They deserved a point and a pic in this post than us!
I’m gutted. I’m really gutted. We’re back on a 6 point gap. Another 2-2 draw at home and I dont know what else to expect in the matches to come. I thought of watching the late night delayed broadcast of this match. Now, I’ve changed my mind.
Moriz Volz got the much-awaited 15,000th goal of the Premiership. So, Barclays would let Volz spend 15,000 pounds on a charity of his choice. Whereas our contribution to chartity did not stop there. I happened to see the video Fulham’s equaliser with just above 5 minutes to go. One man’s failed clearance cost us the goal, yes, Michael ‘untouchable’ Ballack. Of course, he can share the blame with the defenders too. This goal sums up our defensive performance of the last three weeks or so.
Fulham’s first goal:
[youtube]3pZZfO1zSYA[/youtube]
Fulham’s second goal
[youtube]rY5eU9ZK6u0[/youtube]
Jose is equally gutted:
I must credit Fulham and the way they reacted. They know we can’t defend so they attacked, it’s that simple. The story is the same for us. When teams keep seeing us making mistakes they believe they can score goals. At the moment we are always in danger. We’ve conceded two goals four times in-a-row and it doesn’t surprise me.
If everybody knows that Chelsea at this moment cannot defend, I am the first one to know that. When the opponent sees one mistake, and another mistake, and another mistake, they smell the chance and they keep going until the end. This is exactly the opposite of previous periods. Before they know they cannot score and they don’t have the belief so it’s easy for us to control matches.
The first 15 minutes, we had five chances to score, some with an open goal, and we didn’t score. They had nothing but with the first chance scored. Against Wigan and Everton, we won in the last minute and the opponent had no chance to recover. But when they have 15 or 20 minutes, we cannot hold them. In this country everybody has tall and strong strikers, they put the ball in the box, and you need to have very strong central defenders.
At the moment, we don’t dominate the game in the air. I think if you play with this defence in another championship or even in the Champions League, it is not a big deal. We cannot defend, we are conceding incredible goals and in attack we have one player performing and scoring goals. All the others are not doing enough – Sheva is not performing, Shaun is not performing, Kalou is not performing.
Paulo is not a central defender, he does what he can do. Hilario is our third goalkeeper, he plays to the maximum he can. Ricardo is the only central defender. He’s played the last ten consecutive matches, he’s been injured for the last couple of months and is doing the maximum he can because he knows he is the only one we have to play there. If the club asks for my opinion, I would say yes. But, at the same time, when I see the eyes of some clubs open wide and they go for absolutely incredible money for very ordinary players, I would say no. For a normal player, you cannot pay a fortune.
If it is like that, then we go with the players we have. I need the best goalkeeper in the world back. I need the best central defender in the world back. I don’t need millions.
Sounds like he’s gonna shoot down a couple of players if he sees us drawing or losing again. As I always say, the good thing about Jose is that he feels like a normal fan and expresses our feelings. He does not bullshit like Arsene Whinger does everytime his Arsenil team loses or draws trying to walk the ball into the net. Jose’s words are very clear. He thinks, with the current set of players in defence (GK included), he considers conceding goals is a norm and he wants the forwards to score enough to compensate the conceded goals.
I really really hope that he drops Ballack and starts playing 4-3-3. We dont have the luxury of experimenting anymore. And he should make some killer moves this January. I hope he buys a quality goalkeeper, very strong and sound centre back and right back. Like I said before, if we stop leaking these ‘defensive-error’ goals, we will be on song again.
We have been defending poorly. Also we have been unfortunate with crucial injuries which are difficult to replace or unable to replace. But what’s bothering me is that we have not been able to manage this situation with the given set of players. May be, Jose’s stubbornness with Ballack is costing us. Sometimes managers do this. They’ll take some decisions that will absolutely beat us all, but they might have their own reasons and if they’re lucky that will be vindicated.
Let me make it very clear. I’m sure that we will win the title. I’m sure we’ll improve and hand over our mediocrity baton to Man Utd. The next few months will be twice tougher in maintaining performance amidst injuries, fatigues, cup results etc.
If at all there is one positive in the match, that is Didier Drogba. This is surely Drogba’s season. No one’s going to take this away from him. We have already seen John Terry as a goal keeper this season. May be we’ll see Drogba as the centre back sometime in January. And Arsenil have lost to Sheffield. Atleast they have not closed up the gap between them and us.
One more match left in the holiday season fixtures. We go to Villa park. I would normally call this a 3-pointer, but looking at today’s match, we should do a lot better at the Villa park.
[tags] Chelsea, Fulham, Derby, Drogba, Volz, 15000 goals, Villa, Ballack, Jose Mourinho [/tags]
25 Responses - Add your comment!
0-1 after 15 mins. Now we have got more time to respond.
1-1 at the half. The equalizer was an “own goal” by Rosenior after he deflected a blistering shot from Lamps. We’re still looking very shaky in defence – not enough communication and sloppy play. Drogba’s been invisible.
