Matches, Premier League - Written by BlueChampion on Sunday, December 16, 2007 23:32 | 2,531 Views | 113 Comments | Add Comment
Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea | After Four Long Years!
Finally, this had to happen. Our unbeaten streak against Arsenal has come to an end after nearly four years. After signing a brand new 4-year contract, this is certainly not the next best thing to happen for Avram Grant. We played very well and made Arsenal look second best for most of the time at the Emigrants stadium. It was pleasure to see Arsenal putting eleven men behind the ball for 45 minutes hoping for a counterattack. If any gooners are reading, let them know that ‘the better team lost’. Playing at home, all men behind the ball is nothing to be proud of. Anyway, that made certain things clear!
A draw would have been a very fair result for the game but luck was on Arsenal’s side which meant they take the three points. Arsenal owes some amount of their current state to Chelsea as they got our William Gallas who was a captain material and brought them the Chelsea spirit and determination. Billy was the first one to admit that they were lucky:
I was really surprised to see the ball come onto my head but sometimes you have to be lucky. Today I was a little bit lucky as Petr is usually a good, good goalkeeper.
We started rather quietly but went about nullifying them with some ease. If Arsenal had two shots on goal in 45 minutes at the Emigrants, then you can imagine. They were never going to break the Chelsea defence. The timely tackles and brilliant interceptions by the Chelsea defence and midfield meant Arsenal could not even get half chances. The only way they were going to score was by a defensive error. Otherwise, I was completely sure that we had the measure of their predictable game and would never allow them to have a sniff at the goal. Petr Cech made a rare error of not collecting the ball when he had to. Also Ben Haim thought standing still would help him control a diving Gallas.
I love the ‘Chelsea vs Arsenal’ encounters to see how our defence and midfield decimate their attack. Suddenly their one-twos and one-touch football would have deserted them. Just like the way you screw up with your card trick when the whole party is looking at you. While the gooners were saying that they would teach us a lesson in football at the Emigrants, surely they were expecting Chelsea to put them in deep defence for 45 freaking minutes!
When the final whistle was blown, Arsenal must have been playing with just nine men. Eboue must have been sent off for that malicious and criminal foul on Terry. No arguments. Based on the red cards given to Mikel against Man Utd and Essien recently, the referee must have sent Eboue off. It was only football karma that Eboue had to be stretchered off later on. Towards the end, classless Fibreglass must have been red carded for that disgusting, unprofessional, unsportsmanlike, stinking scissors tackle from behind on Ashley Cole. Of course, Alan Wiley must have sent off Fibreglass, only after allowing Ashley to have his chance of giving him a tight slap. Surely this is a coincidence that these two players are from my hate list. I just HATE them, always! Don’t ask me why!
Finally, let me put it this way. Arsenal are good but look very ordinary against the teams that can shut them off tactically. They pass around when they are allowed and cannot do much against a team that can defend and understand the game better than them. Arsenal are simply riding their luck, of late. The most impressive team in this league so far is Man Utd and they are the team to beat. Okay, my rant on Arsenal is over.
Tactically, we played Arsenal the same way we have been playing them of late. Ended up with 8 shots on target to Arsenal’s 5 shots. Some of the chances in front of the goal were not very well taken (read ‘Shaun Wrong Phillips’). Almunia had a great game. We did not play to our advantage of using the long range shooters. Too often we were passing around in the attacking third, when there were occasions of space and time for a scorcher. Guess the ‘beauty bug’ has bitten us. When we are trailing, our first priority is to equalise, everything else, I mean everything else, should take a backseat.
Avram’s starting line up was debatable. SWP should not have started. Going by his current form, he can’t even be on the bench. I don’t know why Grant relied on him so much for this big match while most of his (few) good performances have come only against smaller oppositions. He is not a big match player, for that matter, he should not have started even if we were playing only Derby County.
