Matches - Written by BlueChampion on Wednesday, October 3, 2007 19:45 | 1,454 Views | 79 Comments | Add Comment
Valencia 1-2 Chelsea | The Return of the Blues!?
Okay, we are alive and kicking and scoring too! What no English team could achieve at the Mestalla, we’ve now done it twice this year. The whole premier league must have taken notice of this result. If we back this up with another good performance this weekend, we would be well and truly back to our winning ways.
This match started in a worrying fashion, but ended up with a vintage JMC performance. In fact, the second half performance was typical Jose Mourinho style of football. Waiting for our moment, controlling the game, closing down the opponent, intuitive defending, ball winning by tight midfield play - JMC all the way. Tonight, the men in blue played with a purpose and some hunger to win. Still don’t believe that Grant has inspired them. As long as they win, doesn’t matter to me who is in charge, anyway it’s not like Roman’s going to listen to the fans’ preferences!
Chelsea started with a very strong team with the surprise inclusion of Carvalho and Terry. This was the first choice Chelsea team except for Lampard. Though the presence and experience of Terry and Carvalho made a huge impact, I’m not too confident if they are really fit. I hope we are not risking them in the greed of winning a group stage match at Valencia. The official website says we played 4-3-3 but I could see only a 4-5-1 and 4-2-3-1 and hardly a true 4-3-3 as such. Avram Grant went a notch up in my books when he dropped Sheva and Ben Haim to the bench.
The first half belonged to Valencia. They started ferociously and looked extremely fearsome and dangerous. In the first ten minutes of play, they had threated our goal a few times and also led us through a collective defensive blunder. The way David Villa pounced on the chance in lightning speed and finished it with ease, had me drooling over him. The last I remember on the Villa story was that he was willing to join Chelsea but we had wait until summer. The summer is gone and so is Jose. Not sure if Villa is still interested to join us. Even after the goal, they got some clear cut chances which at this stage they should have converted. Whereas for us, the attack that resulted in our goal was probably the only decent attack we made in the first half.
As it has happened with JMC, we upped the gear and tempo in the second half and slowly started to frustrate Valencia and shut them out of the game. I thought Makelele had a great game along with the defenders. Some websites were harsh on Paulo but I thought he played very well tonight. May be Belletti could have brought us another goal, at hindsight. Mikel and Essien were not at their best, while Drogba shone all through the match always causing trouble for the Valencia defenders. Chelsea started playing better and stronger that Valencia were slowly losing their momentum. Joe Cole and Malouda were very lively and thoroughly justified their selection and the formation they played in.
At around the 70th minute came the winning goal for Chelsea. I felt that it was a handball by Joe Cole nevertheless he made a smart turn and unleashed a superbly timed and weighted throughball for Drogba. You can bet on Drogba to bury such chances with an air of arrogance. His finish under pressure was really top class. After we scored that goal, the match was completely under Chelsea’s control and that’s when I could see Jose’s method and style in keeping the lead. In the last 10 minutes and even until the last second, Valencia could have equalised. Chelsea had to go through some very nervous and clumsy moments, before the final whistle.
Chelsea’s qualification is now made easy. His job is not at stake for now. Players are playing with passion. Suddenly things start looking very bright indeed. Avram Grant is obviously happy.
You saw the attitude in the last two weeks, it has been difficult, but it was good. I keep telling you I’m very happy with the attitude. It’s nice to be at the top. We came here to win the game. I think we want to do it and in the right way. To come back from 1-0, the second half we dominated, I’m happy. All the staff and the players have done a very good job. We did it the right way.
I wonder what this right way is all about. In terms of the style of football that we played today, it is completely identical how Jose’s team would have played. So, I really need to know what this cheeky ‘right way’ means. My congratulations to Avram Grant on his first major win for Chelsea but he stop bullshitting on the ‘right way’ thing. If the team is really going to play differently and win as well, he can make a claim about it, but everyone will agree. But he can’t be saying this for a match where we saw Jose’s Chelsea and this match was no different to how Chelsea played in April.
