Chelsea arrive at Vicarage Road in buoyant mood. Under new management in the shape of Antonio Conte memories of a dismal season have been replaced by optimism of another title tilt. In a way the form of last season resulting in a tenth placed finish and exile from Europe may help them against the other heavy spending title favourites from both sides of Manchester who will be involved in the long and overly drawn out circus the Champions League has become. Conte is no stranger to winning honours having secured three consecutive titles with the Old Lady in Italy and to back his choice of manager Abramovich has invested (as compared to Mourinho) in the transfer market with marquee signings in Michy Batshuayi and N'Golo Kante. Their summer spending also seems unlikely to end as yet with other targets being lined up while Conte has been unafraid to wield the axe in offloading high wage earners and relegating unsettled Pedro to the bench.These ins and outs do include the transfer of gifted young Croat striker Stipe Perica to Udinese which may facilitate the potential arrival of Kenedy at the Vic. The Italian Legion: Mazzari & Conte Conte like his compatriot Mazzari is an untried proposition in English football but will be hoping to follow in Claudio Ranieri's footsteps. During their time in Italy Walter played the perpetual bridesmaid as he moved from Napoli to Internazionale while Antonio after breathing new life into the former AC Siena was picked up by Juventus. In the meaningful head to head Conte holds the upper hand, Walter's only notable success being a 2-0 win in 2013 when coaching title chasing Napoli. In these encounters when Mazzari played his favoured 3-5-2 which Conte countered with an identical formation utilizing a deep lying playmaker to direct play and hit long diagonals. None other than master of the art Andrea Pirlo while his fullbacks pressed very high. It is uncertain therefore if Conte will stick with the 4-1-4-1 formation used in the slightly fortuitous win over West Ham last weekend. While Ben Watson saw a red card for being the last man and will therefore miss this game, Diego Costa was once again fortunate to remain on the pitch after his wild lunge at Adrian. One can expect Mazzari to persist with his penchant for 3-5-2 and presumably with same starting eleven that played well for half an hour against Southampton before losing the plot. Of the new signings made over the summer Isaac Success could well be a wonderful addition on the bench as he has recovered from the hamstring strain suffered against Lorient. Possible line ups for Saturday: Latest signing Roberto Pereyra may or may not make the squad depending on international clearance and although reasonably match fit has never played with his new team mates. Having started out as a winger at River Plate he has been fashioned into a central midfielder of a reasonable level of creativity which is what Mazzari will be looking for. When he has played for Argentina he has also performed his defensive duties admirably and given who has the playmaking roles there played more as a link man. Here with the luxury of at least one defensive midfielder behind him at all times I expect he will be allowed more leeway to provide that extra bit of quality which has been lacking in the team.Certainly an element that was lacking last season with Abdi and Jurado played out of position in the majority of matches. Starman: The issues that were present last season are still in evidence on the basis of last weeks performance. An inability to play from the back which given that the midfield is going to rather congested on Saturday will be an issue. Because of a lack of a gifted passer from the back under pressure the first thought is to launch the ball aimlessly upfront playing into the hands of the opposition. One of the centre backs has to take responsibility on bringing the ball into midfield or one of the midfield have to come deep and direct play. I think we still lack that player among the three playing last Saturday. The inability to retain possession and needless gifting of the ball to our opponents is a real weakness given the overall quality of players in this division. The standard of set pieces remains poor and match fitness not exactly up to scratch for several players when compared to the regime Conte has implemented at Chelsea alongside his rigorous tactical discipline (that turned a rather average Italian side into obdurate competitors at the European Championships barring the two bizarre penalty misses from Zaza and Pelle ). If the service can be provided to our strikers I am sure we will not struggle. They are both proven finishers but they need the ball to be worked into them rather than aimlessly slung in (although they did miss out on two delicious deliveries from Amrabat Deeney utilized one to set up Capoue). A little more pace down the flanks would not go amiss either. Both wingbacks need to play as high as they can and I would like to see Amrabat given the opportunity to run at Ivanovic. And if chasing the game or sitting back later on Success and Vydra could be the perfect solution to run into the channels if we do need to play it long. It is a rather tough start to the season with Arsenal and Manchester United looming but it should be looked on as an opportunity. As much as we are bedding in so are they and it's often easier to surprise one of the so called elite at this stage of the season than later on. The players should relish the challenge and they have nothing to lose. In a year which has seen some major upsets on the footballing stage it has once more shown that there is no substitute for hard work,discipline and desire. 2015/16 v Chelsea: Last season saw us go to Stamford Bridge and secure a 2-2 draw. Diego Costa scored both goals for Chelsea after a misdirected Ighalo effort went in off Gary Cahill to give us the lead. Oscar famously fluffed his lines with a late penalty in Guus Hiddink's first game after the coup d'etat against Mourinho. The home fixture saw splendid saves from Gomes secure another draw as we entered an extended period of gloom, the exact opposite of the form we had shown when going to the Bridge. In both matches Costa was a thorn in Watford's side for his threat and his antics in trying to referee the game while displaying his normal levels of petulance. [video=youtube;6F03tZl85bU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F03tZl85bU[/video] Chelsea Forums: http://www.theshedend.com/ http://forums.cfcnet.co.uk/forum/7-the-chelsea-forum/ http://shed.chelseafc.com/chat/forum_index.shtml http://www.not606.com/forums/chelsea.17/
Good preview Smudger. Good time to play them before they settle into the well oiled machine that Conte will drill them to be. 2-1 hard fought win. Ighalo and Deeney get their season up and running.
