Sorry to be that guy making this early when we still have a game in between, but I can't contain my excitement anymore!

 

My tickets for the game arrived today so it'll be the first time I'll be at the Bridge for a Champions League game, I don't think I've ever been as excited for a football game!

 

I'm hoping we go near full strength to get off to a good start in the group! 

 

Also; 

Can anyone suggest any good pubs pre match that will have a bit of atmosphere about them or at least a lot of fellow Blues in?!

 

Come on Chels

Edited September 6, 20178 yr by EdinburghBlue

Looking forward to this game as well . I should imagine it will be a strong team as well we wont want to start the group off with a bad result .

And the Chelsea Pensioner aint too bad for a pregame beer or two.

10 hours ago, EdinburghBlue said:

Sorry to be that guy making this early when we still have a game in between, but I can't contain my excitement anymore!

 

My tickets for the game arrived today so it'll be the first time I'll be at the Bridge for a Champions League game, I don't think I've ever been as excited for a football game!

 

I'm hoping we go near full strength to get off to a good start in the group! 

 

Also; 

Can anyone suggest any good pubs pre match that will have a bit of atmosphere about them or at least a lot of fellow Blues in?!

 

Come on Chels

Well, this is a post that's bringing a smile to my face   Hope you have a wonderful time!

This is where or depth of squad is invaluable. I want to see the players that were on the bench (Hazard, Willian, Drinkwater, Christensen, Zappa, Bats) start this match. I would go with.

 

                    Tibo

Dave          Cahill      Christensen

Zappa  Drinkwater Bakayoko  Alonso

       Willian              Hazard

                    Bats

 

This team should be more than good enough to comfortably win this match and give some first team players some rest before the tougher test against Arsenal.

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy the game mate. Hope we have a good win and performance.

Thank god this is the home leg. 

           courtois

   Dave   Luiz     Cahill

Zapa  kante  Fabregas   Alonso

    Willian  Morata   Hazard

They might be an unknown and probably poor opposition but I hope conte goes with a full strength side. Roma and Atletico will be very tricky so 6 points against this lot should be priority. I know we have Arsenal next but it's on a Sunday so at least a 5 day gap between this one and that. 

Anyway it's finally good to be back in the champions league. Felt like ages.

Edited September 9, 20178 yr by Drogbaholic

I think Kante should be rested and Drinkwater given a run

Tibo

 

Azpi 

Christensen

Cahill

 

Zappacosta

Drinkwater

Kante

Cesc

Kenedy

 

Morata 

 

Rest luiz, rudiger, baka, Moses and Alonso. Get a few ahead then get cesc and morata off and let hazard, Willian and Batman run at them.

Tibo

GC Andreas DL

Zappacosta Drinkwater Kante Moses

Willian Michy Hazard

 

Kante should play a max of 60mins imo. Need him fresh for Arsenal

Definitely need to gurantee the three points but don't see why a bulk of the squad can't be rotated - I'd go as far as playing Kennedy at LWB 

At a minimum Christ, Bats and Drinkwater should start

Whilst we do need to be picking up a win in this game we should relatively easily be able to do that whilst rotating and in my opinion Christensen needs to be starting this game, whilst giving some of the players who missed pre-season a chance for some match fitness. Although I do think we should keep Morata in the starting 11 if anything just to keep his form going.

My team would be:

                    Courtois
    Rudiger - Christensen - Cahill
Zappacosta         -             Alonso
         Drinkwater - Fabregas
      Pedro           -          Hazard
                    Morata

With my subs being Kenedy for Alonso, Bats for Morata and Musonda for Hazard

Edited September 10, 20178 yr by PedroMendez

Hmmm...I would be amazed if Qarabag didn't park the bus, in light of the distance they've traveled and them essentially being League 1/Championship quality. 

Against such a side, squad management is the order of the day. I would select this side:

GK: Courtois

LCB: Rudiger

CB: Luiz

RCB: Azpi

LWB: Kenedy

RWB: Zappacosta

LCM: Kante

RCM: Cesc

LSS: Hazard

RSS: Pedro

ST: Morata

I would start our three normal CB's because I hate the idea of disrupting the central defense unless there is no stake in a game. The problem with swapping centre backs comes from their lack of familiarity with each other and therefore communication issues may arise. 

Kenedy for Alonso is a contentious swap, but LWB is a physically demanding role and we need Alonso to be at his fittest against Arsenal. 

Kante and Cesc because they work well enough together against bus-parking sides, plus we need Cesc's incision against those sides.

Hazard and Pedro because their movement and vision makes them very useful against lesser sides.

Morata because his aerial ability is perfect against a deep-lying defense. 

I would subsequently bring on Michy to try and snipe a late goal against a tiring, lesser-quality defence, Bakayoko to give Kante a rest and reinforce the defence (IMO he is better at this than Drinkwater) and Willian to keep Hazard fresh for Arsenal. Of course, these subs can change depending on the scoreline so I'm assuming we would have a comfortable lead before we make any subs. 

Edited September 10, 20178 yr by DaRick

Very hard to work out the team. Underestimating seemingly lower division opponents often leads to problems. I'd rest Morata, bring in cahill, and if drinkwater is ready give him at least 30 minutes. 

Start our best team, get a comfortable lead then sub players off. I honestly prefer that you starting a weakened team that have never played together then having to desperately throw players on to chase a win. 

Champions League... it was hard to pass a year without this competition, I really hope to see us putting a strong run this season. 

Our opponent is unknown, but it doesn't mean that we can allow ourselves disrespect him. We have to make some rotation but not replace everything.

I'd like to see this starting lineup:

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

---- Azpi --- Christensen -- Rudiger --

Moses -- Bakayoko -- Drinkwater -- Alonso

-------- Willian ------ Hazard --------

---------------- Morata --------------

 

Give Baka and Hazard 45 minutes, they both have to work on their fitness game. Sweet debut for Drinkwater and give Luiz and Kante a rest.

COME ON CHELS!!!

First game back in the champions league. On paper this should be a walk in the park. But games are not won on paper. We need the 3 points as we have tricky games to atletico and Roma.

would go with a relatively strong side and then take off a few

courtois 

azbi luiz Cahill 

zappacosta drinkwater Kante Alonso 

willian morata Pedro 

subs : Willy, rudiger, hazard, batman, fabregas, Moses, musonda 

16 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Tibo

 

Azpi 

Christensen

Cahill

 

Zappacosta

Drinkwater

Kante

Cesc

Kenedy

 

Morata 

 

Rest luiz, rudiger, baka, Moses and Alonso. Get a few ahead then get cesc and morata off and let hazard, Willian and Batman run at them.

Do you think they're that bad we only need 10 men?

1 hour ago, Munkworth said:

Do you think they're that bad we only need 10 men?

Huh...

No I think we are that good! Lol

Give Michy a 70min plus outing

Should be an easy one with a confortable 3-0 and some youngers like Musonda playing at least 20 minutes

Musonda seems to be convinced he'll play a part in this.

I'd like to see Hazard and Willian starting with Musonda coming on early for Eden if we're up big or coasting. I think Andreas, Gaz and Frank start as well. 

It is CL. Every player wants to play. We will see a strong lineup. And don't expect Qarabag to roll over.