UCL: Chelsea v Barcelona

Dude is that Rita Ora in your avatar?

I would prefer Luiz playing vs. us than Cahill. Cahill is slow, but if Chelsea sits deep, I doubt he is so error prone as Luiz.

With Luiz in the field, any cross or through ball cand end up in a goal. He might also have a cross and try to start driblling or do difficult passes that end up in a Barça counterattack.

Do you also have the feeling that Pep will bottle first leg like vs Milan and start useless Keita to 'bring defensive security' and 'help at long balls and corners' and waste Iniesta on the wing? I'm sure of this and hoped to be surprised at Wednesday, but I think Keita will start. His last 2 games as a starter - Milan away and Zaragoza away were horrible. I predict 0-0 draw in first leg with Mr Humility in starting line-up.

Keita starting provided he is fit in Chelsea game is not such a bad idea, as he is more physical, and we will need to rotate in any way as we have 3 very important games in such a tight schedule.

matpol wrote:Do you also have the feeling that Pep will bottle first leg like vs Milan and start useless Keita to 'bring defensive security' and 'help at long balls and corners' and waste Iniesta on the wing? I'm sure of this and hoped to be surprised at Wednesday, but I think Keita will start. His last 2 games as a starter - Milan away and Zaragoza away were horrible. I predict 0-0 draw in first leg with Mr Humility in starting line-up.

I hope he doesn't start and I don't think he will because he had a small injury.

Let's hope Pep goes all out with our best team. Xavi, Iniesta, Pique, Alves and Pedro all rested this saturday, while defensive positions don't take much toll and Messi only ran from minute 50 to 70 vs. Levante. So almost everyone should be in good condition except Alexis and Cesc.

We coul start something like this.

VV
Alves - Pique - Machete - Puyol (set pieces and moral).
-----------Busquets
-------Xavi ---------- Iniesta
Pedro--------Messi ----------- Cuenca

In the second half, I would consider subbing three of Alves, Iniesta, Xavi and Messi, depending on result, but especially Xavi and Iniesta could be subbed if we have at least a tie with goals, while Alves and Messi only if we are winning.

meh, I am still not worried... I can't see how Chelsea can dominate the midfield if Xavi and Iniesta are on their best. Taking the midfield = win IMO for this game

free_cat wrote:I would prefer Luiz playing vs. us than Cahill. Cahill is slow, but if Chelsea sits deep, I doubt he is so error prone as Luiz.

With Luiz in the field, any cross or through ball cand end up in a goal. He might also have a cross and try to start driblling or do difficult passes that end up in a Barça counterattack.

If Luiz does start, then its a perfect opportunity for Cuenca to start.

I think Cuenca should start in this game and save one of Alexis/Pedro for the Clasico. At the back... I think it depends on who will play in the Clasico again. I have a feeling Adriano won't play in it, so he should play against Chelsea.

Le Samourai wrote:Ivan---Terry-----Luiz------Cole
---Mires--Obi---Essien--------
--------Mata(Free Role)--------
------Drogba----Torres---------

The Plane

neither drogba or torres has scored for chelsea while the other has been on the pitch, cant see RDM playing them both

my line up would look like this
tactics: park the bus and put 10 men, the coaching staff, the medics, the people working at the stadium and anyone else who will volunteer behind the ball and pray either drogba can pull something vintage out of nowhere like he did vs spuds or we can score one on the counter with ramires and sturidges pace

*id pick Luiz but i think his knee is pretty bad so i dont think hes going to available

fatman123 wrote:

neither drogba or torres has scored for chelsea while the other has been on the pitch, cant see RDM playing them both

my line up would look like this

cech
Ivanovic-JT-Cahil*-Cole
Essien-Lampard
Ramires-Mata-Sturridge
Drogba

tactics: park the bus and put 10 men, the coaching staff, the medics, the people working at the stadium and anyone else who will volunteer behind the ball and pray either drogba can pull something vintage out of nowhere like he did vs spuds or we can score one on the counter with ramires and sturidges pace

*id pick Luiz but i think his knee is pretty bad so i dont think hes going to available

Dont you mean Terry?

I hope Iniesta isnt played on the wings to accommodate Keita or Cesc.
Iniesta has to play in midfield.

kiranr wrote:

fatman123 wrote:

neither drogba or torres has scored for chelsea while the other has been on the pitch, cant see RDM playing them both

my line up would look like this

cech
Ivanovic-JT-Cahil*-Cole
Essien-Lampard
Ramires-Mata-Sturridge
Drogba

tactics: park the bus and put 10 men, the coaching staff, the medics, the people working at the stadium and anyone else who will volunteer behind the ball and pray either drogba can pull something vintage out of nowhere like he did vs spuds or we can score one on the counter with ramires and sturidges pace

*id pick Luiz but i think his knee is pretty bad so i dont think hes going to available

Dont you mean Terry?

JT doesnt have any coaching qualifications, its illegal under FA and Premier League rules for JT to coach any professional side, infact JT cant legally coach a park football side

then again given some of the stuff barca get away with JT barking orders from the dugout would hardly qualify as a misdemeanor

fatman123 wrote:

JT doesnt have any coaching qualifications, its illegal under FA and Premier League rules for JT to coach any professional side, infact JT cant legally coach a park football side

then again given some of the stuff barca get away with JT barking orders from the dugout would hardly qualify as a misdemeanor

Of course, i agree. Hence the need for RDM.

