January 29, 201015 yr Important to consolidate with a nice win here....well, any win is nice. Go Chelsea!
January 29, 201015 yr Be nice to go into the Arsenal game with 3 premiership wins in a row . Burnley are the type of side we'd f**k up against in the past but the confidence in the squad is beaming. Drogs back will be a huge difference although Sturrage is a decent back up and i cant fault him . Joey looked almost back to his best on Wed and this is a game where i hope he starts . Lamps on fire recently so i'll expect him to bag at least 1.
January 29, 201015 yr I expect us to go back to the old 4-4-2 diamond midfield. Cech in goal. Ivan, Riccy, JT & Ash in defence (when will Bosingwa be back? Feels like he's been out for ages). Drogba and Anelka will play together up front. Not sure who will play as defensive midfielder but I would expect Ballack to fill that slot (not sure if I want Deco there). Not sure who will play at the tip of the diamond. I guess it's down to Joey or Deco. The other two slots will be filled by Lamps and Malouda(?). Personally I wouldn't mind playing: -------Joey------ Malouda-Lamps ------Ballack---- That way Joey could drift out to the right and Malouda out to the left at times to create a 4-4-2 with wingers. But if it's down to me then I hope to see 4-3-3 again. I prefer that one against teams like Burnley. They will play defensively and playing 4-3-3 then usually allows us to create more chances. Whenever we've played 4-4-2 we've had big problems. If we would go with 4-3-3 then I hope to see Zhirkov from the start. I think he's played well enough to warrant a place in the starting eleven.
January 29, 201015 yr I have a feeling the side will much be changed from Brum game. I think Drogs will start on the bench. Burnley is in some sort of turmoil and they have a new coach. --------------Cech Ivan---Alex(?)----Terry----Zhirkov -------------Belletti Joey-------Lampard--------Malouda -------Anelka-------Sturridge If things are not working: Deco, Ballack and Drogba will be on the bench. I hope we don't make the game difficult for ourselves on purpose as this should be 3 points.
January 29, 201015 yr It could be Deco at the base of the diamond although whether he will start 3 games in 8 days is a decision Carlito will have to make. Joey has to start again. He is finding his form now and it would be criminal to drop him in this game. I too expect the diamond to be back which is a shame because 4-3-3 was serving us so well and we played some of the best football I've seen us play....and the biggest loser would be Lamps. If we're going with the diamond then I'd drop Ballack for this one and play Deco as DM. Malouda on left and Lamps on right with Joey at the tip. I hope its 4-3-3 though!
January 29, 201015 yr Hope its not going to be the diamond again. Wouldnt make any changes to the line-up we used against Birmingham.
January 29, 201015 yr I think we'll start the game 4-3-3, and introduce Drogba to the game later on, which means we'll switch to the 4-diamond-2 (with Joey making way for Drogba).
January 29, 201015 yr I think we'll start the game 4-3-3, and introduce Drogba to the game later on, which means we'll switch to the 4-diamond-2 (with Joey making way for Drogba). So much for my prediction. From the official site: 'Drogba and Kalou are fit but they will stay at Cobham so are not able to play tomorrow,' continues the Chelsea manager. 'They will play on Tuesday against Hull.' That pretty much settles the 4-3-3 formation then? Where's the edit button? ;)
January 29, 201015 yr I have a feeling the side will much be changed from Brum game. I think Drogs will start on the bench. Burnley is in some sort of turmoil and they have a new coach.--------------Cech Ivan---Alex(?)----Terry----Zhirkov -------------Belletti Joey-------Lampard--------Malouda -------Anelka-------Sturridge If things are not working: Deco, Ballack and Drogba will be on the bench. I hope we don't make the game difficult for ourselves on purpose as this should be 3 points. Belletti is injured and, from what I've heard, out for a month.
January 29, 201015 yr The last two games weve played 4-3-3 and scored 10 goals, now I'm no manager, but I'd say you have to be stupid to tinker around with the team at all, at the moment.
