Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2012/2013

Caveman1

Feruz in the spotlight again

http://www.thesun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/4667307/Footy-kid-3-in-bed-pics-quiz.html

OUTRAGED Chelsea bosses ordered footy wonderkid Islam Feruz to delete web snaps of him canoodling with a mystery girl who wore HIS Scotland strip.

Scotland U21 ace Feruz, 17, was carpeted by the English Premier League giants over the three-in-a-bed images of him with the sexy brunette and soccer pal Cristiano Kisuka.

And last night the pictures of Feruz apparently sleeping with his arm round the girl were removed from photo-sharing app Instagram.

But it was claimed the former Celtic starlet had no idea they had been posted online.

A source said: “The account was set up by his friend, Islam knew nothing about it.

“It’s fair to say he wasn’t best pleased and demanded his pal deleted all the pictures.”

They added: “Islam’s 17 and single but realises he has responsibilities as a footballer and needs to be careful.”


Pictures showed the star and Kisuka, 20 — who met Feruz in Glasgow while with Rangers — in bed with the girl.

Another, taken when she was awake, showed her in his Scotland top with “Feruz 9” on the back. The snap was also posted to Feruz’s “official” Instagram page — next to the caption “#Team #Feruz”.

Other photos showed Congolese striker Kisuka posing next to the girl’s backside — while others are too lewd for a family newspaper. Last night a Chelsea spokesman said: “We are discussing the matter with the player.

“In the meantime both sites have been deleted.”

Campaigners Jan Mcleod, from the Woman’s Support Project charity, branded the pictures “juvenile”. She said: “People seem to forget about the potential implications.

“Some women have harmed themselves or even committed suicide as they felt so ashamed from something which happened when they are drunk or out of their control.”

But Tartan Army spokesman Hamish Husband laughed off the row.

He joked: “Islam is obviously mindful of Scottish football in the 1970s. He’s the only player we have that is showing any imagination.”

Talented Feruz arrived in Scotland after his family fled wartorn Somalia in 2001.

After he joined Celtic aged 10, coach Tommy Burns successfully lobbied the Government to stop them being deported. As a 14-year-old, Feruz played in a tribute match in 2009 following the Hoops legend’s death. But at 16 rejected a Parkhead deal to join Chelsea. He later left fans fuming by tweeting: “Celtic did f*** all with me staying in this country.”

Last night he was unavailable for comment. Kisuka and the SFA refused to comment.

grumpymunster

what a day wrote: »

I agree Grumpy. Long is a good striker but we want the best in the world, a striker that will score at least 20 goals a season.

So lads is there many of you that still think Torres can make it with us even under Rafa?
I honestly think he is gone in January if we can strike a deal for Falcao. If not in January he will definitly be gone come summer time.

I think if Roman manages to persuade Guardiola to coach the team he will have a massive war chest to play with and i could see us sigining a few forwards to keep us up there with the likes of Man Utd Man City Madrid and Barca.

It will be really interesting to see what happens with Pepe. Does he have eyes for the ManU job? If so would a stint with the Brazil national team until the World cup fit the bill.

That really is a horrible scenario from a Chelsea viewpoint Pepe now with excellent links to players in South America in general and Brazil in particular taking over from Fergie after the 2014 World Cup.

If so where does that leave us in the hunt for a non interim manager?

"May you live in interesting times" indeed.

what a day

GavRedKing wrote: »

Could start again given that Everton have gone off the boil slightly in the last 2 or 3 weeks.

Again, any bid woud have to be in the £25 Million price range I imagine.

I would have said yest id love us to sign him to play along side Mikel in a deep role but since we only have an interm manager and we dont know who will be our next manager or what formation we will be playing i think we should hold off on spending big money on players we may not need.

what a day

grumpymunster wrote: »

It will be really interesting to see what happens with Pepe. Does he have eyes for the ManU job? If so would a stint with the Brazil national team until the World cup fit the bill.

That really is a horrible scenario from a Chelsea viewpoint Pepe now with excellent links to players in South America in general and Brazil in particular taking over from Fergie after the 2014 World Cup.

If so where does that leave us in the hunt for a non interim manager?

"May you live in interesting times" indeed.

Im thinking the same thing, i think we are favorites to get him TBH but i would not be suprized to see him sign for either on the manchester clubs. I think Roman is focusing on getting him and we may be left high and dry without a manger this summer.

