Matches - Written by BlueChampion on Sunday, August 12, 2007 17:27 | 2,094 Views | 107 Comments | Add Comment
Chelsea 3 - 2 Birmingham: Day Of The Debutants!
How true Jose was, when he said Liverpool is talking about history while Chelsea is busy making it! We just beat Liverpool’s record of unbeaten home league run! Brilliant stuff from Chelsea. Looking at the scoreline, if you’re going to think that this was some kind of close match, you should ask the Birmingham fans. We completely dominated the key possession and our midfield was far superior and Birmingham didn’t have any answers for Chelsea’s fiery attack.
Jose was ecstatic about the breaking the Liverpool record. Here’s Jose paying tribute to the efforts of the players including those who have already left us.
Chelsea has written its name in the history books of the Premier League and it’s a great record. I’m very flattered for being part of the record. We are very proud to beat the record. It was a good game to celebrate the home record, a game with lots of goals and enthusiasm.
At the moment it belongs to Chelsea - John Terry, Frank Lampard, Eidur Gudjohnsen and all the guys who contributed. I’ll have to go home and remember every player that helped us achieve the record because not all of them are here - Gudjohnsen, Geremi, Damien Duff, all these guys.
Chelsea started with 4-4-2 with Kalou being a surprise inclusion and Sheva was not even on the bench. Malouda and Pizarro made their premier league debuts and Sidwell too in the second half. Johnson started on the right and there were no defenders at all in the bench. Either it is a compliment for Johnson’s abilities or we are having serious injury problems. By the end of the match, it feels like it could be latter.
Playing at home against a newly promoted team, you would expect Chelsea to play 4-3-3 and terrorise the opponents and shut them off the match. Chelsea did just this, but with a very lively 4-4-2 with some dangerous width all along the match.
Within the first quarter of an hour, you could feel that there is something distinctively different about the approach by Chelsea in this match. We were on fire right from the start, thanks to our side midfielders were the busiest bodies on the pitch. We were playing so well that the lucky lead taken by Birmingham did not worry me at all. Old boy Forsell scored one like Pippo scored in the champions league final last season.
While we were already badly hungry for a goal, their lead just made it worse for Birmingham. Chelsea’s high tempo with superb teamwork meant the goals could come any minute. Within few minutes of the Forsell goal, in a swift attack, Malouda made a featherweight pass with his left foot, that unleashed SWP to cross one inside that Pizarro finished with ease.
We again went ahead when a cleverly touched pass by Kalou was collected by a surging Malouda to volley it ala Drogba in the FA cup final last season. Our lead was quiet short lived as their debutant Kapo beat Johnson with the simplest of stepovers, to blast it to top right corner. There was nothing about it and that brilliant striker meant we’ve conceded twice at the Bridge in the first game of the season. Not a great start defensively!
At the end of first half, I was so sure about Chelsea ending up with 4 or 5 goals. The early strike in the second half by Essien also confirmed my hope. After this goal, Chelsea slowly started consolidating but still were very dangerous on the flanks. Kalou had a number of chances missed and Drogba wanted to see him name on the headlines with a 45-yard screamer that was quite close.
Negatives from this match, where we broke a long standing record, are the right back position from where most of the goals have been score against Chelsea, Lampard’s poor form that declines every match and could cost against Liverpool, if he doesn’t improve. Kalou played well allright but his conversion ratio in front of the goal, should improve drastically.
In the end, it was quite a comfortable match for Chelsea. Many many positives for Chelsea from this match. After a ‘not-so-goalsome’ pre-season matches, the first match of the premier league, we scored three goals and must have finished at least another three. All the new signings - Malouda, Pizarro, Sidwell & Ben Haim - fit like a shoe and they were absolutely brilliant. Average performers of the last season - Kalou and SWP - were as lively and dangerous they can be. One more positive is that we are now clear that Johnson is not good enough to a first choice Chelsea right back.
The other huge positive is the Chelsea style of play which obviously has undergone a change. Jose Mourinho did talk about Chelsea reverting back to his attacking football of 04-05 and 05-06, this season. With live wire Malouda on the left, ‘new and improved’ SWP on the right, a Kalou who does not lose the ball cheaply anymore, a Pizarro who keeps impressing with his common sense and sharpness and Essien in the midfield, this is how Chelsea would play all this season. And finally, Roman was there and do you have any doubts if he enjoyed the game?
What a day! Man Utd losing points at home and Chelsea winning and also looking dazzling and dangerous. After their goal fest in a certain Chinese province, Man Utd could not find the net. At the end of the first premier league weekend, out of all title contenders the most convincing performance was from Chelsea. Even Fergie would agree. This is just the first weekend but I can’t help but feel this is Chelsea’s season! Don’t you think so too?
