If you think CFR Cluj are some push overs, I’ll help you understand better. Couple of weeks back, they beat Roma at Stadio Olimpico, coming from behind. They scored two goals there. They had 17 shots of which 8 were on target. And all this with just 36% possession. Good enough reasons to take them seriously?
Chelsea will have no worries despite missing Deco. After this match, we have a home fixture against Aston Villa and the next match would be only on 18th October by which time Deco should be back. The team we might play tomorrow could be a very formidable one even in Deco’s absence. Here is my take: (more…)
Finally, it turned out to be another not-so-easy away match, like the one at Wigan. Despite Chelsea being way ahead of Stoke on paper, when it comes to a match on their pitch, in front of their home fans, it would all be different. The common characteristic of the promoted clubs is that of pride and spirit. Remember, they belonged to the best of the pack in the championship last season.
Stoke City is not your regular newly-promoted-but-going-down relegation battler. They can give you a good fight. They have scored in every single match this season except the one goalless draw at Anfield, which was still a great result. Especially at home, they have scored 5 goals in two games. On current form though, of both teams, Stoke City might have very little hope. They must be thinking ‘we drew at Anfield, so why not against Chelsea’ but they should also know Chelsea are a different animal.
About 15,000 people attended the game at Fratton Park. Add to that probably few thousands who had subscribed for Chelsea TV. That’s the number of the people who could witness this game. It’s such a shame that it was not broadcast on any channel, there were no streams and heck, it wasn’t even on ChelseaTV Online! Nevertheless, let me see how much trash I can make up for a match that I didn’t see!
Scolari is quite similar to Jose Mourinho in various aspects. One such aspect is respecting all the competitions and the desiring to win all of them. But we’ve always seen the top premier league teams field weakened teams for the league cup. While this can be seen as disrespect to the cup, the fact is, even the weakened sides that the premier league teams put out can do the job.
Question: How do you beat Chelsea at Stamford bridge? Answer: You don’t. (Courtesy: ESPN)
Man Utd started strongly. And then for about 75 minutes, only one team played football. The ‘champions’ were raided, ragged and ridiculed. Only a terrible Anelka and a poor Joe Cole prevented a total annihilation of Man Reds. We out-thought, outplayed, out-passed and out-shot Man Utd so much that it feels like a win. We weren’t sharp in taking our chances but there’s no denial that we created chances at will whereas Man Utd could only wait for some occasional counterattacks and some lucky loose balls. If you’re Manure fan that happen to read this, you’re never going to agree, but do I care?
All set for the big day, eh? This match has quite a lot of significance in the league. The press has recognised that Chelsea is the team to beat now and Man Utd are not same team that won the double. So if Chelsea wins this match, the message would be loud and clear – Chelsea are the firm favourites for this league and Man Utd have hell of a job to do.
If Man Utd wins, it could be the trigger that they want to spur them on. Man Utd simply can’t think of a defeat here which would put them 9 points off Chelsea. The whole of England knows Chelsea don’t give away their lead so easily, be it in a match or in the league. Now matter how the match goes, you can’t deny the fact that the Reds are fearing Chelsea this Sunday.
A quick blog before the pre-match thingy for the Sunday cracker. Chelsea legend Ray Wilkins is the new first team coach after our beloved Clarke preferred to move on. I liked Clarke very much. He was highly respected by Jose Mourinho, which meant that Clarke had to be very good. Also, lots of players liked him and loved working with him. More than anything, I believe he was the key man in holding the team together and had to play the role of a first team manager, when Avram Grant was busy scratching his head. Ok, I’ll leave AG alone. He’s a poor old guy and he’s gone. All good things have to come to an end. Any doubts if I’m referring to Steve Clarke here?
The best performance of the night. A very thorough, confident and assertive display by Blues. Most of us did expect us to run away with the match. In the end, the scoreline was fair reflection of the contest, or the lack of it. If you want the story in one line – we scored 4 goals with our 60% possession and they had zero shots on target.
Chelsea kick off their champions league campaign this season by playing Bordeaux tonight. I know nothing about Bordeaux except that they are a club from from the French league. And they are meant to be a problem for Roma, than for Chelsea. The objective today should be to get this match out of our calendar with as minimum fuss as possible. Playing at the Bridge, we should be able to beat them with considerable ease. If you think I’m being very arrogant, look at this:
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