Premier League: Chelsea 1 - 0 Middlesbrough
Match reports
Daily Telegraph, John Ley: “If Chelsea win the Premier League title they should dismantle the goal at the Shed End of Stamford Bridge and resurrect it in their club museum, alongside Jose Mourinho’s raincoat and Peter Osgood’s shirt, as a standing memorial to the day it earned them three of their most valuable points.”
The Times: “With a five-point lead and only six matches left, the title is United’s to lose, with Chelsea showing little sign of prising the trophy from their grasp. Avram Grant’s team will have to raise their game to previously unattained levels if they are to be victorious in the must-win home match against United on April 26, while a repeat of this poor performance could lead to defeat in any of their other five games.”
The Independent, Jason Burt: “The blind panic which appeared to seize Chelsea in the final 20 minutes was astonishing. Set-pieces, for them, have suddenly provoked a Pavlovian response of imitating headless chickens. The introduction of Alves, until now a £12m misfit for Boro, seemed to trigger something in the visitors which unsettled the home side to such an extent that Grant was stood with his arms outstretched imploring the referee to blow the final whistle.”
The Guardian, Dominic Fifield: “Had Afonso Alves brought the form that inflated his transfer fee as a potent scorer in the Dutch league to England, then the home side’s game of catch-up might have been rendered hopeless.”
Official Chelsea FC Website: “Ricardo Carvalho’s first goal of the season was enough for victory although Chelsea were almost made to pay for missed chances as Middlesbrough hit woodwork three times late on.”
The goal
The good
- Three points. A win that keeps pressure on Manchester United, who remain five points clear at the top of the table with six games remaining. I doubt they’re quaking in their expensive boots after this pathetic display, though.
- Ricardo Carvalho. Scored his first Premier League goal in almost a year on his 150th appearance - his last goal was a 35 yarder against Spurs. He ended the match with yet another large bump on his forehead after a sickening clash of heads with Middlesbrough’s Sanli Tuncay. They must be made of stern stuff in Portugal. Unarguably our best and most consistent defender.
- Joe Cole. The only bright spark in an otherwise dull affair. I sometimes feel he’s wasted out on the wing.
The bad
- The performance. Ponderous, miserable and unexciting. The old cliché about players being hungover after an international break doesn’t wash. Just look what United did to Aston Villa with a day less to recover and prepare. It’s a feeble excuse and I hope no-one thinks to use it.
- Avram Grant’s substitutions. Michael Ballack wasn’t having the best of games, but replacing him with Shaun Wright-Phillips (admittedly it nearly paid off, if only Wright-Phillips could shoot) allowed Boro to control the midfield. Clearly Grant hasn’t learnt anything in recent weeks because he then proceeded to put Nicolas Anelka out on the wing in place of Salomon Kalou (who continues to frustrate). Baffling. There’s little doubt in my mind that last weekend’s successful tactical substitutions against Arsenal were an anomaly.
- Carlo Cudicini’s moment of David James-esque madness. Fortunately for us the resulting chance fell to a striker who made his name in Dutch football. Okay, that was unfair - Alfonso Alves does look a bit useful and on another day could have scored at least two. Thankfully luck was on our side and he hit the woodwork on both occasions. Lucky, lucky Chelsea. And Grant.
- Juliano Belletti. Defensively he was all over the place. Stewart Downing, who might just be the most over-rated player in the league, failed to take advantage. Fellow full-back Wayne Bridge also looked a bit rusty.
Player ratings
- Carlo Cudicini: Commanding in the air but let down by a moment of madness - 5.5/10.
- Juliano Belletti: Good dead ball delivery, bad defending - 4/10.
- John Terry: Looks awkward when running and jumping for the ball - 6/10
- Wayne Bridge: Not had enough playing time in recent weeks - 5/10.
- Ricardo Carvalho: Scored and was consistent - 7/10.
- John Mikel Obi: Good to see him back. Composed - 7/10.
- Michael Essien: One too many misplaced passes - 5.5/10.
- Michael Ballack: Wasn’t his usual commanding self - 5.5/10.
- Joe Cole: Better than the rest. Probably would have got Man of the Match but for Carvalho’s goal - 7/10.
- Salomon Kalou: Still frustrating - 5/10.
- Didier Drogba: His perfectly honed physique belies the fact that he’s a big girl’s blouse at times - 5.5/10.
- Shaun Wright-Phillips (sub): Almost made an immediate impact but lacks composure. His introduction in place of Ballack allowed Boro to seize the initiative - 6/10.
- Nicolas Anelka (sub): Wasted on the wing - 5/10.
- Alex (sub): Grant was getting desperate and went five at the back - 5/10.
Man of the Match
Ricardo Carvalho. He played well for the majority of the 90 minutes and scored a vital goal which keeps alive our slender hopes of winning the title.
Final thought
From the Guardian: “What an odd team Chelsea are. There seems no reason why they shouldn’t be capable of passing through teams, and carving out chances at will, but they play this stilted, formulaic, prosaic stuff that is just miserable to watch. There’s no vim, no vigour, and a real lack of spark, which is crazy when you consider the players Grant has at his disposal. Do they just struggle to get ‘up’ for these relatively low-key fixtures? The thing is they’re certainly capable of beating United, and could even sneak the title. One thing is for sure, it won’t be pretty.”
I’ll leave you with this: if both teams win their next three games United would have the chance not only to break our four year undefeated home record but to win the Premier League at the Bridge. It doesn’t bare thinking about. Goodnight.
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- Posted at 03:26 AM · Permalink · Print · 2805 views · Last indexed by Google on the 16th May 2008
- Tags: Avram Grant, Chelsea, Joe Cole, Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Premier League, Ricardo Carvalho
Ooo, I’m the first comment!
Unfortunately I don’t have anything to say. Rats.
Ermmmm… Grant out?
I only saw the last 15 minutes on Foxtel (down here in OZ) and what I saw was ugly to say the least. Boro should have scored twice in that period and we barely raised a whimper. I assume we played better in the first half but what has happened to the cohesive fighting unit that controlled games… oh yes Mourinho left….we don’t deserve to win anything on this form and I hope we don’t so AG gets the boot he deserves. We need a charismatic leader who has the respect of the players and knows how to manage a team and control a game !!!! If he doesn’t go then I can see a few key players leaving for greener pastures…
I didn’t see the game but reading the commentaries it seems to have been on a par with too many of our games this year. I did see Man U toast Villa and, though it’s hard to be objective, there is no way on earth we are going to beat them to the title.
