Chelsea are to face Rubin Kazan at home in the first leg on the 4th of April and then on the 11th of April in Russia. The semi-final draw will be held on the 12th of April. This causes a massive fixture pileup for Chelsea, and something Rafael Benitez does not want.
Our upcoming fixtures look like this.
Fatigue will be a problem and we have to expect some serious squad rotation with Chelsea not having a lot of depth in key areas. Things still look bright however and these are times to be optimistic of our chances.
Come on you blues !
There are 2 things rafa has to do if wants to avoid fatigue
1. Marin, Ake have to play. I dont think anyone would disagree. Ake can play against Southampton and Sunderland maybe villa. Marin has to start a lot more otherwise Hazard mata or oscar may get a long time injury due to fatigue.
2. Play David Luiz as cdm and if possible rami on the right. This way one of our players in the front three can have a rest and rami can rest when mikel and luiz play. We have 4 centre backs, we have to move luiz and let terry play more matches.
Although not necessary, we can try playing lampard as cam instead of mata. Thats his favourite place and only oscar is the other known player who likes playing there.
From april 14 to May 4 can be the deciding time for our season. In these time we have to face Man City (If we got through), Then Spurs , Pool , Swansea, Man U also potential Semifinal Clash in Europa (If we got through by seeing off Rubin Kazan). Tough and continuous tough games , So we need to use our Fringe players like Marin , Ake , Yossi much more so to keep other player fresh, Also we can play Lampard on cam Position to Give mata a breather . Though Games and season Defining time is starting KTBFFH 😀 😀
give lampard his prefered attacking role against west ham and rest our little magician mata marin on left amd rami on right luiz or ake and mikel in cdm otherwise the last part of the season will be crucial due to fatigue…we have international break but most of the player will play for their national sides so we rafa have to manage with them
I dont know why Ivanovic has not been playing so oftenly of late
because he was making too many mistakes. He proved that every single member of the team has to play with full concentration and avoid playground mistakes in order to win games. What he did against Swansea is unforgivable. this will surely teach him a lesson or two. complacency has no place in premiership.
that is why we build up our youth, for this condition