No choice now it seems cause hazard up top is a complete waste. Unless we have a good youth striker we can call upon we have to go back to a 3-4-3 and tell Batman to stick around the box. His link up is poor but he is a really good finisher so need to get the ball to him in the box not have him come and get it.

 

Tibo

 

Azpi

Christensen 

Rudiger/Cahill

 

Moses/zappacosta 

Kante/luiz

Drinkwater/baka 

Alonso/Kennedy 

 

Pedro/charly/Willian

Batman

Hazard/cesc

 

Rotate where we can to keep the boys fresh. There appears no plan c if plan b(atman) gets injured too...

I reckon that it's right time for Michy to win lot confidence for to be the second striker, and prove that he deserve his place in the squad

if he doesn't step up now. he will be out at the end of the season. With abraham and ugbo out on loan, we don't have many options. 

Crazy how fast things in football. 1 minute we were all excited having outplayed Atlético away, now a home loss to city and an injury to morata and it's all doom and gloom again. 

If bats does step up, then I'm sure the mood will change again. 

1 hour ago, big blue said:

if he doesn't step up now. he will be out at the end of the season.

That's assuming he gets picked in Morata's absence. 

I wouldn't bet against Conte leaving him on the bench and opting for a front three of Willian, Hazard and Pedro.

There's clearly something about Michy that Antonio just doesn't rate because when it comes to the really big moments to select him he turns elsewhere. 

57 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

That's assuming he gets picked in Morata's absence. 

I wouldn't bet against Conte leaving him on the bench and opting for a front three of Willian, Hazard and Pedro.

There's clearly something about Michy that Antonio just doesn't rate because when it comes to the really big moments to select him he turns elsewhere. 

If he doesn't get a run of games with no other strikers available, then he should've gone in the summer. 

I agree it wouldn't be a massive surprise to see hazard play there, he did well in the 2 games last season. 

You never know a good run of games could be the making of him....Kane couldn't get a game at s**rs until injuries then got a few games and started scoring..... IMHO opinion though Conte will go with Pedro Hazard Willian lots af pace will scare the hell out of defenses specially if they keep changing positions

I would prefer to see Hazard in the middle with Pedro and Musonda on the wings running in behind. 

I'm really not that worried, let Michy prove himself, he's talented, he has struggled in the PL physically but he has never had trouble scoring. 

For me the Palace match is 2 in midfield and then the wide men with Bats. With three up front you would expect Bats to put one away.

Fabregas on the bench, if we are cruising then second half sub at 70 mins.

 

That's assuming he gets picked in Morata's absence. 
I wouldn't bet against Conte leaving him on the bench and opting for a front three of Willian, Hazard and Pedro.
There's clearly something about Michy that Antonio just doesn't rate because when it comes to the really big moments to select him he turns elsewhere. 

Well then that shows an obvious chink in his armour, any how he picks Willian over michy I'll blow a fuse Willian looks like he wants out so wouldn't have him anywhere near the starting squad

On a side note is there any chance of calling Tammy back if the don deems it necessary or are we legally unable to?

4 minutes ago, LengmanJedi said:

On a side note is there any chance of calling Tammy back if the don deems it necessary or are we legally unable to?

I'm sure we normally have a clause to cancel the loan in January if we want, like Ake last season. 

I can see the logic of playing a false 9 in a tricky match like Roma away if Morata is still unavailable. But Bats should be starting the next 3 Premier League games in his absence. 

8 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

That's assuming he gets picked in Morata's absence. 

I wouldn't bet against Conte leaving him on the bench and opting for a front three of Willian, Hazard and Pedro.

There's clearly something about Michy that Antonio just doesn't rate because when it comes to the really big moments to select him he turns elsewhere. 

And judging by his performance's this season i can see why, his general play is Torres level's, although atleast he has a somewhat respectable goal record to make up for it.

I'm sure we normally have a clause to cancel the loan in January if we want, like Ake last season. 

Not much point then as hopefully Alvaro will be back and we don't want to sour the relationship with another club!

1 hour ago, LengmanJedi said:

Not much point then as hopefully Alvaro will be back and we don't want to sour the relationship with another club!

It won't happen regardless. We made the decision to loan him out. If we were to call him back, it would be because of brilliant form. Not because we are short of strikers. For eg, Ake last season. I am sure the club would prefer he gets regular starts at another PL club anyway.

