He’s done it a thousand times before in his 400 matches with Chelsea:-) It had to be Frank Lampard. Chelsea and Scolari were three minutes away from an embarrassing defeat and an unavoidable sack respectively. Great result at the end of the day. Man Utd won. Aston Villa won. We had to win. We had our backs against the wall and we we were losing until the 88th minute. So this should sound like a great win if you had not seen the match. It is a great win but this was at Stamford Bridge and against a team which has the worst away record in the premier league.
I wonder why Chelsea cannot play all 90 minutes or at least 45 minutes like the way they played in the last six minutes. Just after the 80th minute, we could see that Chelsea fans started to leave the Stamford Bridge. That’s a bad thing for a fan to do. That’s also a sad thing for him to do. I won’t blame the one who were leaving. We were playing poor football and as a team we’ve lost our aggression and confidence for months now. Not many would have bet on Chelsea coming back with two goals in the last 5 minutes. Even if they did, even with hindsight, I’d say that was being stupidly and blindly optimistic. This Chelsea team this season has given us no proof or confidence that they can come back like they did today.
Now the season can progress in two ways. One is, Chelsea can take this win as the catalyst to rejuvenate the rest of the season. Or, when we play better oppositions, we can go back to our recent mediocre best. It has to be the former, to stand any chance of finishing first or thereabouts. If we are to return to our mediocrity, this win has no meaning. My fear is that this might have only papered the cracks for now. Many times this season I’ve thought that we’ve got the turning point of the season. Many times, I’ve thought ‘that’s it, we’re gonna be a different team from tomorrow’. And the fact is, all these have been false alarms. The goal that we let in sums up our season so far – mistakes everywhere from midfield to defence to goalkeeper. On the other hand, the goals that we scored do not reflect our season. The moments provided by Belletti and Lampard were against the run of play as far as the Chelsea season goes, if you know what I mean. Also, even Scolari admitted that the Stoke keeper would have saved the shot from Lampard, if not for the slight deflection. Anyway, a goal is a goal.
For 88 minutes, we were huffing and puffing, losing quality possession, passing for eternity with those occasional pops. We did not care enough to fight for the ball and win the ball and heck, we looked like we did not care much about conceding too. To be honest, we never looked like winning this match. Of course, we had 40+ shots in 90 minutes, which is about a shot in every two minutes. When your team has so many shots and still lose by the 88th minute, you should call your very unlucky not to be winning. I wouldn’t say that about Chelsea. We were absolutely not unlucky. We hardly created clear cut chances. We did create half chances and some chance were made to look a little better but we did not create clear cut chances. And as I said we never looked like winning the match. The urgency set in only after the 85th minute. Anyone who saw this match can correct me if I’m wrong here. For all 85 minutes, we had the possession, we had the shots but I doubt if we threatened Stoke City. Did we hit the bar? Did we trouble the Stoke keeper?
I found Scolari’s post match interview a bit strange:
I think the group today was more together than before. Against Man United we made many mistakes and we pay for these. After we discuss these mistakes and we try something in the training, in the group and on the bench and had a result, because we win two games. It was the same as the other games because we had many chances and then we conceded a goal. But after this my team have spirit, they have heart, they try to draw and they try to win. I don’t remember now but I think it is the first time we scored a goal in the last minute. We received many goals like this. I think we had 30 shots in front of goal. Stoke arrive with one ball and score. This situation we needed to change and I think today they start to change the mentality if they concede a goal. Also we did not concede one goal by throw-in, or set-piece.
You made many mistakes against Man Utd and you corrected it and won against Southend and Stoke? Sure you meant to say that Phil? I did not see those ‘many chances’ but I surely saw the goal conceded. Group together more than before? Not until we scored. We were heading for an all too familiar end and then the goal brought the group together. That’s how I saw it. He sounds almost proud that we did not concede from a set piece. How the mighty have fallen? While I’m saying we should not be conceding against likes of Stoke at Stamford Bridge, Scolari reminds us that we have not conceded from set pieces. Good time to remind you that Man Utd today got their 10th successive clean sheet thereby equalling the record set by . . Chelsea. Remember, cleansheets?