I thought the substitutions were delayed. Trailing by a goal at half time, we should have reacted immediately instead of another 20 minutes. I would have preferred a double
substitution by half time. That sends a message out to the opponent that we are going to take the game to them. Also that kind of brings the game alive for us. Moreover, there were a couple of players who were playing poorly. In the half time, either they must have been given a kick in the backside or should have got subbed. It did not take 75 minutes for me to realise that we are going to get nothing from SWP today.
When Terry was going off, I would have brought on Belletti as the right back and moved Paulo as the centre back. These guys are big match players and are much better players by quality or form, over Ben Haim. Ben Haim was supposed to mark Gallas and probably we had about 10 seconds to go for the first half whistle. Arsenal corner. What would you expect Ben Haim to do? Defend like his life depended on it. What did he do? Watch Gallas score a header from a best possible viewing angle. Yes, Cech made the primary error but he has earned too much credit over the last few seasons to be really pulled up for an one-off error. Europe’s best goalkeeper just showed that he is human.
And finally, time to eat some humble pie. I was wrong about Shevchenko’s desire to play and to contribute in this match. He played very well by his Chelsea standards and on another day could have scored a goal. He was good but was not commanding his area like he should. He certainly showed the interest and commitment and tried as much as he can. Joe Cole is slowly going back to his pre-JM days. His contributions are becoming smaller by the day. Ashley Cole did fairly well today. He was very good at times but made a couple of silly errors but he did not disappoint me in this match.
Two players who deserve special mention were Mikel and Lampard. Mikel today was almost flawless. Amazing understanding of the game and tremendous composure and conviction. Lampard was very impressive and inspirational and played a major role, alongwith Mikel, in ensuring Arsenal could not even shoot in the first half. But Lampard was playing a defensive role which did not do justice to his strengths. Lampard did not try to shoot even when he got the ball in his zone. That part was disappointing. That’s his strength - tried, tested and found successful.
Avram Grant said this after the match:
We played the first-placed team today with all their best players and there was no difference from us to them. I think we deserved at least a draw. The first-half we defended very well. We held the ball and they didn’t create even once chance, not even the goal. Second-half was even better. We created two great chances but Alumina today was good. He made two great saves so we deserved more and I am disappointed. In these two games against Man United and Arsenal, it was disappointing because I think we could have had more than we did - but the gap is six points and six points in this time of the season is not the end of the world. We can do it. It will not be easy but it is possible.
We are currently at No.4, trailing Arsenal by 6 points. Not a disaster. Both Man Utd and Arsenal would be losing points and we still have to play them at Stamford Bridge. We will catch ‘em up. One thing is for sure. We need replacements. I’m sure Grant will be given the freedom to buy the players he wants. Most of the available quality players from top teams are cup tied. Still if Avram is keen on the league, he should look at Villa, Eto’o, Quaresma, Dani Alves and the like. One consolation after the defeat. Avram Grant did not say anything about our ‘new’ football style and how we win and play good football, ‘unlike before’. Oh yes! I know why!
113 Comments
1. Nihongo Blue
2. IwasMissingJMthroughout
In my brain was replying the carling cup throughout.
3. IwasMissingJMthroughout
“replaying”
4. Spyder
Chelsea played well today. Without Terry the defense was quite vulnerable ,of course the absence of Essien and Drogba costed us a lot. Ben - haim performance was quite poor and proved drastic. The goal would have been avoided if Terry was present. Sheva,J.Cole,Maka,Cech were quite impressive.
I feel Bridge should have played instead of A.Cole and Kalou instead of SWP. There’s an other half of the season still to go and Chelsea’s definitely got the chance (and I hope Terry is not injured for long).
5. Spyder
I agree. JM will and always be missed. Hope to see someone better than Grant. Anyways I always felt that Chelsea post Mourinho form is only due to Clarke and Ten Cate.
6. Torohi
I thought Avgrant’s initial selection of swp on the right was a bit of a surprise.