I saw a lot of Ranieri’s games and I can’t believe that Chels were as bad then as they can be now. They clearly weren’t under JM. The mystery is that we are a Jekyll and Hyde team. At times, we can take on and beat the best in the land (like last week), and at others we struggle to beat rank and file such as Boro. I saw their recent Cup game against someone useless (Cardiff ?) and they were simply dreadful. From all accounts, we should have lost yesterday in the last twenty minutes or so. Perhaps we should have done to put us out of our misery.
As for Fenerbahce, they are a surprisingly good team. We will have to be on our best behaviour to beat them. On the other hand, we were pretty miserable against Olympiakos in the first leg, but scraped out a draw. The Turks (note to Nick: I learn slowly) or rather Brazilians since they seem to make up a significant part of the squad, will be another kettle of fish.
PS I enjoyed the Spuds demise today at the hands of Newcastle. Why oh why were we twice incapable of beating them? Hyde, both times. Definitively Hyde.
Did anyone see Ronaldo’s goal against Villa? Special. What we are far too often lacking.
Other than that, 3 points earned (if not deserved) and still in with a shout. Let’s take a cab across London and beg the Arse to forget about Liverpool and concentrate on bring home at least a point from Old Trafford in two weeks time.
Always blue.
Not much to say really.
The performance was good in the first half and abysmal in the second. Ballack didn’t play well, but the lack of cohesion after he left showed that we must have at least 1 of either he or Lampard on the park.
Belletti is a funny one. The pendulum swings between fantastic attacking option to total dud as a defender. Perhaps we should play him as a winger!
Drogba and Kalou were both poor after half time and I have no idea what Carlo was upto with that attempted clearance.
Did anyone else notice that we still didn’t manage to position anyone on the posts for Middlesborough corners? It was no surprise to see Boro’s biggest threat come in the air at set pieces.
The fact remains though, that we are still hanging in there, even if it is by the skin of our teeth.
Whilst it is still an unlikely pipedream, it begs the question, can the ‘Best Man Utd team, ever, ever ever’ really be pipped to the Premier League title by Lucky Avram and our bunch of underperforming chumps? I can’t realistically see it happening, but how funny would that be!
At least it wasn’t the worst team performance this week. The baggage handling team at Terminal 5 were far worse than us. There were many moments in this game where it looked so sloppy it made me feel sick (I guess this is how Ashley Cole must have felt).
Also I thought Ballack was as useless this week as he was last week and justifiably substituted but I don’t like the way he scampers off to the dressing room.
For those who missed this rant
That was utter bollocks of the highest order. Yes, we won and got 3 points, but that IS THE ONLY THING we can take as a positive. If I was doing the ratings then Joe Cole would just get MoTM with the lowest ever MoTM score 7/10 - his first corner was as bad as anything I’ve seen at any level. Drogba was at the other end of the meter from last weeks display, club-footed, moaning and error strewn. Kalou-less over complicated everything and gave the ball away just about every time bar once when he got it to SWP, who with all the time in the world launched the ball to row Z. Ballack, despite not having his best game went off and from that point our midfield collapsed to the point where Boro could have planted a flag in the centre circle, laid out a picnic table and put some tents up.
We backed off and let them come at us and we’re damn lucky we didn’t lose. Bridge went missing at left back, Belletti forgot how to run, though his corners are better than anyone elses, Mikel remained calm but couldn’t impose himself and is now apparently NOT allowed to tackle according to the refs who penalised every tackle he made, Carlo reverted to Cech like route one hoofs up the park for Wheater et al to win every time and then left the goal utterly exposed for Alves to hit the post…although to be fair he had been badly exposed to the move by Drogba’s unforced ball give-away, a missing midfield and a right back who’d presumably slipped out for a quick fag and cuppa. Anelka came on and played at right wing and Drogba sat behind him! Where the fuck does that come from if not the bench?
That was as bad as Fulham or any of the other rubbish games at SB this season…and this is better is it? If you’d taken someone there today for their first ever game……would you ever persuade them back? After last weeks massive display it’s a bloody mystery to me how we can then go and dish up something as mouldy as this……it’s just like the old Ranieri days.
Stamford Bridge stunk today, stunk because of the mouldy old rotten corpse of football served up to us by a team that was uninspired, insipid, toothless, wasteful and pathetic. I’m glad I’m not doing the review.
PS - I watched the …ahem….highlights on MOTD2. In fact it was worse than I remember! Another blog has remarked on what an injustice it would be if we beat Manure to the title. I’m not sure if injustice is the right term, more like daylight robbery, but even the most die-hard Chelsea fan would have to applaud the verve that Manure are playing with when compared to this dirge.
Poor Chelsea, very fucking poor.
I notice Grant is now stating that wins and points are more important than the performance. Roman take note you were f**king conned, at least under JM our occasional dire football was a comfortable containment of the opposition, unlike the keystone cop error’s we show in defence.
If we do manage to nick the title from under Utd’s noses as Tony said, we’ll have to rename ourselves “the thieving scousers”.
I’m sick to death of Grant being completely unable to admit we’re playing shit (unless he’s so deluded he can’t actually tell).
Nick got it spot on in his review “There’s little doubt in my mind that last weekend’s successful tactical substitutions against Arsenal were an anomaly”. If RA is happy to accept one lucky tactical swap every 25 games, we’re all doomed.
I’m glad you said you doubt Man USA are quaking in their boots. We’ve kept pressure on them in the loosest sense of the word. The home record WILL go against them, there is no denying it. They are awesome. We are awful. (Although I would like to take this opportunity to moan about the voice over bloke on BBC One who told me to watch MOTD to see one of the greatest goals in recent memory. Then Ronaldo flicks his ballet shoe at it. Smart, but not amazing).
Not sure whats happened with defending from set-pieces, but we just dont anymore. JT looks out of sorts big-time, you have to wonder if another early return from injury has had an adverse effect.
Still, we’ll be o.k. on Wednesday because we got lucky with the draw.
Do i sense some optimism from the old brigade that we may still win the title from manure?…i hope we do, and then you guys can go name calling in whatever form you like…
The team was woeful yesterday no doubt, like their legs were filled with lead…DD was just not in the game and SWP was SWP, very unpredictable and poor
I remember manure’s visit to anfield last season where looserpool did all the playing and manure stole the points with a last minute free-kick…after the game, fergie said it was ‘champion’s luck’…ours may not be any different, we’ll just wait and see
There were many ifs from the game yesterday, if SWP had converted his 1st 2 touches, if DD ‘performed’ with his usual headers etc…for sure boro would have been buried…
I thot anelka should have come in for DD, and i had little reservations about SWP coming in for Ballack, just that SWP refused to raise his game
All said, i think we were lucky…perhaps its truly the luck of champions…only time will tell
Always Blue!
