Kingdawson
Banned
This guy gets some really unfair stick on here. He's played what 3 games? 2 games he was the best defender on the pitch (Stevenage and Bolton) and he was pretty good when he came on against Norwich imo.
-
Dear Guest, Please note that adult content is not permitted on this forum. We have had our Google ads disabled at times due to some posts that were found from some time ago. Please do not post adult content and if you see any already on the forum, please report the post so that we can deal with it. Adult content is allowed in the glory hole - you will have to request permission to access it. Thanks, scara
**TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR v CHELSEA - FA CUP SEMI FINAL OMT**
- Thread starter GLENROYID
- Start date
This guy gets some really unfair stick on here. He's played what 3 games? 2 games he was the best defender on the pitch (Stevenage and Bolton) and he was pretty good when he came on against Norwich imo.
SteveAWOL
Chris Jones
Yeah, too many people with a nostalgic view of Ledley back in his prime rather than the player we've seen recently struggle against Stoke, Everton, ManU, ARSEnal and Norwich.
Nelsen will never be as good as a fully fit King but it don't look like Ledley will ever be more than about 60% again so I'd take a fully fit Nelsen on current form.
Tottenham Dave
Erik Edman
View from the other side:
http://www.theshedend.com/topic/20144-chelsea-v-tottenham-fa-cup-sf-150512-ko-1800-bst/
http://www.theshedend.com/topic/20144-chelsea-v-tottenham-fa-cup-sf-150512-ko-1800-bst/
markysimmo
Johnny nice-tits
1st post !!!
Like City they have imploded and the fact they have only won once this year (and that was Watford) is rather telling
spurspinter1
Steve Carr
I have no idea what the score will be or what formation we'll play but I'll sleep happy as long as I know that the players have given fudging everything they have for our club out there, if they aren't pumped up for an FA cup semi final at Wembley against the facists then I'd consider giving up this whole football malarky, the players would not deserve my support or my money and I wouldn't see any reason to give it to them either. I'm fudging excited for this game, lets hope we make it an occasion.
COYS!
COYS!
Jurgen the German
Erik Thorstvedt
I'm really looking forward to this one. Normally I'm a nervous wreck before an FA cup semi final, but I've been gutted so many times after defeats in semi finals that I've decided to go into this game with a more even keel attitude as much as I can.
markysimmo
Johnny nice-tits
Exactly what a stupid post and massively wrong as weve beaten both Saudi Sportswashing Machine and Swansea too
Bullet
Andy Thompson
I reckon Gallas will play, and will pull a hamstring after 20 minutes and spend the rest of the match clutching at it and hobbling.
I also think our team's confidence is shot - I have a very bad feeling about all this - one of those utter fudgers is going to score, then all the utter fudgers are going to dance around like they've won a trophy.
I also think our team's confidence is shot - I have a very bad feeling about all this - one of those utter fudgers is going to score, then all the utter fudgers are going to dance around like they've won a trophy.
paxtonwolf
Tony Marchi
I think the guy missed a vital phrase out of his post ' away from home'
GrimsbyYid
Gus Poyet
WHat was brilliant is that no one corrected him. So effing uninformed. If someone said something similar on here about Chelsea we would know about them!
paxtonwolf
Tony Marchi
Give them another 24 hours then one of them will have worked it out
NaijaSpurs
Les Ferdinand
Injuries to Younes Kaboul and Ledley King mean Tottenham have only two fit centre-halves - Ryan Nelsen and William Gallas - and manager Harry Redknapp also revealed this morning that Niko Kranjcar is facing a spell on the sidelines with a knee complaint.
Tom Huddlestone and Michael Dawson are unavailable with long-term ankle injuries and Louis Saha has a groin problem, leaving Redknapp struggling to find 18 players for his Wembley match-day squad after farming out the likes of Vedran Corluka, Sebastien Bassong and Steven Pienaar in January.
The 65-year-old is likely to turn to a number of his youngsters to fill the bench, but he also conceded that Bentley, who suffered a serious knee injury while on loan at West Ham in October - and has not played for Spurs since November 2010 - could feature this weekend.
"We haven't got loads of players and looking at the squad, there is every chance David Bentley could be back on the bench. He is in the running," Redknapp said.
"David hasn't even played a game this season. He has been injured since he went to West Ham, but I'm struggling to find seven subs."
Bentley's arrival at White Hart Lane for a then club record fee of ?ú15million was surrounded by a great amount of hype.
The Peterborough-born winger was branded the "next David Beckham" after starring for Blackburn, but he fell down the pecking order following Redknapp's appointment in October 2008.
Probably the most memorable aspect of his Tottenham career under Redknapp was his decision to dump a tank full of water on his manager during a live interview which followed the club's qualification to the Champions League.
That move did not go down well with Redknapp, and Bentley was shipped out on loan to Birmingham, and then West Ham. He was the subject of interest from npower League One side MK Dons in January, but Redknapp concedes he may have no other option than to call on the services of the 27-year-old in his team's run-in.
"I'm sure by the end of the season he will be back in the squad, or in the team. He is right back in the frame again," Redknapp said.
