I will just get to it .
Our match against Maccabi Tel Aviv will be a rubicon event. If we need encouragement from todays Champions leagues games we only need to look at the juve vs City match. City had gone into the match looking like absolute juggernauts and they were playing at the Etihad which had been a veritable fortress. To make matters worse Juve went down a goal in the second half ( a goal that frankly should have been disallowed as Kompany fouled Cheillini to force the own goal error) and they could have at that point hung their head, tucked in their tails and given up.Their season so far has looked a little like ours..they have lost twice, drawn once, not yet won a match and had scored only 2 goals. However going one down against City at the Etihad, Juve roused the heart of the Champions and dared to challenge the behemoth with incredible results. By the end of the 90 they had not only scored the first goals conceded by city this season but also handed them a devastating first loss. When Juve finally win the scudetto as I think they still will this win today may be the season turning event and make no mistake Juve will get better as some of their key players get fit and return for injury lay offs to rejoin their squad.
That sort of opportunity awaits us tomorrow but I am very apprehensive of what I am hearing regarding Jose reportedly planning to make whole sale changes to the squad he will send out tomorrow. I honestly want to see changes don`t get me mixed up..my concern is the extent of the changes and who he is reportedly planning to drop; There are strong rumors suggesting that Jose plans to drop Diego Costa, John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic and Nemanja Matic. Some other sources are also mentioning Cesar as another possible drop and that RLC, Oscar and Baba are likely to start.
My heart is in my mouth when i see the suggestion that Matic may not start and then not starting Costa with Falcao injured means another one striker formation with Remy being the only one left. The big danger in my mind of making wholesale changes in a match like this should bring back very chilling memories of the fiasco match we had against Bradford City in the FA cup last season when Jose did something similar with disastrous results. Incidentally that match was also played at Stamford Bridge against another minnow side we were supposed to beat easily.
I am very concerned about poor RLC being hung out to dry in the midfield possibly partnered with Fab who has been quite poor and has been a defensive liability for quite some time. This may end up very bad for RLC. Also for Remy to see his first minutes of the season leading the line all alone when his fitness and likely sharpness will be suboptimal is another major concern for me. If there was ever a game to play two strikers to start for us this is the match. We need goals in this match, Costa needs his confidence up..i would lobby hard that both he and Remy should start this game and not just one of them.
If Remy struggles in this match Jose will have a convenient excuse to sit him back on the bench for more matches and in my mind i feel that will be most unfair. I fear for us tomorrow. Making too many changes in a match like is fraught with danger because it underestimates the challenge Maccabi will pose. Go look at what PSV did to ManU..the champions league is a very different animal..all the teams there are champions in their respective leagues even though they may not be as high profile as the BPL. We would underestimate Maccabi at our peril.
left to me the changes to be made should involve dropping our weakest performing players namely Iva, Fab and possibly JT. I would not make more changes than that. To pull matic from our midfield in my opinion is asking for trouble. I am also very alarmed to hear that Cesar may not even start. He is our best man on man defender. God forbid we see Cesar supposedly rested for the gunners and Baba starts while we have a makeshift right back.
Worse still i also fear that should things go south tomorrow this may well make Jose revert back to the same typical starting 11 with the same old senior poor performers against the gunners which could be disastrous. As was the case in the match against Everton the starting line up against Maccabi may well tell the story as to how this match will end. I hope when it is all said and done we dont have Bradford City Deja vu. Let us hope Jose gets the balance of changes right otherwise it could get really ugly tomorrow. Let us hope and pray!!!
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