Alonso and matic need to go. Not good enough if we get into europe.

Your run of 13 unbeaten has been truly impressive as has been the total transformation under Conte. I think you are on to something in regards to having a plan B. The fact that the final 35 mins were pretty comfortable for us (V unusual when leading esp Vs Chelsea) probably means u need something different.

Granted I'm Bias but your record vs the top teams (ex city is not great this year) and Lets be honest we outplayed u for a half at the Bridge without Rose, Toby A & Kane (returning from a long term injury). The city game was also a lot closer than the scoreline suggested !. Regardless its gonna be a fascinating end to the season..... There aint much in it !!!!. No we have got you out the way.. Good luck for the second half (hate to say it but Chelsea with no Jose & Terry are a lot less dislikeable, Conte is a class act, as it Luiz (nice handshake with Dele as he went off !!)

A few teams have copied our formation to try and nullify our attack but most have failed.

Tottenham have the players to play this system as well and Walker and Rose I would argue are better than Moses and Alonso as well.

We will still win the majority of our games, we wont play many teams that perform as well against us again this season

no need to panic with the fomation but we do need a variant

a 352 with emphasis on strangling the midfield and direct central passes would work nicely

comment by White Wall (U1078)
posted 1 minute ago
A few teams have copied our formation to try and nullify our attack but most have failed.

Tottenham have the players to play this system as well and Walker and Rose I would argue are better than Moses and Alonso as well.

We will still win the majority of our games, we wont play many teams that perform as well against us again this season
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Fair enough, but City would've stopped us, Spurs in the first home game would've stopped us. Liverpool csn still stop us playing the same system because they have the players.
My point is this, we don't have to wait for teams that have the players to stop us before we think of a solution.
Conte should be proactive and have a tailor-made plan B formation.
Trust me, more teams will succeed in stopping us using our formation, if we don't have a plan B.

comment by ♥©MTC™♥ (U19797)
posted 8 minutes ago
no need to panic with the fomation but we do need a variant

a 352 with emphasis on strangling the midfield and direct central passes would work nicely
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Exactly my point.

I don't think Conte will make any changes just yet. 39 out of 42 points and you want to change formation. Sounds like panic when its just one defeat.
Lets get some perspective

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

comment by Bov (U6696)
posted 2 minutes ago
I don't think Conte will make any changes just yet. 39 out of 42 points and you want to change formation. Sounds like panic when its just one defeat.
Lets get some perspective
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I never said he should discard our defsult 3-4-3 system, all I'm suggesting is that he should have a plan B for teams that have the players to match our formation.

Let's assume Chelsea and Spurs are to meet again in another competition, what measures will Conte take to make sure we aren't outplayed yet again, knowing fully well they would approach the game, like they've done in the previous ones?
He needs a plan B...simple!

I see your point about being flexible. Hazard's performance against Bournemouth proved he can play as a false 9 so playing a shadow striker type of role shouldn't present a problem. Would also reintegrate Fabregas as a valuable member of the setup.

But I repeat what I said yesterday, Spurs only exposed our system because they have the players to play it just as well, most teams in the league don't. The worst thing to come out of yesterday was Spurs realizing they can play a formation that's proven lethal in the PL this season + because of Dier, they have the flexibility to alternate between 3 and 4 at the back, so they've battle tested a very effective weapon in their own title challenge. Besides that, not even close to panic stations yet.

for me...we just didn't turn up on the day...using a formation that set us on the brink of a football record...

One or two getting to carried away with a genuine loss to a good side that wanted it more

we have changed formation in a few games to 4-1-4-1 already.......always good to have alternative plans but if the players on the day are not on their game it won't make a difference

comment by The Devil's Advocate's Advocate - I ... (U6522)
posted 1 hour, 1 minute ago
I see your point about being flexible. Hazard's performance against Bournemouth proved he can play as a false 9 so playing a shadow striker type of role shouldn't present a problem. Would also reintegrate Fabregas as a valuable member of the setup.

