There goes the easiest champions league draw. There were no goals from a Chelsea boot but at least there is an away goal that keeps our hopes alive. Fener started poorly but their second half performance justified the final result. Even the colossal Avram Grant luck of an own goal could not prevent a defeat at Turkey.

I’m finding it really difficult to write reviews after such matches. When the champions league draw happened, the best Avram could have expected is Schalke or Fenerbahce. The defeat at Istanbul also conveys that if we had been playing any other team at this stage such as Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal, Barca or even Roma, our campaign might well have been over. If the draw was not kind enough, we got the advantage of playing the second leg at home. If that was not kind enough, Fener were missing key players. If this was not kind enough, we had Fener score an own goal early in the first half. How much more luck would we need?

Of course the first half belonged to us. Of course we outplayed them. Of course we had our chances. If you compare the way Fener played in the first and second half, that shows you what a class manager can do. Fener improved so much in the second half to the extent that I thought we were playing a different team in the second half. On the other hand, Chelsea also changed, for the worse. Once again Avram Grant failed to read the changing game and make changes accordingly. It took just 10 minutes into the second half to realise that Fener were getting stronger and fearless. At the end of first half, I’d have believed that we would end the game with the 2-0 that I predicted. After 70 minutes, looking at Fener’s resolve, I was ready to accept 1-1. Few minutes after they equalised, I knew that Fener would win 2-1. After they went ahead, I just had to hope that the match ends soon. If we had played another 10 or 15 minutes, Fener would have ended the match 3-1. No doubts about that.

Before the match, Zico said that Fener will have to beat Chelsea at Istanbul. He’s just done that. He did the changes at the right point of time, his players looked very motivated and were very confident of coming back and winning against a champions league favourite. In the first half, Chelsea were playing in second gear while Fener were in gear one. In the second half, they moved to gear three and we came down to gear one. I’d like to talk about the key moments/decisions, that made the result:

1. Playing 4-3-3 instead of 4-4-2: With a fit Drogba and Anelka, I don’t see why we are not playing 4-4-2. The Chelsea squad has better midfielders than wingers. With the given set of players’ form and fitness, 4-4-2 should suit us very nicely. Drogba has not been at his best in 4-3-3 and his best periods were when he had a partner. Drogba was poor in this match which must have resulted in either removing him or bringing Anelka to play alongside him but not as the winger.

2. Essien at Right Back: AG started with Essien at right back. Even after we won against Arsenal with Essien at RB, I had mentioned that it was a blunder. AG continued with that and I’m speechless why we have to do this when we have two fit specialist right backs. At least against Arsenal, Belletti came in and Essien moved to the midfield. Fener had quite a few chances from Essien’s side but were they did not score. So I guess AG will continue with Essien at right back especially because he thinks it’s a masterstroke. Our specialist right backs, especially Belletti, must be feeling sick about this and asking questions.

3. Delayed substitutions: This is becoming a signature of Avram Grant. His failure to read the game and make changes has been costing us too much. It was quite clear that Fener were playing better and better in the second half. AG was waiting until it culminated in their goal. How many times we have conceded a lead to end the match in a draw or a defeat this season? This can’t be coincidence. His tactical ineptitude has cost us two trophies already and we’re no longer favourites to progress.

4. The art of holding on to a lead: This is not as difficult as the ‘art of coming back from a goal down’. Can’t we hold on to a lead for one half against Fenerbahce? Okay, having gone 1-1, can’t we hold on to that score, I’m not even asking for a win. Why is that we don’t control the game any longer. Be it any opposition, we are relying on things that are not under our control. We were not able to dectate the game, having gone a goal ahead. It’s only natural to expect Fener to come with all guns blazing in the second half. We should have been prepared for their onslaught. We looked completely not ready for what was coming.

5. Lack of motivation: If possible, I’d like to see the videos of the half time talk given by Zico and Avram Grant. What did Zico say that made Fener playing like a completely different team in the second half. What did AG say which could not help the Chelsea players hold on to a lead and concede two goals in 15 minutes. Our players thought the match could never be lost, otherwise I don’t know how none of our guys closed down Deivid for the second goal. We underestimated. We thought he was not gonna score from there. We thought he did not have the ability to do that. We were complacent.

6. Fantastic home support: That was one of the most noisy home support I’ve ever listened to. It was hell, really. Full credit to their fans. Fener fans have a good team and a great manager. They supported their team all through and very rightly expected their team to come back. If we had Zico and they had AG, I’d have also had that confidence that my team will come back and show what they’re worth. My thoughts are with those away fans who travelled all along to see another match gifted to the opposition.

AG said in the post match interview that ‘this is football’. Easy excuse everytime single time we surrender a lead and draw and lose like mid-tablers.

We played good football, we deserved to win 3 or 4-0, that was I think the normal result but then one minute we were sleeping and let them back into the game. Then Ballack had a good chance to make it 2-1 but they then scored from 25 metres. Normally it is not a bad result when you score away but because of our performance, I am very disappointed. We spoke at half time that we needed to score more goals. We didn’t.

What Avram didn’t say is that Fener also helped him with an own goal. We did not play good football. We created chances but that alone does not mean we played good football. I’m getting sick this false propaganda by AG. Fener also created chances and considering the gulf in the quality of these two teams, they played good football. They scored an own goal, they equalised and then they won.

Zico deserved the credit and respect:

In the first half we gave Chelsea the chance to play with the ball and these types of sides can destroy you when you do that. We needed to fight for the ball and second half we did the right things. People who saw the first half could never believe this would be the result.

That’s exactly I also felt about the game. In the first half Fener were very poor and we did not take full advantage of that. Fener allowed us to play, did not put pressure when we had the ball, and were lacking in self-confidence. When Fener raised their game, we were still playing like we played in the first half and paid the price.

This is hardly the end of the campaign for us. Back at Fortress Stamford Bridge, we can beat any team with any goal difference that we would need. We have the quality and ability to come up with a 2-0 or 3-0 at the Bridge that would erase this defeat. I can be confident but not cocky. I cannot discount Zico and his team. We need to be very aware and careful. I don’t fear Fenerbahce, I fear Avram Grant.