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lake district canary

Three at the back at Chelsea

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Our team and formation is quite difficult to predict nowadays, as we have that many good players who can do the job - Wisdom and O''Neill are up there with the rest after the last game.  Makes guessing the team more interesting. I''ll go for a solid looking team, full of experience, with Wes and/or Redmond able to come on if needed later in the game.   Could have put O''Neil in there instead of Tettey, but think we will need his pace against the Chelsea players.                      Ruddy                          Bennett    Martin    Bassong Wisdom    Tettey    Mulumbu   Olsson        Jarvis                    Brady                    MbokaniAny takers?

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i think jarvis will still be out but agree its likely to be a 541 formation.

Ruddy

Wisdom Bennett Martin Seb Olsson

Howson Tettey Mulumbu Brady

Mbokani

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I think if we do go five at the back then the most likely team will be:

----------------------------Ruddy---------------------------

-------------Martin------Bennett-----Bassong-----------

Wisdom------------------------------------------Olsson--

-----------------Mulumbu---------Tettey-----------------

Howson---------------------------------------------Brady

-------------------------Jerome----------------------------

Alex Neil alluded to the fact that even if Mbokani had been fit for the Man City game then Jerome would have got the nod instead. I think in games where we aren''t going to see much of the ball that Jerome''s work rate is high valued by Neil as he really defends from the front. Mbokani is more a penalty box striker in that regard, although still a good all rounder.

The other factor of course is that Mbokani and Mulumbu have travelled long distances this week. So it may be that Gary O''Neil continues instead of Mulumbu. I would have no objection to that. He was very good at Everton and against Swansea.

As much as I love Hoolahan I don''t think this is a game for the little Wizard. He needs us to have decent possession around the opponent''s goal to really dictate games as he can. If he''s picking it up a long way from their goal, he''s largely nullified. Breaking at pace is the order of the day on Saturday.

Although given Neil''s increasing penchant for the unpredictable, he may surprise us all completely on Saturday.

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No he isn''t. 3 game bans only apply for instances of violent conduct. Denying a clear goal scoring opportunity is 1 match only. Russ is available and ready too.

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Unfortunately I speak from experience of having been sent off twice in my time for denying goalscoring opportunities!

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A key point is that AN has now got the team in a position where Jose will be guessing on two or three different formations that we might play.

We now have options, looking forward to see what team / formation is put out, AN May surprise us again, I''m happy that Jose will be surprised also.

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I can''t see 5 at the back and both Tettey and Mulumbu for this one, we need a threat and Terry/Cahill have looked vulnerable. We''d just seem to be inviting them onto us with no real outlet. May see Hoolahan or Howson more centrally to fill that hole behind CJ.

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I think the key is that Redmond and Brady need to play.

We need wide men with pace to get up to mbokani. Mulumbu and tettey ideal with maybe o''neil as a wise head. If we only have one wide player with pace then we cannot break in the way we will need to.

Howson to come on later if we want a little more forward play, VOO may even be on the bench. So choices but play solid and bring on a little more flair later.

Mbokani could be that star though ready for a game against Chelsea.

Defence should be four at the back I cannot see a five working as our communication isn''t the best with four and I can see so many moves where we play them onside.

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Redmond had that knock as well.

I can see us playing:

Ruddy

Brady, Wisdom, Bennett, Bassong, Olsson

Howson, Mulumbu, Tettey

Hoolahan

Mbokani

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What about:

Ruddy

Brady Martin Bennett Bassong Olsson

Mulumbu Tettey

Hoolahan

Jerome/Mbokani Grabban

So a 3-4-1-2 designed to stay solid but make as much use of Hoolahan as possible. Wes was devastating when we played Holt and Martin in front of him, this is a way of playing him with options in front and out wide without compromising our defence. Wes has been good at tackling back as well recently, and I think actually puts himself about more than Howson ironically.

I''d love to see what Hooper would be like alongside the beast Mbokani as he looked his best when with Elmander. I guess we won''t know til January, maybe never!

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I agree with TJ. I can see Brady at RWB again to counter Hazard who likes to cut inside where Brady will be strong.

And I see no reason why Martin would get straight back in.

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Stand by to be annoyed firststeps.

I''d be amazed if he doesn''t start, but stranger things happen at sea, because HE IS GOOD ENOUGH.

Why do you think it was him who made the save, why do you think he is more often than not the last man, it''s because he is in the right position. Does he always succeed? No. But he is always there or thereabouts, covering for others. On top of which he''s our 2nd top scorer I believe.

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Ruddy

Wisdom Bennett Bassong Olsson

Tettey Mulumbu

Howson Hoolahan Brady

MBokani

...thats solid enough to not have to go 5 at the back.....plus we''re more likely to get a result with Martin off the pitch than on it.

.

besides all of this though, do Chelsea warrant playing 5 accross the back against?.....theyre where they are for a reason.

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I like GJL''s team for this one.

