Champions League, Matches - Written by BlueChampion on Monday, April 7, 2008 20:20 | 1,810 Views | 45 Comments | Add Comment
Chelsea vs Fenerbahce | 08-Apr-08 @ 19:45 UK
We are no longer favourites for this tie and Fenerbahce has given enough reasons to be taken very seriously. While Stamford Bridge won’t be ‘hell’, it would be no where near heaven either. Zico would know that they don’t have to try anything too adventurous. They just need a draw. For Avram Grant, a win with a clean sheet would send Chelsea through.
First though, a catch up on the premier league stuff. I couldn’t really post a decent pre-match and post-match articles for the Man City game. My internet connection screwed me up big time. Meanwhile Man Utd were held by a gritty Boro thanks to Afonso Alves. Against Chelsea, Boro deserved to win but they were unlucky to lose the game. Against Man Utd, they happened to hit the net instead of the bar. We are just three points away and the momentum is with us as Man Utd would be terribly disappointed with the turn of events so far. If Chelsea make any significant progress in the league, it would be a life line for Arsenal too. And you know what, even they would be in with a chance to win the league. It’s all getting really crazy now.
Let’s first cross the champions league hurdle. Fenerbahce will approach this game with enormous confidence. They have beaten us from being a goal behind, that too an own goal scored by them. Deivid’s snide remarks on the current Chelsea is a display of their confidence:
I think Chelsea are a bit adrift right now. They were more compact when coached by Mourinho, they knew exactly what they wanted. Now they’ve lost a bit of prestige and respect. We see that they are not in their best moment and we have to benefit from it. They have the responsibility, they are the millionaire team, the big team. We will go there to play football and, hopefully, come back to Istanbul with the right result.
Well the bad news for Deivid is that the own goal scored by him is going to prove very crucial in deciding who goes to the semi finals. He put it very nicely and precisely. Under JM they knew exactly what they wanted. He just hit it on the head. That’s the best way to put it!
Our team selection should be spot on for this crucial match. Many times before, AG has been listless with his decisions and has still gone unpunished, thanks to his luck and sometimes the opponent’s inability to expliot our created weakness. In this match, I think we need to be flawless, to start with the managerial decisions.
Petr Cech is out due to a freakish training ground injury that has made a facial surgery necessary. Must be really freakish. Should I suspect a foul play by Ten Cate? Another F-word argument and this ending up in landing punches? Anyway, I wsih Petr a speedy recovery. He was just returning to training and he’s gone again. I hope to see him again this season.
I’d stick to my 4-4-2 theory. I want to see both Anelka and Drogba in the starting line up. See, we need to win this match and we need goals. There’s no better way to put the pressure on opposition than to put these two top strikers in the starting eleven. If for some reason Grant thinks these two can’t play together, he should at least put Sheva in there. Sheva was in fine form when he got injured. He has returned to training and he’s even been playing in the reserve games.
Lampard was simply outstanding against Man City. He was a class apart that he simply stood out. He should man the midfield with Ballack, who seems to be kind of falling out with Grant. In Lampard’s absence, we saw Grant falling in love with Ballack but these days, he does not play or even if he plays he get subbed to his disappointment. The other two places should go to Joe Cole and Mikel. Joe Cole would be our key player while Mikel proved in the last match why he should play more often.
This would mean Essien would not start. So be it. There can only be four midfielders in 4-4-2. Tomorrow’s match is one where we simply can’t afford to concede and at the same time would need goals. Mikel has been more effective as the holding midfielder than Essien and hence should start. Lampard, Ballack and Joe Cole are more effective in the midfield with their attacking mind set. Essien is in some kind of identity crisis. He is neither at his defending best nor at his attacking best. Defensively, he is not in the best of form and for attack, we have better options. I don’t want him to play as the right back, when we have specialists. In the previous leg, he did not impress me there and I hope he does not have to counter Roberto Carlos.
Carvalho is expected to play in this match alongside Terry. Ashley Cole should be the natural choice on the left while I’d go for Paulo Ferreira on the right side. Belletti’s last few matches have been little unimpressive and I would not like to see any chinks anywhere in the Chelsea defence tomorrow. Ferreira has tremendous experience of playing in such big matches and on his day can be fantastic proposition. All other things being equal, I’d put him there in the first eleven. Carlo gets a longer run of matches after Cech damaged his face.
