Matches, Premier League - Written by BlueChampion on Sunday, November 19, 2006 3:25 | 1,580 Views | 9 Comments | Add Comment
Chelsea 1-0 West Ham: Didn’t hammer them as such!
Surprise! Surprise!
It wasn’t quite the five-star performance I was hoping for. Anyway, why should I be unhappy to see us leave the Bridge with three points? We were easily the superior side. If you saw the game you could have realised this. We had many decisive chances that could have sealed the game beyond doubt whereas the Hammers were trying hard to get atleast one shot on target. But in all fairness, I should say they played very well. Like Jose said they gave us a game. They were never short of confidence and they kept charging us time and again.
My heart was thumping whenever Tevez got the ball. I’m sure if Tevez had not played in this match, the quality gulf between Chelsea and West Ham could have been much wider. Tevez was the only player who could match Chelsea’s quality and kept troubling us. Will he be Chelsea-bound next season? He certainly deserves to play for a Champions side. I’d welcome him for one.
Geremi has completed his hattrick of superb performances. After some aggressive defending and setting up of goals, he slotted one in the top right corner from a free kick. Lampard got ready for the free kick and in a flash comes Geremi and shoots us to 1-0 up. Pardew must have been thinking “You bastards!”.
The remarkable thing was that he took the free kick in a team which had Lampard, Shevchenko, Robben, Drogba and Essien. That’s Chelsea for you. There was a surprise plan and that was tried out in the training ground several times and like a charm, it was reproduced in the derby. Sheva gave couple of beautiful passes into the box that were wasted. Drogba worked hard and took a day off from his busy scoring schedule. Lampard dominated the midfield but should have buried some with ease.
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Jose Mourinho said in the post-match conference:
I think they played a good game, I would say [it was] a comfortable game for 88 minutes and a difficult game for the last five. I think we produced enough to score a second goal and kill the game but we didn’t. And after that we face a good team - good players, good manager, good team - and it was a difficult match because they were always organised and they wait until the last minute. When they felt the game was almost over they put everything forward. Sheringham, Harewood, Tevez, Ferdinand as striker, so they gambled in the last five minutes.
It was a satisfactory performance because we beat a good team. I see the quality of their players and manager and I don’t think they deserve to be in the position they are. We had enough chances to kill the game. But we didn’t and in the last five minutes or so they threw a lot of bodies up. However the reality is we were in control and deserved the win. As for Geremi, he scores those goals all the time in training. He is playing well, setting up chances and I like him.
Sad to see Ricardo going off with an injury but that, only that, gave Khalid another chance. It was not an impressive show by Khalid I should say. Lost the ball in crucial areas, failed to win winnable tackles, unwarranated clearance, he gotta get better than this. One glaring chink in our armour today was the poor communication between Carlo and the back four. On quite a few occasions, it caused us some serious problems with Carlo colliding with our own men.
Robben must be wondering what he needs to do to hit the stuff in the back of the net. I would say, it was more of misfortune than poor finishing. He’ll come good. I hope Jose persists with him. Once again, Joe Cole made a guest appearance. Apart from a couple of good runs and losing of the ball, he was not that visible. But he can be a force if he plays for 90 minutes. Jose played Obi (for 10 ‘okay’ minutes), only after the kid apologised for his bad behaviour. I’m sure Jose would make a man out of this extraordinarily talented spoilt kid.
The last 10 minutes or so were not very comfortable and I could not help recollect the horrors of the middlesbrough match this season. We were very shaky in defence in the last quarter and even the attack was little reckless. May be that was complacency or plain bad play or may be they didn’t want to push themselves too much. I’m sure Jose would have had in mind the important mid-week match against Bremen and the next weekend blockbuster.
I’ve started liking Pardew since he provoked Arsene Wenger to reveal his ‘class’. I took Pardew’s side in that incident with absolutely no bias against Wenger. Now he’s gone one notch higher in my books when he said the below.
His team carry lots of superstars and are always highly motivated. It’s difficult to say he’s underrated - Jose will certainly say that, I’m sure - but you can’t manage a team like Chelsea and have all those superstars unless you are a great manager. It’s very difficult to manage players with large egos, fantastic ability and huge salaries. And he motivates them and gets them into a team structure that wins most games.
The problem you have is that if you’re a superstar player you expect to play. He’s carrying 18 of those. Some players at clubs can almost accept the fact they are not in the starting eleven, but are ready to come in and show their professionalism when called upon. At the big clubs, especially Chelsea when they are paid very large salaries, it must be difficult to manage.
Elsewhere, Arsenal and Liverpool continued with their home and away form respectively. While I was unduly ecstatic when Sheff went ahead against Man Utd, Rooney did the formalities to complete the inevitable.
We have got Werder Bremen in the mid-week. For once, Barca must be hoping Chelsea wins as it makes their qualification easier. I dont think, we should put too much pressure on ourselves to win this Bremen match. A second team would do for me. Let the top guys be fully charged for Old Trafford.
[tags] Chelsea, West Ham, Jose Mourinho, Alan Pardew, Geremi, Werder Bremen, Barcelona, Premiership, Old Trafford [/tags]
9 Comments
1. roman
2. chelsea4eva
it was a regulation 1-0 win for us. it was clear that Jose did not want to push anyone too much. geremi now proves to be such a winner that neither paulo nor boularouz can relax. geremi deserves more chances
3. Ashton
geremi is the best thing to have happened for us in the last fortnight. khalid should up his level to beat geremi for a starting place
That’s right Roman. Even I get the feeling that Man Utd would be ready to compromise on Champs League for Premiership. Their are chinks in their armour which would be discussed in the next post (or in the match preview post). Good topic!