Roman im sure signed the likes of Mata Oscar and Hazard to play total/sexy football and im sure he has planned his ideal managers to get the best from these players. I have to say since Robbie is gone id love us to get Pep coaching us and see what he can do.

MaroonAndGreen

We surely have someone big lined up for next season..

I would like to think so anyway!

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

It is good to see sense prevailing in this case. Anyone with any sense would have had some feeling for the position Chelsea were in. Off the back of the JT AF affair comes an allegation by one of their players against an official of racial abuse. I am sure Bruce and the boys wanted that like a hole in the head but what could they do it had to be reported.
Having reported it there was no way it was going to be kept quiet until and investigation took place so it had to be in the open. Calling for Chelsea to make an open apology is also just getting up on us. An issue was reported to them they took the only steps they could under the circumstances what exactly have they to apologise for, following the law as they see it?

If as been reported Clattenberg wants a line drawn in the sand well that is good news. He knows as well as anyone he had an awful day at the office that day, but by God we all have them just not so many people see my mistakes at least (though the winning goal was the linesmans fault). The last few weeks must have been truly miserable for him but there really is no point in extending it all now. Hopefully when he does return to ref at the Bridge he wont get bird for what happened.

Go over to the Clattenburg cleared thread, should be fun later, even though Chelsea are finally dealing with it I'll bet you some people will find something to complain about.

:pac:

GavRedKing

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

We surely have someone big lined up for next season..

I would like to think so anyway!

Van Hout maybe?

Hes certainly big. :pac:

Sgt Pepper 64

Cant see us spending much in Jan and next season could be dodgy as well.
mainly because we are likely to fail to get out of the CL group stages, and that means we miss out on 20-30 million.
Also, we already spent big and I cant see Roman splurging another 40 million - it would mean we spent over 100 million in one season?
Just cant see it.
At best, maybe another striker, but I think this will be offset by selling either Danny or Torres. Cant see it being Torres, he will just drop to the bench unless we get an offer we cant refuse for him
FFP rules and all that!

Sgt Pepper 64

GavRedKing wrote: »

Go over to the Clattenburg cleared thread, should be fun later, even though Chelsea are finally dealing with it I'll bet you some people will find something to complain about.

:pac:

Just need to photoshop of Rafa and Clattenburg, both holding one end of a Chelsea flag. That will get them going!

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

GavRedKing

Phoenix wrote: »

Seems police are probing a monkey gesture made at Lukaku during WBA v sunderland game.
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/premier-league-police-probe-monkey-gesture-lukaku-131223062.html

Its was probably JT or a Chelsea fan. :rolleyes:

grumpymunster

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Cant see us spending much in Jan and next season could be dodgy as well.
mainly because we are likely to fail to get out of the CL group stages, and that means we miss out on 20-30 million.
Also, we already spent big and I cant see Roman splurging another 40 million - it would mean we spent over 100 million in one season?
Just cant see it.
At best, maybe another striker, but I think this will be offset by selling either Danny or Torres. Cant see it being Torres, he will just drop to the bench unless we get an offer we cant refuse for him
FFP rules and all that!

I wonder if we do drop out of the champions league (a big G'WAN Shakhtar Donetsk from me surely they will not want to leave it to chance of finishing second to Juve) will that hasten the departure of Lamps and Ash as that would be fairly serious salary saving perhaps as much as ST£4m before the end of the season.

Would say it unlikely we would let Ash go early would not be surprised with Lamps and Malouda though.

Oregano_State

grumpymunster wrote: »

I wonder if we do drop out of the champions league (a big G'WAN Shakhtar Donetsk from me surely they will not want to leave it to chance of finishing second to Juve) will that hasten the departure of Lamps and Ash as that would be fairly serious salary saving perhaps as much as ST£4m before the end of the season.

Would say it unlikely we would let Ash go early would not be surprised with Lamps and Malouda though.

I think it's silly letting Ashley Cole go at the end of the season. I suppose you'll get decent money for him from PSG but he still has another 2 years in him at the level he's at or close to it. Barring injury.

No guarantee his replacement will be as consistent or settle at all even. I dunno is Bertrand good enough if you don't bring someone in.

Oregano_State

Oregano_State wrote: »

I think it's silly letting Ashley Cole go at the end of the season. I suppose you'll get decent money for him from PSG but he still has another 2 years in him at the level he's at or close to it. Barring injury.

