Posted January 10, 201213 yr The 4-0 in the FA cup game flattered us frankly!! We continue... Torres to start I am sure. Sunderland are going well at the moment, I hope AVB has a plan! Hopefully we see a bit more urgency and fire from the lads. My preferred line up: Cech Ivan (if available) Luiz (*gulp*) Terry Cole Ramires Romeu Lampard Sturridge Torres Mata
January 10, 201213 yr I know we keep getting dashed (hopes that is !) but i reckon the lads will have remembered last years result, and what the backlash was from it, so..... 3-1 to the Chels & Torres to finally get on the scoresheet. Alan
January 10, 201213 yr Sunderland are on a high and you just know that Martin O'Neil will have 10 men back...sorry to say another dire draw I'm afraid, or possibly a loss until we can work out how to break down solid defences at home...sorry for being so negative but we have been woeful at home against teams that we should be putting to bed early and the longer these games go towards the 90 minutes without scoring the other teams always seem to take their one and only opportunity. I think if we have any chance at all of a victory we will have to play with some urgency and not allow them to get 10 men back...
January 10, 201213 yr The midfield will have to be on top form for us to get a result out of this game. They have really come good since O'Neil joined and after last year anything can happen. My prediction though 2-0 Chelsea with Torres to finally score.
January 10, 201213 yr Cech Ivan, Cahill, Terry, Cole Romeu Rambo, Lampard Sturridge, Mata Torres Lukaka, Luiz, Meireles, Malouda, Hutchinson, back up gk (take your pick from the sh*t)
January 10, 201213 yr Cahill to complete his transfer, play, and score from a header. Torres will not score. Every journo will then make jokes about Torres being outscored by a defender, reusing their David Luiz ones from last year.
January 10, 201213 yr Sunderland are on a high and you just know that Martin O'Neil will have 10 men back...sorry to say another dire draw I'm afraid, or possibly a loss until we can work out how to break down solid defences at home...sorry for being so negative but we have been woeful at home against teams that we should be putting to bed early and the longer these games go towards the 90 minutes without scoring the other teams always seem to take their one and only opportunity. I think if we have any chance at all of a victory we will have to play with some urgency and not allow them to get 10 men back... Nothing negative in your post. Reality is we are struggling against sides like Sunderland and if someone thinks it is going to be easy, think again. 3 points is very hard for us at the moment in the league no matter who we are facing. These defensive minded teams are hardest to break down. If we were playing well and the attacks were flowing we should win this but we are not so we should be active but patient in this one. Torres has done enough to start and I hope we use Malouda and Sturridge on wings, Mata in midfield with Lampard and Ramires. If Torres is creating as well as he is he doesn't even need to hit the net as long as his team mates do. He has improved and I hope the trend continues.
January 10, 201213 yr Don't think Ivan is back for another week. I would try Luiz at right back if Cahill comes in then. Can't be any worse than Bos.
January 10, 201213 yr A very, very tough match. Not getting my hopes up. This the wrong time to catch Sunderland.
January 11, 201213 yr O'Neil has had a good run since he has taken over and I think he would be very happy with a point from this game so I'd imagine that he will set up very defensively. We have not been very good at breaking down the barn door so far this season and I have seen nothing this past few weeks to believe we will do it on Saturday, but here's hoping. Cech Bos, Cahill, Terry, Cole Romeu Rambo, Meireles Sturridge, Mata Torres
January 11, 201213 yr Seeing as we're having trouble breaking down these teams what about Cech Bos Cahil Luiz JT Cole Romeu Josh Rambo Mata Torres I know its never going to happen, but loads of creative options their! Edited January 11, 201213 yr by shedpensioner
January 11, 201213 yr Seeing as we're having trouble breaking down these teams what about Cech Bos Cahil Luiz JT Cole Romeu Josh Rambo Mata Torres I know its never going to happen, but loads of creative options their! Are bos and cole playing more wingers than rb's because 5 at the back and a dm against a team that parks the bus is never going to create much.
January 11, 201213 yr Cech Bos Cahil Luiz JT Cole Romeu Josh Rambo Mata Torres Five man backline AND a defensive midfielder against Sunderland? I know they've been playing well recently, but isn't that a bit of an overkill? Besides, Josh has quite probably gone on loan before this match anyway...
January 11, 201213 yr -------------------Cech ------------------Luiz Ramires ----Lampard -----Merieles ------------Torres------Mata Sturridge --- Lukaku-------Malouda ----------------Drogba Edited January 11, 201213 yr by BlueSkies
January 12, 201213 yr that is good news that we have sturridge back. I think the team is pretty much picking itself at this point. If we do complete the Cahill move before the weekend I still don't think he'll feature as a starter. As Goose said, this isn't a good time to be playing Sunderland, they are sky high in confidence and have momentum on their side. Something we can't claim. I expect ...............................Cech Bosingwa........Luiz............Terry......Cole .............................Romeu ....................Ramires....Lampard (or Meireles) ......Sturridge.....................Mata ................................Torres
January 12, 201213 yr 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.
January 12, 201213 yr 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
January 12, 201213 yr 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
January 12, 201213 yr 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
January 12, 201213 yr 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
