Castiel said:
teddykgb said:
Playing Matic would be very risky for them. He's probably a good player, but unproven at this level. Not sure this is the match for Chelsea to find out he's Javi Garcia part 2. I could see a sub appearance for each of the new signings for Chelsea, but starting with them would be a very bold choice.
Mourinho is probably smart enough to figure out that you have to disrupt our play, press and close, mark the hell out of Silva and hope for the best. This is easier said than done, however, and I tend to feel that it's easier to get your team to do it when they're less skilled.
Nonetheless, we should respect that side from their stroke of luck (and how much better does the table look if Chelsea is minus 2 points?) they did play us well at their place. I don't think this will be a walk in the park, especially without Aguero. We've been so strong at home that you have to think we'll at least draw, but 3 points here would be so massive.
No reason Matic won't start and he's exactly the sort of player you want against City. He's been great in his two appearances and we know what he can do from meetings with Benfica in Europe. He's also a former player, not a complete unknown to us and I think it'd be a mistake to leave him out here.
I understand why you feel this way, but still think Matic would be a gamble. It even took Fernandinho a bit of time to really be himself in the PL, and I don't think Matic is as good as Fernandinho. I just think it would be a gamble, and sometimes gambles do pay off.
I'm not sure if he's the right kind of player versus City, though, I'd be eager to know why you think that. I feel a lot of teams obsess about Yaya's strength, but I think Yaya is better nullified by a bunch of small players running around him versus trying to match his steel. I certainly think that our struggles, when we have struggled, have correlated with quicker sides using pressing and pace to make things difficult, not necessarily strong DMs breaking up play. If we've passed our way to the DM, in most cases you're already in far too much trouble for him to do much. I suppose if you play with two CDM then maybe this isn't true, but we've been far better against the packed bus this year than previous seasons. I think Chelsea will have to possess the ball to win this one, but I suppose it's plausible Jose will play for the draw.