His initial selection of players was defensively orientated and focussed on controlling the midfield- which is ok to do away from home against a top team.
Clichy has great pace and so does swp so the two players countered each other. SWP had that one great chance- but it wasnt an open goal- even if his shot was on target it probably would have been saved by Almunia- who had an awesome game.
Mikel was a god! He rarely lost posession and he provided incisive movement thru the centre. Sheva played well too and there was some nice link up play up front. I think he is begining to play with more confidence- showed when he demanded that final free kick- a good sign for the future one hopes.
Most dissapointed with Joe Cole- fashioned very little and nearly cost us a couple of goals in the second half when he lost posession. Glad he took out eboue though- it was a poor tackle but it serves him right for the injury to JT. Some fervent hoping that its not a two month metatarsal 
7. IwasMissingJMthroughout
Me too, we started to win after arrival of Ten Cate. He plays dangerously attacking and at the same time making very vulnerable to counter attacks. We lost 3-0 guys. don´t wanna blame anyone, coz everyone knows the reason why we lost today….
8. Michael
Sour grapes anyone?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
9. Michael Mariens
I called this one right!
I think that I deserve 3 points?
People, Arsenal don’t look so dangerous once they get decent opposition.
Chelsea was clearly the better team, except we lacked penetration.
We can only learn from this defeat, but then we’ll forget about this in two weeks from now.
People am I the only one that thinks Makalele should retire?
Why didn’t Avram Grant make the half-time substitution and bring on Kalou for Makalele?
I don’t think Avram Grant knows when to make substitutions!
10. Michael Mariens
@Torohi
I think you watched a different game mate, Joe Cole was brilliant!
And Mikel was hardly in the game!
11. Michael Mariens
Yes people can you believe it I actually lost watched the game!
And I feel quite normal after the loss, I’m not depressed, because frankly I just don’t care who wins anymore!
12. Johnarejr
Six points behind the league leaders. Only our second loss under Grant. Even without Drogs, Essien, and Terry; our guys could have at least gotten a point. A loss to the Gooners is a disappointment. But, compared to where many of us feared Chelsea would be when the “Special One” left, heck, this ain’t that bad. Beating the Anfield Historical Society this week will more than help me forget this loss.
13. Robert
I support neither of theese teams, but I can obviously tell that you, meaning the writers of this blog, are very bad losers.
Finally, arsenal beat you and you cannot admit that, chelsea and arsenal played well, but at the end of the day, arsenal won fair and square.
Equal amount of cards.
Arsenal seemed to have the edge.
So why don’t you just except that arsenal beat you and work on the your game so when you play them next you win.
Instead of just rambling on about how you should have won, and how your better than them because at the end of the day, arsenal are 6 points above you.
14. Mister
Robert
when chelsea won back to back titles, no one gave us the credit we deserved. you were all talking about how we bought the titles with russian rubles. why didn’t man utd, arsenal and liverpool fans admit that we won ‘FAIR AND SQUARE’??? Why didn’t they think that they SHOULD WORK ON THE GAME SO WHEN YOU PLAY THE LEAGUE NEXT SEASON YOU WIN???
stop sounding ridiculous. we were the better team today. they were just lucky.
15. olu
Michael Mariens, do you have eyes. Mikel held the midfield for cheldea on a day Lampard disappeared again. Joe Cole was almost as useless as swp. How many completeddribbles/ passes did he have. I think Makalele was fair but the disappointment was lampard. he didn’t show up.
All in all it was a nice game consiering.
16. Maysam
Arsenal won a game which they really deserved to win. Although Petr Cech made the bad mistake, It was obvious that Arsenal would score sooner or later.
It is not a big deal that there is a six points bag between them and us, because they will lose points when half of their defensive line players leave this team for African cup, I am really worried about Manchester. They are in a good shape.
If you asked me who the best Chelsea player in this game was, I would go for Ferreira. He played very well, good runs, good crosses and good blocks.