With Tottenham having won one of their last eight Premier League games, the injury crisis could have hardly come at a worse time.
The main worry for Redknapp is in defence, where Tottenham have looked extremely suspect of late.
Kaboul has been to France to see a knee specialist, King's knee problems are a real concern, and Dawson is out until the end of the season.
Nelsen was not expected to feature much after signing on a free transfer from Blackburn in February, but Redknapp insists he can rely on the 34-year-old, and Gallas, to shackle the likes of Juan Mata, Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres.
"I had five centre-halves in January but now those two are the last men standing," Redknapp said.
"But Ryan Nelsen wouldn't let me down, he's a fantastic competitor."
Another distraction for Redknapp of late has been the constant speculation regarding his future.
The former Southampton manager is the overwhelming favourite to become the next England head coach but has yet to be approached for the position.
His team have only won twice in the league since Fabio Capello resigned but he denies that has been a factor in Tottenham's slump.
"I never think about it (England). Honestly, I swear, I never think about anything other than Tottenham," Redknapp said.
"All I think about is getting Tottenham in to the top four and getting in to the FA Cup final.
"There is nothing else to occupy my mind at all."
Chelsea have lifted 11 trophies since Spurs last won the FA Cup in 1991, and Redknapp says it is about time the Londoners lived up to the hype and added some silverware to the White Hart Lane trophy cabinet.
"Chelsea have been there and done it all in the last few years," Redknapp said.
"Tottenham is a club that have won two trophies since 1991 and they were both Carling Cups so it's about time Tottenham won another trophy."
Tom Huddlestone and Michael Dawson are unavailable with long-term ankle injuries and Louis Saha has a groin problem, leaving Redknapp struggling to find 18 players for his Wembley match-day squad after farming out the likes of Vedran Corluka, Sebastien Bassong and Steven Pienaar in January.
The 65-year-old is likely to turn to a number of his youngsters to fill the bench, but he also conceded that Bentley, who suffered a serious knee injury while on loan at West Ham in October - and has not played for Spurs since November 2010 - could feature this weekend.
"We haven't got loads of players and looking at the squad, there is every chance David Bentley could be back on the bench. He is in the running," Redknapp said.
"David hasn't even played a game this season. He has been injured since he went to West Ham, but I'm struggling to find seven subs."
Bentley's arrival at White Hart Lane for a then club record fee of ?ú15million was surrounded by a great amount of hype.
The Peterborough-born winger was branded the "next David Beckham" after starring for Blackburn, but he fell down the pecking order following Redknapp's appointment in October 2008.
Probably the most memorable aspect of his Tottenham career under Redknapp was his decision to dump a tank full of water on his manager during a live interview which followed the club's qualification to the Champions League.
That move did not go down well with Redknapp, and Bentley was shipped out on loan to Birmingham, and then West Ham. He was the subject of interest from npower League One side MK Dons in January, but Redknapp concedes he may have no other option than to call on the services of the 27-year-old in his team's run-in.
"I'm sure by the end of the season he will be back in the squad, or in the team. He is right back in the frame again," Redknapp said.
With Tottenham having won one of their last eight Premier League games, the injury crisis could have hardly come at a worse time.
The main worry for Redknapp is in defence, where Tottenham have looked extremely suspect of late.
Kaboul has been to France to see a knee specialist, King's knee problems are a real concern, and Dawson is out until the end of the season.
Nelsen was not expected to feature much after signing on a free transfer from Blackburn in February, but Redknapp insists he can rely on the 34-year-old, and Gallas, to shackle the likes of Juan Mata, Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres.
"I had five centre-halves in January but now those two are the last men standing," Redknapp said.
"But Ryan Nelsen wouldn't let me down, he's a fantastic competitor."
Another distraction for Redknapp of late has been the constant speculation regarding his future.
The former Southampton manager is the overwhelming favourite to become the next England head coach but has yet to be approached for the position.
His team have only won twice in the league since Fabio Capello resigned but he denies that has been a factor in Tottenham's slump.
"I never think about it (England). Honestly, I swear, I never think about anything other than Tottenham," Redknapp said.
"All I think about is getting Tottenham in to the top four and getting in to the FA Cup final.
"There is nothing else to occupy my mind at all."
Chelsea have lifted 11 trophies since Spurs last won the FA Cup in 1991, and Redknapp says it is about time the Londoners lived up to the hype and added some silverware to the White Hart Lane trophy cabinet.
"Chelsea have been there and done it all in the last few years," Redknapp said.
"Tottenham is a club that have won two trophies since 1991 and they were both Carling Cups so it's about time Tottenham won another trophy."
In fairness, King hadn't done any running at all before the Arsenal game, Harry said he wasn't fit at all but he just put him out there and hoped for a miracle. King has only had a few bad games this season, the problem is the recent games have been terrible, I doubt he's fit enough to start another game this soon and I seriously doubt he'll be back to even early season form for a long time.