Related Links:
The BBC report
The Official Chelsea website report
[tags]Chelsea, Birmingham, Premier League, Malouda, Pizarro, Shaun Wright Phillips, Jose Mourinho, Roman Abramovich, Man Utd, Lampard, Essien, Glen Johnson, Kalou, goal video, highlights video[/tags]
107 Comments
1. Nihongo Blue
2. bombtea
WTF!
2-2 at the half. C’mon guys: it’s Birmingham! Did we forget how to play D or something? Granted, the Kapo goal was a screamer, but still.
Let’s hope we keep the pressure on in the second half and bag a heap of goals.
Blue for life.
3. bluefan
chelsea 2-2 birmingham
forsell
pizarro
malouda
kapo
4. SH.IBRAHIMI
i think jose should replace jonhson with sidwell or mikel n put essien as a right back cos jonhson is playin very poor 2nd goal was his mistake
why not paulo guys? essien would have been thinking that his days in defence are over!
6. Peter jones
Now thats football!brilliant stuff very entertaining!thank god for the birmingham keeper!
7. stimpej
ferreira is injured? he aint on the bench
8. SH.IBRAHIMI
man of the match no doubt about that : Florent Malouda … Kalou/Pizarro was good too …
9. Nihongo Blue
cheers guys… We win again…. got a record to against out names…
let the beer flow!!!!
10. Cashif
Piozarro all class… Malouda looks like he has the killer instinct.. WE WERE BLOODY GREAT!!!
NOW THAT IS THE WAY WE SHOULD BE PLAYING!
Birmingham weren’t great but we played some entertaining stuff there.
The players clicked especially pizarro and Malouda.
CWUOMMMON CHEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEAAAAAAAAA!!!!!
11. bombtea
I’m glad to see SWP doing his usual speedy gonzalez tricks - my god that kid can run. I think we’re gonna see a lot of him this season. I don’t know that I’d give MOTM to Malouda, though he did play very well. So did Pizarro. Kalou with like 5 beautiful chances but just couldn’t finish. Our back line looked shakey, but hopefully that’ll all change once JT’s back in there.
Disappointing to have conceded 2 goals at home, but we got off to a winning start and hey, we’ve broken Pool’s unbeaten-at-home record. Here’s to a winning season!
Blue for life.
12. Cashif
On a dampener, tho Glen Johnson needs more experience at the top level before we can really feel comfortable with him as our first choice right back.
Hearts In Mouth time whenever the balls near him…
13. cap123
SWP definitely deserved his man of the match in my opinion, I’ve always loved the little bugger and it’s great to see clues of him finally finding his place in the club.
Also great news with malouda and pizarro keeping up the good impression i’ve got of them so far.
Glen Johnson’s and Lampard’s performances are the only ones that disapointed me, but great chelsea debut overall! Very promising football.
14. TrueBlueInd
Nice game..but chelsea has to look at their defence a bit..it looks very shaky n nervous minus JT in there..
Glen was very bad defensively..
n we are facing difficulties with balls being launched into our box..Birmingham scored from one(forsell) n had a couple of close shaves as well..this has to be sorted out soon or we’ll really suffer..i think alex will be better than ben haim at CB..he has the physical presence and awareness like JT to deal with balls into our area..ben haim seems to lack a lill something
our attck was just marvelous today..we could have easily scored 6..SWP had a great game..so did kalou, pizzaro,essien..
lamps was ok..could have done better
anyway..a victory to start off..n a great record under our belt..a record that could stand for ages to come..congrats to all the players n staff involved in this reacord breaking run.
Reading n liverpool AWAY to come over the next 6 days..very crucial to win both..hope we do it
any of u guys saw the arsenal game..They are playing beautiful as usual..but can be bullied off their game by tough physical teams..
n Lehaman was the most beautiful Gunner today:)..he played really beautiful football to gift fulham their 1st goal
15. bigbadblue
BC,
Firstly, can you make this page refresh automatically….say every five mins?
Secondly, I thought we were very attack minded and fluid. I hope this improves. defensively, we could do a lot more though.
16. robben 16
YaaaaaaY .. NEW RECORD !!
pitzaro >> malouda >> no comment !!
17. bigbadblue
Mikael…is a blue at heart. pity he could not fulfill his potential here.
18. RomanHoliday
Twas not as expected
Twas more than expected
Twas luck and and buck
Twas funny feelings
left in the heart
19. bigbadblue
english Shakespeare…english!!!
20. Blue Maverick
Boys in blue…back in style..
Some sloppy defending was there…but loved every minute of it!!
KTBFFH!!!!!1
21. bigbadblue
Lamps was poor… always losing balls and putting pressure on the team. I dont think he’s ready…just seems to be struggling.
