Very simple question. Who should start for Chelsea in the big match on Sunday? No constraints. Full squad. One big match. I think Carlo has taken too much time and is yet to settle down on his first choice squad. He does seem to have a few dilemmas – especially in midfield and in attack.

Who should play in defence? I think this is made straight forward by the clarity around Ivanovic. Captain John Terry and aggressive David Luiz as centre backs. Ever-dependable Ivanovic and all-but-dead Ashley Cole as full backs. This is all quite simple unless we have our doubts about David Luiz having an incident-free match. I personally think that we should stick with him in central defence. There could be options of (a) swapping David Luiz and Ivanovic and (b) Alex playing and David Luiz in the bench. I think we need the pace and adventure of David Luiz. Remember, a draw is not of any use. We gotta win.

My choices: John Terry, David Luiz, Ashley Cole & Ivanovic.

Who should play in midfield? I’m looking at a 4-3-3, the formation that we’re most comfortable with. The options available are: Lampard, Essien, Ramires, Mikel, Josh, Zhirkov and Malouda. We continue to be lucky with injuries, for a team that’s mostly in late 20s and early 30s. Right now, all are available for selection.

Essien has been terrible most season. This is a season for him to forget. Not being effective is one but being detrimental is another. I’d drop Essien. I wrote in Jan 2011 that Essien should be dropped. Nothing’s changed the way I see it. Mikel has a fantastic job in defensive midfield. Most of us have observed that we play better football when Mikel plays. He does a better job of holding the ball and distributing for attack. Mikel doesn’t lose possession and initiative like the Essien of today. If Mikel gets a yellow, I’d bring in Josh. Call me whatever, I’d bring on Josh.

I’d pick Ramires and Lampard. Ramires over Essien because we need some pace. We’re playing away from home. We need some pace to quickly turn Man Utd attacks into Chelsea attacks. Essien doesn’t have that pace and in his current form, loses possession more often than not. When a midfielder does that against Man Utd, you’d expect Nani and Rooney to run riot. Lampard is in for me. Proven goalscorer is back among goals. He plays much better with Mikel behind him.

My choices: Ramires, Mikel & Lampard

Who should play in attack? The biggie! Carlo has a sweet problem here too. He has some really good attacking players most of them in good form. The options are, Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka, Florent Malouda, Zhirkov, Fernando Torres and Salomon Kalou.

I’d keep Malouda as he seems to have found his form. He’s played especially well against Man Utd before. His presence would stifle the Man Utd right back. I’d play Drogba on the right flank. He can give a nightmare to Evra but I don’t expect Drogba to run as well as an attacking Evra but that’s where Ramires the right midfielder comes in.

Leading the attack will be Fernando Torres. He’s playing very well. He’s scored his debut goal. Even though he didn’t score a goal in the last match, he was very bright and intelligent. He’s played hundreds of matches as a lone striker and he knows what it takes to be one. I only hope that as a team we play to Fernando Torres’ strengths. I can’t believe that even after 3 months since he joined we haven’t quite figured out how to play with him. Anyway, for me, he starts. Kalou comes on as a sub for Torres or Malouda depending on how things go. Drogba stays for all 90 minutes. Benayoun should definitely come in if we are trailing by half time. In any case, Yossi should play about 30 mins when Torres is also on the field.

My choices: Drogba, Malouda & Torres.

So, there’s my team:

(One and only) Petr Cech, Terry, Ivanovic, David Luiz, Ashley Cole, Mikel, Ramires, Lampard, Malouda, Drogba and Torres.

I’m 100% sure that this is not the team that Carlo would pick to start. If I can guess Carlo right, this could be the team: Cech, Alex, Terry, Ivanovic, Ashley Cole, Essien, Lampard, Mikel, Malouda, Drogba and Kalou.

Who Should Start Against Man Utd on Sunday?

    • View Results

Loading ... Loading …