How's Bobby going to play it?

[Beeks]

Against Chelsea?

We have been pretty mean in defence....Chelsea have been free scoring...

Something has to give

Are we just going to park the bus and hit them on the break?

I get a horrible feeling we will do just that...which seems a waste considering we are at home

Personally I think we should go for the jugular

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

I think we should set up even more cautiously than usual.
This will justify Bobby's revolutionary 4-6-0 set up.

[Mike J]

very defensively is most likely.

but id be more than happy if we came away with last years result. i just hope we show some sort of attacking threat, we have the players now.

[sandman]

Against Chelsea?

We have been pretty mean in defence....Chelsea have been free scoring...

Something has to give

Are we just going to park the bus and hit them on the break?

I get a horrible feeling we will do just that...which seems a waste considering we are at home

Personally I think we should go for the jugular

Chelsea are the best team in the league by a country furlong, therefore I believe they always have home advantage as any club at any ground would be foolish not to park the bus in front of them. They will be hungry for this and they are overdue a good performance against us. I honestly think we should play 451 with Yaya rooted in the centre, right front of our defence (not DeJong as they are also dangerous from free kicks)

I am also praying that Vieira stays on the bench.

[Ted Hughes]

Just alluding to this problem on another thread. Say we line up 4-5-1 Chelsea linup cautiously & both sides cancel each other out in midfield, who is the most likely winner nine times out of ten? It's not fucking us is it? We'd need an unlikely or lucky break. They'll need a free kick or a cross or a loose ball breaking from either. We only succeed with either free kicks or crosses about 10% of the times Chelsea (or rags) (or Liverpool) (or Spurs) do. So if it's a tight game & Chelsea are on form, unless it's our one in ten day, they win. Imo we're as good as Chelsea in almost every position, yet they have so many more potential threats. That can't be right.

We'd be closer on free kicks if Balotelli & Kolarov were playing tbf but the other aspects of our game need improving.


We, the fans, need to do our job too. Get stuck into Chelsea & put them off their game, then it's even.

[ruralblue]

We do have a squad to match them and yup I feel we may be over cautious playing for the break. The difference in the final 11 is that theirs bar one or two additions have played together a hell of a lot longer so have a better understanding of each others runs and positioning.

Fuck it go all hell bent to win!. They will prepare for us with our defensive set up in mind, bring an element of surprise and stand toe to toe with them.

ok 5 defensive midfielders it will be.

[Ted Hughes]

We do have a squad to match them and yup I feel we may be over cautious playing for the break. The difference in the final 11 is that theirs bar one or two additions have played together a hell of a lot longer so have a better understanding of each others runs and positioning.

Fuck it go all hell bent to win!. They will prepare for us with our defensive set up in mind, bring an element of surprise and stand toe to toe with them.

ok 5 defensive midfielders it will be.

It's the kind of game Balotelli was bought to win for us. Unfortunately whereas he's missing, they have Drogba.

[Beeks]

I think the key is not letting them play...if we sit back we are asking for it and will no doubt get it...if we have a go...then it will give them something else to think about other than unlocking our defence

What i'm trying to say is we should not show them too much respect...we are not Blackpool or Wigan...we are City

[sandman]

We do have a squad to match them and yup I feel we may be over cautious playing for the break. The difference in the final 11 is that theirs bar one or two additions have played together a hell of a lot longer so have a better understanding of each others runs and positioning.

Fuck it go all hell bent to win!. They will prepare for us with our defensive set up in mind, bring an element of surprise and stand toe to toe with them.

ok 5 defensive midfielders it will be.

If we do that then I reckon we'll get dicked 4-0, if we dont find enough shooting opportunities against teams like Sunderland and Blackburn then we'll struggle to find any against Chelsea and if we push forward we will only create gaps at the back for them to stroll thorough, lets face it Richards will spend 70 mins running forward, losing possession and strolling around upfield while Chelsea are hitting us with 3 men at the back.

We need to defend and send Milner, Tevez & Johno forward on the break.

[brite blu sky]

I think the key is not letting them play...if we sit back we are asking for it and will no doubt get it...if we have a go...then it will give them something else to think about other than unlocking our defence

What i'm trying to say is we should not show them too much respect...we are not Blackpool or Wigan...we are City

im pretty much with this. But i would say that we need to get in perspective that Chelsea will not take this game lightly and basically will also try to do the same to us. I dont think it is ott to say that we are just as strong as Chelsea and that this will be a battle between the two best squads in the league. They have an advantage in having played together for years, but on the day it is going to come down to performances on the pitch.

Last season we did a good number on both Drogba and Lampard and both were fairly anonymous. deJong, Yaya and Barry are 3 players that we need to have a good day, if they do we will cancel out a lot of what Chelsea are about. After that it comes down to chances created by something inspirational. I think we can have faith in Tevez, AJ and Silva to nick something if chance arises. It is going to be a battle and i am pretty confident that our key players will be hyped for this like they were last season, i dont think Bobby will set up particularly any different.

Dont forget we are the first serious opposition they have faced this season.. if it doesn't go right for them they will start getting ratty as they always do.