Willian is their main man in form, so keep him quiet and we''ll increase the chance of a result. Hazard could explode into life at any moment and is always a danger, so Olson and Wisdom need to be careful about getting too far forward.

However Costa is, for me, the biggest worry. Again not in the best form, but I wonder how Seb will cope with is constant shenanigans. Heresy it may seem, but I''d actually be tempted to put RM in there alongside RB just because we need to have 11 on at all times and I just worry that Costa will get Seb sent off, just like how he wound up the Arsenal players a few weeks back.

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My biggest concern is that during the international break the intense media pressure on Mourinho etc has somewhat died down and this may help Chelsea play with a little more freedom this Saturday. It''s so hard to call as Chelsea have not lived up to anywhere near their expectations so far this season and appear there for the taking, however we know what players like Hazard and Costa are capable of. That said, we also have game changers in our squad, and are quite capable of taking all 3 points - literally anything can happen in this match! I do hope the ref is firm with Costa though - his antics at times this season have been nothing short of a disgrace. I think we could nick this 2-1. OTBC

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I see on the Chelsea message board ''The Shed End'' that one of their supporters has called us ''one of the worst teams in the league''. Funny that, because last time I looked, we''re above them in the table so what does that make them?. They''re relegation candidates at this stage whichever way you want to dress it up - have heard the saying ''they''re too big to go down'' so many times, but the reality is that the Championship is littered with big name casualties that were also in their day regarded as ''too big to go down''. Football is a funny old game and I hope we give their more arrogant supporters a taste of humble pie - Man City away was as tough as it''ll get surely, and we only lost that narrowly late on.

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Looking at their last game, the best way to keep Costa quiet is to wind him up, he then becomes more focused on the player than the game.

I Think 4 at the back would be fine for this game:

Wisdom - Bennett - Bassong -Olsson

Tettey - Mulumbu

Redmond/Howson Brady

Hoolahan

Jerome

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[quote user="Jacko"]I think if we do go five at the back then the most likely team will be:

----------------------------Ruddy---------------------------

-------------Martin------Bennett-----Bassong-----------

Wisdom------------------------------------------Olsson--

-----------------Mulumbu---------Tettey-----------------

Howson---------------------------------------------Brady

-------------------------Jerome----------------------------

Alex Neil alluded to the fact that even if Mbokani had been fit for the Man City game then Jerome would have got the nod instead. I think in games where we aren''t going to see much of the ball that Jerome''s work rate is high valued by Neil as he really defends from the front. Mbokani is more a penalty box striker in that regard, although still a good all rounder.

The other factor of course is that Mbokani and Mulumbu have travelled long distances this week. So it may be that Gary O''Neil continues instead of Mulumbu. I would have no objection to that. He was very good at Everton and against Swansea.

As much as I love Hoolahan I don''t think this is a game for the little Wizard. He needs us to have decent possession around the opponent''s goal to really dictate games as he can. If he''s picking it up a long way from their goal, he''s largely nullified. Breaking at pace is the order of the day on Saturday.

Although given Neil''s increasing penchant for the unpredictable, he may surprise us all completely on Saturday.[/quote]

But, with how this season has panned out - Mbokani has made more of his opportunity in front of goal. Jerome has missed a number of sitters, and in a game where we will only get a few chances, Mbokani ideally needs to be our starter.

Disclaimer: In no way is this a "I hate CamJam" post or me trying to use him as an escape goat. His workrate is second to none- but right now he should be our #2 choice behind Mbokani

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Even before reading through this I had chosen Jacko''s line-up:

----------------------------Ruddy---------------------------

-------------Martin------Bennett-----Bassong-----------

Wisdom------------------------------------------Olsson--

-----------------Mulumbu---------Tettey-----------------

Howson---------------------------------------------Brady

-------------------------Jerome----------------------------

It isn''t about parking the bus, it''s about frustrating the technical skills of the Chelski players. With 3 at the back, Wisdom and Olsson will be able to move forward on the flanks and Mulumbu becomes a deep AM when we have the ball, with Tettey remaining as the pivot player in front of the defence. Howson and Brady both track back well when the ball is lost and then can break with pace to support Jerome on the counter-attack when the ball is won.

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That''s a fair point, Mr J, but away at Chelsea I suspect AN will go for the more defensive option, with Wisdom and Olsson venturing to around the middle of the pitch but ready to get back to defend if the ball is lost. Whitts is not as well suited to that scenario, IMO.

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Yelloow Since 72 wrote the following post at 18/11/2015 6:04 PM:

That''s a fair point, Mr J, but away at Chelsea I suspect AN will go for the more defensive option, with Wisdom and Olsson venturing to around the middle of the pitch but ready to get back to defend if the ball is lost. Whitts is not as well suited to that scenario, IMO.

To be honest Yellow if they can''t go beyond midfield we are in fact parking the bus!

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Though the flip side is that we need to get used to playing without him and need to play those who are focussed on NCFC.

But that would only be the case if we knew or strongly suspected he was off.

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