Only yesterday, I said “it’s Birmingham, not Barcelona”. What an irony! Birmingham have managed something that only Barcelona could, in the last 6 months. That is, keeping a cleansheet against Chelsea. Is draw a fair result? I’d say so. We had two or three very good chances which we fluffed. Did we play poorly? I wouldn’t say so. We didn’t play well either. Basically, we didn’t play well enough to win this match. We had the attacks going. We made some good moves. The one thing that was missing was that desire to somehow win this match. It appeared that we weren’t confident of winning.
We were decent. We had the possession. We had the attacking moves. We had the shots. We had everything except the cutting edge. I think we lacked the cutting edge because we think we are officially not in form. When a team does not exude confidence, it shows. The body language of the players was all wrong. Birmingham defended well and were deserving of their point. All that Chelsea could manage was to camp in their half with no intelligent movement from the players. We made it easy for Birmingham to mark us.
We were missing both Essien and Anelka. Essien in the midfield gives us so much with his ball holding skills and distribution skills. His absence is so very evident. You can’t also help it because he is special. When you can’t find too many players like Essien in Europe, how can we find a replacement for him from within our squad? His absence will be felt. We need to get on with it. Anelka would be back for the Hull City match next month. I have a lot of faith in younsters such as Kakuta, Sturridge, Matic and Borini. Plus you have a mercurial Yuri Zhirkov. I think they’ll see us through this January.
I find it hard to blame it on Ancelotti. Already we hear a lot of voices on how Ancelotti is version 2 of Scolari. I just don’t buy that. Under Scolari, we were struggling to play. We couldn’t create chances. There were games when we didn’t have one shot on goal in the whole half. We were clueless under him. The team under Ancelotti undoubtedly plays good football and wins matches. Even in the matches where we have drawn or lost, we have played decently well. Unlike the Scolari days, there were hardly any matches were Chelsea were outplayed.
This is traditionally a tough month. None of the teams have an all-win record this month. Our rivals are also dropping points this month. I know this is the right time for us to be picking up the wins to extend the lead. But, there’s only so much you can do. When you see Birmingham in top eight and Aston Villa in top four, you need to realise that this time the league is very competitive. Even in this tough season, we’re still on top of the table. Being at the top of the table, the last thing we must do is panic.
Let’s hope that both Man Utd and Arsenal lose today. And of course the regular prayer that Rooney and Arshavin get sent off for a direct red card. I’m not asking for too much. Am I?
Listen Ancelotti should the player buys adolescent does not go so lost place par .. BUY NOW: Sergio Aguero..
carlo is not doing badly at all but i think he lives n dies by a play-safe textbook by not putting enough faith into young lads. when will we ever see kakuta, matic, borini n sturridge start a game? sturridge was replaced just after 66 minutes of missing several scoring chances but he played well considering its his first start of the season. no one can save us from beyond and now the young lads r all we hv to try to at least hang on to a decent lead before the usual suspects return to full duty. we shd do an arsenal now to add pace n dynamism into the midfield n front line. n make us less predictable all over the field. joe cole needs more games to get back on track n i hope he starts pn monday.
but it was an encouraging move not starting ballack n replacing lampard was also a good decision. we played better than the game at west ham n created more chances through open play. that is a positive compared to what i’ve seen at west ham. cech was dealing better w crosses n freekicks n we were not too bad at our dead ball too its joe hart n absence of luck that denied us a winning goal.
we are slowly regaining our rhythm n fulham had not come at a better time than monday n i am sure we will win that match by 2 or 3 goals to nil being at home. all big four teams r going through hell this season because teams like aston villa, tottenham and mc are a few levels up in form early so no big four team is assured of even top four places let alone being champions. arsenal and MU will drop points along the way and seriously i think we wont see a true champion until may 2010.
i didn’t get to watch the match but its getting really annoying the amount of points we’re dropping….i hope it doesn’t come back to hunt us…i dont care if we play good football or not…get those points is all that matters…i hope arses and manures loose today.
KTBFFH
and to anybody who thinks we played well n gained a point :
Think back …. was the Birmingham goal-not-to be really an offside ?
Was not the midfield run over time and again ?
Was Ashley Cole really able to go forward ?
And where the hell was Joe Cole ? wasn’t up front … or in mid-field or on the wings .. !
Let us hope that it is not down hill from here …. Cos if Carlo had treated the last few games like title deciders … well.. I hope those games haven’t decided it….. And if u want time with a team… say it Carlo … but we have been away from the podium too long…. and we ain’t patient…. and those who plead patience can go hide in a cave in 2020 and hope CFC have taken 2 titles in the interim…. but if it goes downhill it does … remember ……. Leeds.. Newcastle…
I don’t want Chelsea joining that list of high-spending EX- teams
Carlo is definitely not the 2nd Scolari. I am surprised how often people say this; I would recommend them to see last-year December matches and compare it with the Birmingham game. The last-year matches were all about one man holding the ball, the rest nine staring at him and not knowing exactly what to do. Now this is football; don´t you remember the smooth exchange on the left flank before Sturridge´s shot to the far post was tipped out by Hart dive? We controlled the midfield. We created some decent chances; Sturridge missed an open goal from two metres, Kalou and Lamps went one-on-one and were denied by Hart (btw. don´t you feel we create heroes from other teams´ goalies now? Credit to Hart anyway, he did a great job), Alex hit the post from the free-kick and when Kalou came on the pitch (what a change from the last match performance!), I trully believed we were going to score. The players knew what to do, the tactics was allright; a diamond with Drogs and Sturridge at the front, I would only include JC in the starting line-up, which allows us to switch to the tree formation when it is needed. The only thing that was missing was a goal.