Also, Grant looks to be lucky indeed. He’s got all the key players (except Lampard) fit for this crucial match. I read somewhere that the last time the Chelsea team played with the first choices in each position was in Sep 2006 (more than a year back) and in just two weeks in the job, he’s got a near complete team. Also luckily for him, Canizares did not play in this match. Is Grant our lucky charm (what does ‘charm’ have to do with Grant)?
The Telegraph quotes Arvam Grant from the post-match conference:
I can say only that it was my best game in the Champions League as Chelsea manager
Now, how smart is that statement! Avram, we don’t want you to be Jose Mourinho, because we know you can’t but please keep us away from such lines.
Captain John says this:
We haven’t been performing as well as we’d have liked, but we had a great team spirit tonight. Maybe we had lost it a bit, it’s been difficult. We’ve had to pick ourselves up and look to move forward. We hope it’s the kick start we need after we’ve had a few iffy performances.
There is no doubt that this is a surprise result. All experts were predicting a 2-0 win for Valencia while even in our poll, only 19 out of 92 people had predicted this result. In the end, of all the top teams that played champions league tonight, Chelsea came out with the best result. Liverpool lost at Anfield, Madrid drew 2-2 away with Lazio, Milan lost 1-2 away to Celtic. We’re on top of our group table and believe me, it’s certainly a nice feeling. This win should be the turnaround for Chelsea in this season. There cannot be a bigger confidence booster than winning 2-1 at the Mestalla. Let’s just believe that normal service has resumed!
[tags]Chelsea, Valencia, Estadio Mestalla, Drogba, Joe Cole, Malouda, Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant, David Villa, UEFA Champions League, goal, video, highlights[/tags]
79 Comments
1. Blu Rehman
2. Blu Rehman
Fears coming to life: after seeing the team selection & the line up….cautiously optimistic!!!!eccckkksss
3. Varoon NAsa
dont know wats gonna happen………..
i seriously dont like AG not even close JM….
god help chelsea…………
jus heard da sound of my TV…
villa scores….
wats happenin in my chelsea????????????
4. Peter jones
AG NEEDS TO LEAVE.IM TIRED OF THIS RUBBISH
5. matt bull
YES!WHERE BACK IN IT!
WELL DONE DROGBA AND MALOUDA!
GREAT WORK!
6. bigbadblue
we look okay …a bit too cautious but i think the team has settled. I thot he should have started Belletti or introduce him. that would give us a bit of an offensive edge….keep y’all updated eh?
7. bigbadblue
1:2 drogba time
8. Owonatty
Drogba just score , 1 - 2 . Hope we maintain the pressure and win.
Blues till I die
9. bigbadblue
loser pool down 0:1
10. bigbadblue
like to hear fat beneathus speak now
11. bigbadblue
kalou misses again
12. bigbadblue
2-1 cfc
13. Owonatty
Blues till I die . Chelsea won courtesy of Drogba grabbing the winner. 1 - 2 .
14. SH.IBRAHIMI
i said u guys that drogba gonna do the job tonight … 2-1 … YeeeeP ..
15. manishchandra
where r all doom sayers…ashton,bluegal,mourofessien,maysam.crew…all mourinho kids…a big slap on their face…
16. bigbadblue
manishchandra
14
October 2nd, 2007 @ 12:48 pm
I hope we win…but this is Mourinho’s car which Grant,or any other coach as a matter of fact,just can’t drive…
reminder please. this was so positive!!!!
17. bigbadblue
joeblue, great team pick save for TBH YOU WERE SPOT ON . TACTICS AS WELL.
18. crew
great result. a win dedicated to jose mourinho, the god. it was his players, his team and his methods. hats off to the genius! drogba dedicated his goal to jose!!!
19. foreverblue
chelseaaaaaa!!!! my prediction came true….. sublime pass by joe cole and awesome finish by drogba. im so happy to have carvalho back in the defense played really well but in my opinion maka was MOM!!! im going to repeat this again mestalla not an easy place to get a result,all odds against our team this result is jus great for us, will really help the team’s confidence…..all hail CHELSEAAAAA!!!
KTBFFH!!!!
20. Radical Evan
Crew-
Mourinho is gone. Remember what he did, but get over it.
