Closed Man City v Chelsea

[Kieran. 6,317]

Key battle IMO:

[DoubleO 192]

Feeling the buzz already... Cmon Chelsea! My lineup for today:

---------Diego Costa----------

--Hazard---Oscar---Willian--

------Matic--Fabregas--------

--Azpi---Terry---Cahill---Iva--

-----------Courtois------------

[different level 1,056]

Wonder if we'll use last year's strategy when we went at the Etihad or we'll take them on and start attacking them relentlessly. Either way, it's essential not to lose this one.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Wonder if we'll use last year's strategy when we went at the Etihad or we'll take them on and start attacking them relentlessly. Either way, it's essential not to lose this one.

City are the one team in this league we have no chance of beating if we go all-out attack, IMO. We have to be clever when playing teams as good as/better than we are, and I'm a firm believer in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" - we have incredible success against the superior teams in the PL last season when playing a more sedate style of football. It was all about being a defensive sponge and soaking up all the pressure and then attacking them on the counter.

The City away game last season was a bit of a strange one because we completely dominated the midfield battle all the way through, and had by far the better chances on the balance of play - I quote Phil McNulty of the BBC: "This was no smash-and-grab tactical raid by Mourinho either, as his side hit the woodwork three times through Samuel Eto'o, Nemanja Matic and Gary Cahill. They could, and should, have won by a greater margin". My point is, whilst we didn't exactly park the bus in that game, we definitely didn't attempt to fight fire with fire, and I would be amazed if José opted for us to go all-out today. That's why I'm certain we'll see Willian and Ramires start this game.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

The pressure is on them, not us. We're playing away, and we already have that 5 point gap on them so we can afford to slip up. Plus, a draw would be good for us, while they must win. The pressure is all on them.

[bethos1 802]

We should be able to win this, they looked quite poor against Arsenal last week.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

‘Normally if you want to rotate or give a chance to other players you don’t do that in big matches,’ Jose explained. ‘You try to be as stable as possible and play with the players who have stability in the team. If everything goes well I’ll start today with Cahill and Terry, I won’t start with Zouma for the first time.’

That puts an end to all the expectations of change in the back 5.

[MrBlueGuy 1,552]

‘Normally if you want to rotate or give a chance to other players you don’t do that in big matches,’ Jose explained. ‘You try to be as stable as possible and play with the players who have stability in the team. If everything goes well I’ll start today with Cahill and Terry, I won’t start with Zouma for the first time.’

That puts an end to all the expectations of change in the back 5.

Where did that rumors even came from lol? Obviously he would never change the system unless we are constantly getting thrashed 4-0.

[Nero 1,794]

Key battle IMO:

this is my video

[Dion 2,476]

Just came back from my graduation party and I'm absolutely wasted. Going to bed right now and there's no way I'm waking up in 5 hours. Leaving here some good vibes for the game and hoping for a win. Let's go blues! We can do it!

[Namika 922]

It's bound to be Eden time.

[Jase 43,479]

Spot the odd man in here...

[Namika 922]

Spot the odd man in here...

GERMAN MESSI IS BACK.

[zyzz 711]

Actually I'm more concerned about mike dean than city. Anyway, bring it on. :blue scalf:

[bethos1 802]

I really hope we will start with Luis as our LB.

[Billy. 2,739]

think this will be a draw

[LeonDavis23 371]

boring nil all draw

[LAM09 6,555]

We need to defend much better today, as we have been all over the place defensively.