Closed Swindon v Chelsea

[Sidzeret 2,257]

I see all these lineups with Mata in the middle but since he wants Juan to adapt to a play style where him and Oscar can still exist maybe he won't start in the middle. Who knows.

The whole point of playing him is for him to adapt on the wings. It's ridiculous for him to start in the hole and lose his place again to Oscar as he is the preferred #10 man for Jose.

i reckon KDB will play in the hole with Mata on the right and Will.i on the left. But who knows, its Mourinho

P.S. that's one motherfucker of a sig. :heart: 182

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Match Preview Here by @Strike

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Why With Holland?

We always have the assistant do the PCs for the first couple of rounds of the league cup. It's a tradition.

Ake???

The lineup for the U21 game against Everton today should give us an idea about who that youngster who will join the team tomorrow might be.

[Waterfall 893]

And it could be Lewis Baker! Was hoping for Christensen but I guess Kalas is ahead of him

[Hannah 200]

And it could be Lewis Baker! Was hoping for Christensen but I guess Kalas is ahead of him

Yes, Baker isn't involved tonight so it could be him.

[Jusek 2,031]

And it could be Lewis Baker! Was hoping for Christensen but I guess Kalas is ahead of him

That would be great! Baker deserves a chance with the first team.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Well Baker has certainly earned this chance if he is the one with the first team tomorrow.

[hjperdeath 2,226]

Lewis Baker, absent from the U21 team tonight, joined the first team group for training this afternoon.

[Styles 9,790]

Pleased for Baker and hope for his sake it isn't just a token gesture and an actual appreciation of his undoubted talent. He must be buzzing!

[Barbara 15,149]

Starting players like Luiz, Mata, or Willian in a match like this accomplishes nothing. If they all play great, what does that prove?

The same way Everton game was much tougher than Fulham's, this one will be far less challenging esp for the defenders. If we are going to play the youngsters, at least some of them, this is the match to do it.

not necessarily. The weaker the opposition, the more Mourinho will demand from the players to execute the tasks he assigned to them and the more he'll expect them to shine. I agree they're absolutely the weakest side we'll face this season and they'll lie deep with 11 + the crowd making it harder for Mourinho to assess the backs performance, but such things as movement, positioning and coverage can still be evaluated.

Also about the Holland thing, Mourinho did mention in one of his interviews on Saturday that his assistant coach led the training session that morning - so I suppose Holland trained the team (or most of the team) that is likely to start the match tomorrow.

[polo 18]

^{why not use Mata for this one? he doesn't play in BPL then if he's injured,who cares}

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Pleased for Baker and hope for his sake it isn't just a token gesture and an actual appreciation of his undoubted talent. He must be buzzing!

Not sure he'll actually play, though. Jose would want to give playing to all of Essien, MVG and Frank in the two pivot places. So his inclusion might just be to recognize his progress by having him on the bench and not to actually play him.

[Starman60 1,343]

We all said the same about Benitez

True Sadly True............ We can but hope :blue scalf:

[Jase 43,479]

Yea, there is no point in playing Mata in the #10 role just so that he is comfortable there. He wants him to adapt to the winger role now that Oscar is the preferred man in the hole.

It would be ridiculous to play him in the centre and lose his place again in the team to Oscar for the Spurs game.

A solid performance from Mata guarantees a 'Mata- Oscar- LW' combination against Spurs. Wouldn't be surprised if we get to see the MaZaCar amigos starting next week against Spuds.

TBH, it's highly unlikely that Mata will start at White Hart Lane this Saturday even if he put in a good/great performance tomorrow. He isn't suddenly just going to get 100% better of what Mourinho demands of him after 1 game and play him in a match where he has to defend against Rose or Walker out wide. If anything it will likely be Schurrle or Willian to start alongside Oscar and Hazard as the trio behind the ST against Spurs. A good performance from Mata will certainly put himself into Mourinho's consideration to start in the other upcoming matches but not at WHL against Spurs.

[Tomo 21,733]

TBH, it's highly unlikely that Mata will start at White Hart Lane this Saturday even he put in a good/great performance tomorrow. He isn't suddenly just going to get 100% better of what Mourinho demands of him after 1 game and play him in a match where he has to defend against Rose or Walker out wide. If anything it will likely be Schurrle or Willian to start alongside Oscar and Hazard as the trio behind the ST against Spurs. A good performance from Mata will certainly put himself into Mourinho's consideration to start in the other upcoming matches but not at WHL against Spurs.

True, i think a good performance will get him starts against Steuna and Norwich, however.

[Sidzeret 2,257]

TBH, it's highly unlikely that Mata will start at White Hart Lane this Saturday even he put in a good/great performance tomorrow. He isn't suddenly just going to get 100% better of what Mourinho demands of him after 1 game and play him in a match where he has to defend against Rose or Walker out wide. If anything it will likely be Schurrle or Willian to start alongside Oscar and Hazard as the trio behind the ST against Spurs. A good performance from Mata will certainly put himself into Mourinho's consideration to start in the other upcoming matches but not at WHL against Spurs.

Nah, If he gives a great performance in the wings tomorrow, he is very much likely to start at WHL.

If Mour is anyhow trying to bring the better out of Mata, then he is not going to break his spirit by benching him against Spurs. That'll be the exact opposite of what he's working on here.

[Jase 43,479]

Nah, If he gives a great performance in the wings tomorrow, he is very much likely to start at WHL.

If Mour is anyhow trying to bring the better out of Mata, then he is not going to break his spirit by benching him against Spurs. That'll be the exact opposite of what he's working on here.

Playing against Swindon is a different proposition altogether against Tottenham.

Mourinho hasn't exactly been playing Mata up till now is because he still wants him to adapt and like I said earlier, playing great against Swindon doesn't mean he has suddenly done that 100%. Jose isn't going to all sentimental and take a risk to play Mata, with his defensive deficiency at this point, to defend against the attacking FB and/or wide players of Spurs. He'll go with the ones that he has the trust now and ones that can do the job like when we play United at Old Trafford.

And if Mourinho doesn't want to break Mata's spirit should he play well against Swindon by dropping him out at Saturday, he would have done so with Torres who played decently against Bayern but was nowhere exactly to be seen then with Eto'o coming and straight away taking the ST spot.

[The_Flash 1,144]

Anyone able to pick up a spare programme?