Premiership review: Chelsea 2 - 2 Bolton Wanderers
Match reports
Sunday Times, Joe Lovejoy: “The pendulum swung to and fro throughout an enthralling afternoon before coming to rest firmly in Manchester United’s corner. Chelsea will strive with all their considerable might to get it moving again, but know they missed their last chance in the Stamford Bridge sunshine, conceding two priceless points at home to half-strength Bolton and leaving themselves five adrift in a title race which should now become a triumphant procession for Sir Alex Ferguson and his charging front runners.”
The Observer, Amy Lawrence: “Mourinho recognises the potentially crushing consequences of this disappointment. Having ridden a wave of adrenaline for several trophy-hunting months, it is amazing how vulnerable form, fitness and confidence is. In the pit of their stomachs, the Chelsea players must feel that the title race has gone horribly wrong. Can they recover momentum in time for Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final, second leg at Anfield?”
Independent on Sunday, Jason Burt: “By the end [Mourinho's] team were running on empty, losing their pattern, playing as individuals but not taking responsibility. They had plenty of time to score after being pegged back but frittered it away. To add to the insult there was injury to Ricardo Carvalho’s knee.”
Sunday Telegraph, Patrick Barclay: “If United win the Manchester derby next Saturday and Chelsea fail to win at Arsenal on Sunday, even arithmetical hope will desert Mourinho and his men. ”Manchester United must feel very close to it,” the Chelsea manager conceded; as matters stood, they would be able to lose at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday week and remain favourites.”
Official Chelsea FC Website: “This 2-2 draw matched the one by Bolton here during José Mourinho’s first Chelsea season. On that occasion, it ultimately didn’t damage our championship dream. This time, that does not look so likely.”
The goals
19′ Michalik 0-1
22′ Kalou 1-1
34′ Jaaskelainen (og) 2-1
54′ Davies 2-2
The good
- Michael Essien. The only real contender for Man of the Match such was the mediocrity on display from a lot of players. Tiredness is no excuse for some of them and Essien showed why his not being included in the PFA Team of the Year was such a laughable decision.
- The atmosphere. Considering the opposition only brought about twenty fans the place was a real pot-boiler today at times, although the frustration of the fans shone through towards the end. The Matthew Harding Lower was simply sensational today but credit to the other areas when the team looked like they needed a lift the place was deafening.
- An attacking performance. Bolton barely touched the ball for long parts of the game and we surged forward so many times in the second half I thought the pitch might start tilting towards us. However, every silver lining has its cloud and the piss-poor finishing meant that our attacking best was wasted effort.
- The weather – that really is all the good I can come up with.
The bad
- The injury to Ricardo Carvalho. Riccy has quietly become a darling of Stamford Bridge, in fact today is the first time I have heard his name sung. Unfortunately it was as he went off, blatantly in some trouble. Out for the game on Tuesday and maybe for the remainder of the season. Frankly this is a bloody disaster ahead of a Liverpool game where we will need every player on top of their game, but also for the FA Cup final and for a potential Champions League final. Will Jose Mourinho finally trust Khalid Boulahrouz? Will superman Essien be given the centre-back’s cloak again? It’s a big decision and one I’m glad I’m not making.
- Andriy Shevchenko. Terrible, appalling, dire, useless, waste of space. All of my own thoughts there, normally prefixed by the f-word, but words that were also echoing around the Matthew Harding Lower. Be honest here people, if anyone else had paid £30m for a player who’d been so truly useless we’d be ripping the piss out them. It’s hardly surprising the press are on his back, and if I was Mourinho I’d be thinking of telling Roman Abramovich where he can shove the useless Ukrainian, even if it meant my job. Am I being harsh? Maybe, but we are always loyal to our players whilst they get given a fair chance, but since the laughable Blackburn miss he has got worse and today he could have gone after 10 minutes as it was so obvious he was out of sorts.
- Rob Styles and his arse-istants. Terrible, appalling… a big fat ditto for this useless bunch of pathetic clowns. (That was not the c-word I was thinking of using!) Blatant handballs not awarded to us, accidental ones given to Bolton, time-wasting not dealt with, poor tackles from the Bolton Bruisers ignored whilst allowing Bolton players to climb over ours before giving free kicks against our players presumably for loitering with intent to try and play football. He drinks occasionally at my local and the landlord has barred us from talking to him. Just as well, because he’d find it difficult to reply with my hands round his throat.
