9 hours ago, The Don Antonio said:

we could easily have played a midfield duo of baka and cesc since they both dont play internationals but hey we have no choice but to play them both now

Luiz is back from suspension, so he's another option to play in a holding midfield role.

8 hours ago, old git said:

Luiz is back from suspension, so he's another option to play in a holding midfield role.

Think he is better served at CB, drinkwater will prove to be important for us I think. 

19 hours ago, The Don Antonio said:

we could easily have played a midfield duo of baka and cesc since they both dont play internationals but hey we have no choice but to play them both now

Against who ? You need to remember that Bakayoko has been recovering from an injury too, Conte couldn't just throw him into the team. This is why Conte said he didn't want to sell Matic.

Doesn't look great that Kante & Morata are out for this game, but it couldn't happen at a better time. We are playing a terrible side who also have injuries, Luiz is back, Fabregas in midfield might even be a bonus breaking down that defence.

Absolutely 0 excuses not to win this game. 

1 hour ago, Scott Harris said:

Against who ? You need to remember that Bakayoko has been recovering from an injury too, Conte couldn't just throw him into the team. This is why Conte said he didn't want to sell Matic.

You are right. Drinkwaters injury definitely f**ked us, and also Luiz's red card because he could have subbed in for one of our midfielders. I just see this as a learning curve for conte because he didnt have European games last season and he could pretty much play the same line up week in week out. He tried it gainst Mancity and we were exposed due to fatigue.We cannot play  our high intensity game with the same players when we have 3 games in 7 days I am sure fresher legs like pedro willian batshuayi and zappacosta could have added a bit more aggresion to our game against sh*tTY . I am pretty positive Conte will learn from this just as he has learnt from every setback since he took over chelsea..  

2 hours ago, Slojo said:

Doesn't look great that Kante & Morata are out for this game, but it couldn't happen at a better time. We are playing a terrible side who also have injuries, Luiz is back, Fabregas in midfield might even be a bonus breaking down that defence.

Absolutely 0 excuses not to win this game. 

It should be an absolute cakewalk, this Palace side are every bit as bad as the Villa side that went down the season before last, the game should run a similar pattern to the game at Villa Park for us that season. Palace should have gone last term but Allardyce's outstanding management has delayed the inevitable.

11 hours ago, DonAntonio said:

Think he is better served at CB, drinkwater will prove to be important for us I think. 

Luiz is multi talented, has two good feet and was tremendous in his holding midfield position against Tottenham. At the moment, we're well covered in defence so I would have no hesitation in putting Luiz in midfield against Palace. I agree Drinkwater will be a huge asset but it's unlikely he'll be ready yet. 

Cesc in a 2man mid field.  

Palace are lucky c**ts.

1 hour ago, didierforever said:

Cesc in a 2man mid field.  

Palace are lucky c**ts.

Last season, we had won lot of game with Fabregas in medfield, against teams stronger than Palace.... 

On a paper it's an easy game, Palace have been showing a very poor football, without RLC they could look even worse, to be honest. But sometimes when you get into the worst period you will get out of this one day, we must be focused and ready to play our best football in this game, we can't disrespect them. We lost Morata and Kante, but we have players that good enough to replace them. As I see Conte, he will be playing with Pedro Hazard and Willian as our attacking trio, I think that Batshuayi is in a better form than Pedro and Willian at the moment, I think he should start this game to gain more confidence, experience and improve himself. Could be a big game for him. 

I'd like to see this starting lineup:

---------------- Courtois ----------------

- Azpilicueta - Christensen - Rudiger -

Zappacosta - Drinkwater - Bakayoko - Alonso

-------- Musonda ---------- Hazard -------

----------------- Batshuayi ---------------

 

I think Conte should trust Musonda this game, Willian has been really poor since the beginning of the season, Pedro is not at his best as well. Let's see what he can do against a better opponent, Premier League feeling.

We have to win big this game, after our loss to City, we need to be back on the road again, keep the head up and play. 

COME ON CHELS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

This fixture is a bit of a banana peel in my view. 

Roy will have had more of a chance to implement his ideas and they'll be keen to make a fresh start. 

Without Kante and Morata we are vulnerable. Big test for Conte and the squad. Hope to see Drinkwater get some minutes in this one.

Michy and Eden will have played together 4 times in 2 weeks with this game.  Hope that helps their esp.

 

Courtois

Dave - Luiz (is he back from suspension?) - Rudiger 

Zappacosta - Drinkwater - Fabregas - Bakayoko - Alonso

Hazard - Michy B

 

Wouldn't mind seeing something like that assuming Drinkwater is fit enough to start. I don't think either of Pedro or Willian are playing well enough to push Cesc out of the team at the moment so wouldn't mind a midfield 3 for this one. 