21. crew
hey no way i’m going to stop. for about a year, i’ve read crap in the comments here about why jose should be sacked. while a majority had to put up with that, now read this or ignore. grant did nothing great. mourinho would have done better than this, with a full team like this.
22. bigbadblue
HERE WE GO AGAIN
23. Radical Evan
Mourinho did nothing great today because he wasn’t managing the team! It’s no good saying “Mourinho would have done…” because we haven’t got a clue. This is a great win for Chelsea. Not for Mourinho, not for Avram, not for Roman, but a great win for CHELSEA.
24. CFC
i cannot say we played very well, but we got 3 points, which is the most important thing after a draw at home, now with 4 points top of the table which is good, pressure for rest of the teams, but we have to improve a lot, and am sure this is going to take time and it will come at some stage.
With JT and Ricardo back its looking good. as BC said am very well impressed with Avaram, he deicided to drop TBH who gives me an attack everytime he touches the ball, and not bringing on sheva shows he is not too bothered about Romans friend, but we have to wait and see, atleast for today since chelsea won i dont think Roman would be too worried not introducing sheva at some point of the game.
Once frank or ballak is back i think our midfiled will be solid and we will get firing on all cylinders. wait and see till the weekend how we play. good result as far as tonite is concerned, job well done.
25. Blues_Godson
we won but i am not still happy with our performance…except that of drogba….he was simply a stunner and i think should find someone to pair him up quickly….preferably pizarro….so glad that i didn’t loose money on my team today…i actually won….haha
26. Nihongo Blue
very very happy!!! made my morning… lets get the premiership now… drogba lead us!!!
now even grant can communicate to roman y jose didnt used to play sheva or sub him.. this performance may shake sheva internally and may be we can see a more inspired sheva to prove himself to everyone… waiting for that .
champs we are!!
27. Johnarejr
Sheva did not play! What? Does Grant have a free hand to make his own decisions?
I admit, I’m still attatched to Mourinho. And the way he was forced out was awful. But, credit the team spirit not to roll over and die over one man (like I and a few others did). Cheers to Grant for making me eat some crow today! It wasn’t too bad. The Anfield Historical Society losing at home sure did sweeten my meal!
28. AgentBlue
Seems Grant stopped by the blog!!!!!
the only thing which could have been worse than losing was to lose with Shevchenko on the pitch!!!
I hope Abromo***** notices!!
Neway hats of to AV & the boyz……..not convinced with the victory….but I’ll take it anyway!!
Valencia could have and should have won the game from the first half!!!
29. AgentBlue
I’m actually happier that loserpuddle lost than Chelsea actually won!!!
i have had to put up with those @#%^%$@! for sometime now!!
I finally get to laugh!!
I’ll laugh even more when Torres get’s injured!!!
That’ll let em see he is human!!!
Here’s to Loserpuddle not winning any trophies this season!!
Cheers!!!
30. MourofEssien
We won thank God. All credit to the boys- I think they are all too aware that its all down to them at this moment until the Club acquires a proper Manager. They dug deep and got us a result.
Ahead of the match, this was what i posted (hope Manish or boy-ish or whatever he calls himself) reads this.
“All the same, I trust that JT (am sure he will play) aided by Drogs and Essien with Brilliant Cech will inspire the boys to dig deep and get us a result- by this I mean a draw. We may just be lucky to have a win. Sheva has lost the plot and will require sometime to shore up his confidence so should normally not start if a good coach is in charge- With grant, he may start.”
So i was spot on. I knew clearly who will make the difference and i also knew that only a deranged manager will play Sheva after the stinker he had last Sat. Grant certainly is not a deranged manager- just that he is not Chelsea quality- not fit to lace the shoes of the Special One.
Once more credit to the boyz and credit to the Spirit Jose has inculcated into them.
31. ManUish
Why is Manish always posting WUMs on this blue blog? Maybe he is really ManUish after all. Bluegal was spot on.
32. manishchandra
#23…well said mate…
33. trevor
#21 . . . well said mate . . .
34. samuel
see i’m neither a jose lover nor a grant hater but the football i saw from chelsea last night was that of jose. completely his methods and spirit. grant simply tries make us believe that we played differently. can someone tell what was different and what was the right way?