- Our finishing. Frankly we seem determined to turn into Arsenal. Just when you want a player to put some leather on the ball they try one fancy damn pass too many in an attempt to create a football work of art instead of a goal. Bollocks to that, what we want is to see a keeper being worked and made to make saves. Despite the pressure I’m not aware that Jussi Jaaskelainen had too much to do. Salomon Kalou’s miss near the end was embarrassing, but nowhere near John Obi Mikel’s laughable air shot. I wonder what happened to old fashioned centre forwards who didn’t mind using a technique known as “the diving header”? Is it just me or are the foreign players too eager to stick a speculative foot out rather than be brave and dive in?
- Our defending. Geremi is no right-back and it’s hard to see what he gives us at the moment. The first Bolton goal was defended woefully, but the second one made the defending for the first look like a model of defensive efficiency. Bolton didn’t deserve to be in the game but somehow we managed to give them just the right opportunities to punish us, as they did two years ago when they drew 2-2 at the Bridge. If we repeat this against Liverpool then we’re dead and buried.
Player ratings
- Petr Cech: Had little to do but when needed was left helpless - 6/10
- Michael Essien: A superb display and really looked like his heart was in the game - 9/10
- Ricardo Carvalho: Looked brilliant while he was on but his injury is a mighty bad blow for us at the worst possible time - 6/10
- Wayne Bridge: Better than Ashley Cole at the moment - 8/10
- John Terry: When the troops needed a leader he went missing today. The worst I’ve seen from him in my living memory. Which means by his standards he was average today - 6/10
- Lassana Diarra: What’s happened? Is it the curse of the right-back? Looked out of sorts and a booking waiting to happen - 5/10
- Salomon Kalou : Scored a good goal and unlucky to have the second chalked off to a Jaaskelainen own goal. Does the hard work but seems prone to making the wrong selection in the box - 7.5/10
- Shaun Wright-Phillips: Seemed a bit lost and at one point when Essien pointed to some space for him to run into he ignored him. Essien didn’t do it again - 7/10
- John Obi Mikel: Average, no more, no less. Shocking air shot at the end which he’ll want and need to forget before Tuesday - 6/10
- Geremi: Average and nowhere near good enough to be a regular. Made some very poor choices with his crossing - 6/10
- Andriy Shevchenko: My jury has come back in – sell him and buy Michael Owen, Kaka, Carlos Tevez or anyone that can live with the pace of the Premiership. He can’t and it’s about bloody time he learnt that you don’t get time and space on the ball in this league - 2 out of 10 and he’s lucky to have got that.
- Didier Drogba (Sub): Had 60 minutes rest and replaced the useless Ukrainian. A handful for Bolton but no real chances - 7/10
- Joe Cole (Sub): Livened things up a bit, went down too easily a couple of times but it’s better to have him on the pitch than off - 7/10
- Frank Lampard (Sub): 30 minutes rest as he replaced Riccy. Did well enough but still looking under par - 7.5/10
Man of the Match
Michael Essien by a distance.
Final thoughts
It’s over. To all intents and purpose we have handed the Premiership title to Manchester United on a plate. Yes, I know the Blue Faithful will say we can still do it, but it would take a collapse of Devon Loch proportions for United to lose their last three games. On current form I can’t see us beating them at the Bridge and my prediction for the United and Arsenal games are for both to be draws. If United are to be crowned champions then they get my congratulations. It’s hard to deny a grudging admiration for the way they’ve played and the way they’ve exhibited such self-belief and determination. The league position doesn’t lie.
In the end the chase was too much for us, but we didn’t lose it today. We lost it through silly defeats away to Middlesbrough and Spurs and a disastrous Christmas campaign of three consecutive draws against Reading, Fulham and Aston Villa. We lost it by having too many injuries and too thin a squad. We lost it by selling two centre-backs on the last day of the transfer window and not replacing either. We lost it because the experiment of a lean squad failed. I may live to regret writing these words, and I hope we do win on the back of a never seen before collapse from United, but I just can’t see it happening.
