Next Assignment: Man Utd @ Home!

[Oblivion]

Haven't done one of these in ages, feels good again

So after winning the Battle of the Ca$h last weekend and opening our CL account with a convincing victory over Bourdeux, attention now turns to Man Utd this weekend. Team news on their end includes the loss of Vidic and Carrick, possibly Ronaldo. Therefore, we MAY see:

..............van der Saar

O'Shea....Brown.....Rio......Evra

..........Anderson....Scholes

Rooney.........................Nani

..................Tevez

..................Berbatov

This is possibly the best they can put out.

On our end, with the lifting of JT's red card, we have almost a full squad to choose from:

..................Cech

Bos........Carvalho.....JT.........Ashley

....................Mikel

..............Lamps....Deco

Joey................................Malouda

..................Anelka

Basically an unchanged side from the game against the Frenchmen.

Subs

Hilario

Alex

Bridge

Kalou

Ballack

Drogba

Ferreira

Chelsea to win this one 2-0

Thoughts?

[PraetorianGuard]

Rooney as a winger and O'Shea as a fullback? Wouldn't work.

[evissy]

I think Ballack might play. Although their attack is not the same without Ronaldo the constant threat of Berbatov is what fears me. He has been deadly aginst us in the past. But if our performance is even close to what we saw against Bordeaux in the first half we should win this.

[Oblivion]

Rooney as a winger and O'Shea as a fullback? Wouldn't work.

Given Fergie's willingness to sacrifice team balance to fit his 3 most expensive (and arguably talented) attackers in one squad, it is possible. Rooney has been shunted wide to accomodate other more central forwards (Larsson, Solksjaer, Saha). And the formation not working is EXACTLY what we want ;)

@ evissy: Berba is lacking some match fitness, having not trained properly with Spurs and hardly figuring for them before his move. Don't expect him to be at his best.

[TomP]

I wouldn't be surprised to see an unchanged lineup from the City and Bordeaux matches.

However, the only temptation Scolari might have is to revert back to the tighter diamond formation, briging in Ballack for either Malouda or Joe Cole. Probably will depend on Ballack's fitness.

.......................Cech......................

Bosingwa......JT.......Carvalho.....Cole

.......................Mikel......................

...........Lamps............Ballack..........

.......................Deco.....................

...........J Cole...........Anelka............

This would work quite well against Manure for two reasons

1. Fergie seems hell-bent on shoehorning Berbatov, Tevez and Rooney into the same starting eleven - leaving them with not a lot of natural width.

2. If he plays both Scholes and Anderson in the middle (as he did against Liverpool), we can completely boss them in the centre of the park, as Liverpool did - and our central midfield is better than theirs.

I don't want to be over confident, but the way we are playing at the moment, I can see us giving them a 4-0 spanking. Wouldn't that be good.

[Oblivion]

I wouldn't be surprised to see an unchanged lineup from the City and Bordeaux matches.

However, the only temptation Scolari might have is to revert back to the tighter diamond formation, briging in Ballack for either Malouda or Joe Cole. Probably will depend on Ballack's fitness.

.......................Cech......................

Bosingwa......JT.......Carvalho.....Cole

.......................Mikel......................

...........Lamps............Ballack..........

.......................Deco.....................

...........J Cole...........Anelka............

This would work quite well against Manure for two reasons

1. Fergie seems hell-bent on shoehorning Berbatov, Tevez and Rooney into the same starting eleven - leaving them with not a lot of natural width.

2. If he plays both Scholes and Anderson in the middle (as he did against Liverpool), we can completely boss them in the centre of the park, as Liverpool did - and our central midfield is better than theirs.

I don't want to be over confident, but the way we are playing at the moment, I can see us giving them a 4-0 spanking. Wouldn't that be good.

Despite our central midfielders being much better than theirs, shouldn't we be focusing on exploiting lack of said width? Both Malouda and Cole (the former especially) spend a LOT of time in the middle of the park, despite originally setting up shop on the wings. With those 2, we can alternate smoothly between tightening the middle and bombing the wings

[Barn]

With Vidic being out for them I really think we should go with Anelka and Drogs up-front, right through the middle. Really give them something to think about and put us on the front foot from the word go. 4-4-2 remember the good old days???

Cech

Bosingwa-Carv-Terry-Cole

-Mikel-

Deco- Lampard

-JoeCole

Drogba-Anelka

[ethicalstrategy]

Berbatov is looking very doubtful with a knee injury and presumable Ronaldo will only be able to play part of the game. I think we will play tighter than against City or Bordeaux with Ballack starting in midfield and Deco playing further forward and Malouda dropping to the bench. Hopefully Drogba will be fit to start. I can't see Fergie letting us knock the ball about too easily and Utd will be setup to get a point from this match.

[coco]

I'm with Barn, time to throw the sink at them.

.......................Cech......................

Bosingwa......JT.......Carvalho.....Cole

.......................Mikel......................

...........Lamps............Ballack..........

.......................Deco.....................

...........Drogba...........Anelka............

After an hour......

.......................Cech......................

Bosingwa......JT.......Carvalho.....Cole

.......................Mikel......................

...........Lamps............Ballack..........

.......................Deco.....................

...........J Cole...........Anelka............

[midlandblue]

Dont think Phil will opt for Drogba and Anelka to lead the attack, there's no need, we are creating enough chances to win games, it's some of the finishing that needs to be improved, talking J Cole out of the side would only take away from our attacking options. So same as for me with Drogs comming on for Anelka in the second half to batter their tired defence.