My understanding of the first leg is this: Fener gave Chelsea too much respect in the first half. They did not play their natural game. Chelsea did not take advantage of an unusual Fenerbahce. After half time, the real Fener turned up and turned the match upside down while Chelsea were watching the game go beyond their control.
In this leg, I think Fener would start strongly. They would like to score a goal here. An early goal would make their position very sound. They can start dictating the game from there. I expect an eventful first half. Zico would know that we do not want to concede at any cost. As a typical Brazilian, he might employ the ‘attack is the best form of defence’ tactic. If Fener are going to attack us from everywhere, it would put brakes on Chelsea and make them little wary of going forward. If Fener manage to go with an even score by half time, that would be a major boost for them.
Zico surely has both his feet on the ground:
When you look at the number of quality players we have, we are a bit behind Europe’s other top teams. But in terms of having a team spirit, I don’t think we lack anything. No achievement comes without hard work. But, also, faith is a most important factor. I am trying to make my players believe that they can succeed.
Zico knows that Chelsea has better quality players but seems to believe in team spirit, hard work and self belief. Ooh! That’s how he can hit us hard. We have seen this season that whenever Chelsea is faced with strong-willed opponents, Chelsea have struggled. And if the strong-willed opponent happens to be skilled enough, he could even take the points or goals. The latest example was as recent as the Man City match on Saturday. They were all over us, troubled us and outplayed us but did not have the fire power to deliver the knock out punch. As the game progressed, our superior fitness levels and skill levels proved too much for them. But from what I’ve seen and known, Fener is a different animal. They have the desire, hunger and the talent to match their dream.
Player to player, we have a great squad. If both teams are to play to their potential, Fener won’t stand a chance. Will Chelsea play to their potential? They have to. If they don’t they will be in a risk of seeing another elimination. Fener would give their everything. This is the farthest they have come in the champions league and the mere thought of being in the semi final would stir them up. They will be at us, for sure. If there is one thing that Chelsea should capitalise on, that is Fener’s inexperience at this stage. While they’re hyper-motivated to reach the semi finals, they would also be feeling anxious and nervous about the same. Even if Fener were to take the lead, they can still screw it all up. Remember that match between Lyon and Milan a couple of seasons back? Lyon lead until 10 mins to go and Milan hit them back with two goals when they were secretly celebrating their glorious win that never was. A certain Shevchenko scored a blinder to put Lyon to rest then.
Not just that. In Nov 2005, Shevchenko blasted four goals against Fenerbahce, which I think is still a champions league record. In the home leg, he scored a brace. So he has scored 6 goals against Fener in the last two matches he played them. Ironically, Anelka was playing for Fenerbahce then, who is now preferred ahead of Sheva. I badly want to see Shevchenko playing for us again. Would he be in the bench at least?
Oops! I forgot to mention that Zico was not their manager then. Small difference, isn’t it?
From our side, I don’t want us to play for a 1-0 win. While 1-0 would put us through, to play for this exact result would prove very dangerous. That’s what happened to Arsenal when they played PSV last season. PSV had won their home game. Arsenal were leading 1-0 at Emirates until the 80th minute. Then comes (now, our own) Alex with a towering header to send Arsenal packing in front of their home crowd. If we are playing for a 1-0, it would show. A very sober first half where Chelsea does not want to attack in numbers would show that. If we start with any two of Essien, Mikel and Makelele, that would also show our desire for just a 1-0.
I’d prefer to see Chelsea finish the game in the first half, not leaving anything for the second half. Some lightning quick attacks and some early goals in the first half would be great to see. Want an easy way out? Put Drogba and Anelka upfront and lump it up and don’t feel bad about it. If the game is still in favour of Fener at the beginning of the second half, I’m going to have butterflies in my stomach.
The last time Chelsea lost the first leg in an away match in the knock out stage, we came back roaring at the Bridge to knock our opponents out with a brilliant 4-2 scoreline. Players can watch this video, if they’re short of inspiration.
On Tuesday night, I hope to see a 3-1 for Chelsea. Goodbye Fenerbahce, hope you enjoyed your ride!
P.S: Be there at BC Shout for Chelsea vs Fenerbahce live match chat!
45 Comments
1. _ÇaR?I_
2. Den
—————-Cudicini—————
—Essien—Terry—Carvalho—Cole—
———–Ballack—Lampard———-
—J.Cole——————–Malouda–
———–Anelka—Drogba————
3. john
ben haim injured cech, go die you pice of crap.
4. Krishna
Should go for 4-4-2 . I think Essien should start instead of Obi.
