Closed Chelsea v Arsenal

[Viper22 2,418]

Ditch the god damn 4-2-3-1 and move to a 4-3-3.

-------------------Begovic---------------------

---Azpi------Terry------Cahill------Baba---

---------------------Matic----------------------

-------Oscar/Fabregas---------RLC--------

-Remy-------------------------------Hazard-

--------------------Costa----------------------

Subs: Blackman, Zouma, Ivan, Mikel, Oscar/Fabregas, Traore, Falcao/Kenedy.

[mccg 1,528]

Zouma Cb Terry lcb Cahill rcb Baba lwb Azpil rwb ,Matic Dm, Hazard Lm,

Ramires Rm, Oscar Am, Remy/Costa up front .

[Tomo 21,733]

No chance Giroud starts. It is pace and movement our defence has struggled against this season and that is what Walcott offers. Furthermore, Giroud is awful when he plays against us. We know how to handle him and he has never scored a goal against us.

You wouldn't think he would start but this is Wenger were talking about, logic has never been his strong point.

[Starman60 1,343]

I really dont want to see Ivanovich playing against Arsenal. I would like to see Baba and Loftus-Cheek getting a start and if we do lose playing them Mourinho can at least say he tried to change the side. But if we lose with the same side that went out against Everton we will all be thinking "What if?" We need to evolve and what better team to start against than Arsenal.

[Stats 7,048]

You wouldn't think he would start but this is Wenger were talking about, logic has never been his strong point.

True but I am 100% sure Walcott will start this. Wenger rested a lot of players who would be starting this. Cech, Bellerin, Monreal, Coquelin, Ramsey and Walcott.

[Kendrick 339]

Willian and Pedro not available, that only mean we're gonna see Ramires on the wing (because that always works, right Jose?)

If our right side will be Ivanovic-Ramires I won't even bother to open the TV.

[Jase 43,479]

You wouldn't think he would start but this is Wenger were talking about, logic has never been his strong point.

A fun fact - Walcott was the last Arsenal player to score against us in the Premier League, nearly 2 1/2 years or 5 matches ago.

Get the feeling that we would need to score at least twice on Saturday to get a result.

[dUMB 189]

I think that Mou will play with Ivanovic and Azpi on RB and LB. I'm not sure if Azpi - Baba would be a better solution but we'll never find out. And I'd like to see Cahill and Terry on CB spots, because Cahill is currently our best CB, and Terry because of experience in big games. Not that I have anything against Zouma, I just have a feeling that Cahill - Terry will do better this time.

In pivot I'd like to see RLC - Matic because that means strong defense and a lot of early interceptions, even if Ivanovic is on RB. Also, not a big fan of Cesc as #10 but this time I have a feeling (again) that it would be a good thing to do. Oscar - Cesc - Hazard would be perfect IMO. And not sure who should start up front... Remy or Costa, for me its 50 - 50, but Mou will start Costa.

[Tomo 21,733]

A fun fact - Walcott was the last Arsenal player to score against us in the Premier League, nearly 2 1/2 years or 4 matches ago.

Get the feeling that we would need to score at least twice on Saturday to get a result.

I always have confidence vs Arsenal due to their raging inferiority complex against us.

We have played them before on bad form (admittedly not as bad as this) and still beat them.

[samzilla 517]

Better than Ivanovic on current form is not really saying much. Still was rather average and got exposed against the worst side we've played against in years. If I were Jose I'd still start Iva in the hope he remembers that he's a defender for Chelsea FC. I'm actually pretty confident that that's what Jose will do.

Iva right now is playing like he's groundhog day'ing the 2013 league cup semi-final against swansea over and over and over again.

[Chelsea Buzz 487]

This is another big one for the Chels. Need to get the BPL ship righted now or never. Who better to beat than the Gooners.

Would not mind this line up, but probably not likely from Jose:

- - - - Costa - - - - -

Hazard - Cesc - Oscar

- - Matic - RLC - -

Dave - JT - Cahill - Baba

- - - - Begovic - - - -

Up with the Chels!! :blue scalf: :blue scalf:

[Johnnyeye 7,440]

I´m keeping my mouth shut, no more predictions, either we play and get the results or it´s back to drawing board again. I´m very glad we got back to winning ways in the Champions League, it´s good for the confidence, but playing Maccabi Tel Aviv is not the same as playing Arsenal or other Premier League opposition, so i´m not going to read to much into Wednesday´s result. The main priority is to get a run of good results and finding consistency in our play and results, Arsenal are going to attack us with pace, Walcott and Alexis will run riot if Ivanovic starts, i hope that Mourinho has finally realised that Ivan is a liability, and benches him the next games, please God. Baba has shown he is more than ready to start playing at LB and Azpi should play at RB for the next games, also Loftus Cheek should play a lot more, he deserves it.

