Courtois Azpi, zouma, cahill, baba Rlc, matic Pedro, hazard, willian Falcao. Maybe a bit harsh on diego, but we arent getting much from him these days other than agro-though he was good against wba to be fair. I just like falcaos hunger and REAL physicallity. Jt has looked like hes been ran ragged. Plus with lukakus pace well eithee play very deep or have jt targetted and either wont end well. Ideally zouma and cahill will let us sit a bit higher up the pitch and actually PRESS the everton midfield, which will be important as their 3 in the middle can really control games if allowed to sit on the ball. Iva for baba speaks for itsself... Hazard in the middle because he needs to see way more of the ball. On the wing (esp with dave behind) hes quite isolated and often double marked. In the middle hes surrounded by more players, will drag opposition out of position if they double mark and create more. he can press, does tackle and wont do a bad job defensivley. For me its a no brainer.Hazrd needs to play in the middle from now on.
Courtois Azpi - Zouma - Terry - Baba RLC - Matic (just about) Pedro - Oscar - Hazard Costa Kennedy and Traore definitely deserve some game time. To be honest as long as there isn't an Ivanovic Cahill Matic set up playing together its better than anything we have had thus far.
Courtois Azpi-Zouma-Terry-Baba Oscar- Matic Pedro-Fabregas-Hazard Diego Costa Azpi on the right needs to be tested out. Ivan needs a rest and I've gone for Baba although it could be Papy, he is left footed after all. I think Baba and Azpi coming forward will do well with Hazard and Pedro drifting inside with the ball. Oscar offers a better defensive line than Fabregas and although he can't match his passing range, he can still pass decently. Fabregas is our best passer, let's take the super pressure of defending away from him and he will thrive linking the ball to Hazard, Pedro and Diego. Can't believe anyone would want Cosyta dropped. Was magnificent against West Brom and was probably the hardest worker against Palace but Delaney had an inspired game. Willian hasn't cut it yet attackign wise and I think RLC is not ready to start just yet, would much prefer to see him start against Walsall and ease himself into first team minutes.
I have a hard time agreeing with that. I would be surprised if he starts a game in the League without an injury to our other players. Maybe I am being too harsh though. I also think now is the perfect time to start RLC. Throw him in at the deep end.
Exactly, if RLC is not ready to start now - will he ever be? Why doesn't Jose give the 3pts to opposition rather than starting Ivan, JT & Azpi? 2013 Dejavu. Lamps + Mikel = 3 pts to opposition.
And if RLC gets run ragged by Ross Barkley he might never get into Jose's team again. Which benefits nobody. Everyone wants wholesale changes throughout the team, but I remember a "second string" side struggling to beat Shrewsbury last year and basically ended the Chelsea careers of Schurrle and Salah. We need to be careful what we wish for and the players who have been playing need to be step up their game.
By Ross Barkley? Come on the boys still got a long way to go. Hardly the most worrying Everton player. RLC is a tough prospect just because of his presence, even allowing for his lack of experience and ignoring his other qualities.
Ross Barkley? Hardly world class is he? RLC will be fine. He's got a lot about him and would more than handle himself. Give him a go I say.
Don't think so as Jose obviously likes him. I don't think he should be RB though. Gets shown up for pace now and other teams have identified him as our weak link. Get Dave at RB.
People learn from mistakes. If RLC does play and gets shown up by Barkley I can guarantee he'll become a better player because of it. People need to do things wrong, so there is always an opportunity for people to point them in the right direction. Some of the youngsters will be looking at our recent performances and thinking they can do better than what they've seen so far. If they don't get on now they'll be thinking will they ever get on at all and what's the point of being here?
RLC has to start games to get the experience he needs. Which games are the big question. He also needs a good 30 mins as sub when necessary. This has always been Joses' weak point with our youngsters, and Jose needs to pull his finger out and start delivering with ALL the players in our squad being used properly. We can all see what depending on the same 11 for too long does to the results.
BTW - Happy became a father again (@ 20 years) - yes again (second son) over the weekend. Hope the goodness continues on to the pitch now.
Oh dear please log in to view this image Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has suffered another major setback after it emerged goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is expected to be out for at least two months after suffering a serious knee injury. Who is back up to Begovic?