It was a joke, I think he meant Terry is virtually the player that chooses the team because his influence and ego in the club is huge. Its well publicised that him and Lamps are like 2 kings in that dressing room.

I hope this is what Pep goes for.



Adriano now keeping in mind Madrid so he probably wont play there, Alexis and Cesc probably will start vs Madrid and they played vs Levante bigger minutes than other options.

Width, speed, best midfield, no messing around.

Cahill and Terry are both scared of leaving the back 4, Messi should drop into midfield and because I expect them to defend deep as a back line the overloading of Lampard and Essien/Mikel with our magic trio should cause them havoc. For me, they are especially weak in that area, so different to Chelsea of the past.

Ramires will probably tie himself to Dani Alves, so Adriano on the other side is important. Pedro on that side has the ability to come in and if its Daniel Sturiadge tasked with chasing Adriano I think we will get joy because the youngster is niave in terms of defending.

Drogba of course is a problem, but tbh, in his prime he didnt do anything against us despite him having a clear physical advantage.

If we can put on a Milan first leg performance in terms of avoiding corners and free kicks we should be fine.

eelir wrote:Dude is that Rita Ora in your avatar?

Yep, that is Rita Ora.

Btw, Masch and Puyol are one yellow card away from suspension...

What I would like to see:

VV - Alves - Pique - Mascherano - Adriano - Xavi - Busquets - Iniesta - Alexis - Messi - Pedro

Puyol is one yellow from suspension and with upcoming El Clasico he could do with rest. The best midfield possible plus attack without midfielders. 4-3-3. It's impossible this team will start though.

What I think we will see:

VV - Alves - Pique - Mascherano - Puyol - Xavi - Busquets - Keita - Alexis/Cesc - Messi - Iniesta

We won't win if Keita starts and Iniesta is wasted on the wings, I'm sure of it. 0-0 or 1-1 draw in the first leg.

paxtonpale wrote:Btw, Masch and Puyol are one yellow card away from suspension...

More of a reason why we have to win big the first game so second leg comes we can move to 3 in back with pique or mach/puyol whichever doesn't get yellow

Sushi Master wrote:Would have been a tight game years ago, but right now I can't see Chelsea winning.

They can probably still park the bus well, but when your strikers consist of Torres and an ageing Drogba, goals will be hard to come.

You shut down Mata, you shut down most of the Chelsea attack.

Off topic but how much of a chance do you give your team against Real Madrid? Would losing the league title have any psychological bearing on the players?

paxtonpale wrote:
Btw, do Madrid play home first because their 7th in rankings and Bayern are 4th?

No it's simply decided in the draw just after the ties are decided.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Chelsea just scored 5 in a single game. I don't know about you guys, but in my eyes Chelsea look as competitive as they ever did. They're like a new team. I'm expecting a very tough and physical match - exactly the kind we struggle in.

They are a team with character and tend to step up for the big games. See how they turned around Napoli, got past Benfica and outscored Spurs. I will say this much that I am more apprehensive about Chelsea than I was about Milan.

free_cat wrote:

I hope he doesn't start and I don't think he will because he had a small injury.

Let's hope Pep goes all out with our best team. Xavi, Iniesta, Pique, Alves and Pedro all rested this saturday, while defensive positions don't take much toll and Messi only ran from minute 50 to 70 vs. Levante. So almost everyone should be in good condition except Alexis and Cesc.

We coul start something like this.

VV
Alves - Pique - Machete - Puyol (set pieces and moral).
-----------Busquets
-------Xavi ---------- Iniesta
Pedro--------Messi ----------- Cuenca

In the second half, I would consider subbing three of Alves, Iniesta, Xavi and Messi, depending on result, but especially Xavi and Iniesta could be subbed if we have at least a tie with goals, while Alves and Messi only if we are winning.

I like this lineup.

alexjanosik wrote:I hope Iniesta isnt played on the wings to accommodate Keita or Cesc.
Iniesta has to play in midfield.

I feel you but that's an understatement. Accommodating players and dealing with too many injuries, both leading to too many tactics and formations, are probably the main reasons why this season hasn't been as good as the last one.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Chelsea just scored 5 in a single game. I don't know about you guys, but in my eyes Chelsea look as competitive as they ever did. They're like a new team. I'm expecting a very tough and physical match - exactly the kind we struggle in.

Spurs outclassed them for the majority of the match.

What Chelsea did in that match is in now way representative of their form or quality. The scoreline is how you say...deceiving

Score could easily have been 2 or 3 in spurs favor given they didn't hit the post or get balls cleared off the line. And then they had a completely game changing non goal called.

I'm biased towards spurs of course but really that game was mostly spurs dominated until the last 20 mins.

Seriously what do u all think Chelsea's tactics will be? Same park the bus and counter like they did 4 years ago?

Not to underestimate them, but I fee confident. If we play a gg, without being too defensive, we should win this by 2 or more I hope