Actually yeah, my combined XI would have 6 chelsea player and 5 from arsenal. Agree that chelsea have better defence and midfield, though not better midfield play. As i said, on the whole chelsea are the better team, but it's because they have diego costa
2016/2017 Title race
- Thread starter Adisa
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By midfield I mean the center of the pitch. Matic and Kante are miles better than anyone they have in that area.
Who are these 5 arsenal players?
Disagree. I'd take ramsey and cazorla over matic. One is injured and the other mismanaged, but they're better players. Also, their midfield play with bellerin, ozil, sanchez, iwobi and xhaka is very good, when they play well. Better than anything you guys can do offensively, and slightly better overall
@Hemil bellerin, koscielny, one of ramsey/cazorla, ozil and sanchez
Sorry, but this whole post is laughable. No offense.
Also, Ramsey is shit. Wouldn't make our bench. Forgot about Bellerin. He'd start for us, probably.
None taken. Different opinions.
Ramsey hasn't even been good since 13/14. Wut?
Combined XI would be: Courtois; Alonso, Koscielny, Luiz, Azpi; Matic, Kante; Hazard, Ozil, Sanchez; Costa
And I'm being generous with Ozil, discounting his form over the past couple of months.
Combined XI would be: Courtois; Alonso, Koscielny, Luiz, Azpi; Matic, Kante; Hazard, Ozil, Sanchez; Costa
And I'm being generous with Ozil, discounting his form over the past couple of months.
Matic had a horrible year last year, but the season before he was the best defensive CM in the Premier League. He's not quite back to that best this year, but he's having a very good year regardless.
Never said Matic isn't good
Yeah, not sure I'd have Özil instead of Pedro/Willian on this season's form. The stark contrast in energy/work rate/desire last weekend between he and Pedro was embarrassing.
Ramsey over Matic? WTF!? He has been useless since 2014.
Injuries, plus your manager apparently doesn't want to play him to his strengths for some reason
We have tried him back in midfield, but it hasn't worked.
He's gerrard with more technical skill and less physicality and athleticism. Play him the way united are playing pogba and he'll be one of the best players in the league
not required in this post ;-)
Are you sure you're talking about Aaron Ramsey? He had a crazy purple patch a couple of seasons ago where he scored with seemingly every shot. He's been bang average since. I've seen him played out wide and in midfield and he didn't look anywhere near top class.
Squad player for a decent side, nothing more. Hell, on recent evidence I'd want Jack Wilshere back and ahead of Ramsey if I were an Arsenal fan.
Ozil isn't getting into our XI if a superior player like Fabregas cant get in because of poor athleticism.
Only Sanchez & Koscielny get into Chelsea's xi.
Only Sanchez & Koscielny get into Chelsea's xi.
What can i say, i really rate the player and think that purple patch is the level he'd normally be at in the right conditions. He's been brilliant for wales, too.
Btw, the gerrard comparison isn't to be taken literally. Ramsey's an all action box-to-box who's fantastic at getting into goalscoring positions in and outside the box, has the ability to win games, and is tactically indisciplined
it's really only Sanchez and Koscielny who can play at Chelsea. No way would I start Bellerin over Azpi. Azpi is the number one name on our team sheet.
Arguably Bellerin over Moses too?
Bellerin has a decent shout but Moses offers much more of a threat down the right and I'm not sure Bellerin has the stamina to get up and down the wing throughout a match the way Moses does. He is a player I think could thrive as a wingback though, but it's hard for me to take him over Moses blindly without having seen him play there personally.
EDIT: But if it's a four, then he's in over Moses for sure. I'd have Azpilicueta there over both in a heartbeat though.
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Bellerin would definitely get in as right wingback instead of Moses, or in a conventional back 4 as RB with Azpi moved to the left. Sanchez and Koscielny are the only other 2 who would get in.
Bellerin isn't getting in at all. Moses is far superior offensively & can hold his own defensively. If Conte switches back to a conventional back 4 it's a different case entirely but as a wingback, Moses is better.
Heh, if you gave both teama to conte and tell hin to pick up a starting XI, his first choice would probably be curtois-azpi-kos-david luiz-monreal-kante-matic/xhaka/ramsey-hazard-ox/iwobi/willian-sanchez-diego costa
get real here....he wouldnt have any midfield or defence from Arsenal at this moment in time and why should he? They are shocking at the moment and apart from that would have to learn to adapt to the system.... other than that the only players with a shout would be Sanchez but to replace who, because all the front 3 are playing very well as a unit no matter who is starting or sub. Perhaps Giroud as a target man if Costa was injured as well...but Chelsea play the false 9 very well so again Sanchez could be there instead
Monreal
Xhaka
Ramsey
Iwobi
Mate, some of those even Arsenal fans don't want in their XI! None of those 4 would get a sniff here.