Unfortunately Sheva could not fill drogba’s place today. Avram should have realized so far that he can not show himself alone, sheva needs another strikers next to him. Avram should change Chelsea tactic for next game, they have to play 4-4-2
——————Cech—————–
Belletti——Alex—Ben——Bridge
SWP—-Lampard—Mikel—-Kalou
———Pizarro—Sheva————–
I like pizarro so much, he is a clever player. He assisted SWP very well but SWP missed that opportunity easily.
17. cancorus
I think mikel was awesome and so was Joe cole, frank had a fair game and sheva too but he’s too slow. For me mikel should be allowed to roam more and get used to the attacking mf role, he is truly pure gold, he controlled the middle field so well and created alot of opennings especially in the second half. secondly joecole should come into the middle if we want to get more from him and to play sexxy foot ball. The problems i saw today were ben - haim and Alex, they dont seem to have the ability to keep the opposition at bay. for they cost us today.
18. Bluewinner
Bloody Ben-Haim again. He is rapidly becoming the Boulahrouz of 2007. Any time he comes on it seems he is making a hash of something.
19. Arthur
Hey Robert, trivia for you:
(a) What was the feeling of Arsenal fans, coach, players after their unbeaten league run was brought an end by Man Utd fair and square (2-0 was the score)?
(b) What was the feeling of Arsenal fans, coach, players and captain after they were beaten fair and square by Barcelona in the Champions League finals (2-1 was the score)?
Arsenal are the most classless club. Full of whining bitches.
My advice to you: Let’s stop preaching. This aint a church.
20. TrueBlueInd
Hi Guys,
Really disappointing that we lost..our first half was pathetic..second half much better
I think Grant started out too defensive today..Maka was fine at Holding Midfield..but lamps n mikel were also playing too deep in the 1st half..
We were content with just breaking up their attacks..we didnt bother to run at them…bad strategy..
Losing our captian was a bad blow..our injury problems still continue to haunt us..started last season after the world cup..hasnt stopped till now..we havent had our preffered 1st choice squad for a longggggggggggggggggggg time now
Bad mistake By cech..in fact bad defending all round..Gallas got in between Alex n TBH..where was the pressure on GALLAS????..I think the guys were watching cech rather than the ball..
Also..under normal conditions..teams put players at the post to defend corners..I dont think we had anyone at the posts for that corner..a player there could have blocked the ball as it didnt have too much pace or anything on it..
Cech has saved us soooooooooo many times with his great keeping over the last 3 plus years…bad judgements like today can happen once in a while
Second half was on expected lines..but we cant say we totally started dominating till about the 60th or 65th minute..
Grant has to learn a lot in terms of strategy..hes obsessed with the 4-3-3 when Sheva is clearly not comfy playing that system
We could see from the moment pizzaro n kalou came on n we switched to
4-4-2, we started dominating Arsenal..
Lamps wasnt the usual insipiring self today..Joe had a poor game by his standards..He should have created more
Sheva, Maka, Terry,Pizzaro, kalou,Alex etc had a decent game..sheva seems to be improving..but he has certainlty lost the killer touch of his milan days..hes lost speed as well..
SWP was poor..but full marks for his effort on the field..he was running all round..winning tackles..breaking play..but as usual..going forward, crossing, finishing all poor
ASHLEY COLE HAD A GREAT GAME..MIKEL HAD A GREAT GAME..FERRIERA HAD A GREAT GAME..
all in all..I say not bad..but the strength n depth of our squad worries me..true we missed Drogba n essien..but if we cant win if 2 players are out..if our squad cant make up for their absence, then i say theres smething seriously wrong…we definitely lack cover in key areas..we need players who can easily step in & make an impact in tough times like now when we are rocked by injuries n in JAN when we lose players for the ANC..
