Jose_Sheva.jpg

World-class under-performing ineffective subs!

Nine points down now. What next? All that we can hope is that Arsenil would beat Man Utd so that the gap remains 6 points. Our makeshift central defence can cope with smaller teams but we were badly exposed against these bigger teams. One thing was very clear – Chelsea’s performance was full of desparation than hunger whereas it was Liverpool who had the motivation and hunger to win this match. Rafa got the better of Jose in their 100th premiership match.

Murphy’s laws are coming true. When something can go wrong, it will. How else can you explain Carvalho getting injured just before this match and Robben getting injured during this match.

After the match, Jose said:

There were definitely mistakes with people not adapting to their positions. I was waiting for 15 or 20 minutes to go by with no goals conceded and the confidence arriving.

But when the team is very fragile on the pitch and mentally not so self confident it is difficult. In the second half I think we played better but Liverpool defended well and were full of confidence. They knew they could be adventurous because our defensive line is fragile.

He still instills some confidence:

We have played all these games without central defenders, you can cope at home, in the Carling Cup, FA Cup, even in the Champions League it is easier to cope than the Premiership – but against Kuyt and Crouch, no – I knew 15 days ago Bellamy was not playing in this game.

Rafa Benitez was unsure if they played well:

We played well. I don’t know if it was because they had problems but we played well.

Fair play to Liverpool. They were the better team and they fully deserved to win. May be, it’s time for Roman to realise that the internal troubles due to non-football reasons are only going to make worse. We can hope that Man Utd will slip up but this is an unfortunate situation to be in, to expect someone else’s poor performance to help us.

LivChesco.PNG

The way I see it, things were going fine for Chelsea, until Jose’s management was interrupted. Jose and Chelsea do have the quality to come back but we definitely need a lot of favours from various quarters.

If we have to pose any more challenge to the title, Jose should drop Ballack. Our No.13 is proving to be too unlcuky for us. I have never thought a world class midfielder can be such a poor influence in series of mediocre performances by a team. He is a great player allright, but he needs to be where he deserves based on his current form, which is not even the bench. As it happens in a football team, he should fight for his place. Diarra has every right to feel bad but for this match-costing punctuality. The man of Chelsea hopes, Arjen Robben had to just be a part of the continuing Chelsea drama of injuries.

Chelsea’s loss today, though only our third in this premiership, would give tremendous psychological boost to Man Utd. We have brought a situation where even a draw would be a good result for Man Utd. The idea result for us tomorrow, which is an Arsenil win, would make the whole premiership race more interesting as the No.1 and No.2 lose to No.4 and No.3 respectively. The race still would be between Chelsea and Man Utd for sure.

Like our reader RomanHoliday, I’m still having hopes. You can call me whatever, but by nature, I just dont give up that easily, whatever it is. So, it makes it very impossible for me to concede the title. There have been multiple instances in Sports where the unexpected have happened. When Australia amassed 434 runs in 50 overs, how many
people, including South African fans, would have expected SA to chase them and beat the new world record in just 4 hours?

The match is never over until the final whistle is blown. Ask Alex Ferguson. That’s what got him the Champions League!

[tags] Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Jose Mourinho, Rafa Benitex, Alex Ferguson, Ballack, Premiership [/tags]