No guarantee his replacement will be as consistent or settle at all even. I dunno is Bertrand good enough if you don't bring someone in.

Isn't Cole's contract up in the summer?

what a day

I think we are doing fine with FFP the signings we make will be covered by players leaving and our new sponsorship deals so we have more to spend. Id say we will definitly be after a striker in January.

Dont forget the players we have to move on that are on loan not to mention one or two of the younger players to sell on Essien/Yossi/Kakuta etc
We will recoupe some cash plus save on wages with the likes of Ferriera/Lampard/Malouda leaving.

If we went after Falcao with Torres and cash it wont put us out much.
Rumours of Liverpool spending £15m on Sturridge, i know we wont get that kind of money for him but we could cash in on him and bring back Lukaku.

GavRedKing

rarnes1 wrote: »

Isn't Cole's contract up in the summer?

Yup, his contract is up and he can speak to clubs in January about sorting a move for the end of the season.

GavRedKing

GavRedKing wrote: »

Yup, his contract is up and he can speak to clubs in January about sorting a move for the end of the season.

Crazy stuff, still the best LB in the premiership by a mile and one of the best in Europe.

Chelsea will regret letting him go so soon.

GavRedKing

rarnes1 wrote: »

Crazy stuff, still the best LB in the premiership by a mile and one of the best in Europe.

Chelsea will regret letting him go so soon.

Oh 100% agree with ya.

Bertrand or Van Aanholt aren't up to replacing him, cole is nearly 32 but hes still got another 2 or 3 years in him IMO.

It could be down to the money and both parties not budging on a certain figure, if so it wil be a sad day to see him go and one we'll ultimatley struggle to replace.

As ya mentioned, hes been one of England's world class players for the best part of a decade.

what a day

GavRedKing wrote: »

Yup, his contract is up and he can speak to clubs in January about sorting a move for the end of the season.

A few of our players will leave for little/nothing but its their wages where we can make savings. Lampard Essien Cole Malouda would all have a big chunk in spenditure by the club so is we can cash in on them all the better. As it is we are only taking a risk by loosing Cole but already have his replacment in Bertrand and Patrick Van Arnalt.

We have a lot of dead wood in the squad and big savings to made bar "cole and Lamps"
A massive list of squad players that can be moved on.

Lampard
Essien
Malouda
Cole
Torres
Ferraira
Hilario
Turnbull
Benayoun
Kakuta

Thats just the ones off the top of my head, with them gone i reckon we could save between 30m - 35m per year on wages alone!!!!

Bring in one or two high earners i.e Falcao/Neymar we wont have much of a net spend over the duration of a contract.

grumpymunster

what a day wrote: »

A few of our players will leave for little/nothing but its their wages where we can make savings. Lampard Essien Cole Malouda would all have a big chunk in spenditure by the club so is we can cash in on them all the better. As it is we are only taking a risk by loosing Cole but already have his replacment in Bertrand and Patrick Van Arnalt.

We have a lot of dead wood in the squad and big savings to made bar "cole and Lamps"
A massive list of squad players that can be moved on.

Lampard
Essien
Malouda
Cole
Torres
Ferraira
Hilario
Turnbull
Benayoun
Kakuta

Thats just the ones off the top of my head, with them gone i reckon we could save between 30m - 35m per year on wages alone!!!!

Bring in one or two high earners i.e Falcao/Neymar we wont have much of a net spend over the duration of a contract.

I have no idea if it is true but I read somewhere that Turnbull was on about ST£20k a week, if that is true talk about all your birthdays coming at once. And getting a champions league medal as well.

It is such a shame about Ess but he just ain't the player he was and my was he some player, injuries have really taken their toll.

Of them Ash is the greatest shame he easily has two years in him from a playing and to a degree coaching aspect. I actually think Bertrand can make it (not seen much of PvA but looks handy from what I have seen) but the amount they could learn from Ash over the next two years makes it hard to understand why we are letting him go.

Oregano_State

rarnes1 wrote: »

Isn't Cole's contract up in the summer?

Ok then, you won't get any money for him. He wants a 2 year contract apparently, but your contract policy for over 30s doesn't permit that.

It's a bit silly nowadays, with more and more players doing very well up to their mid 30s. A case by case approach would be better imo.

My original point still stands: he's not a player who should be let go easily.

