EPL ~ City 2 - 1 Chelsea
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Di Matteo considers unleashing double trouble on City as Drogba and Torres run hot
Shuffle: Roberto Di Matteo is considering shuffling his pack
Man City vs Chelsea
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Time: 3:45 am - (Live) (Thur Morning)
Mio Channel 102 in HD
Roberto Di Matteo has revealed he would consider changing Chelsea's formation to partner Didier Drogba with Fernando Torres.
Torres has given Di Matteo a selection headache for Wednesday's Barclays Premier League game at Manchester City after finally breaking his long goalscoring drought in Sunday's FA Cup thrashing of Leicester.
Drogba is still expected to get the nod at the Etihad Stadium tomorrow but caretaker manager Di Matteo has not ruled out pairing Torres with the Ivorian in future.
The duo failed to perform in tandem under Carlo Ancelotti last season, while Andre Villas-Boas did not even try to do so, always preferring to start with a lone striker.
But Di Matteo was adamant Drogba and Torres could play together.
Asked if he would change the system to accommodate both, he said: 'If the game requires it, yes.
'We tried it in the Napoli game.'
Di Matteo, whose four games in charge have seen him use a 4-2-3-1 formation, welcomed the selection dilemma.
'It's great for this football club, isn't it?' he said.
'To have that firepower in the team, it's fantastic. And we will try to do our best to try to exploit the good form of both.
'It's going to be tough on anybody I leave out.
'We have a fantastic squad and it hurts to leave players out of that calibre. It's really difficult.
'I can only field 11 positions and the ones on the bench.'
Daniel Sturridge also covets the centre-forward role at Chelsea and appeared reluctant to pass to Torres from his position out on the wing on Sunday.
Di Matteo said: 'I wouldn't think it's difficult to play for the team.
'Every player has to put his individual qualities within the team for the benefit of the team.'
He added: 'We forget that he's a very young player, a very young man, and really this is his first full season with his club.
'He's still developing if you think about it for his age and how many games he's played.
Rested: Didier Drogba missed the cup game but is also in fine form
At last: Fernando Torres bagged a brace against Leicester
'There is certainly some incredible talent that you can improve and he can make the team help and win more games.
'I think he could play down the centre.He has the ability to play in both positions.'
Meanwhile, Di Matteo was confident captain John Terry would be fit for the rest of Chelsea's nightmare schedule of matches after ruling him out of Wednesday's game.
Terry has been struggling with a calf strain since his second outing after his remarkable comeback from knee surgery.
Di Matteo said: 'He did very well to come back from his operation and he's then played two games in a very short period of time, very intense games as well.
"He's fine for Saturday.'
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will city bring chelsea back down to earth or has torres regained his confidence after scoring against leicester?
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Could end up both ways.....
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Actually
whoever wins is ok
but i wan man city to win
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For the first time in a long while, I'm rooting for Chelsea to win. That would provide some leeway for Man Utd when they meet City.
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4-0 either way.
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The goals coincide with him becoming blond again... Maybe there is some truth to this myth...
Happy birthday to you: Fernando Torres cuts his cake and shares it with team-mate Juan Mata
Anyway, whatever the score it shouldn't matter as the season is still a long way to go... I think City could win as they have not lost at home since last season i think... So they are very confident at home.
But if they screw up, then the pressure is really getting to them no matter what they are trying to project to the outside world.
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City win!!
Tevez sub in .. they fight back -
thats the end of their mini revival. spurs are out of form too. 9 games left to catch spurs. i doubt chelsea are up to the job.
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Got to give credit to mancini. His first sub, dzeko contributed to the corner that resulted in the subsequent penalty moments later. His second sub, tevez made a deft pass without even looking at nasri making the run-in. Fantastic. Still, I think they shouldn't win the EPL.
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His first sub was Barry, followed by Tevez, then Dzeko.
I thought they got a little lucky if not for the penalty, I doubt they can come back seriously... Cos after that goal went in, Chelsea just lost the plot. They didn't know how to react, gave away balls too cheaply in their own half.
They were lucky this was a home match, had it been an away game, I am not sure they can pull this off...
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Originally posted by Rock^Star:
Got to give credit to mancini. His first sub, dzeko contributed to the corner that resulted in the subsequent penalty moments later. His second sub, tevez made a deft pass without even looking at nasri making the run-in. Fantastic. Still, I think they shouldn't win the EPL.
why shouldnt? coz man u should? -
Pressure is on MUFC. Hopefully the title race will carry on till the last day.
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Originally posted by dragg:
why shouldnt? coz man u should?Not at all. It's because it's bad for football.
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Yeah it's okay to buy superstars, but to buy a whole team of them, every season, seems vulgar for a champion's material. Worse if your team can't compete on more than one front after that too.
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30 april. If the sides are still 1or2 point apart, i will watch that match even if i got lesson next day. It will make or break the title, but like now, united can play for a draw at that match.