I’m very happy that we turned around this match with two goals in the last five minutes. But remember, if not for the now-scarce display of spirit and attitude in the last few minutes, the press would have had Scolari for dinner. The pressure on Scolari and the calls for his head might have been so loud that he could have even gone out himself. Make no mistake. A defeat against Stoke at Stamford Bridge today might have finished off Scolari’s career with Chelsea. And he was almost there. He must have started to think about what to say in the post match conference. He must have dreaded the possibility of getting an meeting invitation from Roman or Kenyon or both. But he stays, for now.
In terms of positives, stand-in captain Lampard scored. I’m delighted for him. I’m happy for Belletti too. When Bosingwa was signed, I wondered why because I rated Belletti very highly. He is a perfect fit at Chelsea. He has the experience, the attitude, the aggression, the skill and most importantly the versatility and adaptability. I wish we find a more permanent role for Belletti on the pitch and make him play more regularly. And, there was this kid, Franco di Santo. And Salomon Kalou. I think they fairly lived up to the hype I keep creating for them, especially Franco.
There’s certainly some sense in playing Franco. With the wingbacks we seem send down a cross every minute. And who do we have to receive those crosses? Do we have players that are strong in the air to receive those crosses? Do we have players with good headers in the team? Franco is 6′4″. He is the tallest striker in the squad and I’m not surprised that he won that ball and assisted Belletti. The kid is good. And that shot by Miroslav Stoch! Scolari should try starting any of these youngsters and retain some of his experience in the bench. The biggest positive was once again from Lampard. I was particularly impressed with the way he rallied everyone to Scolari to celebrate with the goal and win with him. That would help quash some of the rubbish being spread about the team unity and frictions. I hope those are indeed rubbish.
I’m not convinced yet. The performance today was almost drove us to the fifth place in the table. Many would like to believe that we will be spurred by this performance and this could very well be the turning point of our season. I’m sorry. If it was Man Utd or Liverpool or Arsenal that we had beaten today, I’d have said that. Chelsea should beat Ipswich (11th in championship) and Middlesbrough (17th in premier league) next. Scolari could finally get his four match winning streak. I would still not be convinced because this four-match winning streak would comprise wins against Southend, Stoke, Ipswich and Boro. I would take these for granted. Even an Everton fan (no disrespect here) would take these wins for granted. Our season would be shaped in February and March. Those two months would also mean a lot in terms of Scolari’s future with Chelsea. For now, we’re third in the league. Not sure if I need to be happy or sad about this fact!
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That was a Character win! They didn’t roll over and play dead like a bunch of punks. But, kept fighting for the result. And it was sheerly dramatic! Props go to Di Santo, Kalou, Belletti for the first goal. Kalou did everything well but score. Di Santo wasn’t intimidated to go up for the ball. Belletti is no spring chicken. But, he can still score the important goal.
Frank is a fighter. God knows he had been blocked and made some wide misses all day. But the shot he made was the shot he needed to make.
Alex should have helped out a bit better to prevent the goal against us. But, he did work hard to try to get a score. Aside from that one awful lapse, he did okay.
Hats off to Scolari for keeping Drogs on the bench. He made his decision and was going to stick with it win or lose. And after the disaster at Old Trafford, Drogs deserved to be left out (it hurt me to say that, but it’s the truth).
In all honesty, the match shouldn’t have been this close. But, A WIN IS A WIN!
Cue the Rocky music!!!! We will fight back!!! ManU looked very ordinary today. This is not over!!!
Did anyone notice that after Frank’s match winner, the team mobbed around Scolari? If the players truly believe in the man, I will shut my pie hole of criticism. Maybe next season He’ll do better. Come to think of it, SW6 is right, This is not over!!!