Anyways, enough off topic talk. As far as the title race goes, this weekend could be huge for us once more. If Liverpool beat Spurs and we beat Burnley afterwords I think it's lights out.
i would go further than that and get past the Swansea match before starting to say 'we should win title'Monreal
Xhaka
Ramsey
Iwobi
Mate, some of those even Arsenal fans don't want in their XI! None of those 4 would get a sniff here.
Anyways, enough off topic talk. As far as the title race goes, this weekend could be huge for us once more. If Liverpool beat Spurs and we beat Burnley afterwords I think it's lights out.
You reckon we'll beat Burnley? Extremely tough away ground & I fear Kante will go with Matic-Kante instead of playing Cesc.Monreal
Xhaka
Ramsey
Iwobi
Mate, some of those even Arsenal fans don't want in their XI! None of those 4 would get a sniff here.
Anyways, enough off topic talk. As far as the title race goes, this weekend could be huge for us once more. If Liverpool beat Spurs and we beat Burnley afterwords I think it's lights out.
Picked up the commentators' habit of mixing up "Conte" and "Kante" now, have we?
Think it'll be tougher than Arsenal, actually. I also think Conte will keep things the same and start with Matic/Kante. Burnley will probably try to flood the midfield and press so Cesc may not be the best option against those tactics. As usual, he can come on later against tired legs and dominate.
Can see it being an ugly, hard fought 1-0 or 2-1 win for us. I hope.
Monreal is better defensively than marcos alonso, bellerin and moses. Conte's ideal system is to play with two winger and two strikers. That's what he wants to do, that's what he tried to do literally everywhere he went. And he'd go for the 4 best defensive players for his defence. Xhaka's a decent DM who's better on the ball than matic. Ramsey is a better player than both and kante could cover for his tactical indiscipline. Literally any one of the three would do for Conte. As for the other winger position, i reckon iwobi would be 3rd choice there, behind willian and ox(not sure who'd be conte's first choice between the two)Monreal
Xhaka
Ramsey
Iwobi
Mate, some of those even Arsenal fans don't want in their XI! None of those 4 would get a sniff here.
Btw: you'll beat burnley easily
At least Chelsea haven't really run away with it so far
Only 12 points behind (9 if you take into account the 5-0 drubbing we'll give them at home).
It's ON.
It's ON.
Ramsey has more technical skill than Gerrard? Not a chance.
This.
By no means is the title race done and dusted. Chelsea played very poorly today, hardly championship-winning stuff. They were flat, Costa did nothing, Hazard did nothing, even Fabregas couldn't open them up. Burnley totally smothered them with good organization and discipline and sheer hard work.
Two more of these draws (or one defeat) and the whole title race is wide open again.
City are suddenly back in the mix if they manage to win against Bournemouth. And we aren't far behind City.
In fact, if you look at which team is currently playing the best football and in the best form, you really can't look past UTD. Chelsea have been poor.
Two more of these draws (or one defeat) and the whole title race is wide open again.
City are suddenly back in the mix if they manage to win against Bournemouth. And we aren't far behind City.
In fact, if you look at which team is currently playing the best football and in the best form, you really can't look past UTD. Chelsea have been poor.
Absolute crunchtime for City tomorrow. If they can win against Bournemouth, they're right back in it. Let's see at which level Chelsea play their upcoming matches, they have to change something, otherwise losing out on the title could become a real possibility. Matic, Moses, they're as poor as it gets. Obviously for Mourinho it would be best if Chelsea shit the bed, but not that confident.
I agree. But no one expected Chelsea to win all their remaining matches. None of the chasing teams will win all their matches either.
Even if City win tomorrow, Chelsea will need to drop 8 points and City must win all their matches.
The title will be Chelseas.
For us the realistic target must be 2nd and I think we have a fair shot at that.
Err what? Moses was pretty good today. Got an assist for the first goal and threatened down the right on numerous occasions.
In their last 6 games, Chelsea have 13 points compared to our 12. Stretch it to 10 and they have 25 to our 24 and they've scored far more goals.
When you factor in that they've played Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs and I think City over those games while we've had a lot of easier matches, it's very hard to stay we're in better form than them.
They're ahead of us in the form table, we have the tougher run in and they're 12 points ahead. It would take a miracle from here but stranger things have happened.