Without being too explicit and offending anyone on this blog can anyone give me the gist of the abuse given by Everton fans to Gerrard?
Kalou = shocking player, SWP piss off back up north! worst display i have seen for 5 years!! It was embarrassing!!
Seriously chaps - its not the end of the world - if i had said on here TSO will go this season and we will finish 2nd maybe only 2 points behind united and ahead of ars - you ALL would have ridiculed me and said well if it happens you would take it. Why have we all forgotten that?
Now firstly if Shaun had scored you would all be saying 2 weeks in a row - the subs have worked - has AG turned the corner. OK it didnt but that isnt AG’s fault - thats the calibre of the players he has at his disposal - i dont think Shaun is of chelsea calibre, nor is kalou - these are more spuds type of player.
Yes we were shite - yes AG keeps putting Anelka on the bloody wing - this pisses me off a lot.
But so what - we have always had bad games - I dont know the exact stat but i remember middlesbrough turning over Mourinho teams more than once.
Lets see how the next game goes and lets also hope we get some real quality through the gates come the summer otherwise we are well and truly f**ked. If you compare uniteds team to ours they are better - its that simple. Rooney, tevez, nani, anderson, scholes, ronaldo, giggs - so many match winners.
Come on 2nd in the PL and gold in the champs league
The bluest munkey.
Munkeyfeet your getting fucking boring same shit every week….
@ Matt
How have i said the same thing every week. In fact if you have actually read any of my posts you would know that i have been against grant. However as many other of the guys have said lets just wait and see and not just keep doing the knee jerk reaction of love him / hate him. In fact most weeks i havent made football comments - merely teamed up with clive or bluetone to take the piss - mainly out of lollipop.
I dont know why i am even bothering to explain myself to an ignorant fuckwit like you but its a monday and i have lost an hour of sleep and am still half asleep.
@Munkeyfeet
You spend most of your time taking the piss mainly out of lollipops.
I’ve warned you about shopping at Iceland
the only good thing about this game is that i watched only the last 20 minutes of it, and that i didn’t choose it over a nice afternoon with family in the park.
we can be mad at grant, but the sight of 11 people dressed in blue jerseys mindlessly wondering around the pitch, when we know how much they get payed to play, is infuriating. it was almost as they didn’t want to win. unbelievable. if grant cannot make them play he’s the first that needs to go, but goddamn it if we have to tolerate a bunch of ballerinas who are playing when they feel like it. they’re not teenagers who rebel against dad’s curfew.
i’m so pissed off today, and my only hope is, that this was some covert mossad tactics of appearing weak before a clash with a real adversary.
nevertheless, two titles are still here to be won, so call me a chelsea supporter, but i’m still hoping we can nick them. both. ;)
@Mark
Without being too explicit and offending anyone on this blog can anyone give me the gist of the abuse given by Everton fans to Gerrard?
I believe that the parentage of his child / children was called into question, amongst other things…
I love the way the usual football cliches have been trotted out after our latest woefully average performance - “playing badly and still winning is the sign of a title winning team!” Indeed - but at some point, surely you have to start at least looking like a football team and playing coherently, or you will come up short at some point.
The issue of substitutions has been a key point under Grant; it seems that he often doesn’t make it absolutely clear as to the role of each player when the system is changed (and more often than not, the changes invite pressure onto us).
And can someone please tell him that Anelka is not (and will never be) a wide player? Thought that was abundantly clear after the CC Final.
The cutting from the Times used above sums it all up nicely. Mathematically, it’s all still to play for. Mathematically, I might win the lottery this week.
# 16. biggs · 31st March · 10:01am
-so call me a chelsea supporter-
you’ve been even called worse names, havent you. i have :)
-but i’m still hoping we can nick them. both- ;)
get out of the dark. most of us do.
And if we do i’m gonna walk barefoot to the Abbey of San Luca (which is what we to round here to give thanks for miracles). oh and film the whole thing in the process. Ok delete “barefoot”
http://tinyurl.com/2tt4zd
real worry is: did we REALLY draw against this bunch?
http://goaltube.org/modules.ph.....mp;sid=491
Bluetone - whereabouts in Italy are you?
@bluetone
there are churches in bologna? the RED bologna? talk about wonders…;) i decided to stay in dark, as long as there’s mathematical possibility for us to win both titles. or at least one. or at least getting into CL final…;)
however, i’ll stay there if we don’t win anything. and will not come out until grant is replaced. my wife wouldn’t let me, anyhow. but that’s a different story.
real worry is: did we REALLY draw against this bunch?
—
so, the only thing we need is kevin as a manager,right? rofl
Something I did forget to include in my original post :
Where exactly is Branko Ivanovic ????
20. Jonathan Dyer · 31st March · 10:32am
Bluetone - whereabouts in Italy are you?
Bologna in the north
21. biggs · 31st March · 10:33am
there are churches in bologna?
to compound the misery we have one made up of seven churches, matrioska style. Unfortunately, it’s staggeringly beautiful.
And my socialist grandma insisted on being buried with San Luca visible from her grave. Which she was :)
Where exactly is Branko Ivanovic ????
Who? :-)
Awful game, but you take the points at this stage of the season, especially in a Champions League week.
How can a player be so bad at striking the ball as SWP? It’s bewildering.
I spent 4 very happy days in Bologna. I could easily spend 6 months in Bologna just eating!
Regardless if you prefer AG over TSO or the other way around, one thing is certain. TSO always defended that for him points would come before performance. If you red the after match comments from AG you will get the feeling you are dealing with an highly skilful deceiver, not to say crook. Sudently points come also in first place….but perhaps next week it will change once again….
Awful, awful football. Made me want to cry in frustration. If Grant the tactical muppet hasn’t figured out where and how to play Anelka yet, does he deserve any support? If Nic had scored, would anyone have called it an inspired sub?
I just don’t see how Kalou will improve. He seems to rush at defenders after having mouthed a quick prayer that the ball will still be at his feet if he gets past them. Let him go and hone his “skills” somewhere else. Joe Cole playing well AND showing respect is a beautiful thing to see!
I loved that at one point in the game the camera showed a Chelsea fan asleep on her neighbour’s shoulder, pretty much how most of us felt.
