Chelsea (A) build up thread

[sycophantia]

Would have Kilman over Saiss and perhaps switch Neto and Traore. Expect Silva to start and better for the wings to cut inside and shoot then to squander a cross. That would leave room for our wb as well.

Had high hopes for Kilman earlier on this season but he's been poor in the last couple of games he's played, could just be part of the general defensive malaise currently of course.

 

[redvictor]

Willian isn't going to be available, we won't have the paperwork in time.

That is a shame. We are toothless in the middle up front. We need WJ in there badly.

 

[The Bear]

If we are playing Silva I'd like us to have the three behind him which worked effectively against Arsenal. Podence isn't available but Vitinha can come in behind Silva, with Neto and Traore either side of him.

It means 4 at the back, but Silva struggles to get involved effectively without someone a bit closer to him and directly behind IMO.

 

[Tredman]

Making the whole team weaker to accommodate a weak ass striker. We may as well just play a false 9 as essentially that’s what we will be doing.

 

[redvictor]

Making the whole team weaker to accommodate a weak ass striker. We may as well just play a false 9 as essentially that’s what we will be doing.

It's what we have to deal with till WJ is available i think. Unless they put Theo in instead of Fabio. Cutrone i think is a dead rubber now.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Making the whole team weaker to accommodate a weak ass striker. We may as well just play a false 9 as essentially that’s what we will be doing.

We have tried that and it was awful. We didn't have a clue what we were doing.

Don't want to see Cutrone ever again (don't think I will either).

 

[Tredman]

We have tried that and it was awful. We didn't have a clue what we were doing.

Don't want to see Cutrone ever again (don't think I will either).

Any worse than having a striker unable to keep up with the game or hold the ball up? If your striker offers nothing simply having an extra body elsewhere on the pitch is more beneficial. Sod it - may as well play 6 at the back.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

But Fabio did offer plenty vs Albion in the first half.

In an ideal world I wouldn't pick him. But Cutrone doesn't want to try, Willian isn't available and the alternative is either no striker (as I say, categorically does not work), Adama (how many times have we tried this, does not work) or a kid who may come good one day but as yet has essentially matched Benny Ashley-Seal in terms of achievements.

I'll go with Option A given all that.

 

[Charlie Wolf]

Don’t normally post on build up threads and team speculation, however, without writing this off as a dead rubber, anything better than a more than one goal defeat at the moment would represent some mild progress, so we may as well have ago than sit back
For that reason I would go with 2 CH’s who can header a ball. That for me would be Boly and Saiss, to give us extra body in midfield and not mess around with experiments against a Chelsea team that will pass round you
Donk and Neves in midfield with Vitinha just in front in the No 10 role.
Neto / Silva / Adama up top, with more pace and urgency in their game and specifically Silva needs to relax and gamble everytime and not ball watch when we’re in the final third
We need to get quick quality balls into the box and put their defence under pressure and not piss around passing back and sideways
Oh! And I would go with Ruddy in goal as I think that he would deal with the Chelsea crosses in the box better than Rui in this game
Others may disagree but that’s my take on this game, more energy more pace more balls into the box

 

[slink]

Any worse than having a striker unable to keep up with the game or hold the ball up? If your striker offers nothing simply having an extra body elsewhere on the pitch is more beneficial. Sod it - may as well play 6 at the back.

I get you don't rate Fabio at the moment and i totally understand not wanting him to play and in an ideal world he wouldn't be starting but Fabio proved in that first half against Albion and at other times that he's capable and able to keep up with the game. Your criticism of him is far too over the top. He's scored twice this season, not bad for a lad who offers nothing.

 

[Tredman]

I get you don't rate Fabio at the moment and i totally understand not wanting him to play and in an ideal world he wouldn't be starting but Fabio proved in that first half against Albion and at other times that he's capable and able to keep up with the game. Your criticism of him is far too over the top. He's scored twice this season, not bad for a lad who offers nothing.

I don’t think I have been critical of him at all. I think he’s clearly going to be a good player, however, he doesn’t, now, have the physical attributes to play top flight football here.

It’s actually downright harmful to him and his development to have him play these games. As I’ve said before if we are going to throw someone under the bus let’s not make it him.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

I don’t think I have been critical of him at all. I think he’s clearly going to be a good player, however, he doesn’t, now, have the physical attributes to play top flight football here.

It’s actually downright harmful to him and his development to have him play these games. As I’ve said before if we are going to throw someone under the bus let’s not make it him.

I don't think you can definitively say it's harmful to him.

Personally I think it'll do him the world of good, even though he's struggled far more in some games than others I don't think there has been any point I've looked at him and thought it was getting to him, even when he's getting battered about by bigger more experienced players he never seems to go hiding, he continues to look for the ball and attempt to play his game. It's obviously not great for the team as a whole to be on relying on him every game at the moment but I haven't seen anything yet that suggests it isn't going to be beneficial to him to have had this exposure so soon, it'll have opened his eyes to what's expected of him. Once someone pushes him back down the pecking order he'll be able to go away and work on those parts of his game where he's struggled and hopefully come back into the side as a more capable option.

 

[YoungWolf]

Agree with Mark.

Once WJ comes in, Fabio gets a bit of a breather.

It's a bit like Neto last season (though he had more impact in games) while Jota was injured. He was fairly inconsistent last season, but his experiences have held him in good stead this season where he looks great.

 

[The Bear]

If we are playing 4 at the back in the longer term, would Coady be able to move to DM alongside Neves? Essentially having a back 3 at times without the ball but with Coady stepping up into midfield when we have the ball, to play his diagonals and free Neves up to dictate things on the halfway line more.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

No.

 

[Premier Quality]

No, Coady was a terrible midfielder because he doesn’t have either the pace or the speed of thought to play there. Or the control for that matter - his second touch in midfield was normally a tackle.

 

[Charlie Wolf]

It grieves me to say that if we move to a four at the back Connor, who has been the star of the show in a 5 with his positional brain, reading of the game and diagonal ball distribution, is not the medium to long term solution
He’s a two to three touch defender and not a ball playing defender, who can play as a pair and can first and foremost defend, that we need to compete moving forward

 

[redvictor]

It grieves me to say that if we move to a four at the back Connor, who has been the star of the show in a 5 with his positional brain, reading of the game and diagonal ball distribution, is not the medium to long term solution
He’s a two to three touch defender and not a ball playing defender, who can play as a pair and can first and foremost defend, that we need to compete moving forward

Nuno will need to find somewhere for him though. It's not just his ball playing. He's the leader at the back.

 

[PuntsWolf]

The leader at the backs a bit overstated. Yes he shouts a lot but if he was such a great leader and organiser we wouldn’t be giving away awful goals every week

 

[redvictor]

The leader at the backs a bit overstated. Yes he shouts a lot but if he was such a great leader and organiser we wouldn’t be giving away awful goals every week

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.