Damm that was one hell of a scary match, history could of been written here, the day Stoke crushed Stamford Bridge. Man I must admit when they scored at 60th min I was like were done because we have been in these situations before and did nothing at all and either lost or drew our matches but today with our mentality to not let our heads drop and fight till the last minute deserves a round of applause. Di Santo got full 30 mins on the pitch and did he impress or what, Stoch and Belletti did well and worked really hard. The first goal put a relief on ma face but I was still unhappy because even at that stage Villa were going to leapfrog us and a loss would of really written off our season. UTD got another 1-0 victory, I was hoping they draw because the difference would of been only 3 points (if they win their game in hand) but oh well its better to have a 5 point difference against UTD then 8 (if we lost today). Super Frank as always scoring crucial goals when needed, although this game was so close the character of our players impressed me the most and a late win like this means that our boys will grow in confidense and 2/3 more wins can certainly give them all the morale boost and confidense in the world they need. Go you blues its now or never!!! The only bad news is that we have lost J.Cole for the rest of the season, well we all wish you a speedy recovery. C’mon Chelsea do us proud!!
@ 38 Denver,
This may well be the game to kick start our season again, but don’t get too carried away! There’s no way we’ll win every game, but beating Liverpool at Anfield and Villa at Villa Park is vital if we want to finish at least second.
Scolari is a stupid fat bastard. You have a player like Ivanovic on the bench.. Ivanovic, being a world-class sportsman is taking all this on the chin, like a man. But its not necessary. He shouldnt have to sit on the bench while Scolari’s bias ruins his career. Ivanovic is waaaaaay too good for that. Its not like hes been in Chelsea for a couple weeks and still finding his feet, hes been there a while now and still getting fuckall opportunity. He should get out of there. A player like Bane won’t get a fair chance as long as Scolari is the manager and doesn’t understand that Alex is on fault at almost every single goal you allow..
This is the kind of games
Ballack had a poor game.
So joe cole is out of the season.now we should buy someone.
How about mendy of hull
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Sent on a phone using T9space.com
After a long time I am writing my comments…..
At last chelsea’s fighting spirit is back that too…. first time under scolari….
Even though we struggled against a small team like stoke city, but this result will bring
a complete turnaround in chelsea season, if we r going to win any trophy this season then we should remember this MATCH against stoke city…
Thank U STOKE CITY ….for giving back chelsea’s fighting spirit. Also I was very happy to see our young blue star’s di santo and stoch contribution for scoring two goals….
This is why chelsea need youngesters like stoch and di santo.Chelsea need to start ivanovic and di santo at anfield .Alex must leave chelsea ,he doesnt play for chelsea in this game,he has no passion and love for playing at chelsea ,mancicne is a great replacement for him.
START YOUNG LADS IN THE NEXT GAME AND WE WILL WIN AT ANFFIELD
Hi Blue mates, its been ages. Happy new year to BC and you all. Had to be away cos was in the thick of presidential elections which occured in my country Ghana- we had to go three gruelling rounds but am glad to report that my party has won both the presidential and parliamentary elections and we are at the moment busy preparing to form the new government.
A shame however that my beloved blues have not been as fortunate as me. Its sad seeeing the way our proverbial indomitable spirit is missing at the moment. The spirit Chelsea needs now can be capured in the name- Mour Of Essien. what we need now is more of the irrepressible spirit of Mour and Essien. The never say die spirit that these two. Am not saying Jose should be back but Big Phil must find a way of ressurecting that never say die spirit Jose put in the team.
am glad, we pulled off a last minute magic to win it today. Lets take it one match at a time and just crank up that winning spirit- lets cut out all that champagne stuff and get back to winning- winning first is what has made us formidable.
Hey guys
Hope u guys enjoyed the win as much as I did: D
This is by far the kewlest thing that has happened to me as a Chelsea fan so far this season. I don’t care if it happened against the worst road team in league. A comeback win at the buzzer like that means a lot. Hopefully we can carry on from here. This really shows that we can do it. Even the players, despite being full blood international, doubt themselves. So this is the best thing that could have happened to us.
About our consistency, At least we are consistent in two fields, defense and players getting injured=)
I blame mostly Alex for the goal we conceited. I don’t know why Cech hesitated but Alex should have cleared that one.
Lampsy plays wit a different and better efficiency then anyone else in the team. So it was logical to se him win us the game.
I a got to give Mr. Kalou some props, I been really on his ass for running like a headless chicken. I think he been good these to last games for us. The new kid on the block, di Santos was good and he has such a great movement. And stoch almost won the game for us, just to se his shot get blocked by a defender. That would have been something.
