with united current resources.

i go for this lineup
DDG
rafael vidic evans evra
carrick fletcher
valencia mata rooney
rvp

moyes need to accept the fact that mata can't play at wing, can't defence.

carrick - fletcher combo at pivot good enough i think.

lets talk City.

Bolded cannot play, one ban one injured. From matches I watch, either Carrick or Fletcher will pair with Cleverly. Young > Valencia in Moyes's dictionary. So most probably I think Moyes will deploy as follow (Prediction only).

DDG
Rafael, Buttner, Smalling, Evra
Rooney, Cleverly
Carrick 60%/Fletcher 40%
Mata, Young
Persie

Moyes need someone tough to stay back and defend so I think he will sacrifice the caliber in Rooney in favor of solid defend to assist the back four. Moyes will usually start Carrick if he is fit.

This post has been edited by Belphegor: Feb 2 2014, 01:20 PM

Manchester City v Chelsea preview: Team strengths, tactics and stats

shud write in regardless of injury/suspension. that the best lineup i can think of.

cleverley, young, smalling, wellbeck all macam tahi but yet they play for england national team. cleverley as first choice CM, and wellbeck as first choice ST.

my choice for england first xi:
hart
coleman cahill shawcross baines
townsend barry gerrard johnson
lallana
rooney

Haha no worries bro. England national team is not up to standard anyways. Been watching Spain and Italy nowadays. But for this coming WC I have my eyes on Belgium.

Coleman is not England player. Ireland iinm. Clyne to take his place for me. Clyne has been playing very well for S'ton.

chelseafc360 Edition : Jose Mourinho’s press-conference: “We are not going to change our philosophy”

by FAHMICFC360 • FEBRUARY 2, 2014


CALM BEFORE THE STORM: Jose Mourinho smiles at press-conference just ahead of Monday’s block-buster showdown vs Manchester City!

The Blues’ manager Jose Mourinho has made his press-conference on Friday ahead of Monday night’s encounter vs Manchester City at the Etihad stadium. This match is the most anticipated and possibly the hardest test for Chelsea since Mourinho’s return to the West London club. It is a match that is set to shape up the league table as to who is going to win and who has the real chance of fighting it out till the end of May to claim the big trophy.

But, with all the pressure surrounding the Stamford bridge club, facing the team with a 100% winning record in their home ground coming off a disappointing draw vs a team that played ’19th century’ football, Jose Mourinho is calm in a way he is preparing his team for this match.

First questions were regarding the transfer window that just ended on Friday midnight. The deal for the highly rated youngster Kurt Zouma has been finalized on deadline day and was made official with the French Center back spending the rest of the season on-loan in France.

‘He is another young player that fits the profile of some Chelsea signings in the past couple of years,’ said Mourinho.

‘We like his profile and we think it is one that is very much adapted to the Premier League. If we didn’t do it now we probably wouldn’t have been able to do it in the summer because other clubs were also very interested in him.

‘He’s already played a couple of seasons in the French league with Saint Etienne and many matches at different age groups with his national team. We know he is a player with good potential and with lots of space to improve. He’s physically ready but it’s another thing to be tactically ready.

‘He’ll join us in pre-season and we’ll see if he stays or goes out on loan again. He is a young player in a position where we need to think about the future, so job done, well done Chelsea.’


Stereotypical Jose Mourinho’s center back: Kurt Zouma possesses a strong physical frame to lead the back line of Chelsea in the future once he becomes ready ‘tactically’ as Jose mentioned!

Another signing he reflected on was of Mohamed Salah’s with the Egyptian sealing his arrival by being presented to the press at Stamford Bridge with his blue shirt. Mourinho was quick to praise the winger by joking that he wouldn’t have to score against Chelsea anymore.

’It is good because now he doesn’t score against Chelsea! We tried to go for a young, left-footed, fast player who is fast in the space. He is the kind of player that looks for space and tries to get behind people.’



New arrival: Jose Mourinho praised our new winger Mohamed Salah who has impressed against the Blues in 4 matches just in 2013 scoring two goals in this season’s defeat of Mourinho’s men!

And finally, the topic was shifted to the big match against Manchester City set to played at the Etihad on Monday evening. The match is so much anticipated and the odds are against Mourinho’s men even though we have beaten them already this season. But, many including we Chelsea fans should agree they have been far more dominant than any team in the league since that magical victory with a late winner from Fernando Torres.

