10 hours ago, wallosh said:

Once you already have two defensive midfielders in a team you no longer needs Fabregas because it won't work.
I can't remember any game under José or Gus where we started with a midfield where Fabregas is playing in front of Mikel and Matic and at the end of the game Fabregas ended up as MOTM. It just never works. But I can remember lots of matches where Fabregas was great playing beside Mikel last season under Gus and playing beside Matic under José in that season we won the league. So a midfield where Fabregas play behind Costa and in front of Matic and Kante won't work just as we saw against Arsenal this season.
So I don't expect Conte to try it again. He should just pick either Matic or Fabregas for any match.

Spot on, 2 defensive mid and fabregas in front is a no no! We just flat and boring! 

Oscar actually been one of our better players this season,

Seriously, maybe am being too negative about him. But I can't remember a match this season where Oscar stands out.

If Willian is out, how about Cesc playing behind Kante/Matic in a 352? Oscar has been consistently ordinary, I have the feeling even Conte figured it out by now. Ideally, JT comes in for Cahill, don't think Moses should be dropped after that performance against Hull.

            Courtois
       Azpi Terry Luiz
Moses Kante Matic Alonso
     Pedro Costa Hazard
 

though I hope that Cesc plays instead of Matic, Matic was pretty okay I guess against Hull so most likely will not be dropped

i  see us going back to a back four. with moses and willian unavilable

 

          courtois

 

dave  luiz   terry    alonso

          Kante

pedro oscar  matic   hazard

 

       Costa

 

To make the Nike deal even sweeter just heard from a reliable source that we williand tottenham to the deal. Love f**king those punks over.

i  see us going back to a back four. with moses and willian unavilable
 
          courtois
 
dave  luiz   terry    alonso
          Kante
pedro oscar  matic   hazard
 
       Costa
 

What happened to Moses?

15 hours ago, bluelion111 said:

Saw on Reddit than someone suggested applause in the 22nd minute, anyone know how to get this idea circulated?

Social media would be your best bet. Try tweeting any of the bigger Chelsea accounts and see if they can share the idea.

Any chances Matic not to start? I am so tired of him. 2 weeks weren't enough. Even in our dream predictions he is always there. Damn.. 

Edited October 14, 20169 yr by Pendergast

Finally tomorrow! COME ON CHELS!

Conte alluded in the pre-match conference we'll be seeing 3 at the back again:

"I have four central defenders, but I have to take the decision for three."

With that in mind and Moses apparently coming back from injury I think we might see:

            Courtois

     Cahill - Terry - Luiz

Dave - Kante - Matic - Alonso

        Hazard - Oscar

              Costa 

9 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Conte alluded in the pre-match conference we'll be seeing 3 at the back again:

"I have four central defenders, but I have to take the decision for three."

With that in mind and Moses apparently coming back from injury I think we might see:

            Courtois

     Cahill - Terry - Luiz

Dave - Kante - Matic - Alonso

        Hazard - Oscar

              Costa 

Too many defenders for me. For one that midfield is devoid of any creativity whatsoever, also means we are risking injuries and suspensions to an already thin defence.

Just now, Remodez said:

Too many defenders for me. For one that midfield is devoid of any creativity whatsoever, also means we are risking injuries and suspensions to an already thin defence.

My preference would be for Fabregas to play ahead of Matic but obviously Conte just doesn't fancy him. 

Maybe you could play Pedro at RWB ahead of Dave but it seems harsh to drop Dave as he's been one of our better performers this season so far. 

Any suggestions? 

26 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

My preference would be for Fabregas to play ahead of Matic but obviously Conte just doesn't fancy him. 

Maybe you could play Pedro at RWB ahead of Dave but it seems harsh to drop Dave as he's been one of our better performers this season so far. 

Any suggestions? 

Leave Dave at center back where he played well. Go with either JT or Cahill, neither fill me with confidence to be honest but at least JT won't lose the ball like Cahill. Moses is the only real option for RWB so he would have to start. 

Any chances Matic not to start? I am so tired of him. 2 weeks weren't enough. Even in our dream predictions he is always there. Damn.. 

If Conte is still in charge, you can bet on Matic starting all our matches. He is probably the only midfielder that has played all our matches under Conte.