Sgt Pepper 64

Oregano_State wrote: »

Ok then, you won't get any money for him. He wants a 2 year contract apparently, but your contract policy for over 30s doesn't permit that.

It's a bit silly nowadays, with more and more players doing very well up to their mid 30s. A case by case approach would be better imo.

My original point still stands: he's not a player who should be let go easily.

Love to keep Cole and Lamps for at least one more year

what a day

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Love to keep Cole and Lamps for at least one more year

Id love to keep Cole because he has more to offer us but i dont think we need Lampard although i would love him to get his few goals to break the record.

Has any one seen that Rodriguez chap play for Porto?....other than you tube.
Iv read a few rumours that we are in for him and id love us to sign an inverted winger for our right wing other than Sturridge. Iv not seen him play myself.

the_doctor199

John Obi Mikel could be the first victim of Rafa Benitez's Chelsea reign.
The midfielder may be axed from the side for Wednesday's match against Fulham at Stamford Bridge.
As Benitez aims to produce more opportunities for under pressure £50million striker Fernando Torres, Mikel could pay the price for his lack of creativity.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2239214/John-Obi-Mikel-set-dropped-Rafael-Benitez-Chelsea.html#ixzz2DRRLk6pG
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

what a day

the_doctor199 wrote: »

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2239214/John-Obi-Mikel-set-dropped-Rafael-Benitez-Chelsea.html#ixzz2DRRLk6pG
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

The dailyfail.............that means Mikel will prob get the captains armband.

I cant see Mikel been dropped even if we change formation, we have no one in the squad that can break up play like Mikel. I think he is kicking on from his good season last season and he will grow and grow since he is still young.

amiable

what a day wrote: »

The dailyfail.............that means Mikel will prob get the captains armband.

I cant see Mikel been dropped even if we change formation, we have no one in the squad that can break up play like Mikel. I think he is kicking on from his good season last season and he will grow and grow since he is still young.

The same Daily Mail that told you the Chelsea team v Juventus before anyone else?

Sgt Pepper 64

what a day wrote: »

The dailyfail.............that means Mikel will prob get the captains armband.

I cant see Mikel been dropped even if we change formation, we have no one in the squad that can break up play like Mikel. I think he is kicking on from his good season last season and he will grow and grow since he is still young.

Thats just mad. Mikel isnt there to be creative - he's there to break up play as you say. We have 3 creative players to create for Torres.
But then they need to stop the insane 100 yard boot outs from Luiz and Cech to no body in particular and build from back!

bbc website - Rafa - "oh Torres peaked at Liverpool"

Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez believes Fernando Torres was at his peak at Liverpool.
The new Blues boss has called on Torres to attempt to get back to that level with the help of his team-mates, but is unsure how close he can get.
Torres, 28, scored 81 goals in 142 appearances for Liverpool but has only got 19 since his 2011 move to Chelsea.
"It [Torres' form] is not the same now as when he was at his maximum but I think he can come back," Benitez said.
"How close? I don't know. It depends on the rest of the team. I think he can improve but the team has to help him."
Chelsea are without a win in five league games ahead of Wednesday's meeting with local rivals Fulham.

Benitez, who takes charge of his second Chelsea game since replacing Roberto Di Matteo last week, believes some added physicality will help Torres.
"The first thing is to give him some confidence; give him instructions of what he can do in a different way to improve him and the rest of the team a little bit physically," said Benitez.
Chelsea have managed just one clean sheet in their last 11 outings which came in Sunday's 0-0 draw with Manchester City and Benitez believes that tightening up the defence will ease pressure on Torres having to score.
The former Liverpool manager also hinted he may change the shape of the side to help them improve defensively as Chelsea have used just 19 players in the Premier League - less than any other team.
"When you have a striker you always think he has to score," said Benitez.
"If you can be stronger in defence, you can regain the ball easier, you have more chances because you have more possession so that is the idea.
"We try to improve them a little bit physically and the shape of the team if we can, then keep the good things that they had."
Benitez will be hoping for his first win on Wednesday as he has a battle on his hands to win over disgruntled supporters who are annoyed the Spaniard was brought in to replace Di Matteo.
The Blues' faithful made their opinions clear by booing Benitez before their draw with City, but the former Liverpool manager remains unperturbed.
"If you have a player that has not got the support of the fans what I will tell him is: 'Stay focused. Try to do your job and concentrate on your football'," he added.
"For me it is the same. I understand how the fans feel at the moment."