But, unfortunately Mourinho reported the game would come too soon for Fernando Torres who is out with knee injury for quite few weeks yet. We travel to Manchester to face a City side full of goals, and yet to drop points at home this season.

‘I think they have everything. The players are obviously very good and their manager is also doing a good job. On top of that, and this is just pure coincidence, the reality is they have had many crucial decisions in their favor. They were lucky against Liverpool, against Newcastle and against Tottenham. But I repeat this is just pure coincidence.

‘City score goals, and I don’t think for them it is important if somebody is injured. Normally when your approach is very defensive if you concede a goal you are in trouble or you have to make changes during the game and you never know how the player will adapt to it.

‘We are not going to change our philosophy. We are going in a certain direction, and just because we are playing a certain opponent doesn’t mean we are going to change that. We are going to try to win.’

Mourinho is confidence his team will get the job done and it won’t be surprising to see Chelsea play a strong defensive tactic and fast paced counter attack as he used against Arsenal at Emirates in December. But, there is a feeling that calls for both teams to try to win rather than take the safe bet and defend trying to earn a draw.

It is important to note Manchester City are 35 goals shy of beating our record tally of 103 goals scored in the league under Carlo Ancelotti in 2009/10. This team has just 15 games yet to be played which makes it seem improbable in some way but you wouldn’t want to bet on it with the form Manchester City are currently in.

Let’s wait and see what happens on Monday but Mourinho is surely confidence and calm about the big showdown as he feels our opponents are the title favorites as he claimed over many times since the start of the season. Whether those comments were mind games or not will be revealed once we have faced them two times in February as the FA Cup 5th round play off will be set in the same ground between the same two teams as in Monday.

Thanks for reading and good luck for Jose Mourinho’s team ahead of this epic showdown. Follow on twitter (@FahmiCFC) and KTBFFH!

Source

i know england is shit. but playing shit player altogether is just retard.

icic. i thought he's english. clyne is ok. but i prefer walker if coleman not available.

wow no sturridge?
how hatred that can be

i totally forgot sturridge.

sturridge on the left then. johnson on the right ditch townsend.

City game going to be tough. Two weeks ago, I was looking forward to take on the Citizens but after 180min of 0 goals from open play, our form is worrying. But we also got clean sheets in the two matches.

I doubt Mou will experiment in the coming match and will instead stick with the usual lineup. However, I do really want to see a new DM pairing i.e. Matic-Luiz. Strong, good on the ball and solid defending. But most probably one of them will start alongside Ramires, which is also fine, as long as Mikel doesn't start.

Also Eto is worrying for me after last two games. But City is very different from West Ham and Stoke and hopefully this will allow more space for Eto.

double post

This post has been edited by briantwj: Feb 2 2014, 01:44 PM

if we really want to go compact in the middle..then..4-3-3 Matic-Luiz/Mikel-Ramires in the middle 3..

or we will play 4-2-3-1 basic formation from the start..

Eto really need to step up..we must take our chaces..because to be realistic..we cant really get 30+ chances anymore..

It will be a busy day for our defenders..

Since we are in the topic of england. My starting 11 will be

-------------------Hart----------------
Walker--Cahill---Jagielka/Terry(IF he get recalled)--Gibbs
-----------Gerrard-----Carrick-------
---Hendo-------Wilshere/Barkley----Lallana/Rodriguez
----------------Rooney/Sturridge-----




This post has been edited by briantwj: Feb 2 2014, 01:42 PM

don't think luiz suitable for this match. he is too prone of giving silly free kicks. matic - rami is good enough. willian - oscar - hazard will also contribute in defence.

don't mind which player playing upfront. both also average. but love to see ba get his chance,

I have a feeling Eto will start again. Torres injured. Ba not in Mou's book. Another alternative is to play Schurrle in striker position. He has played as striker before in the Bundesliga and also iinm, our 1st match against Utd this season Schurrle played striker too.

This post has been edited by briantwj: Feb 2 2014, 01:47 PM

If playing 3 in middle, I'd prefer Mikel to start, maybe will Lamps too. If 4-2-3-1 then will go for a pair consisting of Luiz/Matic/Rami.
Actually, I would rule out the formerly mention set up as a similar approach was taken against Arsenal.

Yah, our striker troubles are forever worrying, especially coming against one of Europe's most lethal arsenal of forwards. Expecting goal to come for midfielders again, but Eto must not lose the ball so often and keep the it moving.

Btw, Salah available yet?

available already..but it all depend on his training..