Giroud or morata?
Willian or Pedro?
Who plays next to kante in CM?
Rudiger or Cahill?
Does conte go 3 in midfield?
What worries me is the CM position next to kante. I'd go with Luiz - don't think conte will though.
Morata (we will need to play on counter)
Willian all day long
Luiz
Ampadu
Willian first name on the team sheet
Morata
Willian
Fabregas
Neither
Giroud (Closer to fitness)
Willian (We'll need a moment)
Drinkwater (Proven partner of Kante)
Rudiger (Just because I rate him highly)
Morata
Willian
Luiz
Rudiger for me.
I think conte will go back to 3 in midfield though. With baka ruled out and luiz out of favour, i wouldn't put it past Conte springing a surprise and sticking ampadu next to kante in CDM with cesc just in front.
Courtois
Dave
Christensen
Cahill
Moses
Alonso
Kante
Fabregas
Hazard
Pedro
Giroud
I reckon we'll see an effort for this side to be named.
Why is Baka ruled out?
‘Injured’
How the fuck has he got injured!?
The same way Morata had a bad back and was out for the season..
It’s just nice to have some options, I think!
Willian, Giroud, Ampadu & Fabregas were probably our best players last night and I wouldn’t be surprised if three or all of them failed to start v Barca
I'd be very cautious of starting Ampadu against this lot of dirty nasty cheating cnuts. He is a very composed footballer but I reckon he'd be exposed as a very young man. Needs to learn about row z before i'd start him against such an attack.
Giroud has impressed me. He's bought a focal point we have been lacking since Morata lost his mojo. The competition for places will benefit the whole squad.
I'd have Drinkwater next to Kante. I love David Luiz but unfortunately his performance against Watford was a disgrace. We needed leaders and it looked like he bottled it.
I agree.
Bambi has done sod all to want me to start him ahead of Giroud...even pre injury.
Also true.
I'm convinced if we'd had a 2nd striker like Giroud from the summer then we'd be sat in 2nd place in the league.
I'm not really fussed on who plays out of the options we've got, but I do think Conte has a problem with who plays next to kante in CM.
In hindsight the burden was too much on Morata. The alleged dressing room / Conte split after Roma hasn't helped. I do think that we have a chance against Barcelona if the ref is strong and we play like we did against A Madrid away.