DILEMMA:THE FA CUP- PREMIER LEAGUE- CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CONGESTION. According to one report, The Mirror newspaper, Jose Mourinho plans to accept a lighter lineup in the FA Cup to Manchester City to rest his best players for the Premier League run-in and Champions League campaign. That might be/not be as crazy as it seems. MAN CITY FIXTURES: •Feb 15: HOME-Chelsea, •Feb 18: HOME-Barcelona, •Feb 22: HOME-Stoke #CHELSEA FIXTURES: •Feb 15: AWAY-Man City, •Feb 22: HOME-Everton, •Feb 26: AWAY-GALATASARAY According to our fixture, we have one full week of rest after playing Man city (In the FA) before we play Everton in the BPL, and Man city have only only two days of rest after playing us in the same competition before facing Barcelona. To us (#SV) it seems pretty clear that Pellegrini will opt to rest his players in favour of the Barcelona game if he ever thinks of progressing by use of the home advantage (its tough to play Barca in the return leg at Camp Nou as we all know, and they dont have Torres). Wink wink ^ ^. Remember the commentator when Torres outpased Puyol and was huttling towards Barca goal! Sweet sweet memories. Ok, and Chelsea will have 4 days of rest after our BPL game against Everton (Plus travel to Turkey). This to us, #SV, looks like very few days of rest knowing that a game at Galatasaray is always complicated. They have the most noisy fans you have ever heard. They hold the record of the noisiest stadium in football history. Its true. Google it out.And oh yes it matters. And they love insulting too. Looking at the Galatasaray fixture list: •Feb. 17:Turkish Super Lig AWAY-Anta, •Feb. 22:Turkish Super Lig HOME-Besi, •Feb. 26:UEFA Champions League H-Chelsea, •Mar. 01:Turkish Super Lig A-CayR, •Mar. 08:Turkish Super Lig HOME-AkhB, •Mar. 15:Turkish Super Lig AWAY-Kara, •Mar. 18:UEFA Champions League A-Chelsea, (Agg. 0-0) •Mar. 22:Turkish Super Lig HOME-Kays, They seem to be having a lot of rest betweem matches and they will have 3 days of rest (without travel*) before meeting us in the first leg, BUT the tables will be turned on them when they come to the Bridge in the second leg where they will have only 2 days of rest (squeeze in long travel). What ever happens in the first leg we should make them answer hard questions when the step at the bridge. Remember Atletico Bilbao. BY and large, The most-obvious benefit would be to rest the top players who appeared to hit a wall against West Bromwich Albion after playing several consecutive matches without a break. With the club well- placed for a title challenge this season, giving top players rest at the cost of a chance at the FA Cup will help in many ways in the months to come. Not only will it help ensure Chelsea have the freshest top players in April and May, but it will keep the less-favoured players match-fit in the frame in case of injury or loss of form. Crashing out of the cup at this stage also buys the club another rest period when the next round is played. PUTTING THE Mirror report into use, if it holds true this weekend, and the likes of Cole, Schürrle, Salah, Torres, Lampard, and Mikel all play, I think well be in for an interesting match. With Gary Cahill injured and John Terry likely given extra time to recover from his own injury, I think the team could resemble something like the following. (4-3-3) | Petr Cech ; Cesar Azpilicueta , Branislav Ivanovic , David Luiz , Ashley Cole ; John Mikel Obi, Frank Lampard , Ramires; André Schürrle, Mohamed Salah ; Fernando Torres . Now, thats certainly not the first line-up youd probably choose to face a team like City, but I think it could prove yet another Mourinho masterstroke. If City came at Chelsea with the full force of their might, its very likely that Chelsea will be pushed back deep in their own half. Now, the back line probably isnt the best for that kind of resistance, but as the 2011-12 Champions League run proves, you can beat teams even with Jose Bosingwa at centre- back. But I digress. If we assume that those defenders could be capable of pulling off an all- hands-to-the-pumps kind of mission, we start to look forward. With two actual full- backs, two lightning-fast wingers, Ramires, and even Fernando Torres, you can see a team designed to stay compact to win the ball back, then break at top speed to maximum effect. Obviously, there are no guarantees in football, and this plan, should it be implemented, could fail spectacularly. Even if it does fail, and Chelsea cant score the goals to take the match, having such a quick squad on the break should put plenty of miles into the legs of City. Miles they cant exactly afford right now, considering the importance of the fixtures theyve got ahead and their sheer number. If City run themselves out chasing Chelsea rabbits now, without any opportunity for a solid rest on the horizon, it could affect their season in the long-term. Attritional football may not be the best-received strategy, but it has the ring of yet another perfect Mourinho call, and one which will be forgotten come May.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Feb 2014 01:35:31 +0000