We soaked up the pressure
http://www.chelseafc.com/xxche.....le_1278140
Presumably Terry and Cole are the PR agents for the posts and crossbar at the Shed end?
@Mark
I read that earlier, I’m not surprised with the spin the club put out!
Jonathan/Fifty - I can reveal Ivanovic does exist. My 7-year-old got him in his Match Attax cards last week, so he assures me he is real, and now I know what he looks like. Don’t sniff - he also predicted Newcastle would beat Spurs.
Here’s the problem with Grant. He plays this bollocks formation - 4-2-4, or more like 4-2-1-3, with a fourth forward behind the front 3. He has done this since Christmas when he figures the oppo is a bit crap. Yesterday it was Ballack who spent the entire match practically alongside Drogba. We played without a midfield. Again. No midfielder on the left, no midfielder on the right. Mikel traversing back and forth in front of the back 4 with only Essien occasionally coming short to take it off him. Players were isolated all over the pitch, particularly Mikel and the fullbacks. Kalou often came deeper than any other player to get it. There is no alternative other than to hit it long. Boro only needed to play a routine formation and every time they won it they would have numbers behind us.
It isn’t the players, it is the system and the tactics. We have a manager who reckons you can play this way. Except when he thinks the oppo is a bit handy. Then he practically puts the entire team in midfield, which is probably worse. What I would give for some JM-style organisation.
Apparently TSO has been given 1 week to decide if he wants Inter Milan on his CV!
I say apparently as i havent seen it on any of the more credible sport sites.
I think it will be an interesting summer - which managers will get the boot and which are appointed.
Whilst i still maintain that we need to let grant get on with it this year and try and support the team, I hope he is replaced over the summer.
Mancini would be lovely. Young, intelligent, well dressed (you wouldnt see him wearing a black shirt with the top button done up and a black suit!), successful and has acheived a lot as a player and manager.
Author: PeterThe Great
Comment:
We need a charismatic leader who has the respect of the players and knows how to manage a team and control a game
what’s Dave Sexton up to these days?
If this has previously been discussed, I apologise, but this story scares me :
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/t.....652939.ece
Not only is AG going to be in charge for pre-season, we’ll still have TBH on the playing staff.
Oh dear.
And poor Ben Sahar doesn’t even get a mention.
Unless of couse PK knows that there won’t actually be a visa issue after all…..
He could still be getting nudged upstairs of course.
A lot of people only saw the last 20 minutes and didn’t like what they saw. I’m not surprised. A lot of people complain about Anelka playing on the right (or left if you’re a bit blind), but the problem wasn’t up front, where we made a lot of chances, but at the back. At the back we panicked whenever the ball was in the air - JT, RC and the rest. It can only be a confidence thing from the players themselves because they were indestructible with the same players in the past. Midfield took their foot off the gas. Ballack was dreadful throughout, almost refusing to contribute to the game in that area and eventually even Bridge would bypass him altogether. The play up-front was interesting and original, as it has been before. I don’t think you’re seeing it. Essien and Ballack rotate around each other, so at times they pop up ahead of the forward - one ahead two behind, or one behind two ahead. Their rotation pulls out the man-to-man markers. They also rotate out with the wide men, dragging out the full backs and replacing them with runners at angles (see SWP first shot yesterday, see Lampard penalty against Derby - watch the movement, ignore the name on the shirt). This is why Drogba appears withdrawn, Ballack appears on the front line, Anelka appears wide. Yes, /at moments/ they do. And then rotate back in at other stages. It’s very fluid movement. This is not the problem. The problem is chance conversion. When Drogba isn’t being “Drogba” we have uncertain finishers in our ranks - but we’ve also read criticisms that Anelka isn’t scoring and goals are spread around. This is actually a good thing. The problems are in midfield and at the back. They’re switching off and panicking. The last 20 minutes was bad - definitely. The attacking play was good, even if the finishing was dire. An alliance between Mourinho and the current Chelsea would be perfect, but we’re having to live with one or the other right now. If you think we haven’t made changes to JM’s Chelsea you really must be blind or an idiot. It’s very, very different indeed - some ways good, some ways bad.
One other comment: People are spending a lot of time talking about whether Chelsea will allow Lampard to leave. This game, along with the Barnsley game, show why he must stay. This was the Barnsley midfield and defence again (minus Malouda, SWP and Anelka) and the midfield lost drive. It’s not Essien that’s the problem - his attacking isn’t great but he’s strong and driving. It’s Ballack - and without the excuse of him not being able to play with Frank. He’s lost and not contributing, just as he was when he first arrived. His golden period in January has disappeared as quickly as it came. At the end of this season he also only has a year left. Shevchenko has to go - he’s not up to the English game. But Ballack should be the other player whose time must pass. Retaining him and not retaining Frank will be a disaster because Ballack doesn’t live up to the mark the way Frank does. And with both those players gone, Frank won’t have as much to compete with in the wages stakes. We need to consider what best to do, and as much as I like Ballack when he’s motivated, when he’s not he’s worse than useless. Frank will be quality wherever he goes (whatever criticism he gets) - we need to ensure he stays with us. If that means the galacticos (in reputation rather than performance) go, so be it.
Ivanovic is alive and playing for the reserves tonight against West Ham.
According to the official Chelsea site, the team will be: Stuart Searle, Carl Magnay, Branislav Ivanovic, Jimmy Smith (c), Shaun Cummings, Steve Sidwell, Fabio Ferreira, Phil Younghusband (still a great name), Franco Di Santo (almost as good), Claudio Pizarro and Ricardo Fernandes.
Can’t agree with some of that Sid, although I do agree with the importance of Lampard.
The chance creation came in the last 20 because Boro started pushing it and SWP was running from a much deeper position than Ballack, which is more similar to the Lampard role. Ballack remained in the front line or thereabouts the whole time he was out there. SWP does OK in midfield on the right of a 4, but he is NOT your man when you need to control possession in a 3, and in that way he is many miles short of a Frank. Ballack did nothing in midfield the whole match, but this MUST have been because he was told to play up where he did.
The defence was dreadful the whole match really, but it was constantly exposed because there was no midfield cover, and nobody to play short passes to when in possession. The set pieces are another story.
The first 70 were hopeless for shape and control and it was utter crap to watch, but this is a feature of Grant and his 4-2-4. No midfield, at least no midfield operating like it needs to.
With regard to Anelka, he was actually brought on as a DEFENSIVE substitution. He immediately went deep right. He did nothing up front. This was because Grant had a bench of Anelka, SWP, Shevchenko, Alex and Hilario. Why on earth do you need Anelka AND Shevchenko? We needed Makelele - was he injured or something? Because Grant actually put Alex on next to Mikel in midfield at the end. It is truly shocking stuff at the moment.