@ 6 | serbinRS
I agree wit you that”the old fart” messing up, but not when it comes to Ivanovic. He got his share of games when ppl has been injured. But I don’t rate him higher then Alex Ricky or JT. He is decent but he is no were near the caliber of Vidic that u tried to say in other posts.
If DD dropping out of the team is based only on the performance at the old Trafford game then LFS must be out of his mind. What about the others who had awful performers why are they playing? Why was deco getting starting role despite being the worst player on the pitch and not only our starting eleven but all 22 men on the pitch??? If it’s due to something else, then OK. Coach got to do what I coach got to do. Lets just not make DD the scapegoat for losing to man united.
I think Jose B is overdoing stuff on the pitch. Jose and the rest of the players should play more direct footie.
All the top teams going to drop points, the league is that competitive this year, so am very optimistic for our season. Let’s grind out a few results get on a winning run and hopefully we can sort our defense meanwhile, then we´ll be ok.
Today was a good day so keep enjoying Ur weekends blue-mates
/k
this type of win just goes to show that some of the players still have the hearts of champions and will never say die no matter what the score and no matter who the team! we need to get on a little roll before we play Juventus in February and we can look further on as we roll on with the three points
CHELSEA CHELSEA C’Mon in Champions Go.!!
yo bluechampion, franco di santo isn’t thaaat good. he hasn’t shown me a whole lot other than some nice passes.
and bosingwa is much better than belletti at right back. i think belletti’s natural position is in an attacking mid-field role…in front of mikel. that kid has tenacity…and i like it. he continually stands out in the attacking third….so let’s take advantage of it!
I didnt get to see MU game but they scored by Berbatov at the 90th minute, so we were actually very close of regaining 2nd spot even if it were until they got the fixtures right.
lets get real shal we, Joey is ut for the rest of the season so we should rotate between Belleti and Stoch for the right wing position.
I hope Stoch earns the spot.
Hahaha I can just imagine the look on the Scolari haters faces when they mobbed him after the second goal. I bet you were all blue with envy. Im pretty sure a couple of “fans” here will be hoping for bad results so they can justify their anti Scolari ness.
I felt Alex should of done more, he could have prevented delaps goal, but I’m sure we would not have this result had we not gone behind
it has always been said, when a defender makes a decision, it is never going to work out well, they should always follow instinct so in saying that, without alex’s hesitation, he would of deflected that shot
I was at work, just leaving almost crying because we were down 1-0, can’t explain how happy i was for us to score those two goals
today said alot about how the rest of the league percieve chelsea right now, a team that can have points stolen from them
we should be playing like we did in the last few minutes today for every second on the clock, that is what chelsea is meant to be
with joey out for the season, there is little reason to see stoch play regularly, if he cant hack it, we can adjust, I like di santo, he is touted to have so much potential, one of the few good things avram left with us
I would actually like to see Steve Clarke on the Chelsea throne one day but I can’t help but feel there is trouble brewing at the bridge
Today’s result was a relaxing one but its not out of our perfomance. I believe we were just lucky to get the last minute 2nd goal. I see Lampard was the only one who was more hungry for goals all 90 min. He wrote Chelsea’s history all of a sudden against every one’s expected result.
We need to correct ourselves what’s going wrong and where we are wrong. Its only last few final minutes we played like how we are supposed to play and finally its lampard (lucky) last minute goal made all chelsea fans exited rather than scolari’s useless junk gestures through out the match.
Vijay Anil
BC ~ I understand your pessimistic concern (and I agree with a lot of your points) but I think there is a bit too much bitterness in the overtones of your post, of which certainly stem from watching our overall expectations deflate in the last 2 months.
You of all people made only a brief mention about the young players plus no one mentioned that 2 of the 3 subs LPS put on the pitch were involved in the come from behind goal. (And you could really feel the passion that Stoch put in his playing in the brief time he was on).
Let LPS bring the young ones in, half of us here were begging him to do it weeks ago – and now that he does (and we get results) we still aren’t convinced. Bringing DiSanto and Stoch (and for that matter Kalou) in ahead of Drogs sends a blatant message. You want your position you better fight for it – cuz right now DD isn’t fighting for $h!t.