35. craig
two wins at valencia in 6 months. wow! now that’s an achievement. drogba was immense so was joe cole and malouda. even i thought we played with 4-5-1 only.
joe cole did not control that ball with his arm, but the ball hit his arm, but thats fine. what a pass from him. we caught them on the break superbly.
go chelsea go! the blues are back!!!!
36. Maysam
well , I am really shocked. I have not watched the game but I watched goals , great goals . Valencia’s goal was an accident.
but for me it is too soon to say Grant is a good coach maybe 2 or three consecutive win requires. but i should admit that I really enjoyed the goals.
maybe Valencia underestimated Chelsea , maybe not , time will show that.
I am really happy for two reasons , first : for the result ,
second: I don’t need to surf the sports website every 3 hours to see if chelsea changed Grant or not becasue I believe as a result of this result he will stay in Cheslea this season.
37. Maysam
I watched Liverpool - Marseile .
Liverpool played very poor.
I watched Real - Lazio
Real is not good at defense at all.
38. True Blue Fusion
@Blue Champion
Grt post mate……………but i feel u are being biased………u love jose…….i love jose but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t give the new man in charge a lil bit of respect………..does jose holds a patent of a particular way of football we played last night……….the answer is no
actually if u stop goin all emotional about jose’s departure or sackin whichever u believed,u will surely notice avram is not crap as we emotional johnnies have made him out to be………
he is neither a puppet of ra………..if substitutin sheva 2 times in 50 min and droppin him for last night match is not a proof………then what is………….he realizerd his mistake of usin tbh before alex and we all saw it last night……..
39. mansihchandra
last night performance was in no way a dawn of a new era..it was a typical Mourinho style..dogged,determination in defense, but it was punctuated with 2 gems of a goal…
40. Blue Champion
TBF
I’m a self-proclaimed Jose fan and I’m proud about that too and everyone knows that. That said, I’m not alone when I said last night was a JMC performance. Many of the writers felt so too.
I’ve given credit to Avram for dropping Sheva and Ben Haim. I never said Avram is crap. In the earlier posts, when people were completely against Avram’s appointment, I felt and wrote that Avram should be given enough time to be judged. We can’t deny the fact that he has inherited a great team and to that extent his job is easier (only to that extent).
As regards football, I won’t hail him or dump him until he’s given enough time. If you’re not winning, you need time to improve and if you’re winning you need time to prove your consistency. My only gripe against him is his body language and his communication.
The manager and his personality can be crucial factors in how the club is viewed by rival players, managers and fans. now you see players and managers ridiculing Chelsea, which they would have never dreamt of, if Jose were here, in the fear of his strong sarcastic retaliation. Under Jose, the team and the players were well protected. I want Avram to play that role too.
Other than that, if True Blue Fashion is the new Chelsea manager (how you’d love that job!) and you’re winning matches and trophies, I’d respect you and follow you. Whether I’d love you would depend on other factors.
Bottomline: I don’t care who’s managing Chelsea as long as we win.
41. mansihchandra
no way a dawn of a new era…it was a typical Mourinho football…dogged, determination, closing in the opoonents….but 2 goals were really like fresh air…I don’t think Chelsea ever scored such field goals under Jose…but if Roman is looking for flair footbal he must continue his search for a new coach…but still kudos to Grant to pull a victory under hard circumstances and that too at Mastella…
to moderator…please stop behaving like a Mourinho stooge…agree with ur point abt Grant’s ‘right way’ but what the hell this ‘fully fit’ squad…get over it mate or better rename ur blog so that people are not misled…
42. FleetofFoot
Excellent piece BC! The performance was definitely indicative of the never-say-die attitude that Jose instilled in our men. Still, I do not think we can say that Grant had no hand in the match. Certainly he learned his lesson one would hope with Ben Haim.
My only disagreement is that I definitely agree that Ferreira was not at his best. Makalele was constantly deeper than even a defensive mid, breaking up plays that should have been halted by Ferreira. Certainly though, his defense and distribution made him Man of the Match in my opinion though, followed closely by Joe Cole for his involvement in both of our goals.
Hopefully this hard-fought victory will put us back on the winning track!