I don’t know what all the panic is about - we’re a team that likes to set records
> record lowest number of points to win the Championship in 54/55
> fastest FA Cup final goal
> last team to win the cup at the old Wembley
> first team to win the cup at the new Wembley
> worst team to win the Premiership - 2007/2008
Clearly Grant hasn’t learnt anything in recent weeks…
Absolutely agree Nick! I was hopping that he WILL learn,but - NO
Once again AG proved he can not defend the lead, nor pass confidence to the team at such moments!
And what is the obsession with playing people out of position?
Because of that we lost 2 points at Totenham, 2 - to Everton, 2- to Vila….
We will need a huge spell of luck to win anything this year
And we definitely need a proper manager for the next season!
Get Gus, Ziko, Bilich anyone like that
Not pleased with the performance yesterday but pleased that we won. Agree totally with Nick’s MOTM, in fact i voted for Riccy as my “player of the year” on the official website last Thursday. He hasn’t put a foot wrong so far this season IMO. Well..maybe a couple.. but his good games BY FAR outweigh his bad.
I’ve said before that i don’t give a toss about playing fancy football. As long as we get maximum points on the day, then i’m happy.. but i do hope that we start to wake up a bit. 5 games to the end of the season and we can’t afford to be lazy. The guys HAVE TO play better than that if they’re going to win the Prem.
I think Jason Burt’s article in the Independent is spot on. Why do Chelsea seem to go into a state of panic on set pieces? I admit to putting my hands over my face whenever we get a free kick etc awarded against us. We’re so unconvincing on that score that it borders embarrassment. How on earth Boro didn’t score i’ll never know.
Yes, we were very lucky on the day..
But i’m happy..very happy.
Great review Nick.
Same old story of double standards. The game is about the last 20 minutes (in which they failed to score) rather than the first 70 when we scored one but not any more. Our failure to score is a catastrophe - their failure to score is a lucky escape. The midfield would’ve been better if Ballack was interested in being involved - outside of the first quarter he wasn’t. Of course we weren’t like we usually are with Maka in the side, but who is? The others need to involve themselves in combination to make sure we’re no weaker, but there were player failures. We can only be up to the level we want if everyone contributes. That’s the bigger failure to me. The midfield was fine and very mobile until some parts of it stopped working altogether. That’s why Ballack was first off - I was surprised he stayed on as long as he did. Describing it as shapeless makes no sense at all. Instead of looking at what it isn’t, try looking at what it is.
Remaining fixtures guys;
US
HOME AWAY
Wigan -14 april Man City -5 april
Man Ure -26 april Everton -17 april
Bolton -11 may Newcastle -3 may
MAN URE
HOME AWAY
Arsenal -13 april Boro -6 april
West Ham -3 may Blackburn -19 april
Chels -26 april
Wigan -11 may
ARSENAL
HOME AWAY
Liverpool -5 april Man Ure -13 april
Reading - 19 april Derby -28 april
Everton -3 may Sunderland -11 may
Maybe as Lord McFergie says; “it’ll go to the wire”..
US
HOME
Wigan -14 april
Man Ure -26 april
Bolton -11 may
AWAY
Man City -5 april
Everton -17 april
Newcastle -3 may
MAN URE
HOME
Arsenal -13 april
West Ham -3 may
AWAY
Boro -6 april
Blackburn -19 april
Chels -26 april
Wigan -11 may
ARSENAL
HOME
Liverpool -5 april
Reading - 19 april
Everton -3 may
AWAY
Man Ure -13 april
Derby -28 april
Sunderland -11 may
That layout makes sense! soz guys!!!
Gabriel Obertan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0S7Hc87MfU
If anyone’s bothered, a few glimpses of one of the kids we’re supposedly looking at (United are interested as well).
Clearly far from the finished article, but he looks quick and stature wise, pretty tall.
Tall and athletic with pace and a few tricks… still very very young of course….
Here’s another.
Miralem Sulejmani.
You would have read about interest from us along with Ajax.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmkZwERZSKU
(This one seems like a sort of left footed Joe Cole… well in that mould anyway)
If anyone is interested, this is the home kit for next season, http://shirts.soccerlens.com/new-chelsea-kit/315/
Wow looks pretty ordinary!
khm…fenerbahce have beaten besiktas away, and are leading turkish league with 5 points ahead of the second place. it doesn’t look simple, at all. be prepared to be surprised.
# 51. Luca · 1st April · 2:27am
the home kit for next season, http://shirts.soccerlens.com/new-chelsea-kit/315/
shades of the Ray (and GRAHAM) Wilkins era?……mmmm
Lynn pre-empted it above, but I was about to mention Sky Sports News running an April fools gag this morning - Ivanovic did play for the reserves last night.
As did Sidwell and Pizarro. Pure class all the way.
55. Fifty · 1st April · 9:28am
Great game by Pizza and great link ups with FDS
http://www.chelseafc.com/xxche.....le_1278807
Amazed
Fabio Borini
Born 23/3/91 in Bentivoglio, Italy.
A central striker and Italian Under 16 international who is new to Chelsea this season having signed from Bologna.
Jack v Sid
One of you is on the money. And I’m not entirely sure what game Sid was watching. We were good for 15 minutes, then very poor until SWP came on, creating no decent chances while allowing Boro much more than just a sniff at goal. We weren’t even controlling the pace of the game and for all the amazing ‘rotation’ Sid spotted, Boro didn’t look in the slightest bit ruffled because the movement was slow and the passing was sloppy. We really missed Lampard.
Things changed when SWP came on - a good substitution because it removed the static Ballack and suddenly gave us a player who was trying to get ahead of Drogba (who looks increasingling uninterested in playing his 4-3-3 battering ram role). SWP should have scored twice and also set up an excellent chance for Kalou, the only one of our wide players who showed any interest in getting into the area (Joe Cole has to do this a lot more). Kalou was helped by the occasionally overlapping Bridge; Belletti did diddly. However, here Sid is right, we should have wrapped the game up before Boro came back into it, but that doesn’t mean we played well - far from it. And even so, playing well for 70 is irrelevent if you play badly for 20 - surely we learnt that after Tottenham?
It was a turgid, terrible game for all bar the first 15 and the short period immediately after SWP was introduced. Yes, we deserved to win and yes, the points are the only thing that really matter at this stage, but don’t start pretending we witnessed anything ‘interesting’, ‘original’ or ‘fluid’.
