Everton 2-3 Chelsea: Truly a Super Sunday!
Never give up!
What a day! Chelsea gave me quite a scare before Super Frank and Super Drog showed who are the best in the Premiership. Jose continued his experiments with Robben upfront in today’s 4-3-1-2. I was not quite convinced whether Robben can be a second striker as he is at his best when he is in the left wing. And I was not happy about Ballack being the attacking midfielder of this formation, instead of Lampard. More worrying was knowing Hilario in the goal, with Khalid replacing the injured Terry. In short, I had my fingers crossed as we started off.
We did make a mess of this match, to say the truth. Khalid was looking very shaky and he was always giving Everton a chance with his errors in judgment and elements of doubt. When he made bad mistake and gave away a penalty it was deja vu of the corresponding match last season.
We did equalise with a superb free kick from Ballack which swerved out and curved back in. Though it was adjudged as an own goal as the ball rebounded from the keeper’s back to cross the line, the effort from Ballack should be appreciated. Despite the excellent free kick, Ballack, in this match too, was not at his best – losing the ball in key areas, misplaced passes, poor understanding with the other players etc. He is a big player and he would know how to sort this out.
After we equalised, we went up a gear and were blinding Everton with our high tempo attacks. Just when it looked like we might take the lead any moment, we allowed Everton to take the lead with a good header from Yobo off a corner kick. It was clearly an error by Hilario. Cech would coolly collected it or would have atleast pushed it across. Having seen us equalise against Man Utd and Arsenal, I was always hoping for it to happen. Also, I was sure that if our equaliser is anything but a stoppage time goal, we would go for the win and we will win.
In the second half, Jose changed from 4-3-1-2 to 4-3-3 as he brought on Kalou. As the match progressed, he even changed it to 3-4-3 when Sheva and Bridge came on. Having the bench strength is one thing, to use the players effectively with a tactic relevant for the stage of the match is another. Jose used his resources briliiantly and he was always aggressive and played all the cards superbly and was pushing for a win. That’s why he is one of the top managers in club football. I’m not sure if, some of the other top managers would have continued with 3-4-3 after they equalise in the 81st minute. Jose did.
After the match Jose said:
Players with normal personalities would put their arms down and the game is lost. But they kept believing until the last second and fought for the result. Of course, there was a bit of tactical change, with Salomon Kalou coming on for Geremi, but I told them it’s about belief. If you don’t believe you have no chance. The players have quality so it’s a question of confidence. At this moment, everything looks like it’s against us so they need to be very strong – and that belief they had was very important.
Just when the Everton was hanging on for a memorable win over Chelsea after 15 years, Super Frank Lampard got a good ball from Kalou and positioned himself and blasted one to the top right corner of the post. That was Lampard for you. He delivers for Chelsea when it matters most (like in Camp Nou), and he does it so consistently well.
[youtube]ijPDuOe9gpI[/youtube]
After this goal, it was only a matter of time before we got the winner. Shevchenko played well in those 20 minutes or so, and he had some very shots on target too. We hit the post many many times but fortune has always favoured the brave. Sheva headed a Hilario’s long ball to Didier, who was about 35 yards in front of the goal. Drogba chested it and blasted a volley for the winner. We are the Champions! Say it loud!
[youtube]41EIs2R8jyg[/youtube]
We had our problems in this match, not the best performance defensively but now is a moment to enjoy and cherish. After all, we scored three away goals in Goodison Park, twice came from behind and scored the last two goals with just over 10 minutes to go!
And then the cherry on the cake! Readers of this blog might remember that I had all my hopes on the West Ham vs Man Utd match and I had mentioned this would be the crucial match for Man Utd and our gap might be reduced. Alan Curbishley’s new West Ham did just enough to make this a perfect Sunday for us. Though West Ham scored in the 75th minutes, Man Utd players could not give a response or reaction like Chelsea did. All credit to West Ham, they thoroughly deserved three points.
