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Before I saw the semi date, I said that it would be close to the league Cup final - it's even on the Tuesday - so just one day in between (similar to when pellers played kids vs Chelsea in the FA Cup).

Some blues will say "we've won it enough times". A cup is a cup and we aren't rags. I'm nervous about our B team (see leeds) but I guess Saturday will tell us something (also nervous about Chelsea).

I imagine team will be mostly changed on Saturday; which never works.

Steffen
Cancelo
Ake?
Laporte
Mendy?
Dinho
??
Toress??
Sterling
Jesus

Chelsea are shit hot and Maureen seems to beat pep.

Nick wrote:Before I saw the semi date, I said that it would be close to the league Cup final - it's even on the Tuesday - so just one day in between (similar to when pellers played kids vs Chelsea in the FA Cup).

Some blues will say "we've won it enough times". A cup is a cup and we aren't rags. I'm nervous about our B team (see leeds) but I guess Saturday will tell us something (also nervous about Chelsea).

I imagine team will be mostly changed on Saturday; which never works.

Steffen
Cancelo
Ake?
Laporte
Mendy?
Dinho
??
Toress??
Sterling
Jesus

Chelsea are shit hot and Maureen seems to beat pep.

Think he will follow this fomula I've noticed him use lately:

Game 1 and 2: first team. Game 3: rotation

So something like: first team once again vs chelsea this weekend, rest players against villa, then first teams again vs spurs and psg followed by rotation the weekend after psg first leg.

I know it will be nerve wracking if we drop points against villa but the pl is the only competition we can rotate in right now if we want the quadruple. After psg second leg, we will still have 3 or so games to wrap up the title even if we drop points in the next 2 pl games, thanks to the points buffer we have over the rag bastards.

I think our main issue is not taking chances.
Regardless of who plays we create a lot of chances but our conversion rate must be one of the worst in the league.

For ex, the 'alternate' team is good enough for PL matches. They battered Leeds but could not score. Sterling, Jesus & Co. are not natural finishers. It cost us against Leeds.

The team that played tonight are not great in the chance conversion rate either. I hope it does not bite us in the arse in the cups and CL games. I would love to have a fit Kun available.

Can't see him using dias kev foden bern vs spuds then psg 2 days later. The club are obsessed with Europe.

He has always played the strongest team even in early rounds just days later but he seems to be trusting the "second team" more- maybe because we have players fit and the second team includes ex first teamers like jesus laporte and sterling.

I'm pretty sure it'll be PSG 3 days later

We'll need bags of luck to win the quad;

A/ scrape through
B/ controversial decisions go our way
C/ our best players stay injury free
B/ wrap KDB, Dias and Foden in cotton wool and rotate them wisely
C/ Sterling and Jesus start chipping in with goals (sigh)

It's not about performance at this stage, it's all about picking up points and winning by all means

I think at this moment we have to go full force, just 3 changes per game.

To be brutal honest, I wouldn't trust to rest Foden, Kevin and Mahrez and use Ferran, Sterling and Jesus. Not after Saturday.

We need to learn from this. The players going to the Euros are going to be absolutely fucked at the start of next season. Do we write that season off?

Outcast wrote:We'll need bags of luck to win the quad;

A/ scrape through
B/ controversial decisions go our way
C/ our best players stay injury free
B/ wrap KDB, Dias and Foden in cotton wool and rotate them wisely
C/ Sterling and Jesus start chipping in with goals (sigh)

It's not about performance at this stage, it's all about picking up points and winning by all means

I think Pep needs to look at which games in the league can be 'risked' by playing a weakened team, taking into account cup games on either side. Our last 2 games are winnable, but if we get through on the weekend, the Brighton game will be moved, meaning it will almost certainly be played in the midweek after the FAC Final.

The Rags have Liverpool (sandwiched between the two EL semi legs) and Leicester (who may be playing in the FAC final a few days later, but are also fighting for a CL place) still to play, as well as (almost certainly) a tough two legs against Ajax or Roma. If they get through that, their final league game (against Wolves) is just a few days before the Europa League final, meaning that they might play a weakened team if the league is only a very faint hope of winning it (i.e. we go into the game 3 points ahead).