Lastly, if we get Tuesday out of the way and progress to the Champions League final, then our efforts need to be channelled into winning that and the FA Cup. Rest some big players at Arsenal, and when United visit us. Play some kids between now and the end of the season and make sure we have our very best for the final two games of our season. Then hopefully when we have two more trophies Jose can spend the rumoured £75m transfer kitty on some backup to the African contingent, get a decent striker to help Drogs, a decent right-back to challenge Glen Johnson, and another centre-back to challenge and back up JT and Riccy.
I’m off to drown my sorrows with too much Magners. As Unlucky Alf from The Fast Show would say: “Bugger”.
Related links
- Posted at 01:10 AM · Permalink · Print · 2715 views · Last indexed by Google on the 14th May 2008
- Tags: Bolton Wanderers, Chelsea, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Geremi, Joe Cole, John Terry, Jon Obi Mikel, Jose Mourinho, Lassana Diarra, Michael Essien, Premiership, Ricardo Carvalho, Salomon Kalou, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Stamford Bridge, Wayne Bridge
How the hell do you get these papers report so quickly
I totally agree with you. The title is really really over though I would love to say that Man Utd will lose 6 points and Chelsea will win the title but with Vidic and Ferdinand returning next week for the Manchester derby and West Ham at home on the final day of the season, the situation doesn’t permit me to say that. Let’s just hope that Chelsea reach and win the Champions League final and the FA Cup final. Lets hope… GO BLUES!!
Here is what happened: the manager did not want Sheva to start with and that poisoned relations with the owner as he was bound to think Jose was out to make a point. He probably started thinking Jose wanted him to fail.
That led to the fall out in the winter buying season. No new center back, which was suicidal. No one could understand that. First the terry injuries lost you the premiership, now Riccy is out and that will cost the CL. He has obviously been played to exhaustion and his knee gave in.
Sad that it seems to be over, towards the end of the first half I really felt it could be our day, coming from one down to take the lead with manu losing. The last couple of months I’ve looked back to those three draws over xmas and thought that was basically the 6 points we were trying to make up, and though the team has rallied well since the return of Big Pete and JT, it seems another couple of draws in the last two league matches will be responsible for a gap but with no time left to catch up. The one thing I don’t think we’ve had this seaon is luck. Injuries, dubious refereeing decisions, sometimes it doesn’t bounce your way, and whilst in the last two campaigns I thought we had our fair share of that ‘luck’, this time round I think manu had it. Amazed actually that we’ve managed to stay in touch this far, but with the respective league fixtures for us and them I just hope they don’t win it at the Bridge, ironic too that Bolton away was the scene of our title win but Bolton at home seems to be where we stumbled this year. Maybe it’ll be the ‘year of the cups’…
Come on you bloooooooooos!!!
I hate to be realistc here, but our chances of a quadruple this season have vanished. We’ve lost any chance we once had of catching up to Man utd and it looks as f we’ll be in more trouble if Drogba gets another yellow card against Liverpool, he’s out for the final, if we even make it! Our players seem worn down yet man Utd still seem to be on form…Unfortunate but we still have a chance for CL and FA. Lets be optimistic and say we could win both…
Optimism is key if we wanna win at all…
COME ON CHELSEA, YOUVE GOT OUR SUPPORT……SO USE IT!!!!!
xxx All the best
Well if last weekend wasnt bad enough this one has put the noose around my neck, i just cant watch us give Man.U the premiership anymore, an internal sruggle not unlike the ferguson N racehorse fiasco that nearly destroyed united, riccy is out ballack is out(who really cares) sheva is shit n a few months ago we find a decent rightback in Diarra who works well n he play Paulo at liverscum n Geremi yesterday what a disaster, please please please jose dont put out our best midfeilder Essien into CB n give Boularouz a chance his actually position is CB We need an early goal at Anfield n give us some hope we cant let another united treble happen. We love u Chelsea n we’r behind u.
In keeping with the air of doom & gloom, the negativity could worsen if Man Utd go on to win the treble from here.
Unfortunately they are now in the ascendancy.
TSO has it all to do at Anfield on Tuesday.