We could go 3-4-3 if we really needed to. Unorthodox 3-4-3. Walker, Gallas, BAE with Parker and Sandro in front of them. (One of them has to drop into the back 4 when we're defending unless Chelsea's lone striker isn't in the middle.) Modric and VDV make up the other two with Lennon, Ade and Bale as the front 3. The only issue is trying out this formation in the middle of a semi final isn't ideal, which is why I actually meant to suggest it for a joke, but ended up talking in a fair too serious tone. It'd be a very good formation to use against Barca, but would be crazy to use on Sunday.
-----------------------------------
So, let's look at the "revitalized" Chelsea under Di Matteo.
Birmingham 0 - Chelsea 2.
Chelsea 1 - Stoke 0.
Chelsea 4 - Napoli 1. (Napoli have a horrible away record. That was after extra time, Lampard got a penalty.)
Chelsea 5 - Leicester 2.
Emirates Marketing Project 2 - Chelsea 1.
Chelsea 0 - Tottenham 0. (This was must win for them, they couldn't have known we'd implode. They parked the bus, had Ramirez playing as a winger so he could double up on Bale iirc.)
Benfica 0 - Chelsea 1.
Villa 2 - Chelsea 4. (Villa pulled back to 2-2, this is the Villa we completely dominated at WHL, that looked like they could play for a year and not score against us. I admit this was at Villa Park, but that's got to be the easiest away trip in the league.)
Chelsea 2 - Benfica 1. (Penalty and Benfica got a man sent off early into the match, Benfica were by far the better team.)
Chelsea 2 - Wigan 1. (2 offside goals and a punch in the build up to the second goal.)
Fulham 1 - Chelsea 1. (A smaller clip than Bale got at Arsenal when he got a penalty.)
I can't remember the earlier games that well, but I know the numbers don't tell the whole story. Chelsea have been playing worse than us but getting results.)
-------------
Referee: Martin "leg breaking tackles don't deserve red cards or even retrospective bans" Atkinson.
Prediction: Game abandoned after Meireles breaks all our players' legs and Chelsea admit they don't remember how to win matches without getting penalties.
Injury news: Ashley Cole and John Terry are available (despite John Terry's cracked ribs). Bertrand is out, Rameo is out. They probably have some other people out. Ivanovic is suspended due to punching someone and despite the appeal remains out.
For us, the usual suspects are missing, Kaboul is out and Kranj is also out.
-----------------
Chelsea players:
Cech - You know what you're going to get. Left footed, wears a funny hat.
RBs:
Bosingwa - Cannot defend to save his life, likes to attack though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX-66svw1_Q
Ferriera - Hasn't played much in the last few years, isn't great. Bosingwa is picked above him, so that says enough about him.
CBs:
David Luiz - Can play RB at a push. Is a Brazillian CB, likes to dribble, pass and score goals. He has a Sideshow Bob type haircut and hasn't given away a penalty for a while, so he's due. Not spectacular in the air, but he's the pace of the Chelsea CB pairing when he plays alongside Terry.
John "I didn't call you a ****, you ****" Terry.
He has cracked ribs and was brave enough to tell the world, maybe it's a bluff and he's actually got a dodgy back? Even if that was the case he's going to get so many elbows in the ribs that he's going to have cracked ribs. He's been training, so he should play. Slow, good in the air, likes to give away penalties, acts like a goalkeeper sometimes, escaped a Suarez sized ban because Chelsea asked for his trial to happen after the season. Captain. He tends to have the best pass completion rate in the PL every season, he is a good passer, but he's obviously a safe passer most of the time. Terry passing to Cole can be the same pass King does from time to time. If we leave space, that's one thing to watch for, although hopefully Lennon and Walker watch that side carefully. (If Bale switches with Lennon, he needs to know it's his job to watch out for that brick.) Terry will man mark our number one threat from corners and needs to be marked well for Chelsea corners.
Cahill:
Has a good shot on him, like Luiz, played well against us at the Bridge. Isn't slow, is a pretty good passer. He has fitted in well in the Chelsea side so far. He's slightly better in the air than Luiz, this caused him to get picked ahead of Luiz at the Bridge.
LBs:
Cole
He's not been at his best this season but he is by far the strongest of the Chelsea full backs that can play on Sunday. If Bale switches with Lennon, he has to keep an eye on Cole. This is where Lennon shines, or has the chance to shine... Cole vs VDV earlier in the season was fudging stupid and Cole got man of the match. Lennon has the opportunity to be the unsung hero by making sure Cole doesn't become Chelsea's most threatening attacking player.
Actually, while I'm on the subject of that... http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/12/22/tottenham-1-1-chelsea-both-goals-from-left-wing/ That's the WHL game from earlier in the season. I don't think it mention's Cole's handball, Modric's tackle being totally fine, Meireles and Ade nearly getting sent off or Ade scoring a fine goal that was incorrectly ruled out for offside, but it's still an interesting read. It was against AVB though, so Chelsea won't set up exactly like that on Sunday.
Di Matteo loves his 4-2-3-1 and plays it often, but he will change where he puts the players.
http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/2012/3/26/2902175/chelsea-vs-spurs-some-thoughts-and-analysis
That is a very good reminder of what they did at the Bridge. Despite being written by a Chelsea fan, his thoughts on Harry's tactics are more like a Spurs fan.