Is CHELSEA FC a 2 or 4 man team??..cant we cope with the loss of key players??..WE SHOULD..if we want to be CHAMPIONS
Kenyon n RA talks about world domination..we cant b world beaters like this..come to think of it, RA never supported Jose in the market in jan 2007 or june 2007..so no use taking about the squad strength now
lets look at Man Utd for a sec…Man Utd won the Epl last season..they had a pretty decent squad..however they lacked cover in midfield n attack.n look what they did..they spent 19m each on nani n anderson..21 million on hargreaves..8+2 on tevez(for LOAN)..{{to sign him permanently,they have to pay 30 million..which they are ready to do now}}..Thats ambition..thats the way to dominate..keep strengthening the squad..
Liverpool is a different case all together..GREAT SQUAD..not a good enough manager..Benitez cant win the EPL in his lifetime without a miracle..he doesnt know how to handle a squad over a whole season n produce results
——————Ever since RA bought the club———————————————
**Ranieri spent around 100 million on players he wanted..
**Jose spent 100 million on his choice of players..
***Grant has the backing of RA n will b able to splash millions as well..i hope he buys well
We definitely need a GOOD winger(Prefrebaly Right), 1 GOOD CB, 2 GOOD FORWARDS(GOAL POACHERS)
please sell TBH…..Hes not good enough to be at a top 4 club..
SWP has to do something to sort his game out..hes wasting his talent by playing the way hes doing
To be fair, i guess we deserved a point atleast..but we cant complain too much..at the end of the day..Gallas scored..n we lost..thats the only truth that remains..We have to be good sports n take it in the right spirit..
We are 6 points off the pace..17 games over…34 points….21 games left..63 points to play for…setting the banchmark to win the EPL at 91….we need 57 more…that means we can afford to lose only 6 more points..TOUGH..VERY TOUGH..lets just hope for the best
Cmon BLUES…pounce on Liverpool this wednesday n kick them out of the carling cup
21. Michael
BC,
today you’ve completely lost it, I know you’re writing a Chelsea blog, but this wish-wash you’ve managed to compile up there is an utter joke.
22. zaro
Peter Cech what did you to us?
23. Blue Champion
Of course Michael. I’m in a very bad mood. Very bad mood. I’m so pissed off and so gutted. To communicate in any form, while you’re upset is a bad thing. But I just went ahead and posted.
24. Blue Champion
Still I honestly believe we played better overall. That is, I don’t consider making 4 or 5 quick one touch passes as good football, if that does not produce anything. Then SWP must be a good player, does everything except delivering what he has to. Remember, we were playing at Arsenal’s home. How many times have you seen Chelsea parking the bus at Stamford Bridge?
25. Michael
No worries, BC! Otherwise your blog is alright, so this one doesn’t spoil my general impression. I even consider it the most funny piece you’ve written thus far. Hehehe.
26. Mourofessien
Great performance from the boys at the emirates today. They showed Arsenal and the “beautiful football minority” amongst us, that Jose’s winning spirit can outplay and outmatch wenger’s academy football anytime anyday.
mikel was god. michaeel M, I wonder if you actually watched the match. I watched in a big pub and even Arsenal fans were salivating about the quality that oozed throughout in mikel’s play. That boy holds so much future.
I said earlier in the week that the only lele i felt we needed today was mikelele not the ageing Makelele and I think i was right- the guy has served us creditably and faithfully but lets face it, he has got much left in his body now.
Sheva showed that he can up it when it matters. but my oh my, did I miss Jose????? O Jose, these gooners must have been relieved that Jose together with his disciples, Essien, drogs and carvalho were all missing in action.
Joe cole is really missing the rigour and strict discipline of Jose- he is becoming just as inconsistent as he used to be.
all in all, the boys made me proud and showed why Arsenal are not good enough to win the EPL.
27. Mourofessien
I meant Maka has not got much left in his body.