43. Blue Champion
#41
You need to get over a fact - what I write is my views and opinions and I’m never going think/write to suit someone else.
What’s this about renaming this blog? That’s where you cross your limit. I don’t like anyone questioning my club allegiance and loyalty. So, mind your language and I don’t intend to repeat this once more.
And finally, you say this:
Quoting Blue Champion @
I don’t think Chelsea ever scored such field goals under Jose
Jose has managed 185 Chelsea games and you’re saying this! Complete joke!! Speaks volumes about you!
P.S: I have lots of patience and you’ve used almost all of it.
44. bluegal
manish@14
Am really happy the team won. As per my comments,i was only being realistic and being a jose lover, no need denying it but the club is above every one else.
That was jose’s script in play yesterday. So AG is yet to show us what he is made of. We still need a good replacement.
45. mansihchandra
@43…instead u stop crossing the limit and learn to recognise the line between being a Murinho fan and a Chelsea fan…..
‘Jose has managed 185 Chelsea games and you’re saying this! Complete joke!! Speaks volumes about you!’…u may be having videos of all chelsea goals…y don’t u show us goals u think were really ‘good’ and give proof to counter my point instead of pointing towards my ‘ignorance’…or fact is that u also know truth of my argument…may be you checked with ur compilation and are red faced to know that most of those are deflected ones or from set-pieces..
46. mansihchandra
@43…and if u really think that goals of same quality as last night’s 2 goals were scored under Mourinho then it speaks a lot about you….get over ur bias….
47. TrueBlueInd
Hi Guys,
Great win..really wonderful for the club n fans…
Atleast our UCL campaign is back on track for the moment.
Really happy to see RC n JT back together…hope they stay fit n bring the much needed solidity in defense back.
Thank U Grant for Dropping TBH..Hes 4th choice at Chelsea n should remain so till his performance improves 100 fold
Sheva was dropped as well..so Grant is beginning to show some guts..good..how will Roman take all this???..will he be happy???.
I hope we can go a winning run of 10 or 15 in all competitions now..just to get the winning mentality back..to instill some fear in the opposition…
Valencia underestimated us a lot n paid dearly yesterday..
I would like to see some more clean sheets from our side…still feel our defence is shaky..has to put up a more solid performance
The goal conceded yesterday was pretty much down to bad luck n great finishing from Villa…(If roman wants to throw millions..please buy Villa)..
Another Thing that worries me..What happens to us in January when Drogba, Essien , Mikel n Kalou leave for the African Cup Of Nations????….Can we cope without them for almost a month??
I hope Grant makes some good buys in january..a couple of good, young, pacy strikers would b fantastic..our midfield n defence are already world class..
Kun Aguero, Lucas Podolski, Giovani dos Santos…I like these 3..could definitely add something to chelsea…
n why is Grant Making Silly commnts about The WAY OF WINNING????….did anyone see Chelsea play like Arsenal oR Barcelone yesterday????…This was just the same Chelsea we’ve been seeing for the last 3 plus years..
Grant..please stop giving out silly comments n concentrate on ur job..get us back to winning ways..
If he expects to win over the chelsea fans by taking digs at Jose, he can forget it.
Jose is a Chelsea Legend n That wont change forever..Grant has been given the time n freedom by Roman to impose something new on Chelsea..so just go about ur job..leave Jose n his achievements alone..dont attempt to touch that..leave it as it is..write ur own story man..
We fans are ready to support u whole heartedly…just pick the best teams..show passion on the field…win us games..n Leave Jose alone
Cmon Blues…Lets continue winning..
48. Anonymous
great football!but if this is what av calls sexy footie, why the hell teplace jose????
is jose going to toten’am?
49. mourinoholic
Writing this comment just a few hours before the Mestalla encounter, I was just being hopeful about a turnaround in the vibes (all over the web & more) we have been getting since the last one & a half week, nothing has changed there however being a blue I am hopeful about this game or in general the whole scenario which is totally different to my approach of all being realistic (will discuss this is a moment). Wrote an article “Bridge Shaking”, waiting for it to be posted at this blog however if it doesn’t need to start my own blog or come up with something better will try to share with you guys.