So now, it is just 2 points between us and Man Utd. My other hope/prediction is that Chelsea would top the table by Christmas. If we keep winning and if Man Utd lose a game again, we’ll be on top! I always believed that this gap can be closed easily. Believe it or not, now the pressure is more on Man Utd than on Chelsea. They know that is Chelsea tops, it will be very difficult to dislodge them again.
Looks like it’s all fine now and this world is a beautiful place!
[tags] Chelsea, Everton, Jose Mourinho, Lampard, Ballack, Drogba, Lampard goal video, Drogba goal video, Premiership, Manchester United, West Ham United [/tags]
Man U is losing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi folks,
Chelsea have just beat Everton 3-2 and I have watched all 90 minutes. It was a spectacular thriller and I am happy that we won but…
Chelsea again had problems as everyone could see. Yes we won but we cannot play like this and have luck or enough time to beat our opponents by the quality we have. I think I can see what is the problem. There are two problems.
The 1st one: the team do not bother to play “FOOTBALL†unless they concede. And the proof is not only Everton match. Remember: Barca (2-2), ManUtd (1-1), Arsenal (1-1) and now Everton (2-3). It’s just sheer luck that we won this match. We won only because we have a potential to win matches. But we did not play the football we should play in order ro retain the Premiership or simply to beat an opponent. It appears to me that Jose doesn’t bother to score and beat opponents in a normal manner like ManUtd do. Jose just wants to collect 3 points even if it means to collect all his 11 players in front of his goal for 89 minutes, to defend and then make a fast counterattack and score a goal in the last minute and win a match. The last proof to this is the 1st half of Everton match. I don’s say we defended, I just say we did nothing to score.
The 2nd problem is the team selection. I think Chelsea can play the diamond formation and be very successful but for this to be done the team needs right forces driving the diamond mechanism. As I mentioned in my previous comments already Jose should drop either Lamps or Ballack. Yes, you can say that 2 of 3 our goals against Everton came from Ballack and Lamps. But you will be wrong to put it in defence of Lamps-Ballack link. Because, first of all, it’s due to this linkage that Chelsea concedes first and doesn’t produce till new players and new formation is introduced. Ballack’s goal was a quality though a little bit lucky but that’s all. Robben, as I suggested, started but now there was no Sheva or any other striker along with Drogba. In the 1st half if you could see there was lack of power in the Chelsea’s attacking area. Robben gave width which we need but we need one more striker along with Drogba. Yes, Sheva is still weak but the Everton game as well as the Newcastle game showed that Drogba needs Sheva to help him. The assist was again from Sheva though 90% of the goal belongs to Drogba (it was a magnificent goal) but again Sheva did contribute.
To conclude, being again back on the scoresheet Jose just throwed in his stars in order to change the score. In my opinion Jose, himself, did nothing to win that match. But “Lady Luck†was on his side on this day. Wiii she be on his side every game??? I doubt it.
And ManUTD is defeated. What a day! Let’s celebrate it fellow blues. Huraaah!!!
Good-luck to Chelsea!!!
u r correct MD. In recent matches we haven’t tried to score a goal when score is 0-0, but when opposition scored, we played to our full potential.
but one important point i want to make here is, the way we play once we concede the goal. Against Arsenal in the last 10 mins. we created opportunities which we didn’t create in the first 80 mins. Today also the same thing happened. What I liked from this is when the chips are down, we play as a team, looked at the MAN U match today? when they conceded the goal, what extra effort they put in to win or even save a match. Nothing.
On the contrary look at us, Essien, Lampard,Drogba goals were sheer brilliance.
And when drogba scored in 87th min, for the last 7-8 mins. we defended well.
One more reason why we won today is bench strength. Intro. of Bridge and Sheva put new life in the team. Ashley is not a CD but he played there, giving us options to change the combination.
On the contrary look at MAN U bench strenght today, none of the players substitued in performed really.
I liked the way we played today, with only one thing we should kill the opposition rather than waiting for them to have a go at us.