28. Mourofessien
I said all week that Sheva needed quality support in the form of kalou and Pizarro but of course master beautiful attacking football prefered to pack his midfield instead of giving us the attacking thrust that these two guys were so able to give us so we could really show the gooners why we have had their measure over the last several years.
Pizarro must be given more play time- how long will it take grant to appreciate this simple fact?
29. Jay
Arsenal should have won 2-0. The Van Persie goal WAS offside but the Adebayor goal was a little harsh to give a free kick. One of the best games to watch all season. Both teams wanted to win and both had chances. SWP had the finest chance for Chelsea although Shevchenko and Mikel came close. Adebayor and Fabregas had countless chances and Van Persie looked lively when he came on. Cech was in great form. I know he made a mistake to allow Gallas to nod home but he is only human. I am an Arsenal fan and am glad on how the result went but i believe both teams could have won it. There was a part in the game that chelsea could have equalised and then Arsenal could have doubled there lead - both oppurtunities in 30 seconds. End to end stuff! I must say if we had drawn or lost i would have been disappointed but it was still a super game and I thank Chelsea for that. Great game! Great Derby. Arsenal winners. Arsenal for the title!!
30. Nubskeh
First off, Fabregas showed his true colours in the last minute. An absolute disgrace!! A combination of a rugby tackle and scissor kick tackle on Ashley Cole from behind, Cole is lucky he didn’t get a broken leg or ankle from that! And then, when Ash touches him in the neck as he shows his anger at him, Fabregas rolls around on the floor holding his face!! An absolute disgrace that player.
Anyways, we were unlucky not to take points out of the game. I think the JT injury was a key moment, because Ben Haim .. well, he didn’t play good that’s for sure. Just watched Gallas get the goal and he was very shaky at the back at times.
I was very, very impressed with Shevchenko today. Some say he can’t play the lone striker role, but if you watched he was controlling and heading on long ball after long ball. If only he had some good support today. His free kick was pretty well taken too, I think he should definitely take more of them! Lampards’ attempt from the free kick was well, yeah, not good. SWP missed the chance of his life today, I think even Kalou would have netted it. I think the perfect way to describe Shaun is fruitless. He can beat his defender (which he did plenty of times today) but then when he gets to the byline or the box his delivery is always so poor. I was shocked to see him walk out today, I thought Kalou should have definitely started. Joe Cole today also wasn’t that good. Every time he held up the ball he would lose it. There were times when he showed his brilliance but then he would just lose possession.
MIKEL!! He is an absolute LEGEND! I can’t get enough of this guy, he should start every game no matter what. Far out, his touches are absolutely perfect and he was stopping plenty of Arsenal build ups. He is just so good on the ball this guy, absolutely amazing. Maka was sometimes anonymous today, not at his best by a long shot. Same with Lamps, I was disappointed with him today. Anonymous for long periods. And when he was on the ball, nothing good really happened. He was there in defense at times, but nothing spectacular from what I saw. Alex was great as well in the game, except for that one header over Cech. Other than that, he showed great leadership in defense and I felt comfortable in our defense knowing he was there. Ferreira (although I was very shocked to see him start over Belleti) played great as well as Ashley Cole. Cech was to blame for the goal as well as TBH, however he pulled off a great double save to keep our hopes alive. He was beaten three times though, which isn’t good.
I think we should have gotten at least a draw from the game. To conceed when we did was bad, as I was thinking going into the break at 0-0 is still good. SWP wasted some great chances that could have drawn/won us the game. Oh well, we are still in it! Lets stay positive. When they come to the Bridge, we are gonna trash them and we’ll show them who is boss. Haha.
31. Maysam
@ TrueBlueInd
Chelsea does not need to buy any player in january.
CB : come on! we have Terry,Carvaliho,Alex and Ben Haim. they are good.
Forward : we have to give Sheva and Pizarro time.
Winger : we have Cole,SWP,Kalou, Malouda
Thanks to mourinho we do not need any player at any position till the end of the season.