Caveman1

Mikel doesnt seem to be getting the recognition he deserves, he's easily been our most consistent player this season.

I cant find the article online, but there was some criticism of Chelsea a while back by the Nigerian manager for putting the scheckles on Mikel, originally be played further up the field and was more attack minded, Chelsesa seemed to just want him to play the Makelele role. I would love to see what he's capable of playing in a more attacking role.

Kess73

what a day wrote: »

Id love to keep Cole because he has more to offer us but i dont think we need Lampard although i would love him to get his few goals to break the record.

Has any one seen that Rodriguez chap play for Porto?....other than you tube.
Iv read a few rumours that we are in for him and id love us to sign an inverted winger for our right wing other than Sturridge. Iv not seen him play myself.

Only made a joke about him in the Liverpool thread the other day. Smashing player who could possibly be on a similar level of talent as Hazard with the same scope for massive potential at the same time. Like Hazard he can play on either wing or in the CAM slot but I reckon he is quicker than Hazard (not that Hazard is lacking in pace) and maybe slightly better when it comes to wing play.

He would give you guys an embarrassment of riches though in the support attacking positions and someone of Oscar, Marin, De Bruyne etc would have to suffer to make way as none of them are as good as Rodriquez imho.

Would be very surprised if you went for him given the squad you have, but he is already a very good player at 21 who may turn into a world class player.

Sgt Pepper 64

Caveman1 wrote: »

Mikel doesnt seem to be getting the recognition he deserves, he's easily been our most consistent player this season.

I cant find the article online, but there was some criticism of Chelsea a while back by the Nigerian manager for putting the scheckles on Mikel, originally be played further up the field and was more attack minded, Chelsesa seemed to just want him to play the Makelele role. I would love to see what he's capable of playing in a more attacking role.

RDM came out and said he was an unsung hero
Heres a good article on him

http://www.africasoccernet.com/did-mourinho-spoil-mikel-or-he-was-over-hyped/

Trouble is, for all the hype of him being an attacker for the Eagles, his shooing is woeful when I have seen him try!

Panthro

I read a snippet in the Gossip section on Football365 that Malouda wants showdown talks with Rafa about whether or not he has a future at the club....

Surely odds on favourite to be the single fastest showdown talks in the history of the game?! Something along the lines of..

Mal: "Do I have a future at the club?"
Rafa: "No."

Sgt Pepper 64

Panthro wrote: »

I read a snippet in the Gossip section on Football365 that Malouda wants showdown talks with Rafa about whether or not he has a future at the club....

Surely odds on favourite to be the single fastest showdown talks in the history of the game?! Something along the lines of..

Mal: "Do I have a future at the club?"
Rafa: "No."

Rafa: "Do I have a future at the club?"
Roman: "No"
The fans: "No"

Sgt Pepper 64

Adriano will now miss the Juve game for his "unsporting" goal
So even less chance of us going through

GavRedKing

If we make it out of the group stage, we'll retain the cup.

Caveman1

I wouldn't give up on it us qualifying yet, Juve will be going all out to win so they can guarantee their qualification, Shakhatar are a great team on the counter attack so hopefully they do the business.

Onto more urgent matters now, we really need to get a win tonight, our recent form has been terrible, a good win tonight will set us up nicely going into another tough derby on Saturday.

grumpymunster

Some interesting photos of the Barca dressing room last season, would love to see some photos of ours as a comparison

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/book-shows-sadness-barca-dressing-room-champions-league-083422563--sow.html?

I love the reference to Ovrebo.

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

Some interesting photos of the Barca dressing room last season, would love to see some photos of ours as a comparison

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/book-shows-sadness-barca-dressing-room-champions-league-083422563--sow.html?

I love the reference to Ovrebo.

Delicious.

MaroonAndGreen

Rafa will more than likely make changes tonight!

Think Moses, Sturridge in with a chance of starting..

Sgt Pepper 64

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

Rafa will more than likely make changes tonight!

Think Moses, Sturridge in with a chance of starting..

Cant see him dropping Torres anytime soon.
He needs a win so he will play what he sees as his strongest team.
probably the same one as against Man City, maybe with one change.
Mikel out, Romeu in (he sees him as a better passer)

MUSEIST

Sturridge is injured anyway so it WILL BE torres who starts. I reckon romeu, moses and cahill will start. We really need to rotate around a bit IMO.