Anyway, back to the Chelsea team, I did their defence, now to their midfield.
Essien - Box to box, or he used to be. One of many Chelsea players that age is catching up to, that and injuries. He is sometimes used as a holding midfielder, which is a position he can play in. His shooting doesn't get a chance to shine, but he's one of Chelsea's better DMs, he gets tired before the 90 minutes are up, he's not the player he used to be, he's still a good player for Chelsea though.
Rameriez - Box to box. Energy, engine, stamina, whatever you want to call it, Rameriez is a more defensively minded midfielder that'll run all day long. He was last deployed against Spurs as a winger in order to track back and help Bosingwa with Bale and BAE... His crossing, shooting, etc are not nearly as good as a winger's should be, but he can still score goals from time to time.
Obi - Mikel - DM. Destroyer with no capability to shoot. He's ok in the air and can pull off simple passes as most DMs have to, but he has gone backwards in the last couple of years despite being 24. He was supposed to replace Makalele, but hasn't been used much this season. As Romeu is out and Di Matteo likes to play with 2 holding midfielders, he might feature, either by starting or as a sub.
He has cracked ribs and was brave enough to tell the world, maybe it's a bluff and he's actually got a dodgy back? Even if that was the case he's going to get so many elbows in the ribs that he's going to have cracked ribs. He's been training, so he should play. Slow, good in the air, likes to give away penalties, acts like a goalkeeper sometimes, escaped a Suarez sized ban because Chelsea asked for his trial to happen after the season. Captain. He tends to have the best pass completion rate in the PL every season, he is a good passer, but he's obviously a safe passer most of the time. Terry passing to Cole can be the same pass King does from time to time. If we leave space, that's one thing to watch for, although hopefully Lennon and Walker watch that side carefully. (If Bale switches with Lennon, he needs to know it's his job to watch out for that brick.) Terry will man mark our number one threat from corners and needs to be marked well for Chelsea corners.
Cahill:
Has a good shot on him, like Luiz, played well against us at the Bridge. Isn't slow, is a pretty good passer. He has fitted in well in the Chelsea side so far. He's slightly better in the air than Luiz, this caused him to get picked ahead of Luiz at the Bridge.
LBs:
Cole
He's not been at his best this season but he is by far the strongest of the Chelsea full backs that can play on Sunday. If Bale switches with Lennon, he has to keep an eye on Cole. This is where Lennon shines, or has the chance to shine... Cole vs VDV earlier in the season was fudging stupid and Cole got man of the match. Lennon has the opportunity to be the unsung hero by making sure Cole doesn't become Chelsea's most threatening attacking player.
Actually, while I'm on the subject of that... http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/12/22/tottenham-1-1-chelsea-both-goals-from-left-wing/ That's the WHL game from earlier in the season. I don't think it mention's Cole's handball, Modric's tackle being totally fine, Meireles and Ade nearly getting sent off or Ade scoring a fine goal that was incorrectly ruled out for offside, but it's still an interesting read. It was against AVB though, so Chelsea won't set up exactly like that on Sunday.
Di Matteo loves his 4-2-3-1 and plays it often, but he will change where he puts the players.
http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/2012/3/26/2902175/chelsea-vs-spurs-some-thoughts-and-analysis
That is a very good reminder of what they did at the Bridge. Despite being written by a Chelsea fan, his thoughts on Harry's tactics are more like a Spurs fan.
Anyway, back to the Chelsea team, I did their defence, now to their midfield.
Essien - Box to box, or he used to be. One of many Chelsea players that age is catching up to, that and injuries. He is sometimes used as a holding midfielder, which is a position he can play in. His shooting doesn't get a chance to shine, but he's one of Chelsea's better DMs, he gets tired before the 90 minutes are up, he's not the player he used to be, he's still a good player for Chelsea though.
Rameriez - Box to box. Energy, engine, stamina, whatever you want to call it, Rameriez is a more defensively minded midfielder that'll run all day long. He was last deployed against Spurs as a winger in order to track back and help Bosingwa with Bale and BAE... His crossing, shooting, etc are not nearly as good as a winger's should be, but he can still score goals from time to time.
Obi - Mikel - DM. Destroyer with no capability to shoot. He's ok in the air and can pull off simple passes as most DMs have to, but he has gone backwards in the last couple of years despite being 24. He was supposed to replace Makalele, but hasn't been used much this season. As Romeu is out and Di Matteo likes to play with 2 holding midfielders, he might feature, either by starting or as a sub.
Meireles - If studs are your thing, this is your guy. Educated at the Adam and Gerrard school of tackling, this guy is an attacking minded midfielder with a lot of energy. His tackling is dangerous and is somehow more likely to get booked than Paul Scholes. He can score goals, but is played in the holding role most of the time so is limited to hacking and passing, both of which he does to the Chelsea standard.
