Posted December 27, 200717 yr Perfect oppostion to have after the amazing events on Boxing Day. They are there to be thrashed so expect a 0-0 stalemate Be interested to see what team we put out given the problems we have but for sure I'd like to see Scotty Sinclair at least on the bench.
December 27, 200717 yr I said the the following in a diferent thread but there is no point having two so I will delete it and stick with this one (obviously it was written before news of Frank's injury was revealed) I guess the one good thing about the Xmas fixtures is that if you have a bad day at the office it is never long before you get the chance to put it behind you and move on. Newcastle at home in three days time and for me it is big decision time for Grant. The backline is pretty much going to pick itself due to injuries and suspensions with the only position up for debate being the right back one. Given that we will have Alex and Ben Haim in the centre I would rpefer to see the more defence minded Ferreira at right back however given that he played today there is every chance we will see Belletti. The midfield is where the big decision has to be made. In the couple of appearances he has now had Ballack has looked immeasurably more capable than Frank in Frank's current form. I fully expect Ballack's form to dip again as it is usualy for a player to come back from injury and have a few good games before the lack of match sharpness and fitness kicks in so we should make the most of this patch of form whilst he is on it. With Ballack in the centre we move the ball faster and we go opt for both flanks just as confortably. That part of Frank's game has dipped and he is slowing things down in the centre too much for my liking. As for up front I think we saw today a lot of what Pizarro has to offer, which is quite frankly not enough. I would seriously consider playing Sinclair alongside Shevchenko if we are going to go with two up front or I would revert to having Sheva playing on his own up front but putting a rocket up the a*ses of Joe Cole and SWP/Kalou to make sure they actually do their job and support him.
December 27, 200717 yr ..................................CECH........................................ BELETTI...........ALEX.............BEN HAIM...............BRIDGE ...............................ESSIEN.......................................... J.COLE......................BALLACK..............................SINCLAIR ................SHEVCHENKO..........KALOU................................. SUBS: SWP,HILARIO,BELETTI,MIKEL,PIZARRO.
December 27, 200717 yr ..................................CECH........................................ BELETTI...........ALEX.............BEN HAIM...............BRIDGE ...............................ESSIEN.......................................... J.COLE......................BALLACK..............................SINCLAIR ................SHEVCHENKO..........KALOU................................. SUBS: SWP,HILARIO,BELETTI,MIKEL,PIZARRO. Apart from the back four, I like the look of that side.
December 28, 200717 yr This should be a reasonably comfortable 3 points for us even with our problems. Newcastle are in far worse straits than us, hapless defence, I think Alladyce has almost lost the dressing room and players are simply not playing for him and I think he may well be out the door sooner rather than later. So if any game was the right game for us after the Villa circus ride then this should be it. Newcastle are no Villa and they should give our threadbare defence no overt trouble. They were really poor on Wednesday. The back line picks itself now but midfield is where it gets interesting, will Grant play Ballack now instead of Lamps?
December 28, 200717 yr Is Obafemi playing? If so then I will be very interested in how Alex and Ben Haim will take care of him. They aren't that fast and Obafemi is like a rocket. I guess Belletti and Bridge will have to help out a bit.
December 28, 200717 yr Essien is banned for reaching 5 cards so expect Sidwell to take to the stage. his ban starts on jan 2.
December 28, 200717 yr come on malouda no way with winger like joe and kalou cech belleti alex ben haim bridge mikel sidwell ballack kalou sheva malouda
December 28, 200717 yr At least we won't need to worry about BArton injuring another one of our players - he will be munching on her majesty's finest porridge http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 83,00.html
December 28, 200717 yr Excellent, that brightened up my day! Errmmmm, I mean, gosh, what a tragedy for that deeply disturbed young man
December 28, 200717 yr although Newcastle have not looked good lately they did play well against Arsenal and seem like they might play better against the big teams, Faye and Taylor seem to be getting a decent understanding in their defence and it wont be easy to score. lets hope we see Ballack carry on where he left off along with Sheva although Newcastle are not gonna let us have the space we had second half against Villa. I would like to see Sinclair get a start as SWP has drifted out of his good bit of form and we need some pace.
December 28, 200717 yr Chippy you sound like a fella getting his excuses in early with that last post. Newcastle are a club in deep, deep doo doo. They have no creativity whatsoever. They are dropping points to sides at the bottom of the table and the fans have turned against the manager and his style of football big-time. And to add to all their troubles Joey Barton was locked up last night after another fracas and has been refused bail today. Whatever our own injury problems, we could not be playing at them a better time. This MUST be a straight forward home win. Three points. No excuses. The club's official website seems to share this view: http://www.chelseafc.com/xxchelsea18070 ... _2209129_0
December 28, 200717 yr Chippy you sound like a fella getting his excuses in early with that last post.Newcastle are a club in deep, deep doo doo. They have no creativity whatsoever. They are dropping points to sides at the bottom of the table and the fans have turned against the manager and his style of football big-time. And to add to all their troubles Joey Barton was locked up last night after another fracas and has been refused bail today. Whatever our own injury problems, we could not be playing at them a better time. This MUST be a straight forward home win. Three points. No excuses. The club's official website seems to share this view: http://www.chelseafc.com/xxchelsea18070 ... _2209129_0 Just why would I need an excuse? I'm not likely to be playing up front, I am just saying we wont see Sheva running around with the space we did second half last time, Newcastle were unlucky not to beat Arsenal a couple of games ago and I think they are getting the defence sorted out, not an excuse just an observation.