TSO in the last two premier leagues has actually shown where his heart is at. It definately is not the premiership.
He is looking for the cups he has yet to win or only ones to win if he were to leave the England.
I am totally shredded. I had actually planned not to watch this match as I had a bad feeling in my tummy. I heard the line up and that is when I switched on the telly to actually confirm with my eyes what I was disbelieving with my ears. Geremi at right back? Diarra in Central midfield (Tottenham at home)???Shevy and kalou at the front? No Lampard no Ballack??? That team is not a winning team like we have come to see so man times.
I understand that we have a thin squad thanks to players like Robben whom I wish out of the Club(his contribution is so minimal it is useless to keep him on our books).
TSO should have played Boulharouz in the Central defence to allow Essien movement upfront. What went wrong? Essien and Cech do not communicate plainly. Essien lacks the height - the headed goal???
Just do not get the whole mix here…
If we are to lose this cup it will not be down to the December debacles rather to the Newcastle-Bolton draws. We should have won those two games as simple as that!
Not in the mood!
we should buy Eto’o to pair with drogba up front..
place Bhoularoz at the center back with JT, Fareira at the right back , Bridge on the left. Essien should play in midfield togheter with ballack/Obi Mikel/Macca and Lampard, Kalou left wing Drog on the center and J.Cole on the right wing.. with this player, im sure we can reach the CL final..
I think your being a tad harsh on Shevchenko. He may be frustrating, and sometimes im also ready to tear my hair out, but the same can be said with just about any new striker struggling with coming to terms with the league. Money has nothing to do with it, look at Michael Ballack. It doesn’t guarantee nor should it. Drogba was probably our most frustrating player for the best part of 2 seasons, and I still believe that his miss while through on goal against Barca in the 1st leg last season was the main reason we went out. But look at him now. 32 goals this season, probably the best striker in the Europe if not the world. I don’t have many complaints about the game. Utd deserve the title by being 5 points ahead of us with 3 games to spare, it’s as simple as that. Now it’s up to the boys to seize the day and take us to Athens. We can do it. Come on Chels.
“I won’t put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door…”
We played very naive football with Bolton. I would even say extremely naive football. Yes Shevchenko was comical that is true. He can not hold the ball, can not hit the ball and it does not look like he is improving. Milan probably laughing when they look at him in Chelsea colors. Taking into account how much we paid for him it is disaster. Well it seems like PL is pretty much over for us. There is still a chance to make a history by winning CL and FA Cup. let’s hope for it.
tone says: not over
we had to win the last three and we still have to.
they had to drop points and that will happen in the derby: overconfident but just as weary as we are they’ll go 1 down and find no answer.
just a gut feeling.
the pendulum is still swinging, believe me
cheer up lads and refuse to lie down
And frustratingly it means I’m now going to have to sit though the Man U and Everton games where there’s nothing to play for. Still, a bit like a reality TV wife swap, I guess it’ll be good for the soul to experience what it’s like being a Spurs fan every week!
Funny how things can change so quick. When the Man U 2-0 score appeared on the big screen I’d already mentally re-worked the league table. Counting chickens and all that. So now we’re all a bit depressed, but because things can change so quick, by Wednesday morning we could all be deliriously happy. Then again …
Adam-’Geremi what a disaster’.
What did he do wrong that everybody else did right?**** ***!
tso(prick) done us!
Whats the use of staying in all 4 comp. and then feature reserves in a must win tie.
Realistically, we are now out of the title race. All possible surprises are accounted for and the best possible scenario is that we will finish on goal difference.
The cups must now be our priorities, especially the Champions League. A cup treble and second in the league shows for a more than successful season.
I am finally losing faith in Shevchenko. This summer, we need an influx of good non-African players: a right-back, some strikers (Sinclair and Sahar?), and a winger.
I answer to Hammersmith Blue - I don’t think I have been too harsh on Shevchenko. In fact I’ve been a supporter all season because of his desire and the work he does off the ball. Over the course of his first season, Drogba was pretty consistent, and although he looked awkward the fact remained he scored goals , around 16 I think. Again last season as you state Drogba improved, but my argument would be that Shevchenko hasn’t shown any real improvement and in the last 6 weeks or so, since the Spurs goal he has gone the other way. His body language has shown it all, both physically incapable of coping with PL players and the pace of the game, and mentally he looks like worse than the “homesick” Crespo ever did. Crespo is a case in point, despite his yearning to be back in Italy the man gave everything and last season his goals were key to our winning the title.