My lineup for Saturday, minding injuries would be:

GK - Begovic

LB - Baba

CB - Terry / Cahill ( need to keep in mind we´re dealing with pacey players and Terry doesn´t cope very well )

CB - Zouma

RB - Azpi

DM - Matic

CM - Oscar

CM - Fabregas

LW - Hazard

RW - Kenedy / Remy / Ramires ? ( no Pedro, no William, unless we want to use Traore )

FW - Costa

4-3-3 or maybe a 4-3-2-1, i would much rather prefer the 4-3-3 wich brought us so much success in the past.

What do you think ? Cheers mates and let´s go for the win and get back to winning ways- KTBFFH

[CurlyHairLikeLuiz 1,625]

No way Hazard doesn't start against Arsenal with Willian and Pedro out. Ramires doesn't have the creativity on the right, so we'll need that on the left, even if he's not performing, it's a risk that needs to be taken.

Yeah, but he shouldn't and if Ramires plays on the right over Traore I will be upset.

[stroey 2,525]

RLC should start IMO, not sure about Baba though. He was very good in attack, but still made some defensive errors and only played 1 match for us.

It would be a massive massive statement for Mourinho to drop Terry/Ivanovic or both this match. He isn't a person that drops his veterans easily, and once you're dropped, it's not easy to get back into the team if you're 30+, it's pretty much definitive. See Ashley Cole, Lampard, Essien, Cech, Iker, Carvalho (Real time). That's why he's taking this long for this decision, as he hasn't predicted that the decline would be so huge for both players. (he even made Ivanovic vice captain)

Zouma-Cahill-JT-Azpi would be a massive statement, it's pretty much a goodbye to Ivanovic, at least as a starting RB for important matches.

I'd go with this line up: (4-3-3)

Begovic
Zouma - Gary - JT - Azpi
RLC/Ramires - Matic - Cesc (or Cesc as #10 in the 4-2-3-1)
Oscar/Remy - Costa - Eden

Cahill was outstanding the last game, he should start.
Ramires for more experience, RLC for better football overall.
Oscar for more passing fluency and pressing, or Remy for more directness and pace on the wing.
Cesc is back with a good game, an assist and goal, Diego back with a goal, both are ready to start.

Eden is feeling the pressure now, Cesc woke up, Diego woke up, Matic woke up, Oscar is back and took his penalty. Eden is a kind of guy that needs this pressure to wake up, he needs competition. We saw this towards the end of the game, he was chasing the goal, he will get this vs Arsenal.

[boshman 1,073]

If Iva starts I think I will just throw in the towel there and then. It's almost as good as giving them a goal headstart!

[El P. 1,354]

If Mourinho wants to continue changing this team... Then go all in.

No Pedro, no Willian. Ok. Oscar was good. RLC was good. But RLC can't play as a DMF in a big game, or ever if you ask me. So play him alongside Matić. What about Fabregas? Play him too. Yes, put Oscar on wing, we played with Willi on wing who isn't natural winger too, Oscar is fast enough.

And provide width with Baba and Azpi on full-backs.

One can dream.

[Eidur the Spider 4,515]

Jose Mourinho reports Willian is out of Arsenal game but every other player is selected for the squad, but there are some doubts. #CFC

Included in the fitness doubts are Pedro, Willian and Oscar. #CFC

Jose re-emphasises he liked the team's performance on Wednesday v Maccabi Tel Aviv. #CFC

Jose says no criticism from him about the performances of Branislav Ivanovic. He doesn't separate individuals from team displays. #CFC

Jose wants to isolate this game against Arsenal from all other contexts. Chelsea's record v Arsenal and the Shield match don't matter. #CFC

Jose says Petr Cech is an opponent until the end of the game. After that, if he wants to come to CFC dressing room, the door is open. #CFC

Jose says media always look for drama stories when a team loses matches, but he says the effect of loss of confidence is the reality. #CFC

Jose says Eden Hazard is still the penalty taker, and he is the best player playing in England. #CFC

Jose says that soon Eden Hazard will be a man of the match again. #CFC

Jose says he has total confidence in John Terry and he is one of his men. Being on the bench one game doesn't change anything. #CFC

Jose says pundits can criticises him for his decsions, but not for his relationship with his players, as there are zero problems. #CFC

Jose says he prefers early Saturday kick-offs than late evening games on Sunday, like he had in Spain and Italy. #CFC

Jose emphasises that Oscar is a good player and is important against defensive sides as he is so creative. #CFC

[coolhead23 1,146]

I would hope we go back to "Park the Bus" in the first half ... get the disciple and the organisation right more important get into a zone which is very familiar for us ... based on the first half tackle the second half...

Losing Willian would be a big blow for us at this stage ...

We cannot afford to lose this game, no matter what ...