3 hours ago, LengmanJedi said:

Not much point then as hopefully Alvaro will be back and we don't want to sour the relationship with another club!

Ake came back during the January window last season. He went to Bournemouth on a half season loan and they wanted to keep him for the rest of the season. However we decided not to extend the loan. So there was no cancellation in this case.

16 hours ago, LengmanJedi said:

On a side note is there any chance of calling Tammy back if the don deems it necessary or are we legally unable to?

I think that Tammy need to play again and again, reminder him in January is an waste of time for him and his progression.. 

I think that Tammy need to play again and again, reminder him in January is an waste of time for him and his progression.. 

Was just thinking it would be better for us if conte had confidence in him than Willian in a false 9 formation until we bring on the batman in the 75th min I can't take that till we get morata back, hopefully Michy pulls his socks up, really applies himself and seizes the opportunity!!

2 hours ago, LengmanJedi said:

Was just thinking it would be better for us if conte had confidence in him than Willian in a false 9 formation until we bring on the batman in the 75th min I can't take that till we get morata back, hopefully Michy pulls his socks up, really applies himself and seizes the opportunity!!

Its more to do with Conte doesn't rate/trust him. Batman probably had enough last year but when your forward gets injured and you still don't come on after scoring against Madrid midweek must be frustrating.

10 hours ago, LengmanJedi said:

Was just thinking it would be better for us if conte had confidence in him than Willian in a false 9 formation until we bring on the batman in the 75th min I can't take that till we get morata back, hopefully Michy pulls his socks up, really applies himself and seizes the opportunity!!

I think that he goes to seize the opportunity, he can score against Crystal or Watford with the help of Hazard he can do it

This couldn't come at a better time for Michy with arguably our easiest games in the league ahead of us.

We have six fairly easier games in October before United. If Morata really is out for six weeks then Michy has a task on his hands. This is the perfect time for him to shine, i am a big big fan of him but if he doesn't impress in these games i think Conte will let him go in the summer.

I think people are way too negative when it comes to Michy on here, discussing a false 9? Really? We've got a lad who has very very good goals to game ratio, that's even in the Premier League. Let him improve, he's still a young player. 

Understandable some of the criticism, his physical aspects have been poor, he got bullied by the Watford defense last season before scoring, he was even sloppy before the West Brom match before he ended up scoring the title-winning goal. But can anyone see the correlation? He scores goals, he needs to improve his game, yes, but youth is on his side, his finishing is certainly something we want on the side. I think people are far too critical of Michy like he's Fernando Torres. 

It actually reminds me of the time we had Mohammad Salah, who would put in piss poor games in the cup games because he never got any game time, people actually thought he was a garbage player, never given him a chance. @ForeverCarefree was one of them let's be honest here! Now, look at Salah? Would you say the same? 

1 hour ago, Slojo said:

I think people are way too negative when it comes to Michy on here, discussing a false 9? Really? We've got a lad who has very very good goals to game ratio, that's even in the Premier League. Let him improve, he's still a young player. 

Understandable some of the criticism, his physical aspects have been poor, he got bullied by the Watford defense last season before scoring, he was even sloppy before the West Brom match before he ended up scoring the title-winning goal. But can anyone see the correlation? He scores goals, he needs to improve his game, yes, but youth is on his side, his finishing is certainly something we want on the side. I think people are far too critical of Michy like he's Fernando Torres. 

It actually reminds me of the time we had Mohammad Salah, who would put in piss poor games in the cup games because he never got any game time, people actually thought he was a garbage player, never given him a chance. @ForeverCarefree was one of them let's be honest here! Now, look at Salah? Would you say the same? 

But that's still an issue, he scores goals but is his goals enough to mask how his weaknesses negatively affect us? Javier Hernandez never got regular start's at United for the same issues.

2 hours ago, Argo said:

But that's still an issue, he scores goals but is his goals enough to mask how his weaknesses negatively affect us? Javier Hernandez never got regular start's at United for the same issues.

His goals against Sunderland last season shown he has good dribbling, his 2nd goal against Sunderland was a fantastic goal. Hernandez was a goal poacher, Batshuayi has more ability than just tapping the ball in.

His biggest weaknesses are his hold up play & his movement. For the pace he has he needs to improve his movement, but he can't improve if we don't give him the game time, especially if we play a false 9. That's just a direct insult to the player, give him his chance, if we aren't going to then why do we have him? We may as well just sell him and get another forward if we aren't interested in playing him when we've got no other strikers.