MaroonAndGreen

MUSEIST wrote: »

Sturridge is injured anyway so it WILL BE torres who starts. I reckon romeu, moses and cahill will start. We really need to rotate around a bit IMO.

Didnt know Sturridge was injured..

Rafa is a manager not afraid to rotate, and this is our 3rd game in 7 days so I think their will definitly be changes, Moses for sure will start I think.

Cant see Cahill starting though, weve just had our first clean sheet in a while, so could see him sticking with the same back 4!

GavRedKing

Fulham have been very free scoring so I dont know will he drop Mikel at all, we need him in front of the back four, what he lacks for in creativity he makes up for defensively over anyone else we have in the squad.

If there is to be changes it will be out wide I reckon. I'd be surprised if all 3 of Oscar/Mata/Hazard started this game.

I'd be all for resting Mata/Hazard if Moses and Marin we're to play on the left and right.

I'd go with :

Cech

Azp Ivan Luiz Cole

Mikel Ramires

Moses Oscar Marin

Torres

Caveman1

GavRedKing wrote: »

Fulham have been very free scoring so I dont know will he drop Mikel at all, we need him in front of the back four, what he lacks for in creativity he makes up for defensively over anyone else we have in the squad.

If there is to be changes it will be out wide I reckon. I'd be surprised if all 3 of Oscar/Mata/Hazard started this game.

I'd be all for resting Mata/Hazard if Moses and Marin we're to play on the left and right.

I'd go with :

Cech

Azp Ivan Luiz Cole

Mikel Ramires

Moses Oscar Marin

Torres

I would love to see that team, but I cant see Marin starting, although I think this would be an ideal game for him. I think it will bring a much better balance to the team if we played with two out & out wingers.

We really should be beating Fulham at home, I'm going to give Torres one last chance, I'm backing him 1st goal scorer. :pac:

GavRedKing

Hazard and Mata have played alot of football so I'd be up for dropping them for the trip to West Ham, if it goes tits up tonight we can always call on them from the bench.

I'd feel better served if Hazard/Mata were coming on rather then relying on Moses to change it.

If Marin doesnt play we could easily see Bertrand playing infront of Cole, but I'd like to see Marin playing, the guy must be really eager to play.

Caveman1

GavRedKing wrote: »

Hazard and Mata have played alot of football so I'd be up for dropping them for the trip to West Ham, if it goes tits up tonight we can always call on them from the bench.

I'd feel better served if Hazard/Mata were coming on rather then relying on Moses to change it.

If Marin doesnt play we could easily see Bertrand playing infront of Cole, but I'd like to see Marin playing, the guy must be really eager to play.

I reckon the fans are probably more eager to see him than he is himself :pac:

I'm looking forward to seeing how we do line up though, I was very impressed with the defensive side of our game on Sunday, if we can keep it tight at the back then I can see us winning easily, we should be scoring a couple tonight.

GavRedKing

Well Fulham have scored more then us but they've also let in 10 more then us so hoping we can keep a clean sheet again, it will be something to build on anyway.

We should get chances so its all about been clinicial when we do get them.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

GavRedKing

Phoenix wrote: »

Interesting how there is no faux-pas outrage in this forum at the racist gestures made against Lukaku at the weekend.hmmmm

If it doesnt involve JT or Chelsea its not worth making a fuss about I guess.

what a day

I read the article were Rafa is considering changing formation but i dont honestly see it TBH

Id say he will stick to the same formation and change maybe one or two players at most. He needs a win under his belt so he will play his strongest side.

I say the other day id like to see us change formation and stop the long ball/goal kicks to Torres! Play the ball from the back, play 4-3-3 with Hazard or Marin on the left and Sturridge/Moses on he right. Oscar Mikel and Mata in midfield.

I think Hazard has gone missing the past month or so, he has not been as affective as he was at the start of the season. For me Mata is by far our best attacking player which is why id like to see Hazard play out wider and cut in side like he does from midfield but he will start further up the pitch.

We have to retain more of the ball and play from the back, no more long balls and we have to have more than Torres running on the sholder of the defenders.

Cech
Azpilcueta Ivan Luiz Cole
Mata Mikel Oscar
Moses Torres Hazard

grumpymunster

I would agree Haz has been very disappointing over past few weeks, more so as he had a full pre season no European championships or Olympics so should still be fresher than most. Wouldn't consider dropping Mata but would consider Haz.