Lets be realistic which all of you have been in your comments, once again I must point out that Bluechampion participants post the most accurate & worthwhile comments, absolutely heartwarming!!!
I fully agree with Blue Champion on the issue of Jole Cole’s statement which is a great way of further confusing people like me about what’s going on within the hierarchy of the Russian & the ranks with the army. So now you have to be 10% better than what you were which makes you at 15%!!!! Interesting isn’t it. To make it further weird we hear this statement coming from J.Cole who is a arguable one of the best homegrown talents of the kingdom however his position in making statements alongside AV scares me that the mess at the bridge is even more serious than I predicted. First, it was Roman’s power struggle & now a movement within the players to mark a break up group which supports AV’s induction for the greater interest of the club now that is interesting. Cole siding the manager (which is completely justifiable) implies that the quite from Lampard’s end is a vacumm which should be covered in his absence, could be…does interest me however Lamps contribution in the mid-field is beyond irreplaceable. Than Cole comes again by saying;
“We have to improve. Valencia are a fantastic team & what happened last season is history”
Good going Cole, so this season is going to be worst than last…ooopppss…major blooper of a statement.
Terry with his protective gear is pictured on all major sports sites, I must confess he looks weird, however lets see positives and negatives in this event:
+1. Team recognizes his efforts & courage to lead from the front.
+2. Team rallies around him and kicks Valencia (other polls suggest otherwise)
+3. Terry gives the performance of a life time & Chelsea out of the ruins to great glories,
CL & EPL back on track (JM wasn’t comfortable managing it). Only till the African cup of nations (it coming folks, let me discuss that)
-1. Terry further aggreivates his injury (as his position in the field is physically very demanding).
-2. Terry playing with such an injury makes the boys believe that we cant do it without JT so next time he breaks something get a titanium replacement for it so that they can win.
This is where I disagree with AV and Roman, You never let your prized fighter out when everyone knows he’s hurt, they would smell his blood & further aggravate his problems. JM approach last year without Cech, Lamps, Terry, Ricardo & several others was all about giving the team self belief, it not how many stars you have onboard however its about how bright those stars can shine. In conclusion, I am proud of my captain however on my knees praying that he doesn’t deteriorate his condition as maybe AV and the gang is looking for this match than the future load of games.
The new away CL away kit is going to be worn in this fixture along with a new deal with Gatorade, good business however lets fear the time when African cup starts. So you will have no Essien, Mikel, Kalou, Drogba who knows what our selection will be than. I would appreciate the bosses for playing Maka more to make him comfortable in this role. No goals even with Drogba consider life without him, not so cool!!
For the faithful today Essien, Mikel & Drogba can start & do some damage at Mestalla still isn’t a long term solution as we are considering ourselves as a solid bunch which can do anything without proper guidance, Roman, God sent Prophets for guidance & you bought the Special one for that guidance in your club so wake up to the tune & do something about it.
Bear in mind that this CL campaign for the blues is being orchestrated (on the front) by guy a who six years ago had a comical entry & embarrassing dismissal from the league with his Isreali (no racist intent, Bruce) outfit, so I would love to agree with PAT NAVIN when he says;
“I’m sure Grant is a decent Technical manager but whether that’s enough if you want to be one of teams on the planet I am not sure”
While he makes me fearful by saying;
“This is the first time in a long time, Chelsea are underdogs”.
BC you are still in the world of JM and I don’t blame you I am also stuck there however Cole just old us to move on so even if I agree to your formation & team selection it isn’t happening. One good thing I am hearing is Sheva being axed, with all respects to his past.
Today really I want us to win & win with conviction, to prove me & the critics wrong. A 1-0 win or 0-0 (90% possession will pefer a loss over something less than a cohesive performance) game wouldn’t satisfy me cause I want long term solutions than moving game to game with a silly hue & cry of aggressive football which is making us look further confused which is evident when Stevie (my hero) & AV make their own notes (suicidal stuff for team morale). AV wining us everything would prove that average can make world class however world class needs Supreme class, park all of you here & best of luck for the game (will see you after the game).
Cheerful defiant in the face of failure, my blues the only blues!!!
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