Thanks
Dont forget that Drogba and Kalou hit the post and Everton’s only two chances on goal ended in goals.
Boulahrouz was a nightmare. As well as conceding Everton’s penalty he was VERY VERY lucky not to have conceded another penalty. Everton’s 18yr old Amicede made a mug of Boulahrouz had JT been playing we might have won 3-0 or more.
Plus don’t forget Sheva when he came on had TWO shots saved by Howard and just be happy and pleased that Chelsea won and MANURE lost as I almost predicted in a previous post.
To the moderator BLUE CHAMPION
Please create a KEEP THE FAITH thread!!
We always keep faith but we should be realists in order not to be badly awaken when a dream ends.
Thanx.
being a realist is being around ‘when we were shit’ Were you? Or are you a Jose Mourinho ‘pot-hunter’?
BC where is ur post? it 1:30 man.
Everton 2 – 3 Chelski
I must say you did not deserve anything out of todays game. You were the second best side for 75 mins of the game and if it were not for a 30 yard SCREAMER from the hunch back of Notradam you would have lost. Ballack was a great threat through out the game. Chelseas defence was truely awful today. I dont think from todays proformance you can win the league. If it wasnt for 2 wonder strikes you would have been an average team. Jolean Lescott had Robben in his pocket then when he went off Shevcheko makes LEON OSMAN !!! look good. He is very very poor. Everton battered Chelsea for all of the first half and most of the second. You were very very lucky to get anything out of that game
Sorry Jack! We were too good for you! Better luck next time!
I think we were awful in the 1st half. But we had wonderful fightback in the 2nd half. I still dont understand why do we need to concede 1st so as to play ‘classico’ football. For past of seasons defense was our forte but this season its a weakness. I still dont understand the substitutions. Can anyone tell me why the hell bridgey was brought in? I think A.Cole doesnt fit in the CB role.
I held my breath thinking that this would again be one of those awful days where we finally give up ground in the title race.
Khalid was awful, and Hilario too didn’t inspire confidence.
But we won. And in a spectacular manner. And Man Utd lost!
Lampard and Drogba goal were unbelievable. There are alot of problems to sort out – and I agree with most other posts here, that Ballack is a conundrum for Jose….
My beer tasted ever so sweet, last night after Drogba’sgoal
2 hours later , sheer joy,as ManUre ran into some seriuos opposition
So as I have said before
Team Spirit and the never-say-die attitude come first
The formation and what-not will take care of themselves
Always first comes the belief and the fighting spirit
Roman
to blue champion-y u r so against ballack? in ur every thread u write against him.in this thread also,despite scoring a superb goal.i agree with u that he misplaced some passes to front,but only in this match.in every match,if u watch,then watch his passes closely from next match.
And of course JM is doing something . Who would sit still and do nothing in the present scenario . Like last night when Robben was on, he wasn’t at his best ,So JM had to do something about it .
All this talk about who’s right or wrong ,this or that is good is OK , I guess. But the players have to make it happen on the field for any tactical change to pan out .Or any game to be won.
And u gotta be wily. All the other teams are looking for ways to stop us even more than Manure. They want the scalp of the champions .Extra motivation they have .
So as Joeblue said in his last post we gotta eke out wins at first and then tweak out the best smooth-flowing footbal system possible with the palyers we have and then peak and take the title .
But last night was a big big psychological boost.And warning to all the other teams ,even when we are not at our best we play like champions .
Roman
And guys,
at least we got no C.Ronaldo type who was groaning and moaning, making faces at each missed shot like it was his sovereign right to get a goal every time he happened to try. Or like Rooney who was getting visibly frustrated and about to explode.
No indeed our guys are cool and directed .
If the team is not going to win it collectively ,our guys just dug in and did what they had to do by themselves.
I’m not saying it’s the way to get the title but it’s a lot better than bitching about missed chances.
Lamps might have missed the goal by inches in the last moment of the Arsey game . But wasn’t pathetic about was he ?