I'm guessing we'll play a weakened squad for Newcastle if we reach the FAC Final, and would personally be very happy with a draw from that. We need 10 points from 6 games (providing there's no massive goal difference swing), so 3 wins and a draw. I'd throw Chelsea (league), but wouldn't take Brighton as a given just yet, because they're still a few points off guaranteeing safety. We really need the Rags to drop points in at least 1 league game to give us some safety.

stupot wrote:I'm pretty sure it'll be PSG 3 days later

Confirmed now for the Wednesday in Paris.
Home leg the following Tuesday.

Nick wrote:
Chelsea are shit hot and Maureen seems to beat pep.

What's Maureen got to do with it ?

RodneyRodney wrote:

Nick wrote:
Chelsea are shit hot and Maureen seems to beat pep.

What's Maureen got to do with it ?

I think he's referring to the FAC semi and LC final.

BlueinBosnia wrote:

RodneyRodney wrote:

Nick wrote:
Chelsea are shit hot and Maureen seems to beat pep.

What's Maureen got to do with it ?

I think he's referring to the FAC semi and LC final.

Yep. From a cup perspective Chelsea and spuds maybe the worst two we could get. Other than the rags based on pep throwing derbies.

Nick wrote:

BlueinBosnia wrote:

RodneyRodney wrote:

Nick wrote:
Chelsea are shit hot and Maureen seems to beat pep.

What's Maureen got to do with it ?

I think he's referring to the FAC semi and LC final.

Yep. From a cup perspective Chelsea and spuds maybe the worst two we could get. Other than the rags based on pep throwing derbies.

He doesn't throw them in the Cups against them. 2 semis running against them we've won.

i think chelsea will b focused on T4 and CL too much to care about FAC. the spuds game is the 1 that worries me. they have literally nothing else to play for.

We have to rotate. And the 'B' team need to step up and show some bollocks now they are needed more than ever.

Starting with Sterling, that lad needs to knuckle down and just get on with it. Last night when he came on he looked like he didnt give a fuck.

Laporte, jesus, mendy, ake, torres all needed now and they must contribute a lot more.

That display against Leeds was laughable last week.

Time for character.

stupot wrote:

Nick wrote:

BlueinBosnia wrote:

RodneyRodney wrote:

Nick wrote:
Chelsea are shit hot and Maureen seems to beat pep.

What's Maureen got to do with it ?

I think he's referring to the FAC semi and LC final.

Yep. From a cup perspective Chelsea and spuds maybe the worst two we could get. Other than the rags based on pep throwing derbies.

He doesn't throw them in the Cups against them. 2 semis running against them we've won.

P4 W2 D0 L2 in cup competitions
P10 W4 D2 L4 in the league

6 of his 30 defeats in domestic competitions have come against the Rags (20%). Of the 5 times we've lost a match in a domestic cup under Pep, 40% of them have been against the Rags.

One of the cup ones you're talking about was the 2nd leg of a semi that we won.
We've drawn them 3 times, 2 semis that we won and his 1st season when we went out to them in an early round 1-0 with practically a youth team.

stupot wrote:One of the cup ones you're talking about was the 2nd leg of a semi that we won.
We've drawn them 3 times, 2 semis that we won and his 1st season when we went out to them in an early round 1-0 with practically a youth team.

We've actually been knocked out of domestic cups 4 times in his 5 years here.
Rags, Wigan and Arsenal twice so 50% of the time it's been to them.

sheblue wrote:We have to rotate. And the 'B' team need to step up and show some bollocks now they are needed more than ever.

Starting with Sterling, that lad needs to knuckle down and just get on with it. Last night when he came on he looked like he didnt give a fuck.

Laporte, jesus, mendy, ake, torres all needed now and they must contribute a lot more.

That display against Leeds was laughable last week.

Time for character.

First time ever I saw sterling not chasing things