drogba_lampard

There was a sense of deja vu! When Walcott scored the first goal, Chelsea had to win it with a winner from Drogba. That’s exactly what happened in Feb 2007 in the finals of the league cup. As always, Chelsea took some time to turn up and conceded by that time. In the first 20 minutes or so, Chelsea were a bit sluggish and uncommitted. That was the time Arsenal saw the ball. Once they scored, you started seeing a different Chelsea.

Are we getting back to our best? Back in JM days, Chelsea typically started sluggishly and took time to settle. That’s why we hardly scored any early goal. Until we settled down, we ran the risk of conceding a goal. Once settled, we took complete control of the match and the result. The Chelsea that we see now is pretty much that. Conceding an early goal and then coming back into game is becoming a bit customary. In fact, I’m more comfortable with this. The moment Arsenal scored in the 18th minute, I was sure that we are winning, and we are winning in full time.

Check back my pre-match post. I think I was right. They are just boys while Chelsea are men. I don’t refer to the average age here. I’m just talking about the experience and maturity of the players. Young players can be wiser and older players can be less mature. What was in display was Chelsea’s rich experience. They exactly knew what Arsenal would do and what their strengths are. And Chelsea handled Arsenal like men would handle boys. I don’t think Chelsea were threatened too much. Adebayor was invisible except that one movement for goal. Spittergas was quiet and confused. All that van Persie had was a couple shots at the stands. Walcott scored that deflected goal but he was always kept under control. The others were made to make up the numbers.

When you have too many players from a team vying up for man of the match, that says something about that teams performance. Frank Lampard was the official man of the match. Most deserving too. I would also think Drogba, Alex and Malouda were in the running. Some felt that Essien was not very effective. I don’t think so. He did not surge forward very much and I think that was just the plan. Ballack and Essien were playing deeper allowing Lampard a more attacking role. I’m happy with Essien and Ballack because Chelsea bossed the midfield and it would not have been possible without them playing well.

malouda

What can we say about Malouda? This is the Malouda that Jose Mourinho bought! Hiddink is turning him into a superbly effective winger. He makes intelligent runs, he beats players, he takes superb corners, he delivers dangerous crosses and he scores goals! He now plays like a complete winger. Full credit to Guus Hiddink. Only some weeks back, Malouda featured in the everyone’s list of ‘players out’. For most people he even topped the list. For some reason, I always like Malouda. He has been in the worst form of his career but I always thought he is a genuine guy, stays committed and puts in the effort. So, I’m happy to see Malouda playing like this. I hope he scores one against Barcelona too.

Let me write a paragraph on Anelka. Well, not another rant. I’m particularly impressed with Anelka’s rise in work rate. He has improved gradually and now he is kind of consistent with his work rate. Though he is still not able to create that impact like Drogba, he has certainly got better with his hunger and desire. I’ve said this a million times now. The most important things I expect from players is passion, commitment and contribution. In this respect, Anelka is slowly becoming a Chelsea player.

If it’s Arsenal it had to be Didier Drogba. He absolutely relishes scoring against them. Let Barca be warned. Now that’s 10 goals in 11 games. That’s the form of a ‘best in Europe’ striker. I would attribute the return of Drogba’s form to Hiddink as well. Hiddink has acknowledged Drogba as the first choice striker in Chelsea. He has played him as much as possible. Under Hiddink, Drogba has not sat on the bench for nothing. Hiddink says:

It’s amazing every week, every game, he is delivering very much. The team is delivering, not just Drogba, but Drogba is the end regarding the production and you cannot always value a striker on his goals because he can do a lot for the team, not always scoring but very determined and very decisive. He worked, and it’s very nice to work with the guys. They always deliver and react whatever you do. We have seen it in several games now. I haven’t seen [Drogba] unhappy, he is smiling. I like to see this.

The finish was just too perfect to believe. The pass had to be from Lampard and that must be Drogba to kill them off. That’s my permanent script for a Chelsea winner – assist from Lampard and goal from Drogba. And Drogba killed them the way I’d love him to. I wanted him to make the Arsenal back four and the keeper look like idiots and that’s what he did. I hear Wenger saying that he let in a couple of cheap goals. How stupid is he? Will he ever learn? For the first goal, it was a great ball from Lampard and Malouda did very well with his first touch and moved in with confidence and that finish was just awesome. For the winner, another great ball from Lampard and Drogba had to do so much before he made them look like idiots. Poor Fabianksi. That’s not his mistake. He was dealing with their own shitty defence and a great striker. Wenger puts it on Fabianski to cover the fact that Guus has thoroughly outthought and outfoxed him.

I also heard Wenger crying about the pitch. He did the before the match. Because they lost, he did that after the match too. I’ve never seen such a sore, poor, ungracious loser. Of course, the pitch was poor. For Wembley, for a 90,000-seater stadium, it was a horribly poor pitch. But that’s for both teams. I wouldn’t say it was a disadvantage when it came to playing football. Whatever the pitch was, it was for both the teams. It’s like playing in different weather conditions such as snowy Russia, sunny Spain and rainy London. As a football team, you should know how to play in different conditions and you should know how to use the right playing style for this type of pitch. By the way, did Wenger mention anything about Silvestre’s volleyball clearance attempt that must have been a penalty if the linesman had a pair of eyes? Or that Denilson must have got a straight red for shoving the . . . well . . referree!

Cut the crap Wenger! You were beaten fair and square. We out-possessed, out-created, out-shot and out-scored you. We won and you lost. We are in the finals and you’re not. Hello . . Arsene, No! Things will improve. No, don’t do it please . . . No don’t . . .

wenger

I’m sorry for Arsene!

The most inspiring player on the pitch was certainly the one and only super Frankie Lampard. He created both the goals. He was involved in every single attack. He was just awesome with the spirit he displayed on the pitch. He was defending brilliantly, his led the midfield, he was a great threat in attack. I think he got most of his tackles spot on. And he was never afraid to throw himself into a tackle. I’m sure that while Lampard was flying around like that, all other players must also have been inspired and motivated. That’s what a Lampard does. Every. Single. Match. He is an unbelievable player. I were to be a football player, I’d be Frank Lampard, without a doubt.

I don’t want to think that Guus would be gone in May. He would stay. One way to make him stay is by winning a trophy this season. Even if Guus does not win a trophy, he has been a messiah for us. Even if he goes home now, he can be proud of what he achieved at Chelsea. I’m confident that Guus will guide us past Barcelona too. If there is one team that can stop Barcelona at this moment, it has to be Chelsea. You’ll see that happening and I’ll be running like a madman and you’ll read that here.