In Serie A the game is played at a pace more akin to international games where players such as Sheva can enjoy the luxury of time and space on the ball. That doesn’t happen in the PL and after the number of games he’s had he should have sussed that out by now. On Saturday I don’t think contributed a single thing of note and seemed to lose the ball every time he got it. I would have expected some improvement by now and certainly not the reverse we appear to be witnessing.
Chaps take heart, there is always someone worse off than you. And cheer yourselves up that the my favourite chelsea legend (as opposed to best Chelsea player of all time which is of course Zola) Denis Wise, ably assisted by Gus have provided all Chelsea fans with the bonus of seeing Leeds relegated to League one. Wise and Poyet would always be welcome at the Bridge but they can now return as heros. Well done lads! you never know, with any luck they can take over from Wenger when he gets the boot this summer.
I think Tonys report makes all the right points. If Carvalho is out of Tuesdays game its a disaster. The observations about JT are well made and for me he has been at about 70% of normal service since his injury. Regardless I still believe we have enough to get passed the Scousers tomorrow but whether I can stand to watch is another matter - I doubt whether football will be the winner.
One other ting and I’m not sure if it was good or bad. Why did the Stamford bridge thought police decide to hide the score from Goodison? Was it to protect the players from the pressure of knowing Manure had turned things around? I would have thought that might have driven them harder. Or did they think the fans would react in the wrong way?
Whatever the thinking was it was a bit bloody patronising.
I was in the MH Stand on Saturday and it was really great though the other sections were good too so here’s to all at the Bridge. The reality is, if Man-City hold out and near the end , they get a screamer and we beat Arsenal, we will be in the driving seat. It is that close still, whatever the media would prefer. After all, who would have thought we would only draw at Newcastle and Bolton? I think there’s more than 50% chance but yes, it looks like slipping away but let’s see!. My point today though is, why oh why did JM not put Boularouz on instead of Frank when he had to make a change? I just cannot understand it. We ended up with three defenders!!! I just can’t get my head round it! For all the other problems this year and the Man-U press bias etc and politics at the Bridge, let’s be honest. If we had beat Newcastle and Bolton as we should have considering we are near the CL final, we would probably win it. So in the end, if Man-U do win it, all credit to them since regardless of the other problems we have had all season, we should be just 1 point behind by now regardless of Man-U’s other game at Everton. Still, as I say, let’s see next weekend. Whatever happens, we must beat Liverpool at all costs, I just could’nt face that club beating us again.!! Lastly, according to the Everton traitor Phil Neville, the team that play’s most to his liking, should win the Prem not the actual team with the actual points…pillock! I wonder what Moyes thought of that after his own goal while facing the net!!! and of course, not pulled up by the interviewer!! The anti-Chelsea media roll on….oh…, and ‘Come on City!!!!
Clearly TSO has zero faith / confidence in Boularouz
Disappointing, but United have been superb and deserve it. Problem has been too many home draws, not so much the two over Christmas but the 1-1s with Villa and Arsenal when we should have blitzed them, and Saturday.
Have to pick ourselves up for Tuesday, though think Jose Musumba may be right: TSO made a calculation and realised we have more chance of reaching the CL final than winning the league, so has tried to tilt things in that direction. If only we had Riccy I’d be fully confident…
UEFA Anti Chelsea/JM saga goes on…….
Found out this morning the ref tomorrow is a Spanish ref…the same one used at Liverpool’s CL final against Milan who gave Gerard the penalty and failed to stop the Liverpool players antics on the line!! With a Spanish manager and full of Spanish players this is a disgrace!!!!! Where is Bruce Buck asking questions of UEFA? Absolutley spineless the beaurocrats at Chelsea…not a word! No wonder JM almost quit last year with this type of support! Unbelievable!
Not wishing to appear ungracious, as Man Utd have played very well this season, but what on earth was Everton’s goalkeeper up to? And Phil Neville, surely a steward’s inquiry is in order.