Lampard - In seasons past, we could count on him getting a scrappy 90th minute goal for Chelsea, but unless he can displace Mata, he's stuck in a holding role under Di Matteo. Penalty taker, scorer of vital goals for Chelsea, can pass a bit... His tackling is pretty poor, but anything worthy of a red is forgiven in the "Lampard and Gerrard are lovable England players and aren't those sort of players" agreement of 2008. He used to score free kicks once, usually gets lots of abuse when taking corners... His runs from deep are still dangerous, despite midfielders being aware that his biggest trick is not being picked up and then scoring a goal.
Maluda - Left winger, AVB didn't seem to like him, was in very good form a long time ago and was one of Chelsea's biggest attacking threats once. Hardly ever plays but when he does, it's usually on the left of Chelsea's front three. He can pass, shoot, cross and do the wingery things you'd expect a winger to do.
Mata - Chelsea's 4-2-3-1 might have been made for him. Earlier in the season, he was Chelsea's brightest star and if it wasn't for Sturridge, he might have been Chelsea's only star. He's been off the pace lately as Silva has for Emirates Marketing Project, but Chelsea's biggest threat is no longer the Lampard 90th minute scrappy goal, it's now this guy. Exceptional passing ability, good at shooting, young (so free of the Chelsea age issue that saps the team late into matches).
-----------
Strikers:
Drogba - Kaboul wins more aerial duels per match than anyone else in the league, or he did a couple of months ago when I last checked, but the reason I mention that is because whoever plays alongside Gallas might have to deal with the aging giant that is Drogba. Shockingly, Chelsea only use 2 strikers as strikers and Drogba is the better of the two. Strength, aerial ability (defending too), lucky lucky crosses that seem to be right all the time and shot power, a lot of shot power. Shot power that sees him take free kicks from further out than most people in world football would try from, shot power that made Gomez look very foolish. A lot of shot power. He used to be one of the best big target men in the world, he's still good. He can't play as much as he used to and Chelsea's game with Barca might tempt Di Matteo into not risking Drogba playing extra time. Also, Lampard is the penalty taker when he plays, but Drogba is a very good penalty taker, Mata is ok, but Drogba and Lampard are better. Drogba tends to roll around on the floor as if he's been shot when anything happens to him at all, I think Bale has been trying to copy him lately... It's not cheating to get someone booked, Drogba does it if no one is around him.
Fernando Torres - Andy Carroll cost Liverpool 35 million pounds, KKKenny's only defence is the bizarre logic that Carroll actually came with 15 million pounds free... But his point is that someone bought him Andy Carroll and 15 million pounds in order to take Fernando Torres away... Chelsea was that someone, while Ronaldo cost 100 million euros and plays as a winger-striker hybrid, he competes for goal scoring records against the best player ever, playing as lone striker in the best team ever. Chelsea decided to pay 50 million pounds for Fernando Torres.
He misses open goals, he can still pass on good days, he can still cross on good days, his first touch can vary, he recently scored after 24 hours of not scoring, he tries hard and puts in some work... What can you say about 50 million pound striker Fernando Torres?
Messi has scored more hat tricks this season than Torres has goals... Torres likes to run in behind though, he does have pace.
Kalou - WTF is this? He's a sort of winger/striker thing. You'd have called him a striker, but since coming to Chelsea he's played on one of the wings in their front three. The reason you'd have called him a striker is because he can't dribble, cross, make a pass that isn't simple, run off the ball or do anything you'd associate with a winger, despite him playing on the wing. He's sort of like Walcott, Walcott has two advantages pace and the ability to shoot with the inside of his foot when inside the box, Kalou does not have that last quality, which is what makes me hesitate before branding him a striker. Kalou is in fact, a striker that cannot shoot. He's small and thus isn't anything like a target man, he's as creative as an outfield player should be, so he's a poacher that can't really poach. If the ball was 3 yards out and we had no players on the pitch, Kalou is the only person that would miss in that position more than Torres. He does score scrappy tap ins and things, but he misses so many chances a goalkeeper should be able to score that I have no idea why he's still at Chelsea.
I honestly have no idea what he does.
Sturridge - Earlier in the season, he was one of Chelsea's biggest attacking threats. Since then, he has lost a bit of his edge. He's a left footed striker that is often played on the right wing in a front three. Greedy, extremely confident and actually a good player. Ramierez took his position on the right wing in order to help Bosingwa with Bale and BAE, Sturridge doesn't track back that well, ABV yelled at him to track back in the Chelsea Man United game, Sturridge listened to his manager and tracked back to give away a penalty, he was then substituted.
On their current form, Chelsea are nowhere near playing with the speed, intensity or desire as Norwich, but they have a few sprinklings of talent that Norwich didn't have and under Di Matteo they have found some luck. But their current form is a guidebook to how to win games while playing very very very badly.
---------------------------
Di Matteo formation of choice: 4-2-3-1. (Used under ABV.)
Previous formations: The Mourinho 4-3-3 (DM on the left, with box-to-box on the right slightly ahead and an attacking midfielder on the left in front of the box-to-box.)
4-1-2-1-2 (4-4-2 diamond.)
ABV 4-5-1 (counter attack)
ABV 4-3-3 (4-3-2-1 triangle midfield and triangle attack.)
