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!

Most of us expected a rout and that’s what we got. Man City’s thrashing of Portsmouth has now been put into perspective. It’s less about how brilliant Man City or Chelsea were and more about how poor has Portsmouth’s defence has become. Now that’s 10 goals in 2 games past David James. Still in contention for England No.1? Capello hates conceding goals, by the way.

I expected Franco di Santo, Fabio Paim and Mineiro. Then, I later on read that Scolari interview where he had said that it will take about 2-3 weeks to see Mineiro in action. Fabio Paim wasn’t even in the subs. Franco came in for 10 minutes. I guess we were leading 2-0 at half time which is not a bad time to bring on Franco. But I think Felipao considers the pitch time for Drogba and Kalou much more important than Franco finding his feet.

The star of the show was Salomon Kalou. Right in this blog, match after match, I kept saying Kalou should start for us as the lone striker. Felipao kept the faith on Anelka who showed that he did not deserve that trust. Whereas Kalou comes in at 70 minutes against Man Utd while we are goal down, and scores the all important equaliser. In terms of skill, pace and attitude, Kalou is way above Anelka.

Tonight, Kalou scored a goal and assisted Malouda and Lampard. And he was playing as the wide right midfielder in the 4-1-4-1. Kalou can be very frustrating at times, with his wayward finishing but he is a live wire, he can create chances and can be constantly dangerous. I’m happy for Malouda too. Unlike Anelka, he has started showing a lot of desire and improvement of late. He wants to do well and it reflects in his game. It is not a coincidence that he has started assisting and scoring. He looks to be very keen to get back to his form. He puts in that effort.

Lampard scored a brace. He’s been terrific this season, especially since he signed that contract. This season in 7 matches so far, he has scored 5 goals and assisted 3 times. How cool is that? I think he has lot more to offer. I’ll bet my house on 08/09 to be a great Frank Lampard season!

I expected Drogba to get a goal or two. Not sure if he played well. At least he played for 80 minutes. Now he has played in four games since his return from injury, including that reserve game. Now I guess that’s sufficient match practice or pitch time for him to start delivering. If not, at least he should get fit enough to start and play for all 90 minutes. Franco di Santo has played for 10 minutes and Sinclair for 20 minutes.

If this match has conveyed one thing loud and clear, it is ‘Anelka Out’. Need not be from the club, but at least from the playing eleven. Let him earn the priceless first team place in Chelsea. He did not even play tonight. Why am I picking on him? I’m picking on him because he was useless and he continues to be useless and shows no promise of becoming anything other than more useless. He’s simply blocking the growth and performance of many other able players who can do a lot better than what he dishes out.

Where should Anelka be?

    • View Results

Loading ... Loading …

Allright, I’m done with my Anelka rant. I’m waiting for Chelsea TV Online to put up the highlights show. I’d then watch the goals and update this blog with my impressions on the goals.

Update: Now, I’ve seen the goals. You can also see it here. The first goal was a great penalty by Lamps. But I’m still not sure if that was a foul or Ballack just dived on time. Or at best Ballack was trying to avoid an injury by just falling over. It was still not a tackle that you should do inside the box. That little chip by Lampard during the build-up was nice and sharp.

Second goal to our goalscoring machine Malouda. It came from a throw-in. The throw-in from Bridge went to Kalou who was on the line between the corner and goal. Kalou slid through a short pass to Malouda who smashed the ball along the ground with some power. That’s surely a sign of Malouda’s growing confidence. Ballack and Drogba were there inside the box, when he banged that in. And, I did see Felipao showing his middle finger when Malouda scored. Did he bet with anyone that Malouda would score?

Third goal was again good work from Kalou. He made some smart and confident dribbling and covered quite some distance on his own. He seems so comfortable threading along the line. He gave this short-chip-cross from the line which was fumbled by James only to present the man who seems to score more consistently most of the strikers in business. Lampard’s semi-intentional touch resulted in the ball hitting the net but I won’t call it lucky. Most of Lampard’s goals are because of his excellent movement and positioning. Once again, he got himself into a position from where he could net one.

The fourth goal was really bad defending from Portsmouth. A simple clearance failed and fell to Kalou inside the box. With his current form, Kalou need not have looked for other options than for himself to blast it in, which is what he did. I’ll say it again. Kalou should start. He brings so much to our game. He is always busy and he draws defenders towards him because he could dribble so well. We need him for 90 minutes. Kalou any day over Anelka.

I’ll be very keen to see the team that Felipao chooses for the Stoke match this weekend. Okay, Kalou was not fit after a fantastic Olympics. But now, he’s back fit, fine and is in form. So is Malouda. If Joe Cole is poor and inconsistent, why not try Belletti as a right winger? At least, he won’t lose possession, he would deliver some good crosses and he could tackle as well. He attacking/defensive mindedness can be adjusted according to the situation of the game. Just a thought!