closed Arsenal v Chelsea

[Pizy 17,860]

Ivanovic was awful against Liverpool and now has to go against Sanchez. 

Have to hope he can summon a performance from a couple of years ago or this could be a looooong day.

[LAM09 6,547]

Disappointed to see Iva return

[!Hazard! 3,394]

6 minutes ago, milan.cech said:

Why? Just why? What is he doing to earn his place in the eleve? What makes him so important so he is rested in midweek? Just why??

Alonso isn't ready yet for a big game like this. Who else would you start at LB besides Azpi? Yes, i'd like to see Ivanovic far away somewhere on the Eastern side of the Ural Mountains at this point but I can understand why Conte has selected this back four.

I've been one of his critiques, but oh boy, it's real refreshing seeing Cesc in the starting line-up!

[Pizy 17,860]

Looks like we'll have the numbers advantage in the middle of the park. Hopefully we play aggressively and on the front foot and don't allow Özil and Cazorla to run the game.

Is hoping we don't start like zombies from the start like we did against Liverpool asking too much?

[Abreu03 292]

Ivanovic, Cahill, Willian, ZzzZzzZ. Very bad player in the starting lineup.
 

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

4 minutes ago, LAM09 said:

Disappointed to see Iva return

It's a cop out from Conte. Just a ridiculous cop out. And I don't want to hear that bullshit of Alonso isn't "ready" for a big game. Well neither is Ivanovic! 

[LAM09 6,547]

It's a cop out from Conte. Just a ridiculous cop out. And I don't want to hear that bullshit of Alonso isn't "ready" for a big game. Well neither is Ivanovic! 

Conte will be slaughtered if we get done down the right wing. Neither Willian or Iva should be starting IMO.

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

Ivan starting. 

Willian starting. 

Wonderful. 

[Irakozium257 350]

F*ck Ivanović. Is there a stronger verb than 'f*ck' in any language? Because 'f*ck' doesn't even really express enough how much I despise him as a starting player at this club. This turd annoys me so much with how he has cemented his place at RB despite being so last year performance-wise. I won't feel an ounce of sympathy towards Conte if we lose this one.

[Mufassir08 2,400]

So that's our right side completely toothless in attack and extremely vulnerable in defense, Just brilliant!

[kmk108 1,186]

Ivanovic was fine against Arsenal last season.

[Laylabelle 9,296]

Can see this being a long 90 mins!

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,738]

Oscar the first casualty of the rotation.

[!Hazard! 3,394]

14 minutes ago, MrExcalibur100 said:

It's a cop out from Conte. Just a ridiculous cop out. And I don't want to hear that bullshit of Alonso isn't "ready" for a big game. Well neither is Ivanovic! 

Ready in a sense that before Tuesday, last time Alonso played a full game was a month ago. Ivanovic has been playing all season, albeit dreadfully. Nevertheless, Alonso hasn't had the chance to play with the team and there might be question marks over his current fitness levels. And that is all because of Conte. IMO, Alonso should have already couple games under his belt at this point.

[Milan 17,835]

15 minutes ago, MrExcalibur100 said:

It's a cop out from Conte. Just a ridiculous cop out. And I don't want to hear that bullshit of Alonso isn't "ready" for a big game. Well neither is Ivanovic! 

Some are making Alonso look like a fucking 18 year old debutant, prefering Ivanovic to play. FFS

[Blue_Fox_ 2,086]

Seeing Mustafi and Cech with Arsenal hurts me inside.

[MefiX19 1,092]

Just now, Blue_Fox_ said:

Seeing Mustafi and Cech with Arsenal hurts me inside.

 

[Johnnyeye 7,414]

Arsenal are expected to ine up in the following 4-2-3-1 formation:

Cech; Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal; Coquelin, Cazorla; Walcott, Ozil, Iwobi; Sanchez.  

Subs: Ospina, Gibbs, Holding, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Xhaka, Giroud, Perez.