Roman
And guys,
at least we got no C.Ronaldo type who was groaning and moaning, making faces at each missed shot like it was his sovereign right to get a goal every time he happened to try. Or like Rooney who was getting visibly frustrated and about to explode.
No indeed our guys are cool and directed .
If the team is not going to win it collectively ,our guys just dug in and did what they had to do by themselves.
I’m not saying it’s the way to get the title but it’s a lot better than bitching about missed chances.
Lamps might have missed the goal by inches in the last moment of the Arsey game . But he wasn’t pathetic about it was he ?
Roman
What a day, perfect ,Manu loose , Barca loose and we win i dont think i have the vocabulary to describe Dec 17 it was scintilating,awe-striking,jaw-droping,eye-poping, thundering, blistering,heart-stopping,stunning,electric or to put it in one word – magical!!!!
Hey BC when’s the party !!!! A tribute to the Chelsea spirit -’Never say Die’!!!!!
Guys,
I told in my earlier Post also, Drogba can not score Until Sheva is on pitch.
I have not seen Ballack(not in best form)doing anything wrong on picth,he is playing his part.He breakes some attack stop opposition from playing free flowing football.
For me team formation is fine with front 3- 4 players keep on rotating(Drogba,Sheva,Robben,Cole/Kalou and No SWP he gives ball to0 cheaply).
Though as a team we are not playing well,but we have some good match winners(Drogba,Sheva,Robben,Cole,Frank,Ballack,Essien,Terry,Chec)in a match, even do not play good football but one moment of their brilliance can win a game for us.
I remeber ’04 world cup Brazil won,only becuase of individuals skills,some briliance from Rivaldo,Ronaldo and Ronaldihino on a given day.
And BC i think it wld be great to discuss what Chelsea needs this Jan transfer window, we won yes, but there is a long way to go and a lot of blips to correct!!!!!
ballack is the world class player and give the respect to him,and he is a goal scoring midfielder that every one knows and also he scored lots of goals than lampard or any other player in chelsea(international and in his former clubs)he scored more than 150 goals but now he is in a new club as well as new country so it may be a problem for ballack but even he is manage to score 4 goals in epl and also he is a third higest goal score for chelsea apart from drogba and lampard.
“In Portugal, our culture is to call someone like that an ‘intelligent’ player,” Mourinho said
Which is why, you might argue, the play fair football of the 70s and 80s has been sullied by the ‘get away with what you can’ that seems to have arrived with the imports.
wat can i say?!?!?! it was the best chelsea game i have seen in a while. After being behind twice and with time running out we clinched the much needed three points. ( and luckily man u lost ) Honestly i admit that chelsea played like shit that game they became better after ballacks equilizer but the first half was absolutely horrible. We thank the saviours ballack, lampard, and drogba for the outstanding beautiful goals that sealed the deal for chelsea. This shows the true power of chelsea as even when they are having a bad day and a bad game away…..they never give up. Go chelsea i hope thsi season we can win th EPL, Chmapions League, Carling Cup, FA Cup, and everything else i left out.
FROM JOSE MOURINHO’S INTERVIEW:
“We need to give Sheva time. I give him time. The good thing is that he is not happy with the way he is performing. If he was happy we would have a problem. He wouldn’t work hard to go in my direction. But he’s working very hard. After every game we have feedback meetings where I explain to him what we have to change. Between the Manchester United game and the Bolton Wanderers game, we worked together 1½ hours, speaking about his game and I could see the difference easily. He’s going in the right direction.”
i agree with all of u guys. but with new comers in our team, we need time to adapt & understand well as a team. dont worry, JM is doing his work endlessly. keep up the good work BC! and yeah, its a magnificent Sunday for CHELSEA!!!
Watched live on ESPN while I was away in Bangkok for holiday. The goals shot is one of the best for Chelsea this season. All 3 goals in the second half is indeed a job well done to even up & win the match with Everton.
*applause* Good job, Chelsea for the hardwork. Cheers to one & all *smiles*
pompey are the best