22. bigbadblue
BC, did you get my post??? about autorefreshing this page?
23. MourofEssien
Thanks BC. In line with the new Expansive football Mour has decided to unleash this year, I, Mourofsame, wish to be known now as MourofEssien- It means from this season, we are going to unleash the Bison power and sweep every obstacle on the way. B’ham were lucky- i guess it was some kind of blue compassion.
guys watch out for a whole new Chelsea. I can’t wait. But before we move further, Glen must fall to 3rd in the perking order behind, haim and paulo. alex in the absence of terry must come into Center Back. Lamps must be given a couple of weeks rest.
24. BluePaddy
Very entertaining game to see
Hope we could perform like that in our next away games, with a strong defense though
Promising when some of our big players have to come, Drogs has just taken a little part in it today following his injury
25. Nihongo Blue
manu 0-0 reading…. r we going to compete pool this season?
26. Nihongo Blue
just 30 min remaining…. do it reading…. u owe us a lot of last season.
27. MourofEssien
Rooney out injured, syvestre same, reading holding Manure, goaless with 15 minutes to go.
28. MourofEssien
Allan Green on five live, says our match was the most expansive Chelsea game he has watched. oopppps I got the time left on the manure game wrong. maybe Its cos i can’t wait for the clock to tick to the end.
29. MourofEssien
about 6 minutes to go. Manure still without a goal.
30. MourofEssien
hahahaha….. 0-0 it ended. where is the beautiful football, manure? FootballGuy, where are you?
31. TrueBlueInd
i was just watching the man utd game..they played an incredible offensive game..actually it was more down to reading letting them play so fluently..
reading is not the same team from last season..they were just parking themselves in front of their goal satisfied with defending…they were playing for a draw at best..that gave united lots of space n freedom to roam around the reading goalpost..
n the reading goalie was having the game of his life..he made some reamarkable saves to keep reading safe till the end..
i dont understand all the hype about nani..he was just average..had a few good touches..maybe he’ll improve n b better than ronaldo..who knows
i hope reading play the same way aginst us too..sit back n defend..n let our players xpress thmselves around thier goal:)..well..we are playing away..so maybe reading might play a bit more positive against us..
any injuries to our players today??..Drogba?? essien???
32. SH.IBRAHIMI
they r all about C.Ronaldo … if he have a bad game the can’t score … 2 be 25 min with one more player n to cannot score is disaster … no matter who’s the oponnent .. we r much better than them cos we r not depended in one player
33. Blue Devil
I could not watch my Chelsea’s match. But looking at the highlights it looked that our new signings are having no problems in setting in to the Premiership mode.
SWP was influential in the goals we scored(should be a very rare footage for him, it seems!). Out of the 3 goals i
liked Essiens goals very much.
By the way i’m not too joyous about MANU’s results of today.
But why are we discussing manu draw today instead of celebrating our unbeatable home record winning record winning…
34. zubinj9
this is the way we fans love u play chelsea…
jose ur signings are crystal clear……….
the score must have been 8-2…0r more///
great comeback after the comm shield defeat.
BC what about ballack. if he is ready then ballack must replace lampard, and ballack would have been really fit into todays formation….
ballack get well soon or lampard get your form back SOON
35. hey
fantastic football by chelsea. 8-1 should have been more reflective of today’s performance. mant drop points at home. it will surely afffect their morale. yippeee!!
36. ss
now we are playin football,, brilliant first half and wat a goal by essien, lampard hmm a bit poor, hope he improves, jus watched man u play, dave kitley getting sent off and about 5 mins of extra time,, seems like the ref wants man u to score a goal before he blow the final whistle, well done reading,
37. manishchandra
Positives:
Attack in total sync..Malouda,Pizzaro,SWP,Klaou all linked excellently…second goal was gem of craftsmanship.
New signings groove in without any probs unlike last season signings.
Problems:
RB position still a weak point.
Lampard continues to justify my dislike for him.
Missing chances still a problem…easily could have been 5-6 goals.
Defence erratic in aerial play.
38. Blue Champion
Manish - I agree with you on most of the points. The ones I don’t agree are (i) dislike for Lampard, well I like him, in fact:-) (ii) I know that we missed many chances, I don’t see that as a problem. We had 11 shots on goal and scored thrice which is pretty decent. As the season goes, our finishing and sharpness should only improve. Drogba, in place of Kalou, would have helped in the conversion.
And as regards defence, out of this back four, only Cole and Ricardo have played together for long periods of time. Again I have to say, it will improve. I believe, more than in attack, defence requires understanding and teamwork to perform well.