Let’s hope we can smash them in the second half.
An invisible Drogba is very very dangerous. 2-1 up with 1 mins to go! Man Utd is cruising along with 3-1 (Ronaldo’s second goal was offside …. grrr).
fcuk. another 2-2 draw at home. nooooooooo.
It’s over 2-2…
A 2-2 final in a game we deserved to lose. I love the Blues but our defence is very very very leaky recently. Without Terry and Cech it’s like we’re a bunch of little children playing against grown men.
Oh well, Kalou played well and SWP really should’ve been brought on at the half instead of so late. We’ve got our work cut out for us in the New Year. At least Captain John will be back.
Look very carefully and remember the offside rule-the position the player is when the ball IS PLAYED: Ronaldo’s goal was NOT offside. Brilliant goal. Perhaps the same vision is being used to assess Chelsea’s chances of winning the title this season. With all their money and players on the bench, they still depend on a handful of stalwarts!
By the way, your blog is very very good! Keep it up Blue Champions!
Thanks Mark.
As regards, Ronaldo’s goal, I could be wrong too. I saw it just once and that too in normal speed. Anyway, Man Utd doesnt seem to wait for luck to help them.
Just got back from the game. Although I have seen worse in my time as a Chelsea fan, today is the day I feel so deflated and that the title has gone to Man Utd – although we drew – it feels like a defeat and there is one man repsonsible and that man is Michael Ballack.
For a man of his supposed class and captain of Germany he has no respect for the badge of Chelsea, for the Blue of Chelsea and for the fans of Chelsea.
Jose has said that he is an untouchable – Jose is right – the ball hardly touches Ballack.
Thank God Ballack is suspended for the game against Aston Villa on Tuesday and I hope that when Jan 1 comes round, Ballack is out the door!!!
As for the rest what else can I say – the result is the proof in the pudding. In two home games Chelsea has given the lead away three times and two of those occasions have been in the last seven minutes, and two of the goals caused by fouls from a certain Mr MB!!!!!!
if we dont win the next game i might go insane. we always concede stupid goals in the last 10 minutes. it was clear that the rain affected us and greatly contributed to us conceding the second goal, but what can i say? ballack should be dropped ( at least not a full time starter for a while till we cruise back to gear). Lets see what mourinho does in his jan. shoppoing i cant stand seeing man u winning. The way i see it is that they are a one man team depending on robaldo. He assits, defends, scores and scares the hell out of defenders. Just look at the wigan game as soon as he came on man u started scoring and the reading game as soon as he was subbed off Reading ( with ten players) scored. I hope ronaldo gets injured then we’ll see what man u is really made of. GO CHELSEA lets bring the winning streak back.
Begining of the second half I saw SWP warming up. I thought for sure JM would take Ballack out and move Essien to the center with Phillips at the side. Anything but keeping Ballack in. But, for some dumb reason, Sheva came in and Essien was moved to the back. SWP didn’t come in until Fullham equalized. Too little too late. If I see Ballack in the line-up against Villa, I may not even watch the game.
I do belive Chelsea can win the Prem this season. But, players who aren’t making positive contributions must go. Let’s try to get Glenn Johnson back from Pompey (did we loan or sell Huth to ‘Boro), and if we have a good central defender in our reserves, hell give him a shot. Mikel and Darria should bee looked at more carefully than Ballack. I can put up with youthfull mistakes than a so-called international captian not adapting when we need him.
If I was picked by Jose from the street to play for Chelsea and earn money I would certainly “play” and earn money. And would you blame me for my awful performances week in and week out? If you would you would be considered as stupid people by me. And if you would blame Jose you would be considered as wise people.
Don’t blame and criticize Ballack. It’s Jose who is to blame.
Sack him. That’s the only solution.
Mark my words.
Midfield Decider
I find this statement from Jose incredible. “All the others are not doing enough – Sheva is not performing, Shaun is not performing, Kalou is not performing”
My reply is considering these players when they play are not getting the service – Sheva in particular – what does Jose expect??
Funny how there is no mention of Ballack – say no more
REMEMBER – I WAS THERE WHEN WE WERE S**T!!!!
Ballack WASNT PICKED FROM THE STREETS!!!
Ballack is a fully fledged International and Captain of Germany.
Ballack should be able to play in ANY league of the World, especially on £130,000 per week!!!!
I can understand Anonymous’s fustration with Jose. Sheva, a regular non-contributor replacing Geremi, a un-sung yet stable player, backfired badly. With the defense already weak, Mourinho only weakened it further with that move. Replacing Ballack with SWP would have given the Blues extra creativity and speed, allowed Essien to remain in midfield, and kept the defense in tact. Heck, I’ve only been watching this sport for four years and I saw that.
