Yeah, actually I also see Meireles might replace Ramires. His link up between the players was always bad, but in last 3 matches,he was our best player on the pitch. I am not sure about it because other players were underperformed.

CECH
BOSINGWA - IVANOVIC - TERRY - COLE
MEREILES - MIKEL - RAMIRES
STURRIDGE - TORRES -MATA

I don't think Ramires's physical can hold the defensive midfield role. We really need Mikel physical to hold that midfield and cover the fullbacks.
Addon: Steve Bruce is a pro in counter attack, his sunderland are really good in counter attack too, we really really need some defensive player like Mikel to cover the defenders when they're caught out of position. AWAY against Sunderland is never been an easy game. We shouldn't take this match as an easy one, remember last season at Stamford Bridge, how many times Ashley Cole was caught out of position?

I didn't watch Lampard playing for England yesterday. If he was really really poor, I will choose Ramires over him any day. If Meireles isn't ready yet, then Lampard will get that place.

Torres is the main man, so Mata will play on left wing. And AVB said we will play 433 in most occasions.

This post has been edited by ericling: Sep 7 2011, 04:22 PM

Watched AVB press conference yesterday, as usual, very clever answers.
Fluent English, bright guy, he has some humor too

In case you guys missed it:


This post has been edited by ericling: Sep 9 2011, 10:46 AM

Guys, look at how interesting is our training now?

Awesome isn't it?

This post has been edited by ericling: Sep 10 2011, 07:07 AM

But good signs is coming up
Mata Torres Sturridge
Lampard Ramires
.......Meireles..........

Meireles and Lampard will inter-switching their places and Mata-Sturridge inter-switching the flanks.
Can't wait for the match!

Missed the entire match, will download the full match later.
Watched Sturridge goal, what a cheeky goal. He must be giving a call to Balotelli after this match. But, isn't it a Brown own goal? I see the ball hasn't cross the line but when the ball deflected from the post, brown pushed the ball in.

I didn't watch the full game, but watched the highlights.

What a half field pass by Meireles to Sturridge, perfectly time run by Sturridge and what a finish! That young lad has huge confidence isn't he?
The pass and movement was great yesterday, you can see the improvement magnificently.The boys are fitting AVB system pretty well. Personally, I think Anelka did a pretty good job, always looked to run behind the defenders. Mata was brilliant as well, I am pleased to see he can take freekicks. Finally we have a proper free kick taker when Lampard is stepping down.

Speaking about Lampard, I really hate to see this. He looked really tired on the last 20-30minutes. His movement was bad, lazy, and slow. He didn't track back after he lost the ball. That's worrying me a bit. And he doesn't offer a lot in attacking apart from some late run from him.

From the statistic, Lampard is playing on the left and Ramires on the right while Meireles in the centre.
Meireles did his job pretty well huh? But I would like to see him pushing forward a bit.Lampard can hands his position to Mikel.Mikel can do long passes to fullbacks as well, I am not really worry about this.

Our defense looks abit shaky, Ivanovic looked clumsy. I am waiting for Luiz return!

There's a weekend game this week, hopefully we can see this formation.
Never take it easy.

Mata Torres Sturridge
Meireles Mikel Ramires
Cole Terry Luiz Bosingwa
Cech

Oh Torres, didn't see him in highlight at all, is he that bad?
What torres need to do now is, always anticipate the ball, ask for the ball,always try to run off the defender. This is what he should do. Meireles, Sturridge,Mata will surely put the ball in perfectly.
Some member here spoke really negative huh, don't worry guys. Keep the faith.
I watched Manchester United game, honestly, they wasn't really impressive.(City was much more impressive than United) The key of winning United is ATTACK. Their defense wasn't really good, can easily stretch the defense with some quality pace and pass. Don't say we don't have the pace and pass, the boys will show you.
Got to admit, United attacking play has been phenomenal this season, but the attack are ALL comes from wings and the movements of forwards(Chicharito and Rooney). Big test for Bosingwa and Ashley next weekend, but imo, just try to clear the ball from United's wing as fast as possible, don't wait until the wingers(Nani,Young) to bring the ball forward. It will surely punish us.
I don't care who's our opponent, Manchester United or Manchester City, we do our best, and we have the quality to win them. And because we're Chelsea, I am confident that we can do this.

Oh yea, I am now officially a AVB fan boy, his reaction was really awesome Any of you guys notice his reaction when Sturridge scored? Even epic than Mourinho's one! He was like "OMG OH YES. I CAN'T BELIEVE!"

This post has been edited by ericling: Sep 11 2011, 07:04 PM

I would not start Torres. Anelka did a great job there. Torres might come on for Anelka at around 60/70minutes. Depends on the result and how's Anelka performing.

Then Torres start against MU.

Ramires is suspended, so we will see Lampard Mikel Meireles.
These three players are really influential, can't wait for this.
Of course, Mata Torres Sturridge will be an icing on the cake

Can't wait!

Guys, anyone favor playing Torres at the wing instead of striker? He looks good at the wings.

My stream doesn't go really well today, can't judge a lot.
Great square ball by Torres to Mata, great run as well.
Though 2 assist, he doesn't contribute a lot today. Could've score with his first touch when Mata crossed the ball to him on the first 10 minutes. Great effort by him at around second minute too.
I am not sure whether his unselfish play is a good thing,but hopefully the two assists can boost his confidence, he's still lacking of confidence.

Mata was awesome, everywhere on the pitch, great ball control and his crosses were awesome. Not sure whether Sturridge can play a perfect role at the right wing, but he's doing alright today.

Not a bad sign to see AVB drop Lampard instead of Mikel. I really fancy Mikel, with him in the team, our fullbacks are a lot more comfortable to go forward, it's really obvious if you compare Sunderland match and this match.

What a goal by Luiz! This is the type of goal you expect from Torres. Low and nice little curve in the ball.
Would like to see him starting against MU.

Not really convinced with our team build up plays, but good signs are coming up. Tough opponents like MU might sharpen the players.

P/s: And, we got the best result in Europe today!

This post has been edited by ericling: Sep 14 2011, 05:22 AM