Chelsea rotation will help us, says Rosler

Feb 17, 2013 8:00:00 AM

The Brentford boss says Rafa Benitez's men could come stuck against the Bees in their FA Cup fourth round replay if the Spaniard decides to make wholesale changes to his line-up

EXCLUSIVE
By Fabian Biastoch

Brentford manager Uwe Rosler says Chelsea's rotating players won't have it easy in their FA Cup fourth round replay at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea boss Rafa Benitez is likely to make changes to his starting line-up for the game, but Rosler has warned the Spaniard not to take his side lightly.

"Since bigger clubs have 11 designated players on the pitch, there are those who must sit on the bench, such as Marko Marin at Chelsea," Rosler told Goal.com.

"It's difficult for them as they have not played for a while and then are thrown in the deep end against combative and highly-motivated third-tier players.

"You have seen that we can raise our performance against a team like Chelsea - not necessarily individually, but the performance of the entire team.

"If you have a good game plan, help yourself and close down space quickly like we did, then you always have a chance, even against Chelsea's world stars."

The 44-year-old German says the FA Cup is the best cup competition in the world but admits some foriegn players don't understand the importance of the trophy.

He continued: "It is the best cup competition in the world with the greatest history but some, especially foreigners, underestimate the value of the FA Cup."

Despite the potential glory of a fifth round appearance, Rosler insists League One remains a priority for the west London club.

"Sure, I'd be happy to win, but the name Chelsea must get out of the players' minds [after the tie].

"We played on Tuesday, and, although it was only one game, [winning that instead of the FA Cup match] is more important for me.

"Promotion from League One is still our priority."

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Champions League final - LIVE!

German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will battle it out at Wembley for European glory. Get involved by sending us your thoughts via Twitter or Facebook! Hosted by Mark Doyle.

7:29 PM BST

Right, just to explain, we have three representatives at Wembley tonight:

- Tim Rohn, Goal Germany correspondent

- Stefan Doring, Dortmund fan

- Tobias Kind, Bayern fan

Let's check in with Tim to get a taste of the pre-game atmosphere inside the ground ...

"30 minutes to go until kick-off and the atmosphere is already amazing. Both groups of fans sing songs to rile the other ones. But everythings is peaceful. Jurgen Klopp stood some minutes alone at the kick-off-point and let all the Wembley madness have an effect on him."

7:25 PM BST

The phrase 'mixed emotions' seems made for Matthias Sammer, the legendary sweeper who inspired Dortmund to Champions League glory in 1997 but who is now employed by Bayern Munich. However, he's doing a pretty decent job of putting his old allegiances to one side ahead of tonight's final.

"It is hard to talk about feelings ahead of a match," the Bayern sporting director told Sky Sport Germany. "We want to show what made us strong all these weeks.

"We may not forget that Dortmund lost twice and drew twice in our last four matches. But they will present themselves differently tonight, that is for sure."

7:19 PM BST

And one final question for Carlo ...

@OmarAb96: What is the most important battle on the pitch tonight?

CG: This is going to sound like a cliche, and probably not the answer you are looking for but whichever team is more clinical will win the game. That is the real battle, more so than any individual contest because these are two sides who value the collective. I expect Bayern to have more possession, but Dortmund are still incredibly dangerous on the break. Bayern may create more chances, but Dortmund will have their opportunities too. It really depends who is more efficient.

And like I said earlier, the first goal will be crucial. If Bayern score first, it will be very difficult for Dortmund to come back.

7:13 PM BST

Carlo's now had his attention turned to the intiguing arrival of a certain Spaniard at the Allianz Arena this summer ...

@A_Mostefa17: Do you think Bayern will be even better with Guardiola next year or will it all go wrong for them?

CG: Everything suggests that Guardiola's Bayern will be a great team. The setups at Bayern and Barcelona are comparable, both on and off the pitch. Only Barcelona have monopolised more possession than Bayern over the past two seasons, while the Germans have enough top quality young players for Guardiola to build a great team around.

Everything is there for Guardiola to do well, the problem is that if Bayern win tonight and clinch the treble - as expected - how on earth do you better that? The simple answer is you can't. So Guardiola will almost be in a no-win situation from the outset, and that is never an easy starting point.

7:09 PM BST

And the rest of that response (trust me - it gets even better!) to the question on whether Germany deserves four Champions League places:

CG: Germany took a place off Italy purely because Uefa's coefficient system - which rewards the same number of points to Europa League competitors as it does for those in the Champions League - was so ludicrously flawed.

There is no doubt that the Bundesliga is on the up and Serie A has since struggled in Europe - and this season Germany has proven its worth in the Champions League - but the league should hever have been granted a fourth place until they earned it in the Champions League ... not in a Mickey Mouse Cup that no one outside Germany and the minor nations takes seriously.

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