But I repeat what I said yesterday, Spurs only exposed our system because they have the players to play it just as well, most teams in the league don't. The worst thing to come out of yesterday was Spurs realizing they can play a formation that's proven lethal in the PL this season + because of Dier, they have the flexibility to alternate between 3 and 4 at the back, so they've battle tested a very effective weapon in their own title challenge. Besides that, not even close to panic stations yet.
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this

If I have a concern it is that we don't look better than teams around us when we play them..

In our two games agst Spurs the evidence suggests that we are not better than them

We were well beaten by both Liverpool and Arsenal and had an unconvincing win agst City

That does not fill me with a high level of confidence when we play these teams again and if we don't win the title i suspect it will because we failed to get good enough results against our immediate rivals.

comment by bloodyblu4cfc.com® (Last Mata fan standing... (U1442)
posted 1 hour, 13 minutes ago
comment by Bov (U6696)
posted 2 minutes ago
I don't think Conte will make any changes just yet. 39 out of 42 points and you want to change formation. Sounds like panic when its just one defeat.
Lets get some perspective
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I never said he should discard our defsult 3-4-3 system, all I'm suggesting is that he should have a plan B for teams that have the players to match our formation.

Let's assume Chelsea and Spurs are to meet again in another competition, what measures will Conte take to make sure we aren't outplayed yet again, knowing fully well they would approach the game, like they've done in the previous ones?
He needs a plan B...simple!

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We were not outplayed yesterday, City outplayed us more in their defeat to us and arguably Spurs outplayed us more in the 45 mins at SB.

Yesterday was a tight game with about 3 chances for each side. We got into some very good attacking positions yesterday and our final pass and decision making let us down

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

One of they key ways to stop a 3-4 is to try exploint the space left behind either wing back, thus dragging a centre back out of position, or press really high and puch the wing back back into defensive positions.

We had a similar success (not as amany wins obviously) under Rodgers until we went to Old Trafford and LVG did just that to us and they beat us well on the day.

comment by SWTN Biggish (U7916)
posted 3 hours, 11 minutes ago
If I have a concern it is that we don't look better than teams around us when we play them..

In our two games agst Spurs the evidence suggests that we are not better than them

We were well beaten by both Liverpool and Arsenal and had an unconvincing win agst City

That does not fill me with a high level of confidence when we play these teams again and if we don't win the title i suspect it will because we failed to get good enough results against our immediate rivals.
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It's a worry indeed. Also against United the surprise of the early goal turned the game in our favour. I'm not convinced with the way we have approached big games. We can't defend as well as Conte's Juventus or Italy do so our counter attacking game plan has not been very effective. I hope Conte gets the players he wants and makes us a stronger team next season.

I said before the game I feel your wingbacks are your main weakness. Alonso is too slow, and going to 352 would mean more running for him to support a front two.

Moses has a good engine on him, but you do not become a specialist there overnight. Rose was similar to him a few years back, a forward, and it took a lot of work to get where he is now. We missed Rose so much at SB and yesterday he gave a masterclass on that role.

I would expect teams to target those two, especially with Cahill behind Alonso.

If I was your coach a top left sided player would be a priority, and Alonso would go in the 3. Then another option on the right

Change personnel (Kenedy, Zouma, Chalobah for Alonso, Cahill, Matic), persist with same formation.

Conte isn't going to drop team captain Cahill after a 13 game win streak for Zouma, a player who hasn't played for nearly a year and has never even played under the current management.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Kenedy for Alonso is the only change in personnel I'd make.
Kenedy has the potential to be a very good LWB.
Good with the ball, has pace, has a good left foot, csn dribble, and has eye for goal. Maybe needs to work on his positioning and defending.

comment by Superb (U6486)

Conte isn't going to drop team captain Cahill after a 13 game win streak for Zouma, a player who hasn't played for nearly a year and has never even played under the current management.
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Zouma has got matches under his belt (for reserves) and has been fit in full training with first team for weeks now (making the bench), not so far fetched to see him start matches now.
First start will surely be FA Cup, see where we go after that...

comment by Sideshow (U11809)
Alonso struggles to defend as a wing-back. Would never play him as a CB
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I would as an experiment at LCB against League 1 opposition.