Perhaps the availability of just one trusted central defender tomorrow night will force Jose to cast off his mental chains and attack the defensive Scouse hordes with a gusto usually displayed by Rafa B at the desert trolley.
A slightly kamikaze 4-3-3 could be:
Cech;
A Cole, JT, Cannibal, Paulo;
Essien, Maka, Lamps;
Kalou, Drogs, J Cole
Looking at a back four without Carvalho does make me worry though, in any permutation.
i think over-confidence is the answer to our recent draw against bolton, so Morinho should take the premiership as serious as he took the champions league
Come On Chelsea Come ON Chelsea Come on Chelsea…
Knock them blue!
Most fans have conceeded the Prem purely through the last month of excitement. This has worn many (including myself) fans down.
Mathmatics is on our side by luck, form and probability is stacked against. Not to say we still can’t win it.
I don’t care who number seven was before he came to us! It shouldn’t matter! Shevers was scoring for fun with Kaka sliding balls in, now he’s deployed high in midfield or wide.
WHATS WRONG WITH THE SIX YARD BOX???
This is where Shevy made his name, hence lack of goals.
Tuesday is realy going to test our metal/mental.
Gimme a C……
C.H.E.L.S.E.A
http://www.mercafutbol.com/not.....p;nt=27713
This article in Spanish paper says that Barca wants to give £15Mil for Shevchenko. Well you know what I do not even know. From one side we loose 15 mil but from the other side I do not believe he will run again.
Why wait - I think we should pay £15 million. I’m free tonight and I’ll drive him to Heathrow.
Every one of you who slagin off SHEVA, probably was saying same about Drogba two seasons ago!
Something never changes!
GO BLUES!!!!!
Well guys,Shevchenko didn’t travel to Anfield but Robben did,it may be a blessing in disguise.No official explanation why he’s not playing though,which will lead to more conspiracy theories I suppose.If we can play two halves of consistent football,we will be more than a match for Liverpool and worry about”The Anfield Roar”later.COME ON BOYS YOU CAN DO IT,MAKE US PROUD!!!!
Russki - thing with Sheva is at his age he’s unlikely to get better, just worse.
As for Robben traveling he’ll probably get injured getting off the coach.
Does anyone know what the odds are on Chelsea still doing the quadruple? Listen, it is not completely out of the question. Let’s say we get through in one way or another against Liverpool tomorrow night. Whatever happens to MU, they will have a hard game against Milan at the San Siro. They then play Man City away on Saturday at 12.45 and if there is one team who will not do MU a favour it is Man City (unlike Phil Neville and co). We then beat Arsenal on Sunday, and we are in a better position than we were before the games began last Saturday. Then it all depends on the game against them on Wednesday (and maybe a West Ham fighting for their lives, doing us a favour on the last day of the season). Then there is the small matter of the FA cup and the champions league finals to win. It is a long shot, I know but worth a flutter??
Mark, you’re a bloody cynical so and so………..and I totally agree with you :-)
If you drive Sheva I’ll escort him to the plane. Barca can have him. We can use the money to David Villa.
Russki - Well I never slagged Drogba off because despite his ungainliness he worked bloody hard for the team. Shevchenko had my support but the utter ineptness of his displays on Saturday and Blackburn have forced me to change my mind. If he’s injured then he should make that plain but to me it looks like he doesn’t want to change/adapt to the PL or he doesn’t want to do what TSO says. At the end of the day TSO is THE BOSS and not Sheva - he has two choices …shape up or ship out.
Doc
To a gambler maybe, but as a long term Chelsea and football fan I think the odds are too far out even for me. As I said in my review I’ll happily retract my final thoughts if we do actually get an inordinate amount of luck but frankly I can’t see us winning at Arsenal and I can’t see Manure losing at The Bridge. I stand by my prediction of 2 draws and my desire to win tomorrow night and then rest the big players for Arsenal and the remainder of the season BUT ONLY IF Manure beat City on Saturday. If the “Blue Moon” prevails then of course I want us to batter Arsenal. I’m like a lot of fans who temper their support with a healthy dose of realism and cynicism.
