Match reports
The Observer, Paul Wilson: “Inevitably this west-east London derby was a bad-tempered bearpit, and inevitably it was won for Chelsea by a goal from a former West Ham player.”
Sunday Times, Joe Lovejoy: “Chelsea are now unbeaten in their last 70 league matches at Stamford Bridge, and Grant has not been on the losing side [...]
- by Tony Glover · Permalink · 2410 views · 55 comments
- Tagged: Alex, Avram Grant, Carlo Cudicini, Chelsea, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Howard Webb, Joe Cole, John Terry, Jon Obi Mikel, Jose Mourinho, Premier League, Roman Abramovich, Salomon Kalou, Scott Parker, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Steve Sidwell, West Ham United
Match reports
The Guardian, Kevin McCarra: “[Chelsea] sustained their close pursuit of leaders Manchester United, with the gap now at three points once more. Jose Mourinho even flaunted the depth of his squad, with five changes from the FA Cup semi-final line-up. Shaun Wright-Phillips did not so much slip back into the first XI as dominate [...]
- by Tony Glover · Permalink · 2901 views · 51 comments
- Tagged: Chelsea, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, John Terry, Jon Obi Mikel, Jose Mourinho, Lassana Diarra, Michael Ballack, Michael Essien, Paulo Ferreira, Premiership, Ricardo Carvalho, Salomon Kalou, Shaun Wright-Phillips, The Hammers, Upton Park, Wayne Bridge, West Ham United
Match reports
The Observer, Stuart Barnes: “What looked like a stroll when Frank Lampard struck in familiar fashion proved anything but for Chelsea. Before and after Lampard’s 18th-minute goal, they were in control of virtually every situation. But their failure to deliver a clinching second goal offered Charlton the incentive to regroup, redouble their efforts and [...]
- by Nick Benfield · Permalink · 2113 views · 32 comments
- Tagged: Alan Pardew, Arsenal, Ashley Cole, Charlton Athletic, Chelsea, Frank Lampard, Jose Mourinho, Lassana Diarra, Liverpool, Premiership, Tottenham Hotspur, Wayne Bridge, West Ham United
First half bad, second half good – this might well be the chanted mantra of the average Chelsea supporting alpha male these days as he tears off more meat with his teeth whilst his wife toils away at the ironing and washing (well maybe that’s just my house on a cold Sunday afternoon when we [...]
- by Tony Glover · Permalink · 2696 views · 13 comments
- Tagged: Andriy Shevchenko, Andy Johnson, Arjen Robben, Arsenal, Barcelona, Carlo Cudicini, Chelsea, Didier Drogba, Everton, Frank Lampard, Geremi Njitap, Goodison Park, Joe Cole, John Terry, Jose Mourinho, Khalid Boulahrouz, Matches, Newcastle United, Petr Cech, Premiership, Ricardo Carvalho, Salomon Kalou, Shaun Wright-Phillips, The Hammers, Victor Anichebe, Werder Bremen, West Ham United
Match reports
Daily Telegraph, Clive Tyldesley: “Functional? Effective? Boring even? Not a bit of it. Chelsea’s true champion pedigree was underlined by moments of rare brilliance and beauty in a stunning success at Goodison Park. Trailing 2-1 with less than 10 minutes remaining, they turned a damaging defeat into what could prove to be a pivotal [...]
- by Jonathan Dyer · Permalink · 2027 views · 11 comments
- Tagged: Alex Ferguson, Didier Drogba, Everton, Frank Lampard, Henrique Hilario, Jonathan Dyer, Jose Mourinho, Khalid Boulahrouz, Manchester United, Premiership, West Ham United
One of my Arsenal supporting friends recently claimed Chelsea were “spoiling football”. It set me thinking and the conclusions are set out below.
Newcastle United are close to being bought by another foreign consortium to add to Liverpool, Manchester United, Portsmouth, Aston Villa, West Ham United and, obviously, our beloved Blues, and yet it is [...]
- by Contributing Blogger · Permalink · 1916 views · 9 comments
- Tagged: Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Aston Villa, Joe Cole, John Terry, Jose Mourinho, Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Portsmouth, West Ham United
Match reports
The Guardian, Jon Brodkin: “Chelsea beating West Ham did not even register on the Richter scale. Mourinho’s players will need to raise their level in Bremen and Manchester but it felt as though they would have stepped up a gear had West Ham equalised Geremi’s nicely curled free-kick.”
Daily Telegraph, Clive Tyldesley: “Both of the [...]
Struggling West Ham are today’s visitors to Stamford Bridge.
Jose Mourinho has no new injury problems to contend with. Carlo Cudicini will keep his place in goal, while John Obi Mikel is expected to figure for first time since he was sent off against Reading last month after apologising for his errant behaviour.
Meanwhile Joe Cole, one [...]
In the aftermath of Sunday’s defeat to Spurs, it feels as though the fallout from the game is likely to go on for as long as Chelsea’s spell of dominance over the boys from No Point Lane (a temporary name, of course).
Sunday’s London derbies provided enough drama and incident to keep the hacks in business [...]
- by Jonathan Dyer · Permalink · 3034 views · 5 comments
- Tagged: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Claude Makelele, Graham Poll, John Terry, Jonathan Dyer, Spurs, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, White Hart Lane
Given the drama and speculation flying around Chelsea last week, you could have been forgiven for thinking that Oliver Stone was orchestrating events rather than Peter Kenyon. Football’s armchair pundits, well known to be fond of a conspiracy theory went from Parker Knoll to grassy knoll quicker than you could say ‘Abramovich’.
The conclusion of [...]