I’d love to see us play through the wings with this fluidity and high tempo but I don’t want to see us concede goals, that too, never more than one.
39. MourofEssien
Hi guys will anyone know where our friend, “beautiful FootballGuy” is at the moment? Meanwhile william Hill after today’s game has just placed chelsea as 11/8 favourites. Manure drop into second at 13/8.
Meanwhile, Jose says he wants Robben to stay. If he will change his mind, fine by me. If SWP continues at this rate, then the attacking need for Alvez will go down expecially since defensively, Haim can give same cover at RB.
Besides, i think, the 20m plus being talked about is ridiculous. If Robbem stays, methinks, we should drop the Alvez idea and let Haim give us solid cover there.
Hi Adonis, where are you?
40. MourofEssien
BC, Can you please effect my name change in “top players this month” corner. Lots of great goals I have scored since changing “my shirt number” are yet to be registered there, LOL.
41. Blue Champion
MoE! I’m afraid I can’t do that! It’s kinda automatic and it picks up from the name that you use. No issues, at the end of the month, we can add up ‘MourofSame’ and ‘MourofEssien’ for presenting you the Ballon D’Or :-)
42. bigbadblue
BC , you did not respond to my request. Can this page be made to refresh automatically? would love that really so i can keep the page up and see the latest comments without hitting f5
43. Blue Champion
bigbadblue - sorry that somehow slipped off!
i’m trying to find out but at first sight, it looks like that it is something you can configure in your browser itself. let me know after i explore the internet world.
44. Blue Champion
Oops I forgot to mention! Did anyone see that Robben was watching the match alongside Terry in the spectator box. Strangely nice behaviour for someone who’s tipped to leave or so close to joining some other team.
By the way, Jose still says that he needs Robben!
45. marko
where are all the doubters? it’s strange that we discuss so much when we lose. when we win, not much celebration. today’s game had all that some of the guys were asking for. in short, we dont celebrate as much as we whine!?
BC - the blue jersey icon is cool. neat work mate!
46. Cashif
Woaaah…Just Imagine Robben in place of Kalou today…We would have set th WHOLE OF LONDONON FIRE!!!
47. MourofEssien
from i see, Robben is going to stay. I think Mour will not have said it if Robbie were keen on leaving
48. TBag
Great start to the season!!! We played great football from the outset. Could have been a cricket score if Malouda, SWP, Kalou and Drog finished all their chances. I hope we play against defences of Birmingham’s quality all season. We cut through them with ease.
Great to see Rooney injured too. That’s what u get for trying to take out Cech :P
49. TBag
Is Essien injured bad does anyone know? Saw him go up the tunnel limping and I died a little in side 
50. RomanHoliday
It has been a satisfying day
weak at the back
but still strong at play
Manure drawing was also sweet
3-2 better than 0-0 blank sheet
At the back was only Peter Cech
plus a ballboy ,but what the heck
Everyone was unrestrained
Champions we’ll be this year ordained
Joeblue and M-D come back guys
Friends are waiting , CFc will get the biggest prize
Want to read ur anaylises yet
Warmest welcome back you’ll get
51. Adonis
I didn’t get to see the game, but it’s all good, what I’ve been reading is comforting. JM’s improved our team with great signings. I really hope we have one more, so we can be world class in the RB position.
52. SpecialOne
Great attacking football by Chelsea, created so many chances and unlucky not to win by many more. I don’t think Johnson did that bad today, he was good in attack and he tried in defense. He did have a few hiccups but he didn’t have a bad game.
Oh, and now we finally have something to thank Reading for!!
53. bluewinner
I will say “I told you so” on SWP. A brilliant showing for the first match.
54. Giridhar
Pizzaro was great. I hope to see him more. But Jhonson was bad in the match we know why we should have someone else there. Can Ben Haim play as a right back? We really need some cover there. Conceding 2 goals was the worse thing that could happen.
55. Maysam
BC I told u G.Johnsen is not a good right back
56. Maysam
Giridhar : I told before he will shock every one
57. Maysam
I am God
58. RomanHoliday
And I need a beer
59. zubinj9
BC please cancel the ban for joeblue and M_D.
we are missing them.
come back friends….
this blog is not alive without you guys
60. andrew,usa
lampard playing poor game and must replace with ballack who have scored more goals than lampard in international level and lampard just scores 8 goals for england where ballack scored 57 goals for germany. and in club level lampard score goals when he plays against small teams.
it seems more of a 4-4-2 with wingers… with pizzarro and kalou upfront… SWP and malouda providing the deliveries!! As jose always prefer kalou as a striker not a winger…
go blues..
| Quote This Comment | Add Comment | Go To Top | Back To Home | Gravatar | BC Shout | BBC Radio | Refresh |