BlueChampions - The backyard of Chelsea FC!

1-0 for Chelsea at 80′. Didier Drogba. That’s pretty much the story. We were the better team by some miles but typical pre-season rustiness meant we would win the match by just one goal. Yes, there was motivation to win the match, you could sense that when you see Jose getting upset ‘in his own way’ for denied penalties and free kicks.

If you think Samsung Bluewings is some lightweight team that we handpicked to use as a punch bag, you’re wrong. Bluewings, a top club in Korea, have a rich haul of about 20+ trophies since they were founded in 1996, which includes 3 K-league titles and 2 Asian champions league titles. You cannot really undermine the Asian teams, especially after Iraq teaching some footballing lessons to Australia, in thundering fashion.

We started with Cech, Ferreira, Johnson, Terry, Hutchinson,Sidwell, Essien, Lampard, J Cole, Shevchenko, Kalou and the second half saw Hilario, Diarra, Ben-Haim, Carvalho, Ferreira (Sinclair 69), Wright-Phillips, Makelele, Mikel; Robben, Drogba and Malouda.

A reasonable first half. Chelsea created chance after chance but was unable to find the net while Samsung Bluewings had one good chance which might have been buried even by their second team. For us, Sheva played with lots of apetite, he couldn’t get a decent shot on goal but he worked hard. He even created a chance for himself by winning the ball from the centre back (i can’t spell that Korean name) himself but messed it up. The man of the first half was Essien, who should have had a goal against his name with a couple of close range efforts. He hit the woodwork once and had his shot reflex-saved by the keeper and travelling along the goal a couple of inches outside.

Couple of guys impressed me and deserved some credit. Glen Johnson and Sam Hutchinson – our full backs did a very good job and played crucial parts in some of the attacks. Especially I liked the way Sam played. He is young and hungry and was desperate to prove a point knowing that Ashley and Wayne are out. And look out for Joe Cole. He is raring to go and looking to make good of the time and opportunities he lost in the last season due to his longish injury break. At full fitness, he is a joy to watch

In the second half, again Bluewings got a golden chance to go ahead. When the Bluewings striker was one-on-one against Cech in the right edge penalty box, he needed just a clever chip to score but he tried a drive that was effortlessly intercepted by the lone defender Diarra.

It was incredibly obvious that we played better when Drogba was around. May be the credit should be shared by SWP, Mikel, Robben and Malouda too but still Didier’s presence was magnetic and you could see the goal coming. If this match is an indication of Sheva’s and Drogba’s for, Sheva would have a tough time in starting in a 4-3-3 formation. Talking about the formation, I loved to see the width we enjoyed in this formation. Chelsea’s high tempo game in the second half was very attractive. If we play with little more seriousness, little more motivation, with lesser subs, we would play brilliantly.

The goal was a brilliant move. SWP was impressive all through his playing time. He did not try too much to run through the defence on his own. For this goal, Drogba cleverly positioned himself while SWP provided a neat chip for Drogba to blast it from close range. No way, Drogba is going to let something like this go unpunished. So, that was Drog’s first of his, what 30+ goals(?) this season.

[video]http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/2YFzlVW20SzFdi4Um[/video]

Elsewhere, ‘Urawa Red Diamonds were held’ to a draw by Man Utd. The match ended at 2-2 which marks a disappointing start for Man Utd’s pre-season friendlies. What’s next now? West Ham making a house arrest of Tevez and Man Utd charging of West of kidnapping ‘their’ player?

On our side, if these two friendlies are any indications of things to come, it’s all very promising, the formation, the way we play and the squad we have, that the chances of a brilliant season increases. Next up is LA Galaxy. Three goals, anyone?