Malaysia & Isreal
Excuse my ignorance but can anyone tell me why Isreali’s are bend from Malaysia?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/t.....652939.ece
Malaysia does not have diplomatic ties with Israel and citizens must get special permission to visit the country. In 1997, the government allowed Israel to compete in a 22-nation cricket tournament though the decision led to a series of demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur.
a comment follows:
So we’d have to play without Grant? Can we play all our matches there, please?
Mike, Coventry,
P.s. That’s band from from Malaysia not “bend”
Mike from Coventry is my kind of card!
one other good thing hailing from coventry were “The Special(one)s”.
ok: £ .99 pun, but it had to be said :)
P.s. That’s band from from Malaysia not “bendâ€
Band as in Coldplay, you mean banned Chebeef :-)
64. Clive · 1st April · 10:25am
Coldplay: interesting choice.
i just chanced upon joni mitchell now, but it was johnny jenkins before.
What’s your sound? reflecting the time between a crap game and a scary game?
Just discovered a new artist by the name of Gabriella Cilmi but my musical tastes are rather eclectic. I suppose I still carry a torch for Floyd and Zep, plus various classical composers.
# 66. Clive · 1st April · 10:46am
my musical tastes are rather eclectic.
mine too :)
I suppose I still carry a torch for Floyd and Zep
me too :)
plus various classical composers
got an infatuation with scarlatti of late
Can’t say I’ve heard much of Scarlatti, I quite like Sibelius and Barber, and occasionally Tavener.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/spo.....fro201.xml
who would we want to poach?
http://www.skysports.com/story.....14,00.html
explains a lot
Bluetone - no jovanotti in there!! lol
You know you love it - whack your hoody up and your away!
This is where lolli will attack us over our fake tans and gucci sunglasses!
@Clive
I’ve always been terrible at English, grammer and speeling! But maybe there is an band called Isreal from Malaysia and it was a froudient spill!!!
@Cheebeef
I’ve no right to pick you up on your spelling, I’m just as bad sometimes, but it was funny. ;-)
70. Munkeyfeet · 1st April · 11:07am
i must be wearing the worse fake tan in history.
My glasses were thick-framed black Persol, affectionately called “Pertinis” by opticians. My then 18-month-old threw ‘em off a window :(
Jovanotti has become pretty serious and currently campaigns for the Democratic Party
and my way of describing my musical tastes used to be “everything between Pavarotti and Jovanotti” :)
From the Guardian:
Zico says Fenerbahce must beat Chelsea at home
Now that’s what i call a scoop.
Just when everyone thought they’d be content with just conceding 4
Lolli still quiet……………..too quiet
One for us next year. SWP perhaps to leave, but this guy in?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/h.....324224.stm
I genuinely think he has what it takes to be a new Beckham…..plus he helps us keep the UK quota up, and unlike SWP his crosses and shooting seem to be quite good. Add him to my list along with Villa and Alves.
If he even amounts to a new Pat Nevin, he’s definitely in. Now let’s also get the new David Speedie
Would like to see Bentley here - think he has the potential; big jump from Blackburn to here but as long as he’s not silly money, has to be worth a go.
It will be ok, fener players can only run for 25 minutes they all old age pensions now.
But I still think RA should send AG sideways, the only thing AG brought to chelsea is luck, never seen a team in my life winning so many games with this sort of luck.
@69. Munkeyfeet · 1st April · 11:06am
Munk the golden whistle has been under unvestigation for the last 5 years, nothing will happen, though Pinto da Costa the president of Portofc is a mafia guy, I doubt that JM knew anything about what was going behind the scenes.
In 2004 the team playing best football was Sporting but against the referees being paid by the Portofc president they lost the title.
@JD
Just pop down to the Cobham car park. You should see at least 20 Bentleys there.
C’mon guys AG still claims chelsea playing wonderfull football, not like “before”, what you guys complaining and ranting about?
OK!!!! write in here who would be a better manager than AG? the man is a GENIUS, just watch that FLUKE substitutions against Arsenal, it worked, sometimes subs. must work.
The game against Arsenal was a fluke, lets see what ManU will do in SB.
@Mark
Just pop down to the Cobham car park. You should see at least 20 Bentleys there.
The worry is that in these heady days of inflated transfer prices, you could probably buy them all for far less than one Blackburn winger would cost…!
Not entirely convinced about Bentley. I’d rather see somebody with a bit more pace and invention and flair, he’s very good but a little methodical and one-dimensional.
With no disrespect to Sparky (who is coming along nicely as a manager), it might benefit Bentley if he played under a top-notch coach.
Actually, I’m already seeing a flaw in this plan…
Not sure if anyone has seen this on BBC…
Berlusconi said: “I would like Andriy on a performance-related contract in order to motivate him. If he has the will, he will return.”
maybe we should put players on a similar contract before they arrive…
Always wondered what that entails exactly. “Performance related Pay’ - it’s got to be pretty messy.
Needless to say, no one would come to Chelsea if we ran that policy… No one who is good enough that is.
i think if we did put some of our current crop on performance related pay then you might just get a surprise when you walk into your local to see mr malouda (is that a can of worms im opening) pulling pints to make ends meet.
i hear shevchenko makes an excellent bloody mary for the morning after a big night…
“what’ll it be llyod?”
“hair of the dog that bit me!”
Can just picture it now - Cheers, Chelsea style. Sheva as Woody and Grant as Norm…
“Hey Norm, how’s the world been treating you?”
“Like a baby treats a diaper.”
Sometimes he’ll score goals that you would never expect him to score, but the ones you’d expect him to score.. well, we know what happens…
How is it he managed too get so many for City the season before we bought him?
A lot of them, if I remember rightly, were runs that started off from the right, ending in shots from central positions.
For us, when he’s on the right, he looks completely hopeless 90% of the time. He keeps trying to go on the outside, falls over, gets the ball caught up between his feet, scuffs his crosses, etc.
If he was to keep coming inside isntead of trying to take fullbacks on on the outside, would it not prove more effective?
For a while when Ballack was out, SWP was actually one of our regular scorers, and it did look like he might have found some proper form.
All back to normal again though.
Oopps thought I was on a Chelsea forum!!!!!
sorry I’ll go look for it elsewhere……….
IN
Bentley, Dani Alves and Gomez I hope, Gomez 24 goals in 26 games this season and could be a great replacement for Didier, I dont think we will have a problem getting Alves this time, Del Nido has said they will have to sell if they dont get in the UCL spot which they are 5 points away from with a few games to go!