Leicester have lost all of their away fixtures in the prem this season

they have about the same points haul as last season's defending champions at the same stage

should be a nailed on 3 points except Chelsea have the possibility of fielding either Cahill, Luiz and / or Ivan and with an early KO there's my bogie-factor

a draw vs the champs would'nt be that bad then

 

 

 

Conte alluded in the pre-match conference we'll be seeing 3 at the back again:
"I have four central defenders, but I have to take the decision for three."
With that in mind and Moses apparently coming back from injury I think we might see:
            Courtois
     Cahill - Terry - Luiz
Dave - Kante - Matic - Alonso
        Hazard - Oscar
              Costa 

5 f**king defenders plus Matic and Kante! If I was coming from another planet and I saw this as our line up, I would think we are playing at Camp nou in the semi final of the champions league.

COME ON YOU BLUES!

33 minutes ago, wallosh said:

5 f**king defenders plus Matic and Kante! If I was coming from another planet and I saw this as our line up, I would think we are playing at Camp nou in the semi final of the champions league.

Even if we play Barcelona in semi final, we would never start with 5 defenders and 2 DMs. We would turn Drogba into left back or Mikel into CB but we wouldnt start like this. Come on guys, are these line ups your prediction for the game or what you think is the best? 

Edited October 14, 20169 yr by Pendergast

Don Conte's Pre-match Presser

 

The international break has made this game feel even more important, really feckin hope we start fast and not give them too much respect like we have every other game this season, i like conte but he needs to start getting us playing like the big team we are

4 hours ago, wallosh said:

5 f**king defenders plus Matic and Kante! If I was coming from another planet and I saw this as our line up, I would think we are playing at Camp nou in the semi final of the champions league.

Conte appears to be leaning toward playing with wing backs but we don't have any players who are a natural fit to play there. Moses did well first time out playing there but is apparently struggling with injury. 

Pedro doesn't seem a natural fit there because I don't think he has the defensive discipline to track back as often as that role requires... same goes for Hazard potentially playing that role. 

Fabregas is out of favour, even though I would like to see how he would perform starting next to Kante. 

It comes down to do we pick players best suited to a system or pick a system best suited to our players? 

4 hours ago, Pendergast said:

Even if we play Barcelona in semi final, we would never start with 5 defenders and 2 DMs. We would turn Drogba into left back or Mikel into CB but we wouldnt start like this. Come on guys, are these line ups your prediction for the game or what you think is the best? 

Matic isn't playing as a defensive midfielder, he's had a lot of attacking license this season, as highlighted by the couple of assists he has chalked up so far already, Kante too is getting forward quite a bit and isn't playing as a pure holding playing, just look at the number of shots he's had already. 

My line up is what I think we could see, I think Conte wants to move towards three at the back and in that system I think Luiz and Terry's high quality distribution becomes a bigger attacking focus as they can both play out from the back very well. 

Azpi has shown already this season that playing on the right, on his stronger foot he offers more going forward the speed and quality of his delivery is better and his goal against Leicester in the League Cup showed a side to his game not really seen when he's out on the left. 

Personally I don't see my line up as playing five defenders, Azpi and Alonso playing as wing backs would hopefully be spending a lot more time in Leicester's half than ours. I think Alonso showed enough against Hull to suggest he's attacking ability is decent putting in a few decent crosses and taking up good positions.

Their main role will be to open up more space for the furthest forward attackers (in my line up Oscar, Hazard and Costa) by getting wide, hugging the byline and stretching the opposition defence.

RE: right wing-backs

- Hazard is simply not an option. Not just because he'd be an appalling fit and has basically none of the qualities to succeed there (except being fast I suppose), but because we need him doing what he's already doing.

- Pedro/Willian would probably be too alien to the role (although I'd have more faith in the latter) and have a natural inclination to cut inside, which doesn't suit the role very well.

- In the absence of Moses, our best bet is probably Azpilicueta, even if he doesn't really have the attacking instincts to be a square peg in a square hole.

- Part of me wants to see Ivanovic play there just to see the sheer enormity of the meltdown which would occur on the forum.

Ramires would have been a perfect Conte player then.

53 minutes ago, wallosh said:

Ramires would have been a perfect Conte player then.

I don't get it when someone says Ramires would add value to our squad. no he wouldn't. him gone was a good riddance, real tired watching him play. he relies only on his stamina and strength. people say Cesc is a one dimensional player, well then Ramires is a half dimensional player