----------------------
Lampard - In seasons past, we could count on him getting a scrappy 90th minute goal for Chelsea, but unless he can displace Mata, he's stuck in a holding role under Di Matteo. Penalty taker, scorer of vital goals for Chelsea, can pass a bit... His tackling is pretty poor, but anything worthy of a red is forgiven in the "Lampard and Gerrard are lovable England players and aren't those sort of players" agreement of 2008. He used to score free kicks once, usually gets lots of abuse when taking corners... His runs from deep are still dangerous, despite midfielders being aware that his biggest trick is not being picked up and then scoring a goal.
Maluda - Left winger, AVB didn't seem to like him, was in very good form a long time ago and was one of Chelsea's biggest attacking threats once. Hardly ever plays but when he does, it's usually on the left of Chelsea's front three. He can pass, shoot, cross and do the wingery things you'd expect a winger to do.
Mata - Chelsea's 4-2-3-1 might have been made for him. Earlier in the season, he was Chelsea's brightest star and if it wasn't for Sturridge, he might have been Chelsea's only star. He's been off the pace lately as Silva has for Emirates Marketing Project, but Chelsea's biggest threat is no longer the Lampard 90th minute scrappy goal, it's now this guy. Exceptional passing ability, good at shooting, young (so free of the Chelsea age issue that saps the team late into matches).
-----------
Strikers:
Drogba - Kaboul wins more aerial duels per match than anyone else in the league, or he did a couple of months ago when I last checked, but the reason I mention that is because whoever plays alongside Gallas might have to deal with the aging giant that is Drogba. Shockingly, Chelsea only use 2 strikers as strikers and Drogba is the better of the two. Strength, aerial ability (defending too), lucky lucky crosses that seem to be right all the time and shot power, a lot of shot power. Shot power that sees him take free kicks from further out than most people in world football would try from, shot power that made Gomez look very foolish. A lot of shot power. He used to be one of the best big target men in the world, he's still good. He can't play as much as he used to and Chelsea's game with Barca might tempt Di Matteo into not risking Drogba playing extra time. Also, Lampard is the penalty taker when he plays, but Drogba is a very good penalty taker, Mata is ok, but Drogba and Lampard are better. Drogba tends to roll around on the floor as if he's been shot when anything happens to him at all, I think Bale has been trying to copy him lately... It's not cheating to get someone booked, Drogba does it if no one is around him.
Fernando Torres - Andy Carroll cost Liverpool 35 million pounds, KKKenny's only defence is the bizarre logic that Carroll actually came with 15 million pounds free... But his point is that someone bought him Andy Carroll and 15 million pounds in order to take Fernando Torres away... Chelsea was that someone, while Ronaldo cost 100 million euros and plays as a winger-striker hybrid, he competes for goal scoring records against the best player ever, playing as lone striker in the best team ever. Chelsea decided to pay 50 million pounds for Fernando Torres.
He misses open goals, he can still pass on good days, he can still cross on good days, his first touch can vary, he recently scored after 24 hours of not scoring, he tries hard and puts in some work... What can you say about 50 million pound striker Fernando Torres?
Messi has scored more hat tricks this season than Torres has goals... Torres likes to run in behind though, he does have pace.
Kalou - WTF is this? He's a sort of winger/striker thing. You'd have called him a striker, but since coming to Chelsea he's played on one of the wings in their front three. The reason you'd have called him a striker is because he can't dribble, cross, make a pass that isn't simple, run off the ball or do anything you'd associate with a winger, despite him playing on the wing. He's sort of like Walcott, Walcott has two advantages pace and the ability to shoot with the inside of his foot when inside the box, Kalou does not have that last quality, which is what makes me hesitate before branding him a striker. Kalou is in fact, a striker that cannot shoot. He's small and thus isn't anything like a target man, he's as creative as an outfield player should be, so he's a poacher that can't really poach. If the ball was 3 yards out and we had no players on the pitch, Kalou is the only person that would miss in that position more than Torres. He does score scrappy tap ins and things, but he misses so many chances a goalkeeper should be able to score that I have no idea why he's still at Chelsea.
I honestly have no idea what he does.
Sturridge - Earlier in the season, he was one of Chelsea's biggest attacking threats. Since then, he has lost a bit of his edge. He's a left footed striker that is often played on the right wing in a front three. Greedy, extremely confident and actually a good player. Ramierez took his position on the right wing in order to help Bosingwa with Bale and BAE, Sturridge doesn't track back that well, ABV yelled at him to track back in the Chelsea Man United game, Sturridge listened to his manager and tracked back to give away a penalty, he was then substituted.
On their current form, Chelsea are nowhere near playing with the speed, intensity or desire as Norwich, but they have a few sprinklings of talent that Norwich didn't have and under Di Matteo they have found some luck. But their current form is a guidebook to how to win games while playing very very very badly.
---------------------------
Di Matteo formation of choice: 4-2-3-1. (Used under ABV.)
Previous formations: The Mourinho 4-3-3 (DM on the left, with box-to-box on the right slightly ahead and an attacking midfielder on the left in front of the box-to-box.)