January 29, 201015 yr The last two games weve played 4-3-3 and scored 10 goals, now I'm no manager, but I'd say you have to be stupid to tinker around with the team at all, at the moment. Agreed. Problem will just be that we have many games at the moment which will mean Carlo is going to make changes. I just hope he keeps the 4-3-3
January 29, 201015 yr The last two games weve played 4-3-3 and scored 10 goals, now I'm no manager, but I'd say you have to be stupid to tinker around with the team at all, at the moment. Those were home games though. I think Carlo will play with his precioous diamond for away games unless we need to move a parked bus.
January 29, 201015 yr Those were home games though. I think Carlo will play with his precioous diamond for away games unless we need to move a parked bus. I think we will have to move a parked bus. Brian Laws will be happy to get a point on the board and will set his team with that in mind.
January 29, 201015 yr We should play 4-3-3, because its good formation for us. We are playing very well now in this formation! COME ON CHELSEA!!!
January 30, 201015 yr So no Drogba or Kalou according to Carlo Guess we'll play with more or less the same team as last game.
January 30, 201015 yr I think it would have been too soon to play them so soon. Don't really want to risk two strikers coming back too qickly, when we all agree that the strike department is a little light right now.
January 30, 201015 yr So no Drogba or Kalou according to Carlo Guess we'll play with more or less the same team as last game. Is that really something to be sad about? I thought we played pretty damn well in the last game. I dont think Burnley are even capable of effectively parking the bus because they have some attacking flair with the likes of Eagles, Blake etc highly attack minded and without any combative midfielder of note. Playing the team that played last game is the best thing to do.
January 30, 201015 yr If it is not broken don't fix it, same line up for me thanks. Play Drogba during the week to get him ready for Arsenal, I think it would be a big mistake not to play him in the Arsenal game, he usually destroys them. Looking forward to this one, should be a good game and I hope Burnley come out a bit and try and put up a good fight. 4-0 to the chels, Anelka x2 Lamps and Joe Cole.
January 30, 201015 yr I would bring Drogba on as a sub today - 15-25 minutes at the end. Then I'd give him the start on Tuesday and play him 45-60 mins and hopefully we will be in a position where he can come off without any worries. Then obviously he goes the distance on Sunday against Arsenal. I'm very interested to see how we line up today. A lot of our players have picked up their form with the change in formation (Joe Cole, Lampard, Malouda, Deco). I'm interested to see if we stick with it or go back to the diamond. It could be a coincidence that our midfielders are playing better or it could be the sub par competition but maybe it is the system?
January 30, 201015 yr I would bring Drogba on as a sub today - 15-25 minutes at the end. Then I'd give him the start on Tuesday and play him 45-60 mins and hopefully we will be in a position where he can come off without any worries. Then obviously he goes the distance on Sunday against Arsenal. I'm very interested to see how we line up today. A lot of our players have picked up their form with the change in formation (Joe Cole, Lampard, Malouda, Deco). I'm interested to see if we stick with it or go back to the diamond. It could be a coincidence that our midfielders are playing better or it could be the sub par competition but maybe it is the system? Drogba and Kalou haven't travelled to Burnley, sir! However, I am pretty sure he'll be playing a 45-60 minutes cameo against Hull on Tuesday.
January 30, 201015 yr anyone have a link to a good stream for the game? try the one on here later http://atdhe.net/ JT starts by the way. Edited January 30, 201015 yr by dkw
January 30, 201015 yr team-news Chelsea are expected to line-up in the following 4-3-2-1 formation:1 Petr Cech 2 Branislav Ivanovic 33 Alex 26 John Terry © 3 Ashley Cole 8 Frank Lampard 13 Michael Ballack 17 Yury Zhirkov 10 Joe Cole 15 Florent Malouda 39 Nicolas Anelka Subs: 22 Ross Turnbull, 2 Paulo Ferreira,6 Ricardo Carvalho, 24 Nemanja Matic, 20 Deco, 45 Fabio Borini, 23 Daniel Sturridge. Pretty attacking then. I already expected that Alex is going to come in. Good to see Zhirkov :P Edited January 30, 201015 yr by german-blue