It's Spuds

 

At Wembley

 

5-1 again, just like 2012

 

Really don't think the team can afford to have Costa starting this match.

We already know he struggles against big powerful centre halves and in the form he's in, he's a real liability. I think Hazard or Pedro in that position would cause them a lot more problems

Spurs defence is good and they have some big strong CB'S who are playing well. Its hard to see Costa getting anything out of them two apart from a red card for himself.

It's why I am edging more to the Hazard, Pedro and Willian trio. Short, nippy on a big pitch and big CBs don't like playing against them sort of players. Bring in Fabregas to make sure the front lads get the ball quickly and accurately. 

Matic will be like a lamb to the slaughter with that Spurs midfield.

 

4-3-3 

 

Moses        Luiz       Cahill        Azpilcueta

             Kante          Matic

                      Loftus-C      

    Willian                                 Pedro

                       Hazard

Come on Chelsea!

Really need to step up after that horrible performance against Manchester United. Going on a 3 5 2 with Pedro and Hazard upfront would be the best choice for Conte, time to drop Costa, he has to. Hope that Alonso recovers before this game.

        Courtois (Bego) 

        Azpi    Luiz   Cahill 
Moses      Kante          Alonso

       Fabregas  Chalobah(RLC)

      Pedro             Hazard

                         Tibo

       Zouma       Luiz      Terry 

Azpi       Kante     Fabregas    Alonso

        Pedro     Hazard     Willian

 

3-1 Chelsea.

Courtouis/Begovic

Zouma - Luiz - Cahill

Moses - Kante - Matic -  Alonso/Ake

 Willian - Hazard - Pedro

 

The reason i a selecting Zouma over Dave is simply for the height reasons. The spuds knew what they were exploiting the last time they met us and i fully expect them to do it again. Also, I will completely strip the defenders licence to roam forward to neutralize the chances of us being caught by their speed.

I do not want Matic to start but after mulling over it I feel like he is the tallest player we have and is capable of being coping up with the Spurs physicality. Ideally i would prefer that Chalobah start but i dont know if Chalobah is ready for 90+ minutes of action (dont we wish he had more minutes so we can track his improvements ?)

That line up should take care of our defense and make sure that Spurs do not dominate the midfield. Our attack featuring Willian Hazard and Pedro with all 3 of them interchanging flanks as needed will cause enough problems for Spurs defense and force them to keep it real. I know that these 3 obviously cant physically cope up with the Spurs defense but dropping any of these 3 for a out of form Costa is also not going to solve our offensive problems. these 3 have enough playing time and should be able to hit the ground running and are capable of scoring in half chances. I would prefer that they dont look for the perfect pass and attack whenever they get the ball.

 

Tibo should be back, don't know the extent of his ankle knock, but probably given the day off yesterday as a pre caution with this match in mind

Alsonso was ill, the manager made a mistake playing Dave in his spot, wow a coach that is fallible !!

We haven't got another match ready striker, Bats just hasn't been given enough time to lead the line in a semi at Wembley, playing a false 9 vs Spuds is dumb - we won a couple

of prem league matches when DC was unavailable that way, Spuds I think have teh best defence in the league, an annoying # 9 is needed not Eddie on his own,

 Conte will not drop DC now with so few games to go, despite the armchair manager calls on here to do so 

 

 

Keep The Faith (I did-  have airfare paid for and hotels booked in UK for the whole week May 20th -28th, Just in Fookin Case !!!)

 

Some refreshing ideas however, if fit, we know it will be:

 

Tibo

Azpi 

Luiz

Cahill

 

Moses

Kante

Matic

Alonso

 

Pedro

The invisible man

Hazard

 

We Cannot beat this Spurs team if we are not at our best, never mind when starting with only 9 and a half players . 

this is prob the first time in 20 odd years that spurs are a match if not a little better than us right now,we really need to be on top of our game or we will be in trouble.

Courtois reportedly set to miss this one too. 

Wish the Southampton game was first. Feel like we could do with a league win before this but hey the fixtures are what they are.

On the flip side I guess if we beat Spurs then that's surely gonna boost confidence.

I will say this though, people need to stop sh*tting themselves over this Spurs team. Yes they've looked good recently but they won two very winnable home games. People are getting carried away acting like they're a 2007-2011 Barcelona or something. 

24 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Courtois reportedly set to miss this one too. 

Yeah, he's out. Stupid idiot. I would love to know what Conte said to him when he found out he injured himself pricking about playing basketball.

Costa should be benched. Get Hazard up front, flanked by the magicians Pedro and Willian. 

the opposite actually

 

Conflicting reports in the media as to Courtois's injury and Alonso's sickness. All papers are saying both will return for semi final but FOOTBALL INSIDER are saying both will miss semi final. Who to believe? We will find out Saturday. I find it hard to believe that Alonso will be missing from Semi due to sickness and if I'm honest I find it hard to believe Courtois will be missing when everyone and their Granny says he will be fit for Saturday. We need both of them to play. Fingers crossed.

hopefully we could line up like this: 

 

courtois

azpi    luiz    cahill

moses    fabregas (or ake)    kante    alonso/kenedy

willian    hazard

pedro

 

moses at rwb, kenedy at lwb, willian on the right, hazard and pedro up front gives us great speed on the counter attack. 

Edited April 18, 20179 yr by enigma

I keep thinking bad to the 2015 League Cup final when we stuck Zouma in the middle and nullified them. We may be suited to employing a similar tactic in this one, stop the supply.

Tibo

Azpi DL GC

Moses Kante Matic Alonso/Ake

Willian Pedro Hazard

Please, Please no Costa!!!

352 for this one. Stick another man in the middle and stop them attacking. 

3 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

352 for this one. Stick another man in the middle and stop them attacking. 

Maybe Zouma.

Costa told Sky Sport that at start of season he was wangling for a return to Atletico Madrid. From his performances over past few months it' looks like he's still wangling for a return to Atletico Madrid. He also told another news outlet recently that he wants to stay at Chelsea to continue his partnership with Hazard. LOL.

23 hours ago, IliyaKrostin said:

Conte must create something unique, teams are reading us already. Without Alonso, Courtois we're having problems, plus our form isn't good enough to beat Spurs. 

We're coming after a poor performance against Man United, but this is football, we can lose and we can win, new match, new day. Conte has to do homework and make a change that will lead us in the league as well.

---------------- Begovic ---------------

-- Azpilicueta - David Luiz - Cahill --

Moses -- Fabregas --- Kante --- Ake

------------------ Loftus-Cheek -------------------

------- Hazard----------------- Pedro ----------

 

This is what I'd like to see, low chances it will happen, but I'm tired of watching Costa. This competition is important for us and we need players that hungry for minutes, hungry to play and want to prove themselves. 

COME ON CHELS!!!!!!!!

This is what I'd go with as well. I think rlc could be a good suprise choice against spurs, and it would be flexible for us as we can switch between 352 and 343.

Lost faith in Costa tbh. If he plays, I can see him struggling to hold the ball up, as he always seems to do against spurs. 

 

I've been impressed by what I have seen from loftus cheek when he's played. I wouldn't mind conte giving him a start, but jury is still out whether he has the stamina/work rate to cement himself in this side. 

30 minutes ago, TheBluesBrother said:

From his performances over past few months it' looks like he's still wangling for a return to Atletico Madrid.

It does'nt make sense to purposely under perform to achieve a move out of the club, it's just poppycock. He is under performing because he has never been consistent for a whole season with us, it's normal for him, and the first signs he's under performing are when he starts his tantrums on the pitch.