4-1-2-1-2 (4-4-2 diamond.)
ABV 4-5-1 (counter attack)
ABV 4-3-3 (4-3-2-1 triangle midfield and triangle attack.)
----------------------
Anticipated Chelsea line up:
4-2-3-1
---------------------Cech
Bosingwa---------Cahill-----------Terry-----------Cole
-----------------Lampard--------Essien/Obi Mikel
Ramirez------------------Mata-----------------Sturridge
--------------------------Drogba
Meireles might come on for Lampard at some point. With 2 holding midfield players, he has more time on the ball and can pass more than he could usually, his passing goes to pieces when under even a bit of pressure. If we don't have one person on one holding midfielder while another of our team presses the other, the pressing will just result in the other holding midfielder getting the ball, possibly via one of the Chelsea CBs. He does have a good shot on him though, but shouldn't be in good positions to shoot very often unless we're playing really badly and Chelsea force us very deep.
Torres for Drogba is usually a change Chelsea use, especially with the Barca game coming up.
Kalou might feature, but it's unlikely. Maluda might too if they want to play a winger. Alternatively, Lampard might get played on the left wing with Meireles pushed into the position I've set aside for Lampard but that seems suicidal against Lennon and Walker... Even Sturridge expected to cover Walker seems optimistic on Chelsea's part, but he's fast, I guess.
Luiz will probably feature at some point, Di Matteo might throw him on at RB for Bosingwa or might just put him on somewhere else. For all the goal threat they lack with Torres and Kalou, they have Luiz and Cahill that can shoot. Ivanovic, their goal scorer in form is suspended and John Terry is good in the air.
I'm assuming Di Matteo will sacrifice Sturridge's best position and play Ramirez to help Bosingwa with Bale and BAE again, that does half our defence's work for us, Sturridge isn't as dangerous on the left.
Mata is always a threat, but Harry will pack the midfield after Norwich, Parker will play anyway. Aside from Parker, we play deep midfielders anyway. Ramirez should not be an attacking threat at all, it would take a huge slice of luck in addition to him having a good opportunity and BAE makes the left our strongest defensive side.
Lampard is Lampard, we're used to his brick. Needless to say, if he runs from deep in the 89th minute and no one picks him up, he'll score in the 90th. Sunday is not the day for giving away penalties either.
We know what we're going to get with Drogba, Nelson gets a chance to win over the few that aren't signed up to his fan club.
Essien or Obi Mikel as the destroyer. Obi Mikel has played for Di Matteo far more consistently than he played for ABV, in this role, neither player will go forward, they'll both play the same way.
Bosingwa, he hasn't got the best winger in front of him, so if Bale does neglect Bosingwa, Chelsea will be open to a counter attack, but giving a side a 2v1 down a flank isn't always the best idea, depending on our midfield, I'd like to think that we could prevent any threat Bosingwa would create though.
Cahill and Terry are CBs, if Cahill wants to have some long range shots or Terry gets forward for corners, we should know how to deal with them.
Cole is the worry for me. With Sturridge in front of him, he's got no defensive suppot at all, that's why I think Mikel or Essien will play that side, but by contrast, a Sturridge/Cole flank is their attacking flank. Lennon needs to deal with Cole, Walker needs to deal with Sturridge. Bale must understand that switching wings with Lennon means he inherits Lennon's defensive duties. I'm fudging paranoid about that.
-----------------
As for the team we play, we all know Harry's view of morals, so the goalkeeping choice should be interesting. Walker, Gallas, Nelson, BAE pick themselves, although only because we have no other fit CBs. Lennon, Modric, Parker, Bale should pick themselves and VDV with Ade up top should also pick themselves as Harry is still recovering from the shock of 4-4-2 being open.
4-4-1-1 vs 4-2-3-1, the difference is minimal. Both teams will have 2 deep CMs and 1 AM just off the striker... Which means pressing without the lone striker will mean a 2v1, by contrast, if a deep midfielder moves to press with the VDV/Mata the team with possession will have a tiny bit of space to work with.
Harry isn't going to do anything crazy with our shape, so I don't think he'll play 3 at the back... That means if he plays VDV instead of Sandro, we'll have our best 11 (depending on goalkeeping choice, but we know Harry is going to play Friedel and say how difficult it was to leave out Cudinici, if he shows morals at the expense of weakening us a little bit for the cup while under pressure for 4th, I'll be surprised).
If he plays Sandro instead of VDV and we line up 4-5-1 in the semi final of the cup, it might go on until penalties.... I suppose the good thing about Chelsea having to play Barca so soon after the match means they'll want it to go to extra time even less than we do, they have an old squad too. But that might also make their team selection weird. It should be interesting. Arsenal are playing them at the best time though. It should be interesting to see how much running Chelsea plays do in a semi final against Spurs, a semi final against Barca, a league match at Arsenal and the final leg of the Champions League semi final at Barca.
If all their old players can still run after those 4 games, I'd be surprised.
Anyway, I'm fully expecting another Ade offside goal, it's been a while since one of those. But it'll be interesting to see if we can pass the ball quickly, it'd be quite funny if we tired them out and they had to put out a completely different team against Barca.
