308 replies to this topic

[mad_mac]

TrojanMan, on 12 January 2012 - 12:58 AM, said:

I expect the same lineup, mac.

We need 6 points in the next 2 games.  City plays Spurs and Arsenal play United in a couple weeks, so some or all of them will be dropping points.  It'd be nice to bag all 6 and close gaps on 3 of them and/or open the gap over Arsenal.

Good point,
I forgot that they all played each other over the next couple of weeks which makes it more important that we dont do our usual "stroll in expecting to win...oh f**k we're a goal down....gutsy performance for a hard-earned point" type of shennanigans against Sunderland

[Saaladin]

Here is the problem with playing teams like Sunderland.

1. They are tough defensively
2. They can score on counters and set plays easily.

3. Chelsea still have delusions of grandeur when they play non-elite teams. This is the reason we have lost so many games that we were tied in. What I mean is that Chelsea pride forces us to attack heavily when we are tied with mid table or bottom table teams, then when our solutions offensively don't work (not enough firepower) we get beat for a sucker punch goal on the counter.

We really need to recognize this problem, we aren't as solid defensively as we were with Mourinho and we are not the scoring machine anymore that won the title 2 years back. When we're tied with these teams we can't forget that they can also score and take the 3 points themselves. Of course though, if we play too conservative we will be accused of sitting on a tie, which is unheard of at the Bridge. Catch -22

[Andreas]

Can't give away too many free kicks in this one, Seb Larsson is a real threat.

[romansoldier1981]

Is Sturridge fit for this one? would love to see him and Torres upfront with Mata in the hole, forget playing wide men as we dont have any

[Lane]

romansoldier1981, on 12 January 2012 - 06:07 PM, said:

Is Sturridge fit for this one? would love to see him and Torres upfront with Mata in the hole, forget playing wide men as we dont have any

he has been training with the 1st team so i guess hes fit. dunno if fit enough to start

[General]

last 5 Form vs form in prem

CFC     DDDLW
SAFC   LWDWW

O'neil's team definitley the form team,  with no Cahill in and Ivan & Malouda crocked, Sturridge just training, no Drogba, everybody settling for the most expensive player in club history just getting assists.....I think a draw will be a good result for Chelsea.

IF the defensive woes had been sorted I would be more confident but after watching the pompey game highlights on CFC TV online...not much  has improved back there despite the cleansheet.

And I know Alex wants to leave but does it have to be to QPR the club that not only is the root cause of our brave and loyal captain facing
racism charges in court but  most likely Chelsea's opponent in the FA cup 4th round...are there no clubs abroad that want him ?

[icecoolguy22]

Sunderland in good form may actually help us, they may come out and play football instead of playing counter attack, which is the best option against us this season. We have to win this, personally I don't think having Drogba or Cahill would make us better anyway. Keep the faith, show fight and pride, we will come through!

[wxwax]

I just keep hoping that eventually, somewhere, sometime, Torres is going to come out of his funk. Maybe this will be the week.

[ozboy]

Not much in the way of reserves is there? If we keep playing our still flaky best 11 every game they will be injured before long.

Makes you laugh to see Mankini complaining about ManC depth

[footballoholic]

We are pretty much down to just one man for every position.

Meireles v Lampard is the only question, which shouldn't really be a question at all.

[evissy]

I don't think Josh will feature for us again this season. Shouldn't be too long his Swansea loan deal is announced.

Sunderland will come and really try to win this one. They have a good chance of getting all the 3 points.

Hope the players are up for it.

[Fast Eddie]

Will be at the Bridge with 2 of my boys so hoping for a positive one …  Suspect Sunderland’s confidence will be high after their recent performances so need ours to be too.  I haven’t seen Thursday’s press conference yet but hope the injured list sees a return of Danny and JT’s knees aren’t giving him too much grief.

Meireles or Lampard to start?

[Spiller86]

No one need ask for my opinion on the Meireles v Lampard question. You all know already. I'm hoping at least some of you agree with me.

Acid test against a team on the up in front of a big crowd. Danny would be nice to have back.

[blizeH]

Looking at Sunderland's recent form, this will definitely be a tough game - http://www.statto.co...form-table/full

Quote

1 Tottenham Hotspur 6 4 2 0 4 0 8 2 +6 14 2.33
2 Sunderland 6 4 1 1 1 1 11 6 +5 13 2.17
3 Manchester United 6 4 0 2 3 1 18 7 +11 12 2.00
4 Liverpool 6 3 2 1 3 2 7 5 +2 11 1.83
5 Stoke City 6 3 2 1 1 2 8 8 0 11 1.83
6 Manchester City 6 3 1 2 4 2 8 3 +5 10 1.67
7 Arsenal 6 3 1 2 2 1 6 5 +1 10 1.67
8 Swansea City 6 2 3 1 3 2 6 3 +3 9 1.50
9 Norwich City 6 2 3 1 0 1 10 9 +1 9 1.50
10 Chelsea 6 2 3 1 0 0 8 8 0 9 1.50

Makes for quite a depressing read, tbh.

Edited by blizeH, 13 January 2012 - 12:39 PM.

[Arq]

blizeH, on 13 January 2012 - 12:37 PM, said:

Looking at Sunderland's recent form, this will definitely be a tough game - http://www.statto.co...form-table/full

Makes for quite a depressing read, tbh.

Thanks, but I'm not sure I wanted to see that this morning while I'm still enjoying my coffee...

[Bluehatter]

Tbh I couldn't give a rats ass if torres scores or not as long as we keep winning and he keeps contributing to wins like he has done in the past few weeks. If he dosn't score for the rest of the year but keeps racking up the assists I'd be delighted.

If we can put a run together which with the fixtures we have shouldn't be to hard then I beleive there is still an outside chane of the league. Top 4 is obviously the main aim at the moment though.

[Vinit Paul]

don't you guys think playing Rambo on the right wing has proved to be better than having Sturridge?
Rambo not only scores goals but also isn't shy to pass the ball unlike Sturridge.
Sturridge 9 on 10 times only goes for his goal rather than passing it to someone whose in a better position than him.
Rambo also combined well with Torres.

Edited by Vinit Paul, 13 January 2012 - 02:23 PM.

[blizeH]

You're actually not wrong there... it's a shame because Sturridge is so gifted, but also absolutely infuriating to watch at times. He has the potential to easily be one of our best players, if not the best player, in terms of natural talent.

The odd thing is that he is a very clever player. His awareness, positional sense, movement are all top notch. But his failure to track back properly at times has really cost us (same with Mata, though he has improved) and his decision making at times is quite simply horrendous. However, luckily for us, and him, these areas that he should easily be able to improve on, and I have no doubt he'll continue to come on leaps and bounds.

[Bluehatter]

Did rambo play right wing v pompey? I thought mata did with malouda on the left?

[chelseabootboy]

Sunderland are bang on form and prob not a good time to face them, I would love all 3 points but would be happy with a point .