I’d love to see Bentley at Chelsea, think i said so last week. Hearing today that he’d be more than willing to play for a big team is bound to get the offers flooding in from the top clubs. There’s no way Sparky will be able to keep him at Blackburn now he’s said that.
You can’t blame him for wanting to leave if he gets the right offer really. he’s only 22 years old, talented midfielder AND winger and he wants to play European football, which he’s not likely to see at Blackburn any time this decade! He’d be close to ( if not already ) retired waiting for them to get a top 4 place!
Fingers crossed that we put in an offer before Man Ure do!!
@ CASHIF
Regarding “performance related pay”…I used to earn my wages that way, it’s not messy in any way but it DOES involve lots of speed and very, very hard work. Basically, the harder and quicker you work, the better you pay is at the end of the week. Seeing as Sheva neither works quick OR hard, i’d say his weekly pay would be pretty shit, wouldn’t you?!
@ MUNKEY & BLUTONE
whack your hoody up and your away!
This is where lolli will attack us over our fake tans and gucci sunglasses!
Thanks guys! Now i really understand your style. Strictly no Gucci..fake (munkey) or otherwise but definitely Kangol!! Combined with Chino’s. And fake tan. Mama Mia! It’s enough to turn the blood cold!
also, i’m “quiet” throughout the day because i work hard for a livng!!
You 2 get worse, especially as you seem to of teamed up! I’m at an unfair advantage.
Horse face has just scored against Roma.
Bastard.
So..Utd slaughtered Roma 2-0 tonight. Made them look like a Sunday morning pub team! There’s NO WAY Roma stand a chance at Old Trafford, so it’s 100% safe to say that Man Ure are through to the semi’s.
Tomorrow, i see the Scum winning by 1-0…and us winning 2-1..
94. lollipop · 1st April · 10:17pm
NO WAY Roma stand a chance
it was like that even before the ball was kicked. they may have brilliance in front, but they are hopelessly weak at the back. Manure are currently too good for almost anyone. Still, same was said of arsenal two months ago. the score at SB again?
94. lollipop · 1st April · 10:17pm
Tomorrow, i see the Scum winning by 1-0…and us winning 2-1..
too ample choice of scum there :)
we’ll get away with a goalless draw
Hmm… I bet we pick up a win tomorrow. Does Fenebahce have the teeth in attack to score on us? We’ve conceded less than any team in the Champions League! (Stats: conceded 2 in the last 8). We have a lot to prove after this most recent performance and the only significant injury is to Petr Cech. Lampard should be returning for the match.
Furthermore, I think Arsenal will be able to find a victory over Liverpool tomorrow, too. I pick them because they’re a hungry team, and they’ll be looking to pick up an advantage while they’re still at home. If this match were at the Emirates I might have to go with Liverfool, but I doubt this CL win streak will be extended to include a sixth game.
Chelsea 2-0 Fenerbahce
Arsenal 1-0 Liverpool
GO BLUES!
Oops. I meant to say “If this match were at Anfield I might have to go with Liverfool…”
@ BLUETONE
Have more confidence please. It’ll be a win later.
Didier’s being rested and Anelka is playing up front. SuperFrank trained yesterday, so will hopefully also be playing.
Up the Chels xxx
86. @ DYLBO
When he was talking about performance-related pay, he actually was talking about Ronaldo who is injured for about 9 months.
@ Lolli
Where did you see the info about Drogba being rested? Crazy decision if it is true. However, I think the more likely scenario is that he is injured and they don’t want to let on. He got a knock on the ankle just before half time against Boro, and as a result was utter rubbish for the second half.
Regardle
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/spo.....che202.xml
But the last paragraph made me laugh
Touchline duel
Zico v Avram Grant
It would surely go down as Zico’s greatest feat as a manager should he see off Chelsea and he might have been able to do it earlier in Grant’s reign but not now as Chelsea’s balance between attack and defence is getting better all the time.
00. Peter · 18th March · 2:29pm
There’s a great line from Caine about Chelsea in ‘Alfie’ right at the start where he talks about one of the husbands he cuckolds and points out that the bloke is a Chelsea fan, so he’s used to disappointment. If anybody can find me a direct quote, I’d be very grateful.
heres the quote Peter
Once I’ve met the husband,
it don’t half put me off the wife.
He could be dying, but if I ain’t
met him, I won’t think about him.
It’s once you meet. Like as not,
he’ll turn out to be a good sport.
His sort usually are.
As I’m having it off with her,
I keep thinking about him
hanging up his shirts.
Or arguing in the pub
about football or cricket.
You get a lot of his sort,
Chelsea supporters.
For anyone interested or didn’t know, the second leg of the Youth Cup final will be live on Sky on Wednesday 16th April at 7.30 (not sure about the first leg though).
Then the senior team away at Everton (the game AG is getting his y-fronts in a twist about) is on Sky the following night.
A Thursday.
I thought Thursdays were reserved for UEFA cup games on ITV4 and Channel 5, presented by Colin Murray with expert analysis from John ‘Gets to your thirst, fast’ Barnes.
Lolli - us spags have to stick together. LOL you paint a beautiful image of us!!
Bluetone - i have the jovanotti album - i didnt know he was getting into politics, though in Italy that doesnt say much!
Looking forward to tonight - i predict us turning a corner tonight - anelka to score along with j cole. Riccy to have a stormer and grant will wear black.
105. Munkeyfeet · 2nd April · 12:39pm
apparently DD will be “rested” tonight because of AG allegedly having “lost patience” with him.
Lost patience bout what? scoring too much against the gooners?
Have you seen a Gooner wife?
(Have you seen a Gooner wife?)
A club foot (A club foot)
A hairy **** (A hairy ****)
VD (VD)
48s (48s)
A double chin (A double chin)
A hair lip (A hair lip)
A broken nose (A broken nose)
A wonkey eye (A wonkey eye)
Aaaaand
gooool
den
haaaaairrrrrr…..
Alouette, Chelsea Alouette, Alouette, Chelsea Alouette
Youth Cup final
The first leg is at The Bridge tomorrow night and entry is free.
Cheers Bluetone! So according to Alfie, Chelsea fans are good blokes but easily cuckolded.
107. Chebeef,
Thanks, my note meant (but wasn’t particularly clear) I didn’t know if there was any TV coverage.
Chelsea fans are good blokes but easily cuckolded.
So any guesses who Max Mosley supports?????
So any guesses who Max Mosley supports?????
Let’s keep those answers clean, people…!