4-2-3-1
---------------------Cech
Bosingwa---------Cahill-----------Terry-----------Cole
-----------------Lampard--------Essien/Obi Mikel
Ramirez------------------Mata-----------------Sturridge
--------------------------Drogba
Meireles might come on for Lampard at some point. With 2 holding midfield players, he has more time on the ball and can pass more than he could usually, his passing goes to pieces when under even a bit of pressure. If we don't have one person on one holding midfielder while another of our team presses the other, the pressing will just result in the other holding midfielder getting the ball, possibly via one of the Chelsea CBs. He does have a good shot on him though, but shouldn't be in good positions to shoot very often unless we're playing really badly and Chelsea force us very deep.
Torres for Drogba is usually a change Chelsea use, especially with the Barca game coming up.
Kalou might feature, but it's unlikely. Maluda might too if they want to play a winger. Alternatively, Lampard might get played on the left wing with Meireles pushed into the position I've set aside for Lampard but that seems suicidal against Lennon and Walker... Even Sturridge expected to cover Walker seems optimistic on Chelsea's part, but he's fast, I guess.
Luiz will probably feature at some point, Di Matteo might throw him on at RB for Bosingwa or might just put him on somewhere else. For all the goal threat they lack with Torres and Kalou, they have Luiz and Cahill that can shoot. Ivanovic, their goal scorer in form is suspended and John Terry is good in the air.
I'm assuming Di Matteo will sacrifice Sturridge's best position and play Ramirez to help Bosingwa with Bale and BAE again, that does half our defence's work for us, Sturridge isn't as dangerous on the left.
Mata is always a threat, but Harry will pack the midfield after Norwich, Parker will play anyway. Aside from Parker, we play deep midfielders anyway. Ramirez should not be an attacking threat at all, it would take a huge slice of luck in addition to him having a good opportunity and BAE makes the left our strongest defensive side.
Lampard is Lampard, we're used to his brick. Needless to say, if he runs from deep in the 89th minute and no one picks him up, he'll score in the 90th. Sunday is not the day for giving away penalties either.
We know what we're going to get with Drogba, Nelson gets a chance to win over the few that aren't signed up to his fan club.
Essien or Obi Mikel as the destroyer. Obi Mikel has played for Di Matteo far more consistently than he played for ABV, in this role, neither player will go forward, they'll both play the same way.
Bosingwa, he hasn't got the best winger in front of him, so if Bale does neglect Bosingwa, Chelsea will be open to a counter attack, but giving a side a 2v1 down a flank isn't always the best idea, depending on our midfield, I'd like to think that we could prevent any threat Bosingwa would create though.
Cahill and Terry are CBs, if Cahill wants to have some long range shots or Terry gets forward for corners, we should know how to deal with them.
Cole is the worry for me. With Sturridge in front of him, he's got no defensive suppot at all, that's why I think Mikel or Essien will play that side, but by contrast, a Sturridge/Cole flank is their attacking flank. Lennon needs to deal with Cole, Walker needs to deal with Sturridge. Bale must understand that switching wings with Lennon means he inherits Lennon's defensive duties. I'm fudging paranoid about that.
-----------------
As for the team we play, we all know Harry's view of morals, so the goalkeeping choice should be interesting. Walker, Gallas, Nelson, BAE pick themselves, although only because we have no other fit CBs. Lennon, Modric, Parker, Bale should pick themselves and VDV with Ade up top should also pick themselves as Harry is still recovering from the shock of 4-4-2 being open.
4-4-1-1 vs 4-2-3-1, the difference is minimal. Both teams will have 2 deep CMs and 1 AM just off the striker... Which means pressing without the lone striker will mean a 2v1, by contrast, if a deep midfielder moves to press with the VDV/Mata the team with possession will have a tiny bit of space to work with.
Harry isn't going to do anything crazy with our shape, so I don't think he'll play 3 at the back... That means if he plays VDV instead of Sandro, we'll have our best 11 (depending on goalkeeping choice, but we know Harry is going to play Friedel and say how difficult it was to leave out Cudinici, if he shows morals at the expense of weakening us a little bit for the cup while under pressure for 4th, I'll be surprised).
If he plays Sandro instead of VDV and we line up 4-5-1 in the semi final of the cup, it might go on until penalties.... I suppose the good thing about Chelsea having to play Barca so soon after the match means they'll want it to go to extra time even less than we do, they have an old squad too. But that might also make their team selection weird. It should be interesting. Arsenal are playing them at the best time though. It should be interesting to see how much running Chelsea plays do in a semi final against Spurs, a semi final against Barca, a league match at Arsenal and the final leg of the Champions League semi final at Barca.
If all their old players can still run after those 4 games, I'd be surprised.
Anyway, I'm fully expecting another Ade offside goal, it's been a while since one of those. But it'll be interesting to see if we can pass the ball quickly, it'd be quite funny if we tired them out and they had to put out a completely different team against Barca.
Modric THFC
Jimmy McCormick
Super motivation for Bentley there. Not that he needs a boost or anything ](*,)