Sad news about Alan Birchenal,lets hope for a speedy recovery.Always comes across as such a decent bloke with a real passion for the game.

6 hours ago, dhidza said:

Your observations are spot on.  I felt the same that Alonso did not provide enough cover and so it was easy to Eriksen to make them crosses.  On the changes though to bring Zouma in at the moment I disagree because he looks off it!  He still has a lot of work to do to get to the level required.  It was a good move to bring Ake back - he's been playing consistently in EPL at Bournemouth and has done a good job.  I think he is a better bet than Zouma at the moment.  I don't know about his ability at LWB but I'm sure Conte knows cause I think they have tried all solutions at the moment in training.  I trust the manager will pick the best team against Leicester and I expect a good win.  Don't forget with the weaknesses we already have, I.e. short Azpi and not covering Alonso - we won 13 on the trot, we are a good side who can adapt and I also expect Alonso to have seen his mistakes and work on improving them as well.

We did win with those weaknesses but that's how football goes eventually teams work you out so you have to keep evolving other wise style of play would not go through trends like it does, I think he will slowly change things, we all knew Moses and alonso would peak, they have done fantastic but I don't think they are Chelsea level players moving forward 

Tibo 

Zouma SSB Cahill 

Dave  Ake

Kante Cesc

Pedro Hazard

Costa 

45 minutes ago, doctorblue said:

Tibo 

Zouma SSB Cahill 

Dave  Ake

Kante Cesc

Pedro Hazard

Costa 

the classic 3-2-2-2-1, you are Guardiola in disguise

30 minutes ago, TheChelseaBlues said:

the classic 3-2-2-2-1, you are Guardiola in disguise

Better than Pulis'  9-0-1 formation

1 hour ago, DonAntonio said:

We did win with those weaknesses but that's how football goes eventually teams work you out so you have to keep evolving other wise style of play would not go through trends like it does, I think he will slowly change things, we all knew Moses and alonso would peak, they have done fantastic but I don't think they are Chelsea level players moving forward 

Yeah - I agree with this.  I also do not think they are Chelsea level players.   My point is that I think we have a manager who acts to always find a winning way.  Even with the weaknesses of Alonso and Moses, we somehow managed good results.  Now he has recalled Ake because he has seen that teams are starting to figure us out.  This will give teams something new to think about as well.  I know we need to keep evolving, for me even Cahill is not Chelsea level, but I think Conte should be able to do enough for us to cross the line with the title without making too many changes.  Alonso, with the managers help, should realise he needs to be tighter defensively so that we improve and seal it at the back!  I have seen Chelsea interests in Bakayoko, Van Djik etc, hopefully we eventually sign someone who is worth it and whom we expect to string at least 3 consistent seasons of top quality football.  The good thing is that I am confident of wins going into fixtures [though bloody Lawrenson predicts a defeat for us each time we face an average+ side], a feeling which is good and i hope will last!

The beauty of the premier league is that while other big teams are busy figuring us out, they are also being figured out by the smaller teams and will also be caught at some stage!  

 

There's reports this was evening that Costa and Conte have had a bust up about Costa's fitness, and Costa has not traveled with the squad to Leicester 

Sky Italia are saying that Conte shouted at Costa "go to China"... 

So Pedro or Batsyahui up front then?

10 minutes ago, Zeta said:

So Pedro or Batsyahui up front then?

Will be be Hazard imo flanked by Willian and Pedro like we saw against Bournemouth. Leicester's defenders are pretty slow so that trio's movements could cause loads of problems for their defence.

Not feeling very confident right now.

No costa by the looks of it. 

Gonna be a massive 4 games for us coming up now, this costa incident has only made things more difficult. Hopefully we can get 3 points tomorrow against Leicester side missing a couple of key players, and we patch things up on the Costa front in time for our trip to anfield in 2 weeks.

Nend a  big performance tomorrow, especially from hazard.

Hope batshuyai gets a chance tomorrow,show costa we are reliant on him

Hazard, Pedro and Willian will cause havoc. The interchanging movement could cause there defence a lot of trouble. 

For anyone traveling up one or two things are being planned. Our fans will show huge support for the Birch in his fight.

Last news we got he's doing well and flirting with the nurses.

Anyone know if the Costa rumour is true? Good news for us if it is.

As you would expect no well wishes for tomorrow. But wish you all the best for the rest of the season and hoping you lift our title.

1 minute ago, Fox in peace said:

For anyone traveling up one or two things are being planned. Our fans will show huge support for the Birch in his fight.

Last news we got he's doing well and flirting with the nurses.

Anyone know if the Costa rumour is true? Good news for us if it is.

As you would expect no well wishes for tomorrow. But wish you all the best for the rest of the season and hoping you lift our title.

Good to hear about the Birch. I heard a rumour that he's trying to find a way to carry out his matchday duties via Skype over the big screens in the corners of the King Power. It's surely made up, but it sounded well up his street.

What kind of reception do you think Kanté will get? The Leicester fans I've spoken to so far seem pretty evenly divided.

1 minute ago, PloKoon13 said:

Good to hear about the Birch. I heard a rumour that he's trying to find a way to carry out his matchday duties via Skype over the big screens in the corners of the King Power. It's surely made up, but it sounded well up his street.

What kind of reception do you think Kanté will get? The Leicester fans I've spoken to so far seem pretty evenly divided.

You know the Birch so well.

Kante or Marmite would that explain it for you. I would like to think he gets a cheer but some hate him for walking away. Had he given us a second year I think most would have been happy. Also the fact we have found it so hard without him has not helped either.

I am sure you will here a little cheer for the scorer of one of our greatest goals. That really was a heavy night for me. Being in a pub with spuds fans made

Oh what do you lot think about the little French man. Has he still got his mini or has he reverted to running into training?

2 hours ago, doctorblue said:

Sky Italia are saying that Conte shouted at Costa "go to China"... 

I saw that yea, seems crazy they were hugging and joking at the Peterborough game, if true vista needs to chill his nuts, we are doing great, have a great manager, this seems strange to me but he is a bit volatile, David luiz being Brazilian and a big figure in the changing room should be of help here.

I think we need to hear from Conte before reaching conclusions. Worrying though - we don't need discontent in the camp

Edited January 13, 20179 yr by carrickblue
Typo

Referee: Andre Marriner

Well that has thrown our match prep down the toilet then. Not feeling at all confident now. We have no one ready to replace Diego. 

I hope the news with Costa is just a rumour. We'd be at a disadvantage without him for sure.

We need this win the keep up the pressure and restart our winning streak, if we're going to go all the way.

Our Spurs game, we played in lacklustre form but that can be forgiven since we notched up 13 wins in a row. Because of this stat, we cannot now lose momentum.

Putting this Costa disadvantage aside, we should have what it takes against an out of form Leicester, so please will we go about with business and seal this win. 

Another Fox in peace here; just to say I hated Chelsea after the FA Fifth Round 1997 - for about 19 years. (I've learned that all football fans have some kind of hatred for other clubs that has some basis in truth, and that's OK...) ... I was in Africa the night Hazard scored THAT goal (and still have the scars to prove it) - best night of my life. Everything was forgiven. But then you nicked Kanté. 

Bugger.

Weirdly looking forward to tomorrow now that Costa is out. Hope you lot enjoy the game. Though not, obviously. 

Cheers.

What is this Costa sh*t ? He better be playing