Let’s keep those answers clean, people…!
You’re such a killjoy JD!
All good teams have scrappy wins. Its what makes them good teams. No, Great teams.
Man Utd may have battered Villa this weekend, but if we think back to the beginning of the season they were scraping 1-0 wins left, right and centre.
Grant has a PL record this season of: Pl 26, Won 18 (69.2%), Drawn 6 (23.1%), Lost 2 (7.7%). That’s a 69.2% win percentage - a fantastic achievement. It’s far better (although admittedly over a much shorter time,) than football god Arsene Wenger.
Of course Grant inheritted a great squad. Of course Chelsea don’t play the football we all dream of. But… cut the guy some slack for God sake. We won. 3 points. Happy days!!!
@ GREENLIGHT
Heard about Didier not being played this morning before i went to work on Sky Sports News.
@ MUNKEY
Just returning the insults sweetie pie! x
Drogs is IN, Anelka on bench. Avram will make his mind up!! It’s just to keep opposing teams guessing upto the last minute ain’t it?
Malouda IN…Hmmmm….
1-0 down still im confident we can get a draw or even a win, Essien just hit the bar!
My bad 1-0 up, wtf was I thinking lol!
All in all, a good first half performance, though we should easily be at least 4-0 up by now. Didier or Joe have got to score!- Joey’s having a great game..as per usual.
Think Volcan should give Carlo his scarf! He’s hardly had anything to do and is the only one on the pitch who hasn’t yet worked up a sweat! To be fair, Fener did seem to wake up in the last 15 minutes.
Why is Essien at the back??
p.s Arsenal 1 Liverscum 1
Adebayour (suprise, suprise) and Kuyt
Can see it coming…just know it’s gonna be THEM!!!
can someone knock sense into the person that is suppose to bring on subs to change flow of game when team is losing. I thought that was the managers job oh well maybe RA should give AG a call and ask for the subs
back 2 anelka playing on the wing ..this grant character is def making match winning choices again.
2-1, looks like we will need a win the next leg by 1 goal as long as we dont concede, I wouldnt be suprised if we got KOd with AGs big game blunders!
Yet again we snatch defeat from the jaws of victory,what is Grant doing with his subs AGAIN!!!!
How much longer do we have to put up with Grants total lack of tactical knowledge and experience.
It’s about time that RA or PK realised that Grant is not going to be able to take us to the next level,he’s simply not good enough.
Would the people in control of Manure,Arsenal or Liverpool put up with having someone totally out of his depth for so long?
The answer is NO!!!!!!!!
Fuck me.
Makalele out on his feet , so….take off Lampard and bring on Mikel Obi? The man’s a fucking genius.
Still with Joe Cole trying to feed drogba we should be OK, despite Drogba tiring and giving the ball away…….that’s it bring on Anelka and maybe replace Drogs or Malouda…….oh….you’re taking Joe Cole off then and playing Anelka the striker on the right wing….
Give me strength.
The first person who says Cech would have saved either goal will be firmly ‘flamed’ heavily by me. That second goal of theirs was something else.
lolli,
I think you’re right. Arsenal will go all out at the weekend to get 3 points and liverpool will hold back for their CL second leg as fourth spot in the prem is a done thing.
KTBFFH
Sorry I’m in a bit of a rush, throwing out all my black shirts, and Chelsea replica jerseys, and quickly washing my old replica Man Utd shirts for emergencies like these!
Avram Grant, you f***ing a**hole!!
Can’t lead a punch of sheep to the pasture!!
I can’t stand him anylonger, why does he insist over and over again to play Essien on the RB? first I thought he liked it the Arsenal way and would push Essien in the second half to the midfield with Anelka coming in for either Ballak or Lamps, but no, he wanted to make a fool of himself with utter bullsh1t substitutions.
I can’t even see us win over Fenerbache, a draw is all this beast is capable of, I do believe that Clarck-Ten Cate is a far better combination thatn this ….!!
Forever Blue (even if AG would still be, God forbid, our manager)
I really can’t understand why someone doesn’t question Grant’s substitutions,does he wield that much power that Steve Clarke has no imput during a game.
It’s a total mystery that Grant’s allowed to make the same mistakes game after game and nothing is done about it.
Does RA honestly believe that having Grant in charge is a good idea?
Does RA want us to become a team that other fans laugh at and not fear?
Does RA want to lose most of his top players because they have no faith in Grant?
Does RA really know what 99% of Chelsea fans think of Grant’s appointment?
If the answer to any of these is yes
We have a very uncertain future and are going nowhere fast and changes HAVE to be made,albeit at the end of the season.
We CANNOT afford to have Grant in charge at the start of next season.
I am a very sad and angry Chelsea and have been for over 40yrs.
To be fair, we should have buried them by half time and you can’t blame the manager for all those misses (and how greedy was Drogba). The players found it so easy, they couldn’t respond when Zico made some smart substitution - and there they weren’t helped by Grant’s typically rubbish changes.
We should be fine for the home game - they were exceptionally lucky to get that win tonight and they won’t have us much fortune at the Bridge, and we won’t be so arrogant.
I can’t see us going any further then the semi, though. And I’m definitely not seeing anything that makes me change my view of the manager - Arsenal looks like a fluke.
We won’t win anything as long as he’s in charge.
I’ve just seen the post match with AG
“Dis ees football” multiplied by about 6. He patently didn’t have a clue as to what went wrong, in fact Ballacks interview was more revealing as he alluded to laziness and lapses in concentration.
In the end sloppy finishing from us yet again has cost the game. We should have been 3 up by half time and then come out and strangled the game like we used to. Tonight was the same old story of an over reliance on a single striker, playing a midfielder at right back when we have 2 ready made purpose built ones available, the same old 4-3-3. We field a left winger who’s ONLY good game this year was a friendly for us pre-season and a game for France against England - although to be fair he had a reasonable game tonight but aginst all his previous appearances he’d look pretty good just by putting his boots on the right feet.When it all started to go wrong I actually wanted to see Kalou there tonight. 3 subs - Anelka for Drogba, Mikel for Makalele, Kalou for Malouda.
Does anyone else think that a 4-4-2 would have been fine tonight?
As much as I want Grant out, i don’t really want it at the expense of winnable games like this.
And before anyone starts, yes, we can beat them at the Bridge, but remember Fulham…..Blackburn…..Villa….Everton.
The pressures on. And yes, I’m fucking annoyed for the second time in 4 days!
I meant to say
I am a very sad and angry fan
I have been a Chelsea fan for over 40yrs.