Somehow , I feel Obi is very rough in tackles and easy candidate for red card.
My bench would be Kalou , Sheva, Belleti, Alex,Hilario, Obi and Maka.
5. Nihongo Blue
poor poor petr cech. Had 50 stiches around his mouth. painful. I think he was going to start but alas. hope cudacini has had good amount of training.
There is news that even essien injured himself and might not start as RB for which he was being trained. As you mentioned in the article gives u relief.
BC do you really think we can start such important match without makalele. In my view he should definitely start and if we still lag behind at half time then replace him with mikel at half time as jose used to do so often and it always paid off.
fenerbache will try all sorts of long range shots tomorrow and we just need to cut the space. I wish to start will alex and carvalio but i dont think grant has the guts to leave terry out. Anyways alex didnt did himself any favors in the city match. I wanted alex for his long range powerful free kicks and header. I think the most easy way we can score is header from a corner. If we get drogba, terry, ballack, alex on a corner there is a huge possibility of we getting a goal.
There have been a lot of talk regarding their RB but i think ashley has enough quality to handle many such players. If they start with carlos i will stariaght away put joey to attack through there and it can be very easy to get open spaces.
We gonna crush them at SB . Its gonna be a heck of a match and i will be there. applied for half day leave for tomorrow morning session 
KTBFFH!!!
6. denver
@5. Nihongo Blue were do you get these information from…. about what happens at the training ground….
one thing is for sure fener must be atleast 2-0 down before half time….. we cant risk scoring only one goal!!!
7. denver
I want to know who caused the injury to cech…..!!!
8. Nihongo Blue
its an accident with ben haim
9. J.H.
Yeah, I want to see some of Sheva’s too. But the fact that Grant is more unwilling to play him, even than Mourinho, which I don’t see why cos’ according to the blur memory, way back to Dec 2007, Sheva scored us two lovely goals against Villa, and at least we levelled up.
I don’t know why we have him and not play him, esp. when he’s Champions League experiences were an advantage to us.
Weird Grant is not making the best out of what he has.
10. J.H.
4-4-2
Put Anelka/Sheva and Drog upfront.
Why Essien has to play RB again? Where’s Belletti / Ferreira?!
We should make the most out of all the best lads we have!!!
4-4-2 Grant!!!!!!
11. AGFriend's foe
@3…be rational….don’t show your stupidity here…
12. TBF
@BC
That’s deivied playing his stupid mind games
13. J_BLUE_M
………..cudic……….
Essien…..Rici…..Tery……AC
………….Maka………
Balack………………..Lampa.
JC………Anelka……….Kalu
2nd half
……….cudic…………
Belt/Fer…..Rici…Tery….AC
………..Essien……….
JC……….Lamp……..Balak/Kalu
……Drog/Chev….Anelk
Obi is not a CFC material,nor Maluda.
Same goes for Drogba,though this guy can score ,only skill he has.
14. mgelz85
@13
How many chelsea matches have you actually watched closely in the past few years? To say that Mikel is not up to cfc’s standards is ignorant. Jon Obi Mikel is an incredible young talent and anyone who knows the game of football is aware of such.
15. AGFriend's foe
@13…Obi is a very good player but Mourinho turned him into a defense oriented player which is not his forte…
16. Arun
Hi
We should stick with our 4-3-3 formation,because 4-4-2 is our plan two.if we start with 4-4-2 and fenerbache is able to handle drogba and Anelka ,then we donot have any other game plan to change game(sorry Avram has limited tactics). So start with 4-3-3, attack from beginning and kill the game,if fernerbache is unbreakable then change to 4-4-2, push all player except terry, carvalho and Makalele.
Avram plz read the game well like last EPL match,change the player’s who are not playing well(Including drogba,lamp,ballack,makalele).if makalele is week bring mikel from substitution,also start with lampard and ballack, after second half change any one of them who is bad in field with essien.Sheva has a good scoring record against fernerbache give him a chance(remember our pizarro only scored against briminham city ,if sheva is selected he will score).
Formation 4-3-3
——————–Cudicini——————–
Ferria——–John Terry——Carvalho—–Cole
——Ballack—–Makele——Lampard———–
——J. cole————Drogba————-Kalao
Substitution- Anelka,Sheva,Essien, Mikel,Hilario
plz play j.cole 90min, change drogba if he is selfish with Anelka
17. AGFriend's foe
Barcelona’s Laporta has dais that Mourinho will not be at Nou camp as his style doesn’t suits their…
18. Johnarejr
Don’t play Essien in the back unless absolutely necessary! Play Joe Cole until his right leg falls off. And play two strikers up front (preferably Anelka and Drogs). Chelsea can win something this season. So, let’s hope and pray Grant get’s it right and the players realize their potential!