December 28, 200717 yr Chippy, shipping three goals in their last two games, and in the process losing at Wigan and snatching a late equaliser at home to Derby, suggests they have some way to go before it may be claimed they are sorting the defence out! Unfortunately, Sheva will not have the time and space he had 2nd half against Villa, as Newcastle will most likely choose to start with two centre-halves and 11 men on the pitch. If only we could play teams with 10 men every week. I'm sure Sheva would be devastating.
December 28, 200717 yr I fear we will see Cech in goal agai so I plummed for cech beletti..tbh..alex...bridge ............mikel ..essien...........ballack ....joey................kalou .............sheva back to a 1-0 and taken quite nicely, thank you
December 28, 200717 yr That's pretty much what I woul go for too: cech beletti..tbh..alex...bridge ............mikel ..essien...........ballack ....joey................kalou .............sheva Plenty there in midfield to get forward and support Sheva. I think I would like to see Joe play more central and make runs through the middle like he used to in a kinda Gazza fashion. With Bridgey and beletti both hopefully pushing forward, we don't need too many players out wide. Joe really does need to start doing a bit more. I still have loads of faith in his ability but he needs to dominate games more and not flit in and out like he has been. That was always my frustration with Eidur - so much to offer but too inconsistant. That's where Utd and Arsenal have the advantage over us at the moment - more a less every week at least one of their players will be on top top form - be it Ronaldo / Rooney / Tevez or Fabregas /Van Persie whoever..... None of our best players are really doing it. As for Newcastle, they have looked crap but are the kind of team that will play better against stronger opposition, so I don't think we can write them off just because they looked dire against Wigan and Derby. Once again Avram and the lads are in pretty much a no win situation - expected to win and win well but if we do slip up - doesn't bare thinking about!!
December 28, 200717 yr Nibs, why do you think they are likely to play well against the top teams? It must be based purely on them taking a point at home against Le Arse, because a fortnight prior to that they got thumped 3-0 at home by Liverplod. And in September they lost to Man City 3-1. They did follow that result a week later with a 3-2 win at home over Everton, thanks to an injury time goal by Owen, (who is unlikely to play tomorrow). And of course they were recently walloped 4-1 at home by Pompey. The haven't played Man U yet, but out of the 15 points available against the top 7 sides in the League they've met, they have only taken three points!
December 28, 200717 yr Lets not talk about results against top sides our record isn't that clever. 1 point from a possible 9 against the top 3 Lose away to Villa. Draws at home to Villa, Blackburn and Everton. Ok we walloped City but only managed to beat Pompey and West Ham by 1-0. I know the top 3 still have to come to the bridge, but we've still got to go Pompey, City and Everton which are far from easy games. We're 7 points from the top but also about 7 points from 8th place. BTW I'm not looking at the top anymore, I'm looking over our shoulder. 3 point v The barcodes, who rarely get points in the capital is a must!
December 28, 200717 yr BTW I'm not looking at the top anymore, I'm looking over our shoulder. I couldnt agree more !!! Utd and Arsenal are gradually pulling away from us. I am normally ever the optimist, but with the upcoming ANC, injuries, suspensions, players bang out of form etc etc we will be VERY lucky to hang on to third place. I don't want to get into yet another debate about Avram either, suffice to say, I have very little faith in him or the backup team in our dugout. This was amply demonstrated with his tactics (lack of them) and his use of subs against Villa. Roll on the end of the season !!!
December 28, 200717 yr Chippy, shipping three goals in their last two games, and in the process losing at Wigan and snatching a late equaliser at home to Derby, suggests they have some way to go before it may be claimed they are sorting the defence out!Unfortunately, Sheva will not have the time and space he had 2nd half against Villa, as Newcastle will most likely choose to start with two centre-halves and 11 men on the pitch. If only we could play teams with 10 men every week. I'm sure Sheva would be devastating. I was reflecting on the game Newcastle played against Arsenal and as I said although they have been crap since I think they will try and shut us down for all their worth, they easily could have nicked it against Arsenal on the day and I dont take any premiership team lightly, I never realised Newcastle could be starting with 11, thanks for that info...were fu**ed then.
December 28, 200717 yr Author Chippy, shipping three goals in their last two games, and in the process losing at Wigan and snatching a late equaliser at home to Derby, suggests they have some way to go before it may be claimed they are sorting the defence out!Unfortunately, Sheva will not have the time and space he had 2nd half against Villa, as Newcastle will most likely choose to start with two centre-halves and 11 men on the pitch. If only we could play teams with 10 men every week. I'm sure Sheva would be devastating. I was reflecting on the game Newcastle played against Arsenal and as I said although they have been crap since I think they will try and shut us down for all their worth, they easily could have nicked it against Arsenal on the day and I dont take any premiership team lightly, I never realised Newcastle could be starting with 11, thanks for that info...were fu**ed then. 11? That's fantastic, it means the ref isn't playing for them then?
December 28, 200717 yr Why do people still think we should play Sheva as a lone striker? He is not a post player thats gonna hold on to the ball in order for the team to move up, he should make runns and get the ball behind the backline thats how he scores. If your gonna play 433 then Pizzaro would be the choice on top as he has the strength to hold on to it a bit longer or head it on as hes succesfully been doing. The only way Sheva should play on top is with a striker next to him. When is Malouda comming back? Havent heared of him in a while.
December 29, 200717 yr ..................................CECH........................................ BELETTI...........ALEX...............BEN HAIM...............BRIDGE .................................ESSIEN....................................... J.COLE.............MIKEL................BALLACK............SINCLAIR ..............................SHEVCHENKO.................................
