I know its not the matchday thread yet but heres my tactical "analysis".
I think it would be naive for us to play 4-4-2 against Chelsea, especially with a midfield of Gerrard and Spearing only in the centre. If gerrard gets forward, Spearing sits but is up against at least 2-3 Chelsea midfielders, who are relatively tall and strong. Plus with Chelsea having a fairly strong defence and aerial presence, not sure how much success big Andy will get against their defence. They dont have the quickest defenders so we should play to exploit their lack of mobility. Assuming we have a full strength team (bar Lucas), I would line up the team as...
Reina
Johnson Skrtel Agger Enrique
Spearing Henderson
Kuyt Gerrard Maxi
Suarez
This will allow Gerrard to bomb forward and have more of a influence in the game behind Suarez. Suarez, Maxi and Kuyt have all got great movement and a good understanding which will help us
I picked Dirk on the right because he can offer some protection to Johnno who also gets forward but Kuyt is also as a aerial thread and outlet. In the past games against CHelsea if we need to knock the ball long, aim for Kuyt. Marking him aerially is Ashley Cole and there is only going to be one winner there
Also Dirk can be a second striker if needed as he does tend to play centrally, even if his tactical position is wide right.
Bellamy to come on in the 2nd half, taking into account possibly extra time and penalties. And options of Carroll, Downing, Shelvey as well.
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