19. TBF
@17
The biggest question is with all the hype and tactical mastery where will poor old jose land.
Top Clubs in England
———————
Arsenal-No
Man Utd-No
Liverpool-Probability is there caus scousers don’t have brains
Chelsea-LOL
Top Clubs In Spain
——————
Barca-Laporta has rubbished stating the most obvious reason
Madrid-After capello…..LOL
Top Clubs In Italy
———————–
Inter-Categorically denied…………but most probability
AC Mila-LOL………i don’t need to explain why
Juventus-Lippi is waiting…..Probability is there
20. Midfield_Decider
@17 & 19
My biggest disappointment about Mourinho is not that he plays boring efficient football because he wants only to win, win and win but because he cannot play the other way. He cannot.
I have a feeling about tonight’s game!
21. AGFriend's foe
@20…no M_D…I think Mourinho was well capable of plying attaking football whenever he needed…remember 10 men Chelsea against Arsenal at Emirates,how many teams can do so… but problem was that he did so only when he had to chase the game…he made it a norm to stifle the game, no matter who the opposition is…grinding out results when u r not playing well is very very important if you have to win over a season…but keep doing so even against likes of Wigan is not acceptable….and then he refussed to change to meet Manure’s challenge…he kept living in his world of ‘effective’ football..thats what disappointed me most…
22. owonatty
I do not want Mikel to start the match becuase he’s prone to getting booked always, though he is very good in holding role which he does with alot of composure and confidence. We should go for Makalele with his exprience. We seriously need to change to 4-4-2 with Anelka and Drogba.
And more importantly, I will use Essien at the right side of the midfield while JoeCole will move to the left side which is the position he plays in English team. Lampard and Ballack will marshal the midfield as usual and Drogba/Anelka will be unleashed to them.
The line up will go as follows:
Cudicini
Ferreira Calvaho Terry AshelyCole
Makalele
Ballack Lampard
Essien JoeCole
Anelka Drogab
Subs: Hilario,Alex,Mikel,Shevy and Kalou
Though it looks like diamond midfield we deployed against Barca and we won 1-0 at stamford Brigde, i can remember Barca didnt have more than a sigle shot on goal.
We just need to close them down from the begining and take all our chances as they come and be nothing less than 2-0 in the first half.
I cant wait till the match starts.
Go blues
23. Midfield_Decider
@21
No, mate, Mourinho cannot play the kind of football I mean. There is attacking football and attacking football. Even Capello can play the kind of football you are talking about. That’s not what I mean.
24. Fener
Deivid, ALex, Vederson, Volkan, Gokhan, Lugano, R. Carlos, Kezman,Colin Kazim these players will be the nightmare tonight for Chelsea…Tonight Chelsea will cry like sissy’s because everyone knows from 0-1 to 2-1 and tonight it will be 1-0 the winner will be Fenerbahce!!!!!!!!!!!
25. AGFriend's foe
@23…but attacking football doesn’t always bear fruits, la Arsenal…sometimes you have to settle with something less…
26. I am a footy player
17. AGFriend’s foe
Sorry that’s not true if you read the spanish press right now the fight is between RMadid and Barca for Mourinho.Also Laporta is omne of the biggest admirers of JM, but it is good sense to come up with tha before a CL game against Schalker.
Well for tonight there is nothing to worry even fener history in the CL goes against them, probably the same results as against Olympiakos.
Fener has no players to upset tonight.
How about Zico for next season instead of toad?
27. Arun
@24. Fener - 8 Apr - 11:23
Over confident fan like u will cry today , plz visit our blog TMRW…..or be online BCShootout….
Today we will KILL Fernerbache…. donot forgot we where controlling the game till 70min in UR home….
Today our player will kill U…
28. Midfield_Decider
@25. AGFriend’s foe
Arsenal’s attacking football along with Barca’s is the best in the world. The only reason why Arsene cannot turn it all into many trophys is his transfer policy. If his squad had a quality in depth even Sir Alex wouldn’t be a match to him. Arsenal have money but Arsene doesn’t spend.
In football terms Mourinho is nobody in comparison to Wenger.