And now with the upcoming 2 fixtures it is a perfect time to do just this.
I don’t usualy play coach but regardless here’s who I would start next (assuming injuries today stay the same for the next two weeks):
—————Cech————-
-Bos—-Ricky——Alex—Cole
—————Mikel————-
—–Lampard——Ballack—-
-Di Santo————– Kalou-
————Anelka————-
*sub Belletti for anyone of the above (sans Cech of course) that puts in a consistance sub par preformance for 10+ mins. straight!!
Quoting GamingTheSystem
I have to agree with you on this. After 6 months, I have to admit today, LFS showed character by not picking up drogba even when terry was injured. He picked up kakuta and I respect his decision . Yesterday, I liked what he said, it makes no difference to him if we lose 3-0 or 5-0 ( if he plays with youngsters). I thought Stoch played a small cameo and had a good shot saved by the goalkeeper. Having said that I don’t know how long this may continue esp when Deco is back from injury . I just want a 1-0 win against Ipwish and middlesborough. lets start wining first..
coming to drogba, I don’t know what is going in his head. if you are getting paid 100,000 a week, you need a little bit respect to your employer. I doubt clubs having him as their top signing priority next summer expect may be Man City.
malouda was a treat to watch, caused trouble all day to the stoke team, j.cole is gone for the season so thats a big loss, also means kalou will get more game time. Kalou was good but many of the attack originated from the left 2day. When malouda plays i feel we have another facet to our game, its not because of malouda its because we have a dedicated winger who can outpace and dribble opponents. Deco on the left just isnt the same.
Di santo and stoch were ok, the assist for di santo will boost confidence but they were in the game for scolari to prove a point and i doubt they will feature against the bigger teams.
I thought chelsea played well y’day….i think it was their bad luck until the 88th minute…. yes we conceded that goal but the most important thing was that we wanted to bounce back and we did. There were moments in the game that i really liked….like when malouda showed some exquisite trickery with his feet. Kalou can maneuver through defenders pretty well….we even saw that moments before he scored against southend utd….Miroslav stoch may have taken only one major shot at goal…but that was really powerful!! he should try starting for some games….we really need young feet on the pitch….Di santo also seems to have some potential in him….thanks to him chelsea equalised!
Lampard as usual showed us that he is truly a legend and what a way to end his 400th game!
But this sort of “turning point” has occurred many a times when Chelsea were not performing well and that usually turned out to be a false alarm so i totally accept with this point in the blog.
Lets hope chelsea have set off the actual alarm this time!
So far i think yesterday was 1 of the best consistency perfomance i’ve seen this season.i saw all the players behind the ball ,normmally when we score the guys just chill like they won the game ,running like never done before,passing the ball match quicker
So far i think yesterday was 1 of the best consistency perfomance i’ve seen this season.i saw all the players behind the ball ,normmally when we score the guys just chill like they won the game ,but on sat they kept the pressure up running like never done before,passing the ball match quicker.i was watching the live news on sky sport when stoke scored i just turned the tv off that was too much for my head.i was like even sto ke come to our house and beaten us up where’s the respect at stanford bridge?but later on about midnight dicided to turn the tv back on to watch the highlights matches i was delighted by our perfomance and i couldn’t believe we won the game.i hope they keep that kind of spirit in every perfomance.don’t matter what i’m behind the team in goods and bad moments.true blue
I do not agree with you completely on this one BC. The players played a good game yesterday, they hustled from the get go. The goal they conceeded was way against the run of play and we created more than a couple of clear chances, albeit from crosses. See Kalou and Ballack failng to tap in and head in respectively. The problem the team had remains, the 4141 tactic that gives too much power to Bosingwa, who makes too many wrong decisions. The players showed grit all day.
Did anyone see Scolari gesturing after the 1st goal. was he saying pass the ball on the floor or is it just me.
On Di Santo, I’ve carefully watched him since BC started serving him up and I’m still to be convinced. But he’s young and tall. He’ll get some meat on those bones and should come good
Hi, Firstly a very important win yesterday and a very big well done to most of the players, Frank goes without saying, but as people have said we saw glimpses of what Di Santo and Stoch can offer. Have never been a big fan of Kalou’s just don’t think he has enough ability in that role to be in a team like chelsea (he wouldn’t get in any of the other 4 teams starting 11) however he does have his days and yesterday he contributed to the win.