I know why you are thinking when you say we need forwards. but it is kind of shock to Pizarro and Sheva that chelsea buys two more strikers while they are on bench.
I firmly believe that Sheva will show himself sooner or later , and pizarro too.
today he played very well, look at his passes. he is a world class player.
I have pruvian close firend, he said pruvians do not like Pizarro , they like Farfan and Solano better than him but they all agree that he is very smart and clever players.
Arsenal won 1-0 while they had all players ready and fresh. the goal that they scored was our gift to them but chelsea did not have Essien,Drogba,Terry,Carvaliho,Malouda and Ballack, guys the team that played versus Arsenal was a chelsea shadow not a real chelsea.
32. CFC
ok after reading all ur comments till now, i am not being mean or anything but @ 13 i would like to know first before making any kind of comment which team u support, obviously neither of chelsea or arsenal, if ur a neutral supporter, i wud let the comment pass by,
@14 very good reply,
About the game, i dont feel diappointment at all, we lost ot the team at the top of the table, 1-0 , so big deal, they had all their players back, we were missing essien and drogba, and our captain got injured midway through, and we still fought till the last minute, i am more than happy, lets wait till each of this big three play us at stamford bridge and we will show them wat we can do. arsenal were very good, but their beautiful football doesnt work against our boys, passing around looks good but only if you can make anything out of it. we were quite ok till JT got injured and i dont know why on earth the referee didnt show a red card for that foul, i am with BC, when we Mikel can get sent of for a tackle which he litrally pulled of at the last minute, when essien apparentlyhit miller, why on earth is eboue still on the filed, he shud have been offf during the match against borough with his kunfu kick, and i am sure arsenal will pay at some point for all this, watever goes around comes around aswell.
Reagarding individual player,
Grant did a big mistake by starting SWP, he is so waste ful and clichy did a good job against him, why dont they swap around somtimes, JCole going to right and SWP comin from left, atleast when u realise ur getting marked out by the left back, switch around and do somthing, and he missed a glorious chance, i wudnt be disappointed if keeper had made a save out of it, he need some hot grilling i guess.
shevachenko well what can i say about the old man, still try hard and i have no complains aganist him, he played his part as much as he can, hes no drogba, he cant power through players like drogba does, but i was well impressed by his free kick at the end.
lampard was good, but i would plea him not to take any more freekicks, when ballack is fit, pls let him try, or even sheva or drogba for a change, did anyone see that freekick in da midway of the first half, what was that all about ??? but other than that no complaints, he could hav been a bit more attacking,
I didnt understand why grant didnt play lampard jus behind sheva, he had maka and mikel in the midfield to do the defensive duty, let lampard play a bit more free, and i think he’s either told by the coaching staff or hes had enough from the fans, hes no more shooting, even if its 25 yeard, he’s not pulling the trigger, come on lampaaaaaaaaard, lets have some of those screamers,
Joe cole had an ok game, he didnt have one of those inspiring performance,
I am sure if it was Jose, he would have done the substitutions, at half time, may be we delayed a bit for bringing in pizzaroo, hes quite impressive, with his link up play and gives sheva a bit more support upfront. why is grant not trying the 4-4-2, with kalou and jocole wither side, pizzaro and sheva upfront,
with a midfield duo, i dont even know what formation is he going to play when ballack, lampard, essien, mikel, all 4 r fit.
we have been very unlucky for past year and half with injuries and the cover we have is not very impressive, i dont think we had a single game this season with PC, RC and JT all at once, someone is injured all the time. when all 3 of them r fit we seems to be super solid at back. plsssssssssssss get rid of that tal ben haim, hes sensationaly poooorrrrrrrrr. he might look pritty average for a mid table team, not for US. we need somone with some pace and strength.
