Match day.....COME ON YOU BLUES !

Extremely excited about this game, even before the Arsenal defeat. We will extend our lead even if we don't win today. The worst case scenario is a defeat but i doubt it will happen.

Any how 0-2 for the Mighty Blues.

8 minutes ago, TrueBlueBIH said:

Extremely excited about this game, even before the Arsenal defeat. We will extend our lead even if we don't win today. The worst case scenario is a defeat but i doubt it will happen.

Any how 0-2 for the Mighty Blues.

Worst case scenario is defeat. Mindblowing

Sunderland has won 3 out of 5 last games. Without Hazard feeling quite nervous.

With Hazard on form he can singlehandedly win games. His performance at Sunderland 3 years ago proved that.

We're gonna miss him but hopefully Diego will continue his purple patch.

43 minutes ago, Van Butsen said:

Worst case scenario is defeat. Mindblowing

 

Maybe it's a good chance to try Batshuayi and Costa together. 

Just now, IliyaKrostin said:

Maybe it's a good chance to try Batshuayi and Costa together. 

I'd love to see us go for a 3-5-2 in the absence of Hazard, with Willian or Cesc playing the role behind the two strikers

It's not healthy to rely on one player like we do so much. Today will be like taking the training wheels off, and changing the nice tarmac road we usually use for a steep mountain with deadly trees. This can only make our other players better in the long run. 

Just realized Sunderland are missing quite a few of their usual starters in midfield. Rodwell, Cattermole, NDong and Watmore. So looks like they'll have to do with some kind of makeshift midfield so thats a plus for us. Hope they don't park the bus and try to play football, then we'll win this with our pressing and offensive force.

Shame Hazard isn't playing but if he has an issue its best to rest him.

Just hope we manage to get 3 points tonight, I can't shake a bad feeling about tonight's game.

To be fair it was Diego who unlocked the last game haz isn't at his best when teams sit back, if haz is out I think Willian will do the job fine, it wouldn't be the worst idea to play 2 strikers, bats and costa were a good combo early in the season 

Well at least arsenal losing has taken the pressure off somewhat. Would be a big disappointment though if we don't beat the bottom team. 

21 minutes ago, Bobbywoodhogan said:

Shame Hazard isn't playing but if he has an issue its best to rest him.

Just hope we manage to get 3 points tonight, I can't shake a bad feeling about tonight's game.

Me too. Getting that weird feeling. Hope it's nothing, but I suppose as a Chelsea fan you can never relax 

 

would be be great if we could get at least 2 first half goals and then rest costa for 2nd half

Edited December 14, 20169 yr by Ivanov87

4 minutes ago, Ivanov87 said:

Me too. Getting that weird feeling. Hope it's nothing, but I suppose as a Chelsea fan you can never relax 

 

would be be great if we could get at least 2 first half goals and then rest costa for 2nd half

It's true we never do haha, but that's why I think we have the best fans. We're quite grounded, not too expectant.

I hope our feelings are wrong and I hope your last line comes true lol

4 minutes ago, Ivanov87 said:

Well at least arsenal losing has taken the pressure off somewhat. Would be a big disappointment though if we don't beat the bottom team. 

We don't want to bring other teams into the picture though. Like even ManUtd if we lose and they win would "just" leave us 10 points ahead of them.

A win tonight would actually be pretty huge.

 

Oddly (considering how much depth we had as recently as two or three years ago), beyond Pedro and Willian, we don't really have a lot of cover for those two roles behind Costa. Who is the alternative if one of those two doesn't put in a good performance? Oscar? Moses? I hope Batshuayi is ready for a starring role in the second half if that is indeed the case.

25 minutes ago, PloKoon13 said:

Oddly (considering how much depth we had as recently as two or three years ago), beyond Pedro and Willian, we don't really have a lot of cover for those two roles behind Costa. Who is the alternative if one of those two doesn't put in a good performance? Oscar? Moses? I hope Batshuayi is ready for a starring role in the second half if that is indeed the case.

Questionable how good of a job they would do but I suppose RLC and Fabregas could play behind the striker... Certainly wouldn't get the same amount of movement and pace out of our attack though. 

Hazard out tonight - I still think Willian Pedro and Costa will get the job done!  Maybe also give Michy a run around in there!  

I'm not too worried!  Come on Chelsea!

Not surprised Eden hasn't made it tonight, he got kicked to f**k again the weekend, with minimal protection from the officials, whom allowed the WBA players to come in hard from behind on him on far too many occasions. I knew it was coming, it's the only way to stop him, referees should take note and don't be afraid to double book players who are constantly committing bookable offences.

Hopefully we can still manage tonight, but if Costa doesn't score, we may struggle to get goals, hope i am way off the mark.

we should have enough to get something without hazard. arsenal dropping points just makes this game even bigger now to distance ourselves further from the current chasing pack.

kind of worried cause we don't want mistakes from matic & kante, who are both on 4 yellow cards. it is crucial those two don't make any slip ups in the next few games as we would severely lack with those two missing, especially kante. chalobah can only do so much. 

Edited December 14, 20169 yr by enigma

with hazard missing sunderland won't have to worry so much about defensive work (double marking hazard) and can put pressure on us in midfield. 

Now that Hazard's out I'm not sure what our ideal front 3 is. It depends on the approach Moyes wishes to take. 

I expect that he has no real option other than to try and counterattack using long balls. Certainly, I don't expect him to instruct Sunderland to compete for the ball in midfield because they lack the quality required. As such, Costa, Pedro and Willian might be necessary to press their defence, and also trigger counterattacks because I would expect Sunderland to lose the ball in midfield quite a bit. If no joy comes from this approach then add Cesc and remove Willian and/or Pedro for extra incision. As a 3-man defence is ideal against a 2-striker attack because you have the extra man back, I would admittedly be loath to change our formation unless they do so first.

I'm reluctant to start with Batshuayi because he's fundamentally a poacher. Costa, not Batshuayi, should be the focal point of our attacks, especially without Hazard. 

To reduce Anichebe's threat I would play as high up the pitch as possible. There is a danger that Defoe could run behind our defense but he's not all that quick anymore so I would take that risk. 

If Luiz is unfit I would actually consider gambling by moving Azpi to the center and Zouma to wherever Anichebe is. If Zouma is good at one thing, it's nullifying opposing target men. If not, I would just keep the same defence for continuity's sake. 

 

 

Edited December 14, 20169 yr by DaRick
Nonsensical section

3 hours ago, Van Butsen said:

Worst case scenario is defeat. Mindblowing

Quality post mate