Posted April 18, 200916 yr It is hard to see any good reason for Hididnk to make too many changes to the team that beat Arsenal however with so many games coming up in quick succession there is a chance he may rotate a little. Having said that Everton are on a good run and have only lost twice in the league since the end of November so there is little scope for complacency. Carvalho may get another start and there may be a temptation to rest Essien again however he doesn't look like he is suffering after his long time out with injury.
April 19, 200916 yr Can't see many changes for sure, and given Essien's ridiculous engine, I wouldn't imagine he needs any more resting now. What that means for Mikel is a question for the summer I guess, but we have looked better and more potent going forward with Michael in the side, so we have to stick with this. Any news on Bos? Not that he is likely to get back into the side given Ivanovic has been pretty decent (secong leg against Pool aside).
April 19, 200916 yr If Bossy is fit than we could put Branislav on the left just to try him out for the barca game EDIT: Cole would use some rest too as he was playing almost all the matches this season Edited April 19, 200916 yr by Blue_Boy
April 19, 200916 yr the everton v manure semi`s gone to extra time so thats certainly gonna help us. everton will be tired and they dont really have the squad to dip into.
April 19, 200916 yr Everton playing well in extra time, I hope they win it before penalties. Edit: Mike Riley has really f**ked Everton in this second half of ET. Edited April 19, 200916 yr by blueday3
April 19, 200916 yr Everton playing well in extra time, I hope they win it before penalties.Edit: Mike Riley has really f**ked Everton in this second half of ET. he has hasnt he. every time everton get anywhere he penalises them and gives utd a free kick. riley really is a limelight hogging w**ker.
April 19, 200916 yr Everton it is in the final. Beats United on penalties. I only saw ET, but they looked pretty good this will be no easy match for us.
April 19, 200916 yr Well..looks like a mid-week warm up for the final coming up! About time United lost a shoot out!
April 19, 200916 yr Everton it is in the final. Beats United on penalties. I only saw ET, but they looked pretty good this will be no easy match for us. Everton were pants against a very weak Utd team. We should beat them comfortably on Wednesday and on the 30th May. Having said that, I'm pleased they have put an end to all this quintuple nonsense. (to fair to Fergie, he obviously didn't believe it given the side he put out.)
April 19, 200916 yr I dunno, I missed all of regular time, but they controlled the game from what I saw, and surely would have won it before penalties if Vidic wasn't there. They definitely don't have the scoring threat that we possess though.
April 19, 200916 yr riccy is better than alex and compliments jt better too. he also needs game time... BUT, alex was great against arsenal, and everton will be a threat in the air... so he'd be unlucky to miss out. think ballack's form has been on the incline in the last few weeks, but maybe we could give him a rest here and give mikel some time.
April 19, 200916 yr Having said that, I'm pleased they have put an end to all this quintuple nonsense. (to fair to Fergie, he obviously didn't believe it given the side he put out.) I too am glad that remote possibility is over, but kudos to them for making it to April 19 before they got knocked out of the first one. But I thought for sure one of their youngsters was gonna get late winner and inaugurate another week of media w**king I hope the team dont underestimate Everton, but I like our chances in the final. Edited April 19, 200916 yr by TheWestwayWonder
April 19, 200916 yr A good match to lay a marker for the final. i'd expect a similar dogged approach from Everton on Wed. Given they had extra time and a day less to recover we should be looking for 3pts here as long as we go about our business correctly
April 21, 200916 yr have everton now qualified for europe next season getting to the fa cup final, with us been assured a CL spot for next season??
April 21, 200916 yr have everton now qualified for europe next season getting to the fa cup final, with us been assured a CL spot for next season?? Yeah but they were assured of one anyway because they are going to finish 5th or 6th. Having said that are we defnitley assured of a CL place yet ?!!!
April 21, 200916 yr If we are going to play Mancienne against Barca perhaps he should play against Everton?
April 22, 200916 yr I dont think this match will have any barring on the FA cup final. Everton hasn't got much to play for right now, they have locked down in the top 6, no chance making the top 4, hopefully the Sunday after party will disrupt their preparation. I think Ballack should get a rest, Alex should keep his spot to counter the Everton aerial threat, especially Cahill. As long as we get an early goal, it should be a easy match for us.
April 22, 200916 yr Going to be a very important match this one I think, with Liverpool dropping points last night, we need to try and capitalise on that. Would love to hear some Hiddink and Lampard chants tonight, I think we need to show the former just how much we appreciate him, and the latter, well... just because he's awesome
April 22, 200916 yr ------------------------------Cech---------------------------- Ivanovic-----------Carvalho-------Terry----------------A.Cole -----------------------------Mikel------------------------------ -------------------Essien------------Lampard------- -----------Kalou------------Drogba------------Malouda Give Ballack a rest and give Ricky a run out to see if he can regain his form. We need Carvalho against Barca, he's more suited to defending against quick technical players who prefer to keep the ball on the ground, than Alex. At some point if we're ahead by a good score we may try to bring in Mancienne for Ashley and see how he does on the left, or have him switch flanks with Ivanovic.
April 22, 200916 yr Looks good to me, though would put Anelka in there instead of Kalou. He's on equal goals with Ronaldo for Top Scorer this season so would be good if he could get a few goals. ------------------------------Cech---------------------------- Ivanovic-----------Carvalho-------Terry----------------A.Cole -----------------------------Mikel------------------------------ -------------------Essien------------Lampard------- -----------Anelka----------Drogba------------Malouda
April 22, 200916 yr Looks good to me, though would put Anelka in there instead of Kalou.He's on equal goals with Ronaldo for Top Scorer this season so would be good if he could get a few goals. ------------------------------Cech---------------------------- Ivanovic-----------Carvalho-------Terry----------------A.Cole -----------------------------Mikel------------------------------ -------------------Essien------------Lampard------- -----------Anelka----------Drogba------------Malouda Can't argue with that. Maybe Quaresma deserves a shot though...?
April 22, 200916 yr Can't argue with that. Maybe Quaresma deserves a shot though...? I would go with Malouda, after his great match earlier...would love to see him keep up the form.
April 22, 200916 yr I would go with Malouda, after his great match earlier...would love to see him keep up the form. But Quaresma doesn't play on the same side as Malouda so we could play: Quaresma - Drogba - Malouda. I would do that since I don't see Anelka as a winger. He should be up in front of goal.
April 22, 200916 yr 1 Petr Cech 2 Branislav Ivanovic 33 Alex 26 John Terry © 3 Ashley Cole 13 Michael Ballack 5 Michael Essien 39 Nicolas Anelka 8 Frank Lampard 15 Florent Malouda 11 Didier Drogba Substitutes: 40 Hilario, 35 Juliano Belletti, 42 Michael Mancienne, 50 Jacob Mellis, 12 John Mikel Obi, 21 Salomon Kalou, 9 Franco Di Santo. Lovely to see Mellis at the bench and i certainly hope that he gets a couple of minutes in the second half if we have a comfortable lead. I also notice that Quaresma certainly is totaly out for the team after Hiddinks entrance. I think he got what it takes to make the bench som i am a littelbit confused.