Some one mentioned about the substituion regarding bringing on belletti and moving paulo in the centr defence, that would have been a good move, paulo was good today. but i cud understand grants situation ther, belletti is a bit too offensive and may be grant didnt want to go that offensive on the flanks, might be the same reason why he went for ashleycole.
Anyways guys cheer up, we played very well and unlucky lost by a goal, but nothing to be disappointed about, we will come back with vengance, we are playing liverpool on wednesday soo lets get back with a screamer against them.
33. JoseHoliday
On the first day of Christmas, Roman gives to me ” lame-duck AG “on a pear tree
34. king blues
tell me what would drogba have done had he played…….???
little flick on or muscling defenders
swp please go and play for derby we donyt need a selfish idiot like u barnes is better maybe chelsea should go for a swap deal.
or buy alves play him in right midfield
lampard dint stand up to the expectations free kick just outside the box and u absolutey mess it up ……… he gave away lot of comments before this match but non of them matching them with his play.
swp should not have start kalou would be prefered over pizz coz he played in big matches like these
4-4-2 with sheva and we would have got a point or more
maka did well but i dint want chelsea to go for a draw from minute 1
sheva lost the ball but he had that desire to perform which lacked in most of our players and GRANT FREE KICKS FROM SHEVA PLEASE
tough luck congrats arsenal dont get over confident coz the fixtures u have need lot of effort to get points
35. FMCurto
I think Avram is now realizing how JM felt early this season without Droga and was required to play “beautifull” while winning games.
If u remember he was sidelined for the games when JM was there.
It seems that without Drogba the team looses its attacking reference and being on recovery for some few weeks more, the future doesn’t look very promising for Chelsea.
36. king blues
no man he was there from the start till the match we lost to villa then sheva came two matches and no more jose
37. king blues
chelsea have relyed on lamps and drog for the past 3 years its rubbish to hear other loser club fans saying we r useless without them. side line them for a couple of months play without them prove the other players worth. even if r knocked out of the campsleague facup etc if this dosnt happen then i dont think we will be flourishing
38. Blues_Godson
@ Michael Mariens
its obvious you didn’t watch the match thats why you criticised the way mikel played…its totally obvious that he had the best game today and i believe too that he should be given more responsibility of attacking because this boy is a raw talent and TSO knew that…he was so good that grant was comfortable to bring out maka and left the midfield to the boy wonder..he only made one mistake that i saw..
although we lost,i must admit that i enjoyed every minute of the game…best game so far and i must tell you,i am trully impressed by my team except for players like SWP,JOE COLE and TBH….Goddammit,that guy should be sold off…TBH,has shown times without number that he is not a top club material and i still dont know why he’s still with us….
i wish Terry never come off and i trully miss rica and drogba…..our flanks are so weak and i think we need to get playmakers this january if we’re going to go anywhere…i have lost faith in joe cole and i think we need someone as effective as Arjen robben…someone that can take on defenders squarely and deliver good crosses in….not like that wasteful SWP..
its still a beautiful season and i am proud of my team…less i forget…please i dont want to see any frank lampard free kick again….God,that guy is an apology at taking free kicks….
KTBFFH
39. Blues_Godson
we should be gracious in defeat and wenger too knew that we had the quality and thats why he sad their goal was a lucky one because everyone thought a good keeper like cech was going to hold the ball and never did expect a mistake…but luckily Gallas was there when the mistake was made and that made the difference….sheva is really showing the hunger in him he’s becoming more of a team player and i think we should play to his streangth better and maybe he could become the deadly No. 7 we all loved then…..
best match to watch….
40. king blues
i dont like loosing… swp had an absolute melody for equaliser… i dont know what was going in between mikel and sheva but sheva was good today… should i say only man with with a purpose wont be an understatemet!!
we were playing good but missing something… i dont wana name it!!
cheers.. and merry christmas
KTBFFH!!
| Quote This Comment | Add Comment | Go To Top | Back To Home | Gravatar | BC Shout | BBC Radio | Refresh |