Just a quick question to everyone. Has Mikel done enough or indeed can he ever do enough to cement his place in the team if Essien is fit?? I think the answer is no, I think we’ve missed the Ghanaian’s passion and explosiveness, I think he’s great and if he’s fit he HAS to play, however it is a pity because Mikel has shown that he can play in that role, he’s a lot taller than Essien and probably as strong too. Is there an circumstance that both could play in the same 11?? I’m not sure on that one. They’re both great players and it a pity to leave one out of the side, but I think that Essien is such an influential player to the rest of the team that he should never be left out if he’s fit. Any Thoughts
BC, i can understand that you are utterly disappointed with Chelsea´s performance, but i´d have drawn more positives from this match, even if we hadn´t won. Atleast he´s trying new formations, playing enough strikers, doing right subs, in course of time we´ll get better. His tactics are still poor, but i think he understands now that being a chelsea manager is no walk on cake. Now i feel we should give him time. Hope he makes things right again.
Overall we were dominating, had more shots, and played with passion. and BC, hitting bar and keeper saving it makes no difference to me, i consider both equally unlucky. There´s not much you can do when the other team does nothing other than just defending. They scored that goal in counter-attack, but that was what i had feared from the beginning. we were playing 4-3-3 and when you play this formation you cannot normally avoid a goal……..coz you defend thin when you are full offensive.
i suggest 4-4-2 next time, 4-1-2-1-2 is the best formation for Chelsea.
Any news on Essien. When he would be back ..
Eureka! I just figured out the problem with Chelsea’s defending. We’ve switched to zonal marking. Now I see why Benitez used to have all those problems
Its suppose to be mid march, from what I hear.
bad news –
Report: Roman Abramovich May Sell Chelsea
Speculation in the British press is mounting that Roman Abramovich may be close to selling Chelsea.
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Report: Roman Abramovich May Sell Chelsea
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Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is considering selling the club, according to The Sunday Times.
The paper claims that representatives of the Russian billionaire have been in Dubai and Saudi Arabia in an attempt to drum up interest over a possible sale.
The Sunday Times even goes as far as to quote a ‘source’ of the Chelsea owner as saying, “Abramovich’s team have been out in the Middle East sounding out what interest there is in buying the club.”
Abramovich bought the club in 2003 and his finances have largely been responsible for the club’s recent success.
The Blues have claimed two Premier League titles and also reached the final of the Champions League last season.
The Russian brought the club for £60 million, yet is thought to want around £800m for the club, after having invested heavily in his five years as owner.
Abramovich was a committed follower of the blues initially, but his visits to watch the club have become noticeably less frequent recently and he missed last weekend’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester United.
These absences, added to the fact that he has reportedly been hit heavily due to the current economic crisis, has all led to speculation that he may be ready to part ways with the West London club.
Chelsea have always rejected suggestions that Abramovich is looking to pull out tof the club, although with his side not the dominant force of old, his reluctance to release funds in the transfer window and his increasing absences at the club on match-days may suggest otherwise.
Just read in the international press, actually in 20 Jogo” sporting paper that Roman is trying to sell Chelsea to the arabs, dont know what to do of this.
After the clown that replaced JM, Scolari is the best.
No dobt in my minds that given the opportunity scolari will bring the CL trophy to Chelsea.
After Jm Filipao is the best manager guys .
After the clown that replaced JM, Scolari is the best.
No doubt in my mind that given the opportunity Scolari will bring the CL trophy to Chelsea.
After JM, Filipao is the best manager guys .
Jose Mourinhio is 3:0 down vs atlanta.Against stoke 2 young lads helped us to beat them.Alex must leave chelsea ,he has no passion for chelsea.
Ivanovic will be our vidic at chelsea.I hope Man UT lose heavy points in the following weeks
Quoting olu
lol man . . were you in coma or something? just thought of letting you know that you could be the last person to realise that we have moved from man marking to zonal marking.