But, Anonymous, please tell me who should Jose Mourinho be replaced with? Ian Dowie is available. How about Sven? Hey, how about an American manager from the MLS? Dude (or girl) please! JM is still one of the best managers in the world. I belive (hope and pray) that he’ll get the right players on the pitch at the right time. January and February will be make or break for the prem and other silverware. Let’s see what moves he makes before we even think about having him replaced by __________________.
I agree with BC.
JM doesn’t have the luxury of experimenting anymore.
It’s time to get down to business.
Grit /commitment and decisions that are not gonna be nice for everyone are needed.
Last night was the wake-up call.
Nothing personal abt ballack or anyone but someone has gotta be-sidelined for a few games at least.
The problem is that someone’s gotta take responsiblity and no-one is doin that at the moment.
By that
U know ,save us fans a little face.
And even if we are not read by anyone at the club , newspapers all over the world are gonna be trumpeting ManUre’s success and writing like they are already got the title . I hope the CFC will be shocked / embarassed into action.
A little whipping and scorn sometimes does wonders.
I keep the faith but I am a helluva logical guy too.
My management instincts tell me that JM might be trying to fit a triangle (Ballack) into a round hole ( the chelsea midfield position)
Wrong person in wrong place at wrong time .
JM , sort it out .
Roman
( Couldn’t get the statellite dish up in time for the game , Maybe that was for the better)
By the way BB58
How was the crowd reaction to the players and the result last night ?
Everyone
How do u think the team and JM will respond to this situation/ challenge ?
What is the latest info on JT and Petr and other injuries ?
What are the other Chelsea players saying ?
Who are we and ManUre playing next ?
I honestly believe if anyone can overtake ManUre it is us.
but I am also getting myself ready for whatever happens.
Jose said it once u can’t really buy success but lots more factors are involved in the mix.
Now we know it is true and that what JM did in the last 2 seasons was only partially supported by money.
maybe this season is the true test for everyone .
Not really the best New year for us Chelsea fans
But not the worst either.
Strength in face of adversity , I say
Everyone’s gotta play and believe like Drobga.
BC
Let’s have a New -Year- Best- wishes- to- CFC -post and send it in electronically.
Roman – The crowd reaction after the game was extremely mixed!!!
JT trained at Stamford Bridge before the game. Dont be too surprised if he plays on Tuesday
Petr Cech was the half-time guest and spoke to the crowd to tahnk for all of the support that he had received. ManUre play at Newcastle on Monday 5.15pm UK time and Chelsea play at Aston Villa k.o 8pm UK time
To Roman and all:
On the sidebar, under Stamford Bridge, there is a new page – Have a great 2007 where you can wish for Chelsea for the year 2007. Thanks to Roman for the idea. (May be Roman should look for a modified nick, otherwise visitors might mistake for the ultra-rich Roman!)
For your comfort guys, Jose did whip Ballack in the press:
” … but in this country everybody has tall, strong strikers. They put the ball in the box. We do not dominate the game in the air. What can you do with (Michael) Ballack? Nothing. What can you do with Geremi? Nothing. The players have no qualities adapted to the game opponents are playing against us – it is as obvious as that …”
Obviously, he’s frustrated with Ballack too! I just hope it gets reflected in the team selection too!
My new modified nick is RomanHoliday , guys
I changed it a bit to bring us luck
Romanholiday
I am so frustrated by this result that i feel we have lost the title already , I cant believe the bad luck we r going thru , losing Cole, Robben, Cech,Cudicini , Terry all at the same time is astounding!!!!
And when u look at Manu the only player performing is Ronaldo
even they took in 2 goals from 10 men Reading at home but Ronaldo saves them the blushes again , the first one was a Ronaldo cross, Second and third were his wat wld be Manure without him and to think we have lost 4 regulars!!!!
Terry will be back for the FA cup tie not before it but it is disgraceful to point these results on injuries we r playing some of the worst football in years and frankly i wanna whip Sheva and Ballack 5 months r not enough to adjust????
The other thing that bugs me is that every other player transferred in by our rivals r performing, Martins is flying for Newc why not Sheva??? Berbatov has been scintilating for Spurs why not Ballack??? Enough is enough we need new fresh players , new belief , motivation and we can still do it, its only Dec for Christ sake!!!!
Go JM i have full faith in u!!!!
gosh however optimist i have been, yesterday’s game has left me totally crushed. somehow it felt worse then a defeat.Ballack was amazingly bad!! i can’t help thinking that given a chance i could easily replace him!!!!atleast i cant be worse……n of course i would come free!!!
and bb58, jose did say about ballack….to quote him from what i just now read in bbc.com
“What can you do with Michael Ballack, with Paulo Ferreira, with Geremi? Nothing,” he said. “The players have no qualities adapting to the game opponents are playing against us. “
Its almost a new year n with the gap after the next match for fa cup i m sure we will come back with all cylinders firing.
GO CHELSEA…..
n yea a big cheer in this new year for this blog…….great going blue champion!!!