Before other bloggers jump at me let me say “Don’t waste your time”.
29. Anand
Wow. both the videos were simply amazing. watching sheva score like that felt there was no one better than him. and the barca-chelsea match was the best footbal at top level. both were so close to each other.
30. mike ayad
@22 you are playing 12 players LOL
31. SARI KANARYA
mark my words… CHELSEA 3 - FENERBAHCE 2
32. Syed
My team for Champions League QF match at the Bridge:
CARLO
BELLETTI-JT(c)-RICCY-ASHLEY
MAKA
LAMPS-BALLACK-JOEY
DROGS-NICO
Formation: 4-1-3-2
Subs in 2nd half: ESSI(NICO). If we are ahead: OBI (BALLACK), KALOU (JOEY) & switch to 4-2-3-1. If we are behind: KALOU (MAKA) & SHEVA (BELLETTI) & play 3 at the back (3-5-2) or Essien at RB (4-4-2).
Prediction: Chelsea 3-1 Fenerbahce (4-3 Agg)
[Ballack,Nico,Drogs,Kazim]
C’mon you Chels!
33. ahmet
I am a Besiktas fan from istanbul and i support Chelsea FC tonight. And I have a simple stadium spectacle idea that i want to propose to you Chelsea fans going to the game tonight:
as you may already be aware, fenerbahce is the most hated team in istanbul (as well as the most supported).
The fans of Besiktas and Galatasaray have always, somehow united against fenerbahce. and we have a new ANTI-fener chant that we sing religiously. and it is very very easy to learn:
First from the besiktas fans:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TPaY5-B-O4
Now the Galatasaray fans:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgzirGcdsNo
And here is an opera singer (besiktas fan) singing it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEM2NrHJHT8
The tune is “Those were the days” and the only lyrics are “YARRAAMI YEA FENER!”.
Please spread this message today, so everyone at the game will know about this and maybe join our mission to mess with fenerbahce.
Thank you for your consideration.
Ahmet
PS: the lyrics translate as “eat cock fener”, but it’s o.k.
Tags: game, tonight, fenerbahce
34. denver
@32. Syed Nice plans AG should come to your school!!
35. SH.IBRAHIMI
The teams:
Chelsea: Cudicini; Essien, Carvalho, Terry, Ashley Cole; Makelele; Joe Cole, Ballack, Lampard, Kalou; Drogba.
Subs: Hilario, Shevchenko, Mikel, Malouda, Alex, Beletti, Anelka
Fenerbahçe: Volkan Demirel; Gokhan Gonul, Lugano, Edu, Gokcek Vederson; Maldonado, Aurelio, Kazim Kazim; Deivid, Alex; Semih Senturk.
Subs: Serdar Kulbilge, Yasin Cakmak, Kezman, Bilin, Onder Turaci, Selcuk Sahin, Ugur Boral.
36. Richard
CHELSEA ALL THE WAY TO MOSCOW
DEFENSE - TERRY-CARVALHO-A.COLE-BELLITTI
MIDFIELD - J.COLE- F.LAMPARD-M.BALLACK-J.MIKEL
FOrWARD - D.DROGBA- N.ANELKA
SUB - SHEVCHENKO- MALOUDA
37. OasisO
Well let’s see who advances…
By the way, Midfield_Decider,i had long forgotten that i had posted here sorry i didn’t reply, and for your question i’m a member of Galatasaray SK. I’ll vote in the next elections i suppose…
38. mike ayad
1-0
39. john
ballack is superb , maka 9 wrong passes under 20 minutes………
40. john
OH LORD CUIDICINI IS INJURED, HILARIO IS IN GOAL NOW.
41. churchill
not hilaro! how bad is cudicini hurt
42. Nihongo Blue
awesome play by chelsea till half time as in istanbul. we lead 1-0 and kalou, ballack and lampard are just killing the turks… ashley is so lively
wonderful play but we need to get the 2nd goal as soon as possible.. fener is picking up momentum abit off late
43. sang_buragas
chelsea is always like this. sitback when leading. very..very..very annoying!!!
44. OasisO
Lucky start for Chelsea. I said lucky because they aren’t dominating the game. 1-0 is enough but 1-1 is enough for FB. Well, the inevitable is inevitable if they keep playing like this. In the end they’ll concede.
45. furkan
i think you were very lucky againist Fenerbahçe.Anyway you won and good luck.
Ölümle ya?am? ay?ran çizgi , siyahla beyaz? ay?ramaz ki..
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