5. Siddharth
Ok match, no problems to both the keepers. Considering Bremen and Man U matches coming, players must’ve played safely.
One thing I’m worried is : - Arjen Robben.
If whatever reported by media is true, there is a possibility that Robben will leave Chelsea. For me he is the best left winger in the world. We can not substitute him with anyone else in the world. Jose must do something about it.
When we sold Duff to Newcastle, Jose said that Duff is a good player but he is not desperate to keep him. Robben is the player he is desperate to keep. Eventually we protected Robben from Real. We must do the same thing now. The most important thing is he is just 22 years old and have lot of playing years ahead of him.
Anybody having any update on this issue please post it.
6. roman
Wel, Sid
The problem may be that he is still a bit too young to be 100% mature and when you’re young u do want to keep you’re options open.
But in this game , you have to win things ,big things while you’re young too.
On the other hand, Geremi who did come from Real where chances and garantees of a first team place and logic were and still are ,more than a bit hazy,is different .
Tell me ,is Real’s star in the ascendency or not? Doesn’t look like it yet.
It’s more like a final pit stop for guys just over the hill ,past their best .By the time which is soon ,Cannvaro and the aged back line retire they have to experiment with other guys in defense and it won’t matter if they have the best leftback or whatever they are not goona be able to win the la liga ,let alone the champs league.
Wouldn’t I just love us to meet Real in the knock out or QF of the CL.Then we would see which team is the ascendency and if someone wants to leave even though the manger and staff and fellow players do their best to keep him, well that’s life.
But I really like the guy Robben and not only for his on the field skill & heroics but for his smile and tenacity. He looks a decent and modest man.I hope his goals come soon especially in the Sunday ManU match. I hope he skins the manu back-line especially the aging Neville guy or let them have Silvetre go up against Robben . That would be a treat
Roman
7. Bader Al Tirkait
Hi guys,
Chelsea hit hammers 1-0 was something i really thought it would happen but it was Geremi who put the freekick in the nets. Great effort. Good job from Geremi.
Something made me more and more confident, and it is Frank Lampard. His rescent performances made his critics simple dissapear! Lampard, week to week performances were wonderful, and he trully deserved his wonder goal in Barcelona. He has great ability. Against West Ham he was a threat shootig from good ranges and making chances. He is simply brilliant.
We beat West Ham United 1-0 and it is a good result before a game in the English Premier League against Manchester in Old Trafford. It will be really hard i think. But Jose men are standing in metal coats and i hope we will defeat Manchester who are performing in fact really well. Hope to see:
Cudicini- Terry, Boulahrouz, Cole, Geremi- Makelele, Lampard, Essien, J Cole- Robben, Drogba
Siddarth!
Robben is young and may be he is little too hasty in going to the press. If he was more accurate and had mor luck, he could have now got about 5 or 6 goals, but in reality he’s got none. He had 8 starts out of 13 matches in which he could have played. In a team like Chelsea, you should be happy with this. If someone is feeling bad, it should be Joe Cole who is not in the starting line-up nowadays despite being fit and despite scoring in the Carling Cup. With the number of matches we are expected to feature, it is hard to play the same team over and over again. People will have to rested, some might get injured, some get suspended etc. Everyone will get a chance. This I’m saying to Joe Cole and not to Robben because Robben got his fair share, which did not quite capitalise on.
And yes, Robben is an exciting young player and I’d love to see him stay here. Jose is the master of the art of man-management. He knows best what to do with this situation. Even if Robben leaves, we lose a very good player but that will not rock the boat. I have so much confidence is Jose that he will not allow anything, for that matter, to rock the boat. Let Robben score a few goals and contribute to some crucial wins, then his mindset will change. It’ll be allright.
9. vicky
poor ROBBEN has his bad time.hes not bein able 2 finsih welll i relly pity
.but chelsea cant take such risks any more so i gez d question of malouda arises
but i don tink we need maloudaaa even if robben goz coz
as if our bench iss 2strongg and wat abt joe cole den
but as a true sports person and for good of joe cole i wud like him 2 quit chelsea coz his talent is bein wasted at chelseaaaa he shud b given moree starts aor i gez joe cole will b on his way out of da club
so i insist dat joe cole shud play more regularly instead of robben
m not denyin dat robben’s bad but joe cole is in hot form and chelsea hav 2 xploit d best out offf him.
JOSEEEE MOURINHOO ROCKSSSSSSSSSSSS-THE SPECIAL 1 EVER
HES D BEST .HES D GR8EST BETTA DAN MARADONA(no offence plz its ma view)
Yup you’re right
| Quote This Comment | Add Comment | Go To Top | Back To Home | Gravatar | BC Shout | BBC Radio | Refresh |The bremen encounter is secondary lose win draw whatever to the manu match. Bet they (manu)are gonna be resting their best too. Everyone who hasn’t been playing gets an outing . But I was watching both matches last night . They came out with their full first team and had to have their full team for even Sheff? They’re probably not gonna care about the champs league so they’re focusing on EPL that’s evident .
BC you see any chinks in their “armour(y)”?