COME ON CHELSEA!!!!!COME ON CHELSEA!!!!!COME ON CHELSEA!!!!!COME ON CHELSEA!!!!!
I had the chance to re-watch our game with Bolton.
Sheva was not the problem…TSO was. If it is about doing a head count then lets do the whole round…Cech for mis-judging the ball for the second goal, Terry for almost being on the pitch and leading to the fouls that led to the goal, Carlvalho for lunging in for a ball that led to his foul, Diarra for being played in the middle, Joe Cole for oming on and not wanting the grass to touch his skin, Drogs for squandering chances he should have put away…
Tony please!
Sheva was a hero when we beat the Totts…and now you want to skin him. People who lack class will never see it even if it was standing right in front of them.
Sheva like the whole team is tired….Plainly, but you lot seek to have a collection of under achievers being lined up for the team. First it was the Coach, and Tony did you not slug off on Drogs…be honest here…You blokes are a laugh!
Sheva is staying so save your fuel…But you could take a drive back memory lane and wonder on when we last had a team this good. Please do tell…
Aaaah!
Anyhows here is how it stands. We beat Liverpool at Anfield, Arsenal at the Airfield and Maure…
Come on Chelse Come on Chelsea Come on Chelsea…
I’ve defended Sheva on here as he deserves a chance, but he’s generally been bloody awful since the Spurs wonder goal.
If it is injury related then let him get it fixed, but in the context of the season he’s had it isn’t a good sign; I’d suggest had he not cost as much as he did he’d be looking for a new club in a couple of weeks.
Like I said some people would have class slap them across the face and they would still wonder where class was…
We said the same about Ballack. I think his absence on the team contributed to the loss of points.
TSO should have had Sheva, Drogs, Kalou and Joe on with SWP removed. For me he had a bad game. Failed to use space well…
Jose, you’ll note that most on here haven’t actually questioned Sheva’s class, but frankly on current form if he tried to slap anyone across the face, he’d miss and probably injure himself at the same time.
He needs to get himself sorted and not play again until he is fully fit (mentally as much as physically), simple as.
When at Milan (i think i’ve made this point ten times on this blog) Shevers was a box player ala Horse face when he was at united.
NOW; he plays deep, wide, lines man……
i think for Shevers to get on track he needs to play ahead of Drogs, who holds up well and can play Shevy in. I think if we played like this he’d get confidence back and score more goals.
As his current starting possition, physical and mental heath aren’t what we at Chelsea Football Club require; give’im another season, if we can’t use him we should lose him.
KTBFFH
MikeL,
I’m yet to speak with janet at Shed bar but will let you know ASAP of a venue for the FA Cup and Champs final viewing.
Keep up the good chanting, it’s better then some of the blogs…..:-)
Shevy not playing tonight- thank god…we need this win tonight and i’m hoping for the best because without Ballack, Carvalho and Robben, we’re gonna be leaving it upto Drogs, Wright-Philips and Kalou to get us some goals! Essien has been on form so play him…..We’ve had a series of unfortunate events, with all the injuries and the mess up of the game that could’ve closed the gap…Tonight we gotta show our true colours!!!
GO BLUES!!!!!!!
Meg
Jose
I’ve generally been a fan of Drogba pre-Chelsea, remembering how he tore Liverpool and Newcastle apart in the UEFA cup when he was at Marseille. Sheva has had my support thus far, but recently has been piss poor. Even you can’t argue with that. If he can’t fit with the team, or he can’t contribute, or if he’s injured then he deserves to be left out. As JD says, if he’s injured then frankly he should stay at the training ground and get it fixed. Hmm, interesting comparison to RVN, except that Rednose got rid of him fairly quickly when he felt he had better options coming through.
It’s nothing to do with recognising class. It’s to do with recognising form. Sheva is hideously out of form, hence doesn’t deserve to be picked. That’s the mistake Eriksson made for England, picking on loyalty rather than form Yes, the Spurs goal was great but what else has he really done since then. How do you explain the EMBARRASSING cock up against Blackburn. Class? Peter Crouch has as much class as that and frankly so do I!
BTW Megan - Robben travelled with the squad so I assume he’s fit enough, even if its just for the bench.
