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You know what we expect!

Only in November, we had thumped Villa 4-0 in the Carling Cup match. Looks like a distant memory? Lets’s start this post on a good note!
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But this time around, I’m sure Jose would take a 1-0 win and would be too happy to finish the match with 3 points. Before we kick off, Man Utd would have played in Newcastle. The barcodes are fresh from being pounded 3-0 by Everton and they too have their defensive worries. Martins, the other prominent striker from the Serie A, has been finding the net with some regularity nowadays. If he is on fire, this would be anyone’s match, looking how Reading played Man Utd. Also it’s quite possible that by the time we kick off we are 9 points off from Man Utd.

Okay, now Villa vs Chelsea. Below the current status of the first team players for the Aston Villa match. The list of unavailable players is official one. The classification of in-form and out-of-form players is my own. You may differ with this.

Unavailable: Ballack, Robben, Joe Cole, John Terry, Petr Cech, Cudicini
Available (in form): Drogba, Lampard, Essien, Carvalho, Kalou, Bridge
Available (not in form): Sheva, SWP, Geremi, Boulahrouz, Ferreira, Hilario, Mikel, Makelele
Available (unknown form): Hedman, Diarra

Before I choose a XI from above list of available players, I would like to classify some as blacklisted players, whom I dont want to play in this match, whatever it takes. That way, Mikel, Makelele and Hedman are blacklisted. I’m sorry about Makelele being called blacklisted but he has been completely out of sorts recently. Let him take some rest and be back later with better concentration. As Ballack is unavailable, he need not be blacklisted, he is out anyway. With the rest, I need to go for either 4-3-3 or 4-4-2. Any other formation is out of question. Like I had said earlier, this is no time for experiments. In a 4-3-3, Drogba (not even thinking of Sheva) would have to be surrounded by Kalou and SWP as wingers.

But I have more confidence with SWP in the midfield than as a winger now. If SWP is not to be in the wings, then there is no other who can play in the wings. Sheva can play in the wings too but I doubt if he would do well there as he has los quite a bit of his pace.

Anyway, right now, we are not a confident ‘go-getter’ team. We are conceding big time and match after match, we are the scared ones than the opposition. Also, like Jose said, we are not controlling the game. Yes, we are not dictating the pace and flow of the game like we used to. At this juncture, 4-3-3 would be little risky. Considering that you cant expect Hilario to do a Petr Cech and that the defence is confused and disconnected with each other, I would drop the attacking 4-3-3 and go for a conservative formation. You can argue that attack is the best form of defence but all I have in mind is that we absolutely need 3 points from this match, come what may.

So, I prefer a 4-4-2 here. As much as people have hated to see the diamond on the pitch (even I didnt prefer before), I think diamond will only do the trick for us on Tuesday. The holding midfielder of the diamond would be Essien. He has to be in this role and this is very crucial in plugging the holes in the defence. Let him not push forward too much and be more defensive until we go up by more than a goal.

And I want Drogba to be attacking tip of the diamond with Sheva and Kalou as the strikers. Drogba is one player (along with Essien), who seems to possess this quality of adaptability, which allows him to play virtually anywhere on the pitch. He also has the skill to hold the ball until the rest take good positions and his ability to shoot form distance needs no proof. In the attacking tip of the diamond, he can create space, be less marked and be an effective playmaker. May be this is unconventional but not experimentation. Anyway, players like Drogba and Essien do play various roles in the course of a match.

Two players who might disappoint us are Sheva and SWP. If Sheva does way below the mark, he can be subbed with Diarra and we should change to 4-3-3 with SWP moving to the wings and Diarra taking his place in the midfield. If SWP does poorly, he should be subbed with Diarra in his midfield role. If both of them screw up, bad luck, get back to 4-3-3, replace them with Paulo and Diarra. Anyways, I expect Jose to play Diarra.

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This is what Jose said about Diarra in the last season:

I’m especially happy with Diarra. For me, he’s very, very, very important. I gave him some minutes during the season – 20 minutes here, ten minutes there, five minutes against Liverpool, 20 minutes against Anderlecht, ten minutes against Real Betis – but not consistently. But I’ve given him twice 90 minutes and the boy is ready, he’s very ready for next season. Next season, Claude Makelele and Michael Essien have to look at him as a boy that can fight with them, not just as a young boy. He’s learning to be a good player. The boy is ready to play.

This season, may be because of Ballack’s inclusion, Diarra has not been able to play much. Diarra is the solution for the Ballack problem. I’m sure Jose would pick him.

If Sheva fails:

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If SWP fails:

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If both Sheva and SWP fail:

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May be the odds for this team selection and formation would be a 100-1 or 500-1. If I were Jose I would go for this and come back with a 2-0 win or 2-1 win. If we dont win this match, I dont know how Jose will react and by all probabilities, the English Press might hand over the title to Man Utd.

Dont provoke Jose once again boys, he might take the gun!

[tags] Chelsea, Aston Villa, Villa, Villa Park, Drogba, Shevchenko, Jose Mourinho, Man Utd, Newcastle [/tags]

Note: Wish the Chelsea FC team for a great new year here