Carrick, Blind, Jones, Rojo all out for the Chelsea game - What now?!

---------------------DDG-----------------------
--------McNair----Smalling--Blackett--------
Valencia--------------------------------Young-
--------------Herrera---Fellaini-------------------
--------------------Mata---------------------------
------------Rooney-------Di Maria---------------------
 
So LvG says because of injuries he may have to play Rooney as holding midfielder. ffs. Just give José the keys to the vault.
 
Sure sounds like Falcao/ Van Persie upfront :

 
---------------------DDG-----------------------
--------McNair----Smalling--Blackett--------
Valencia--------------------------------Young-
--------------Herrera---Fellaini-------------------
--------------------Mata---------------------------
------------Rooney-------Di Maria---------------------
Surely Shaw will play rather than Blackett.
 
Just saw the training pics, both McNair and Blackett are not wearing bids when certainitues like Rooney and Mata are.
 
Don't get all nervous yet. Drogba may start again. He was atrocious last weekend.

We'll find out if Remy is fit in about 10 mins.
 
da Silva at right back and Valencia either on right wing or in that 'right of a diamond' role he had against Everton earlier in the season could work. We'll need some physical presence in midfield especially if they play both Matic and Ramires in a two.
 
No, Thankfully Evans is suspended.
Thankfully? You think McNair or Blackett will do better than Evans could against Chelsea? I'm no big fan of Evans, but that's just a little ott... :wenger:
 
Bloody hell - things were just going too well weren't they!

Keep the same formation. It has to be McNair at CB, Young at LB, ADM at left mid.

No idea who at defensive mid.

Not sure i would be comfortable with Herrera, Fella & ADM in the middle. Also not sure about chucking Shaw and McNair into the same back four.
 
Sure sounds like Falcao/ Van Persie upfront :



Instinctively, bleurgh, Rooney at DM sounds horrible.

However on the plus side it would probably allow us to keep as much of our current system the same as possible. RvP should be able to get it together for one game, it keeps the Young-Fellaini-Herrera-Mata axis the same and I think that sticking to the back 4 would make it easier for Blackett/McNair to come in.
 
This is why that XI that was in form cannot be relied on, imagine we had CL on wednesday night with these injuries? We'd be fecked.
 
Rooney is usually wank against Terry-Cahill so that doesn't dishearten me too much. The hole in defense is a massive worry though. Especially with Smalling himself made of glass. WTF do we do if he breaks down during the game?
 
------------------------------------------------De Gea------------------------------------------------------
Valencia-----------------------------Smalling----------McNair--------------------------------------Shaw
------------------------------------------------Fellaini-------------------------------------------------------
Di Maria-----------------------------Herrera-----------Mata-----------------------------------------Young
------------------------------------------------Rooney-------------------------------------------------------

This is basically what I think we should do.

One of McNair or Blackett surely has to play. Big test for them but at least they've had some games already this season.
Fellaini is by miles our next best defensive midfielder after Carrick and Blind. Big miss in the attack but oh well.

It's not a bad side by any means but it's a shame considering our amazing form with a relatively settled eleven.
 
This has to be some sort of sick fecking joke
 
Such terrible luck that it happens to be two DMs and two CBs.
 
Rafael in midfield? :nervous:

Anyway, Fellaini did a job on Fabregas in the game at OT (he was arguably our MOTM that game) - hopefully he can do so again, and Herrera can do a similar job on Matic, close him down, stay on top of him, dont give him any space.

The problem of course is the dedicated holding midfielder which we simply dont have. I dont want Rooney to play midfield because it means we have to start RVP or Falcao up front, neither of whom I trust remotely nowadays. Rooney did an excellent job vs City's CBs, we need him to do a similar role against Chelsea.

The only thing I can really think of is to just play a fairly flat three of Herrera, Fellaini and ADM and just try to outrun Chelsea on the pitch.
 
We'll do extremely well to get a draw now. Blind, carrick, Jones and Rojo hits us in an area we aren't the strongest anyway.
 
Marvellous. Hope we get some positive news for Everton.
 
Wow that's a huge blow, pretty much changes everything. If we had Blind or Carrick fit then we would have been fine, but to have them both injured is not good at all. Rooney in midfield doesn't sound good to me.
 
Is De Silva still on the books – what about Tony to centre with Smalling and De Silva out on one wing and Shaw on the other? It's the Carrick position that we'll miss the most v Chelsea

You mean Rafael [Da Silva]? :lol:

Anyway it's not the end of the world. If Chelsea play to win it could be quite an open game, and we have more than enough attacking qualities to stay in the game. If Chelsea keep it together to get a result, like they did in the Champions League, it'll be a very tight game and conservative tactics will prevent them from attacking too much.

Benching Mata would be very harsh considering his form and history with Chelsea, so I don't think that will happen. Benching Young after a MOTM performance against City would be just as harsh. I don't know about Di Maria, would be hard to leave him out but he's more likely to be benched than Young and Mata I think.

Can't imagine RVP being fit for more than 60 minutes so Falcao surely will start with Robin as an option from the bench? Rafael got a cameo at left back the other day, not sure if Shaw is already ahead of him in the pecking order.

Valencia ---- Smalling --- McNair -- Young/Rafael/Shaw

======= Rooney ===== Herrera ========
----------------- Fellaini------------------

Mata------------ Falcao ----------- Di Maria/Young
 
The problem is the holding role. Keep the front 5 the same, Shaw and Blackett/McNair in defence.

Who is best suited for the Carrick holding/intercepting/keeping the shape role? Not Rooney's job IMO. There must be someone at the club who can just be a poor man's Carrick?

Worst thing you can do is upset everything to make up for the absence of one player.

fecks sake, knowing LvG he will try to tactic his way out of it, but the players aren't there yet in their ability to flex and respond.
 
@Mods - Doesnt this thread just take away from the match day thread?

Not really. The matchday thread is primarily for matchday discussion. There's some pre-match build-up, sure, but it shouldn't absorb any and all match-related stories. Some use this simply as a discussion forum, some use it as a source of news also. Presented in a new thread means it can function as both, whereas packed away in the matchday thread it's much more difficult for people to see this news.