JD - good to hear from you - your comment made me LOL!
Cheers TG - contributions short and sweet today due to excessive nerves…
(snaps pencil, spills water on keyboard)
unlucky chaps, will be an interesting summer…
Bollocks!
Pity because I thought we played well. Even Ferreira had a good game.
CL is more and more a competition for losers, those who by christmas have nothing to play for. now expect ac milan to be 2nd finalist
this will ruin days, maybe ages.
Anybody noticed that when Drogs is marked we can hardly score a goal.
Maybe today was an exceptional case due to the fact that Livers defend strongly.
We need a good striker to go with him, …. Villa perhaps?
Blue Will Always Be The Color.
Nick asked me to write the review. In one word
Bugger
The experiment with the lean squad has failed dismally. Some big thinking is required. Thats one date scrubbed off for me as well - 23rd May - the day I stopped giving a shit about football.
I hope at least that AC Milan can make it to the finals, this will give me a reason to watch the game !!!
we play with the only one tactic: long ball to Drogba and whatever it takes. They put three players on him and others could not make any point. bad day… well may be Milan can bring some consolation.
Bugger! is an apt word Tony.
I’ve always said penalties is no way to win a game, but I suppose until something better comes along we’re stuck with them.
How many more games are those lucky bastards going to win with this lottery?
i dont understand whats the point in bringing wright-philips and robben and than sending long balls to drogba?we have purchased all wrong players last summer..A.cole,sheva,ballack…cole was dismal…we need to get either Martins or berbatov to partner drogba…and with sevilla and barca coming in next season,C league will be more tougher than ever…this long ball strategy wont last for long..
So much unlucky with injuries…
Now JM can only hope that he wont get a sack..
Blue4Life
it seems the ideas don’t come together to me.
Is this only the second time we play penalties in JM era? maybe the first was against Charlton if I’m right?
If it’s true it means we are absolutely unexperienced in this type of game.
and to Suman, I never noticed Kalou was playing till he was out!!!
“Perfection, as I understand the term, does not mean that you have to win silverware. That’s the proof of your achievement but what matters above all is the fact that you are still alive in three competitions in April. And suppose you lose everything in May? It can happen, but it doesnt change my respect for these teams one little bit. One bad month should never be allowed to obscure eight months of near impeccable performances from the point of view of collective effort.”
The words of one Johann Cruyff.
A truly disappointing performance, but overall a team to be proud of; sadly, the legs simply aren’t there anymore which is hardly surprising.
A day at Wembley to come and a real test for players, management and the board in the summer - not the time for rash decisions or finger-pointing. The likes of Essien and Mikel point to a very bright future and Makelele rolled back the years tonight - surely his last truly great game for us?
Down but by no means out - Chelsea ’til I die (something which came pretty bloody close on a few occasions tonight!).
Terribly expensive, those flights to Athens…
Fair play to the Mickeys, Carragher played a blinder as usual. We look shagged out, but great effort this season nonetheless.
JD
I admire your gallows humour. I’ve done a review and Nick will add to it as I found it tough to write (tears streaming over keyboard, wondering how to live with gloating scousers again, resisting the urge to fill the page with the word “Fuck” etc).
The review isn’t very upbeat but that’s because I am as knackered as the players, and just want this season over so I can recharge. The legs went a couple of weeks ago as the Newcastle game showed. We need some new hungry players.
I have no criticism of the players ……….. several of them have played their hearts out this season but you tell me another team that could have achieved what we have having had so many injury problems?
But that was a knackered team tonight!!! Has to be a toss up betwenn Micky E and the great old warrior Maka for MOM.
As Jonathan said…… maybe his last great performance for us though I would like to see him there another year as a ‘reward’ for his great service to the club.
Come on guys, anyone who thinks the problems of the past few weeks is due to a player shortage, is living in cloud cuckoo land.
The problem is too many players, not too few.
Doesn’t Chelsea possess a reserve team? or a youth team? or an academy?
Do like most others have to do, GROW YOUR OWN, or do you just want the best team money can buy?
Essien is our best creating midfielder!playn him in defence is crap!Having to look to Lampard when we r a goal down is nonsense.Why can” we have lampard in deFence!