallay, Akes performance was average at best. Lamps is better technical, the better passer and finisher. A midfield of Mikel, Ramires, Ake would have no creativity at alll. Lamps's long balls will be instrumental in such a game.

I know Lamps is aging, should not play every game, esp not every big game but there is no way, s.o. like Ake with less than 10 professional games should start this knd of game

You may not have seen Ake intercepting that well, but he did. In fact he worked hard throughout the game and he's very much a defensive midfielder nowadays and has been for a while. The argument you're putting forward is based on nothing more than your love for Lamps which is why it's pointless discussing this with you.

A midfield of Rami, Ake and Mikel would provide a stable platform to allow the creative players to do their thing. Personally I'd stick with the 4231 though and put Rami and Mikel there.

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

You may not have seen Ake intercepting that well, but he did. In fact he worked hard throughout the game and he's very much a defensive midfielder nowadays and has been for a while. The argument you're putting forward is based on nothing more than your love for Lamps which is why it's pointless discussing this with you.

A midfield of Rami, Ake and Mikel would provide a stable platform to allow the creative players to do their thing. Personally I'd stick with the 4231 though and put Rami and Mikel there.

A midfield of ake, Rami and Mikel would get hammered. It offers no creativity and no linkup. The attackers would either hang in the air or would have to drop back leaving no one up front. Lamps is a brilliant passer, finisher and experienced leader, ake is nothing of that. I doubt Ake is even better at defending and intercepting than Lamps. You base that on a game against a clueless Kazan side, where Lamps played CAM. I bet if he had played DM he would have made at least as many interceptions and tackles as Ake. If we stick with 4-2-3-1 i would also not play Lamps, but there is no way ake would play for me in that game no matter what formation