Not too optimistic about this one, though I do love to see Chelsea suffer. I think we'll go down 1-2 after a nice equalizer just before the half by Deeney. We'll all be wondering where Ighalo went, and Success will be watching forlornly from the sideline the whole game. Pereyra will be watching using the free wifi at an airport lounge.
Low scoring boring game, Chelsea to win 1-0 or a 0-0 draw, fatty and iggy to get abused for being too slow and static.
Wow, kudos on getting the general ambience spot on...and only after 5 posts...you're going to fit in perfectly.
I think we will absolutely smash these ****ers 3-0 us, capoue, ighalo + a one of the sexy new foreigners
Isn't it really annoying that we have had some amazing weather and just as the season starts it p1sses down? I think I remember 2 games last year when the weather wasn't carp and even then it was pretty cold. Was really looking forward to wearing some shorts tomorrow with last years home shirt, some trainer socks and my ace white pumps. Screw it, I may do anyway. 1-1 or 2-1 Watford.
Godamnit you saucy sob, I bl00dy will. In fact I may forgo the shirt and just go topless, letting the rain splash teasingly over my glistening pasty white scrawny chest, while dancing the aqua tango across my rangy shoulders.
I predict that 10 men wearing yellow shirts and 10 men wearing blue shirts will kick a ball around for a bit and try to score a goal or two past two men with different colour shirts on. A nasty man in a blue shirt will not get sent off even though he deserved to. There will be a few sleeve tattoos on show and if a goal is scored the scorer will point to the football god in the sky as thanks.
I really want to see Britos provoke Costa all game but not get caught, then the tiniest retaliation from Costa gets him a 2nd yellow - because we all know he's going to get one in the first 20 minutes for being an absolute ****.
Amazing to think Chelsea actually finished above us in the table last season, I actually had to double check! Just goes to show that they have the potential to be dangerous and if we aren't on our game we could get a nasty surprise. Nonetheless, I predict a 3-1 home win: Ighalo, Deeney and Capoue for Watford and a solitary Deeney own goal for them.
True! Underestimate them At your peril. Chelsea are my tip to 'do a Leicester.' Not that I expect them to win the league, but I think they'll surprise a few folks. They are quite a good little side and will easily be safe, maybe even taking some big scalps. We will be too much for them tomorrow though. 6-0 Hornets.
I'm very surprised we're not in for Costa. Would be similar to Kaboul in that he'd be a great addition to the bench, whilst significantly weakening a rival.
#watfordfc line-up v @ChelseaFC: Gomes (GK); Cathcart, Pr*dl, Britos; Amrabat, Behrami, Capoue, Guedioura, Holebas; Deeney (c), Ighalo.
Would've liked to have seen Doccoure. But same line-up it is, no success either, bit of an uninspiring line up no new faces, let's just hope Ighalo & Deeney are on form today.
And warming the bench for the Golden Boys this afternoon will be:- Subs: Pantilimon, Nyom, Doucoure, Anya, Hoban, Zuniga, Vydra We will see Zuniga. Of that there can be no doubt, but will there be anyone else? Will Hoban get a run? What about Vyds? Where is Success? Where is Sinclair? Where is Kabasele? Will Gomes's hamstring hold out?
