After Sunday`s heavy 1-0 defeat against City it`s easy to look back with hindsight and right the afternoon`s wrongs. But maybe from Antonio Conte`s point of view the game went to plan.
My thinking prior to the game was, if nothing else, playing the free-flowing Pep Guardiola side would allow Conte the luxury of a free hit in terms of team selection and his possible formation looking towards the game next week.
Whilst Chelsea don`t have to win in the Nou Camp to proceed (a draw greater than 1-1 would do), they will need to put in a performance and score goals.
It would appear, that the Italian`s tactic against City was to try and keep the score at 0-0 and hope to grab a goal on the break late-on. It didn`t work against City, and it won`t work against Barcelona.
I can`t buy into this belief that Conte is deliberately plunging Chelsea FC into freefall just to spite Roman Abramovich because he didn`t buy him the players he wanted. I think, and what do I know, that Conte`s best chance in the Nou Camp, is to revert back to the kind of formation he had at Chelsea when he joined back in much happier times.
For me a 4-3-3 formation could be the way forward. With Andreas Christensen starting to buckle under the pressure of a heavy workload, surely playing a back four would benefit the young Dane. Christensen has been brilliant since taking over from David Luiz, but it`s been a tough season for him. Playing either Luiz (unlikely) or Gary Cahill alongside him would take some of that strain off.
I’d keep Antonio Rudiger and Cesar Azpilicueta in their usual positions. Free-kick king Marcos Alonso would be playing on the left of the three man midfield. Obviously in the centre of midfield it would be N`golo Kante with Danny Drinkwater to his right.
The front free would comprise Willian, Eden Hazard and Olivier Giroud. Willian would have to work hard covering a lot of ground, but he can do that.
That just leaves the goalkeeper position, that I would give to Willy Caballero, just because I’m fed up with hearing Courtois mouth off. Plus Caballero is good penalty stopper, something which could well be needed. My eleven for the Nou Camp would be
Willy Caballero
Antonio Rudiger
Gary Cahill
Andreas Christensen
Cesar Azpilicueta
Marco Alonso
N’golo Kante
Danny Drinkwater
Eden Hazard
Willian
Olivier Giroud
We’d love your views on line-ups and formation ahead of next week`s big game. Please use the comments facility below to outline them.
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