Phone Andrew Lloyd Webber, we don't need him now, there will be no BBC 1 show for this problem, because I think I know, how to solve a problem like Gareth Bale.
The solution is quite simple really, don't let him get anywhere near Bosingwa. So, if he starts on the left, Ashley Cole starts on the right and when Bale tries to go down the right hand side, Cole is swapping wings with him with the help of the two holding midfield players.
Swapping wings is a tactic used by many sides who play 4-3-3 as it unsettles defending teams and creates new angles for wingers to attack from. So why don't defending teams swap full backs to counteract this? The new angles created by a right sided player on the left hand side would be blocked by a right sided defender on the left hand side.
Think about Barcelona when Cole was out and Bosingwa played left back, how quite was Messi?
Bosingwa has come into a lot of criticism recently for this performances and his slack defending allowed a Nasri cross to almost catch out Petr Cech and with Bale's pace and direct running I don't really fancy him against Bale.
If Di Matteo plays 4-2-3-1 like he has done recently, he can use the two holding midfield players to sit in and right back and left back while the two come across the pitch to change positions, meaning for a short while they sit in the holding roles until they can move across. It's the perfect flexible formation and could stop Bale.
If anyone remembers an old Bolton tactic where Kevin Davies would go to Cole on goal kicks and would beat him in the air, to counteract that, John Terry would go left back and Cole at centre half when they played the ball long.
With Lennon out, Chelsea only have to worry about pace on one side of the pitch, meaning they can focus on stopping Modric's midfield work and focus on their own attacking game. But keeping Bale quiet will be a key point if we are going to win this game and get our 4th place hopes back on track.
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