55 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Courtois

Dave - Luiz (is he back from suspension?) - Rudiger 

Zappacosta - Drinkwater - Fabregas - Bakayoko - Alonso

Hazard - Michy B

 

Wouldn't mind seeing something like that assuming Drinkwater is fit enough to start. I don't think either of Pedro or Willian are playing well enough to push Cesc out of the team at the moment so wouldn't mind a midfield 3 for this one. 

Why not a 3-4-3 with Fabregas-Bakayoko midfield ? 1 defensive player is more then enough against Crystal Palace, imo. 

I'd only play a 3-5-2 if there's a genuine need to battle for control in the midfield.

Hazard-Michy-Pedro up front.

6 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

This fixture is a bit of a banana peel in my view. 

Roy will have had more of a chance to implement his ideas and they'll be keen to make a fresh start. 

Without Kante and Morata we are vulnerable. Big test for Conte and the squad. Hope to see Drinkwater get some minutes in this one.

If losing two player's regardless of importance is enough to have us introuble vs this Palace side then we don't deserve to challenge for trophy's.

1 hour ago, Hazard10 said:

Why not a 3-4-3 with Fabregas-Bakayoko midfield ? 1 defensive player is more then enough against Crystal Palace, imo. 

I'd only play a 3-5-2 if there's a genuine need to battle for control in the midfield.

Hazard-Michy-Pedro up front.

Because I wouldn’t view a midfield 3 of Bakayoko, Drinkwater and Fabregas as being defensive. 

You give Fabregas free license to push forward or drop deep as he chooses, he’ll find the space in the middle to dictate the game’s tempo. 

Drinkwater is a very competent passer of the ball and would supply the front two with decent service. 

I fully expect us to play 3-4-3 but 3-5-2 can work well for dominating the match too. 

3 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Because I wouldn’t view a midfield 3 of Bakayoko, Drinkwater and Fabregas as being defensive. 

You give Fabregas free license to push forward or drop deep as he chooses, he’ll find the space in the middle to dictate the game’s tempo. 

Drinkwater is a very competent passer of the ball and would supply the front two with decent service. 

I fully expect us to play 3-4-3 but 3-5-2 can work well for dominating the match too. 

I don't think we should give up on teh 3-5-2 we dominated one of teh best teams in Europe using it but it should be noted it works well with high press, pressure football, if teh players are tired it's not a great look, I think we should be ready to switch formations depending on games, but as conte likes consistency I'm not sure we will. Also Drinkwater is a good option because he is versatile, he can do a bit of everything, he can defend and he plays good balls forward, I've got a feeling he could prove more important to our tactics than he is given credit for. 

4 hours ago, Argo said:

If losing two player's regardless of importance is enough to have us introuble vs this Palace side then we don't deserve to challenge for trophy's.

I think that's doing a disrespect to Palace who despite their start still have a good squad and beat us last year.

3-4-3 for me. Michy needs more support than Alvaro to avoid being isolated. Pedro and Hazard to start. Will also be good to have our regular back three in place for this one.

Michy should start. Conte needs to be able to rely on him and the only way he is gonna be able to do that is by giving him the gametime to try and provie himself.

 

4 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

I think that's doing a disrespect to Palace who despite their start still have a good squad and beat us last year.

3-4-3 for me. Michy needs more support than Alvaro to avoid being isolated. Pedro and Hazard to start. Will also be good to have our regular back three in place for this one.

They were the worst team in the PL in the 2016 calendar year and only Allardyce's excellent management in 2017 kept them up.On paper they have a decent squad but in practice they are a mess. 

Tibo

Dave Christensen Cahill 

Moses Baka SSB Alonso 

Pedro Bats Hazard

 

Or a more attacking option 

 

Tibo

Dave SSB Rudiger 

Moses Baka Cesc Alonso 

Pedro Bats Hazard

 

Think I prefer the first team with Cesc and Willian to come on later...

Edited October 10, 20178 yr by doctorblue

Drinkwater is available ? Because i don't saw him in the training's videos from last week on social media of Chelsea

7 minutes ago, Cyborg7 said:

Drinkwater is available ? Because i don't saw him in the training's videos from last week on social media of Chelsea

No definitive news on him...at best he'll be on the bench...

Courtois

Dave   Luiz   Cahill

Zappacosta   Bakayoko   Fabregas   Alonso

Musonda Jr             Eden

 Batshuayi

 

No need to pile bodies into the middle of the park as Palace offer little to no threat. If anything they may try to park the bus to nick a draw or hit us on the counter. Play creative players such as Fabregas to break them down. Dave, Luiz, Cahil, Baka, Fab, Alonso, Musonda all played very little or no international football so should be fresh and ready to go. 

 

Chelsea 4 - 0 Palace

Pedant Alert

Appolgies for the pedantry but the game does not kick off at 15:00 GMT, it kicks off at 14:00 GMT. That is still 15:00 local time because the UK is currently on daylight saving (BST).

The one hour difference between 15:00 GMT and 14:00 GMT might matter to people reading the forum outside of the UK however. 

Edited October 10, 20178 yr by OhForAGreavsie