[Ruh Buh Juh]

Rooney as a winger and O'Shea as a fullback? Wouldn't work.

And that's a problem for us how?

I expect Scolari to go with the same team as Citeh & Bordeaux IMO. Malouda has improved these 2 games, maybe a run in the side is helping his confidence and maybe we'll get a decent cross out of him!

........................Cech

..Bos......Carvalho........JT......A.Cole

.......Lampard....Mikel.......Deco

....Joey Cole..........................Malouda

.......................Anelka

Subs:

Carlo

Alex

Belletti

Ballack

Kalou

Drogba

Di Santo

Edited September 17, 2008 by Ruh Buh Juh

[clubhappy]

I'd expect Drogba top start ahead of Anelka, he gives us a lot more up front and would cause Manyoo more problems than Anelka. Malouda was playing against Bordeaux last night so dont get too carried away , he did well , saw a lot of the ball but too many times there was no end product.

[icecoolguy22]

Why not play Drogba and Anelka together? I dont have that much faith in Malouda, anyone could have looked great on Tuesday night. We play 2 up front, narrow midfield of Mikel, Lampard, Deco and Cole, with full backs creating width. We need the power of Drogba and speed of Anelka, this is a must win, so let's go all guns blazing

[Oblivion]

Drogba has only played what, one Reserve game and a bit of the Man City game. After nearly 3 months out (or was it longer?) you want to start him against Man Utd, despite having a fully fit Anelka ready to play?

Surely a bit much. 30 minutes against Utd and Villa after this, then he should be ready to start

[gustyheadhunter]

cech

bosingwa

JT

ricki carv

ash

mikel

lamps

ballack

deco

drogba

anelka

hate leavin wee joey out but anelka(as much as he frustrates the life out of me)has scored 3 in 5 and in that form should be given a start. as for united i fully expect ro*@ldo to start as fergie is in panic mode. vidic is out so expect to see my fellow ulster man johnny evans starting as well(the scum bag).

[gustyheadhunter]

Drogba has only played what, one Reserve game and a bit of the Man City game. After nearly 3 months out (or was it longer?) you want to start him against Man Utd, despite having a fully fit Anelka ready to play?

Surely a bit much. 30 minutes against Utd and Villa after this, then he should be ready to start

he should be ready to start a match with the trainin he has been doin as well as the reserve match and the part against city. if drogba can be used he should be especially against our biggest rivals. the guy is a human batterin ram

[Taipan]

Don't start either Drogba or Ballack.

We've been playing well without them, and neither is fully match fit.

The team picks itself. The only debatable position is Kalou/Malouda.

[Oblivion]

Given the recent CL matches, Utd may line up as follows:

................van der saar

Neville......Brown/Evans...Rio....Evra

...........Hargreaves...Anderson

.....................Scholes

Nani...........................Tevez

....................Rooney

The front 3 will form a fluid (if unprolific) trident, interchanging positions, while Old man Scholes will link up with the attack one every 37 minutes (since it roughly takes him 35 minutes to recover from forays upfield. Regardless of whether Evans OR Brown plays in defense, we really shouldn't have too many issues getting behind them. Things are looking better and better.

[Gem]

Lets do those Mancy-doodle-dandies, COME ON YOU BLUES!!!!

[c3blu]

With them missing vidic it might be tempting to throw Drogba in against them,not sure if he will change too much though after the last couple of results. It would be a bit unfair on the players who are doing well at the moment.

Drogba should feature st some stage though if only to improve his fitness, same probably for Ballack.

It all really depends on the way the game pans out.

I would stick with the team thats played well in the last 2 games with the option of throwing Drogba on later if we need to, or both if we are coasting and want to give them a run out.(hopefully the latter)

[byatt]

I think the back 5 of Petr Cech, Bosingwa, JT, Riccy and Ash picks itself in all fairness so the defence isn't something to worry about

The main plus for us going into this game is that we've got an on-form midfield and i think that's going to prove to be key, Lampsy and Deco have to be certainties to start the game and i'd opt for Mikel to play that defensive role rather than throwing Ballack straight back into the action.. I think Joe will start down the right leaving the question.. Do we go for an apprent "in form" Florent Malouda, or do we opt for the work-rate of Sala Kalou to operate down that left-hand side?? I'm not sure who i'd pick there right at this moment because on their day they can both be excellent or frustrating.

The BIG poser for Scolari i think is Drogba or Anelka.. they've got no Vidic which is excellent for us and personally i'd love to see the Drog up against Ferdinand, i think Didier can get the better of Rio in the aerial battle, aand if it comes down to it then he wins it for me when it comes to strength.

It's made difficult by the fact that Anelka has already started to score goals this season.. If the "unplayable" Didier Drogba turns up on Sunday then he gets the nod for me anyday of the week, it's unfortunate on Nico but i think Didier adds so much to our game and gives us a few more "outs"

[Kev123]

I just woke up still completely pissed at 6 AM this Saturday morning to watch the game, and now I realise it's tommorow! Dammit dammit dammit!

[Ruh Buh Juh]

"Cristiano is nibbling in my ear all the time. He is bursting to play," said the Scot.

What does that sound like to anyone? It sounds very wrong to me... :P

[PloKoon13]

What does that sound like to anyone? It sounds very wrong to me... :P

Haha!

[mad_mac]

doubt we will see too much of a change in our line up. I don't think we will see Drogba start, but think he will make an appearance off the bench

.....................Cech

Bosingwa...Terry..Carvs...Cole

..................Mikel

......Lampard........Deco

........J Cole

............................Malouda

...................Anelka