Maybe it is also a bit of tiredness this year; the players like Lamps, Drogs, Ballack, etc. are not 21 anymore and they can feel it in these busy weeks. Maybe – as Carlo said – it is about confidence. Now this is the time we are to prove we deserve to be the Champions. It is not about Carlo; he does a good job nevertheless, talking to the press, protecting his team, etc. But it is up to the players like Terry, Lamps, etc.; they are to motivate the players, enhance their self-confidence and lead the whole team to finally break this bad run. If we make it early enough, we will be even stronger. If not, our title ambitions are quickly fading away.
Point to the young players: I would not put too many of them at the pitch at the same time. They can be gifted as nobody, but this part of season is the time when the mature and experienced players are to shine. I am afraid that the psychological burden raised by our current bad run, the top-of-the-table position, etc. would be too much for the likes of Kakuta, Matic, Borini, etc. when more than two of them are at the pitch.
fuck arsenal is just 4 points behind with a match in hand
This is definitely the best analyses I have read from bluechampions in a long while.He has gone deep in investigation and fished out the problem and the best solutions.Essien’s absense has cost Chelsea dearly; We can’t help it because we have the best midfielder in the world(My opinion) and not often do you get such gifts.Anyway,I think the coach should use more of Ballack and less of Mikel.COME ON YOU BLUES!
For me, 1st half Chelsea played badly. 2nd half was ok. But the midfield was not strong enough. Mikel for me can’t challenge any ball in the air. He keeps on jumping without winning any balls. His positioning was teribble. For me, we are lucky to have a point.
get a win tommorow anyhow deflected goal own goal scrappy goal penalty setpiece whatever win tomm doesnt matter how work very hard in training we have 2 weeks for epl after tomm plus fa cup for kids
Mates,
The only issue is that we are not keeping simple that is what Guss brought into us last year. Keep it simple, triangles, move quickly and do not depend on full back for width use wingers for that. We will keep on conceding if full backs play soo high up on the pitch use Malouda, Cole, Zhirkov, Anelka and Co. to do that. What is the use of such a huge midfield and one holding midfielder when you can add width through wings. I don’t understand why cant the full backs play till the half line or a little further 20 yards in and support wingers while ensure consistent defending. The problem is that we are losing easy points, not that we should not drop any points, easy points need to be taken otherwise its a whole new ball game when we will have no African players to the rescue.
It is going to be tough and I can see Carlo saying no no we are missing the Africans so that is the problem. Lets be practical stop exposing our defense my asking them to deep. Use the wingers and than we dont need a holding midfielder we can add an attacking or central midfielder which Ballack can do well.
An over stretched defense is easy to counter on and that is why we have stopped being comfortable at the back, the one thing Jose did was make this comfortable at the back, when will they learn not to change a system that works.
to be honest, when we are bombing like that (which is an amazing tactic when you have the full backs to pull it off)
alot of the time, malouda/deco/lampard/ballack will hang back and achor the midfield. Pace in the box and accurate passing from the midfield are the ideal crossing as theoretically, defenders are the beat in the air. Take tottenham and liverpool for example. We only struggle when we face players like ashley young, james milner, theo walcott, aaron lennon, they have the kind of pace and vision needed to exploit the spaces left. In other words, for many teams, our tactic would be an issue, but barcelona do it, inter milan do it, ac milan used to do it, arsenal do it, chelsea do it and we do it best. Our fullbacks are among the best pair in the world and that allows us to play
I reckon the team is tired, some players are carrying niggles and the young players haven’t had enough game time to build form, it will be very hard for sturridge to carry the team. He could get an England call up if he does though
@ Blu Rehman = good post mate…
yes..with this diamond formation Chelsea played tight in midfield and it’ll force our fullbacks pass through the halfline and help for attack…this diamond worked well and the backline will comfortable when we have ”Pirlo role” as only Essien who can take this role well at Chelsea right now…
and also Chelsea must not lose the ball easily…in this last 6-7 game we often lose the ball….yess Chelsea players can not be so fast running like Arse/Man U…
I hope Carlo will realize that sometimes we have to change the tactics..yes i agree why we don’t try the 4-3-3 formation again…yes with this formation our backline will be more comfortable…..
and Chelsea must give a chance to Zhirkov to play in the left….the creativity..it’s what Chelsea need now when the game is stuck…and up the tempo since the game start…if we up the tempo he opponent team will not easily to get back and park the bus…
The team needs freshening up. there hasn’t been major changes since the special one was fired. Its not the coaches, problem is in the midfield.
Ballack- very slow due to old age
Deco- lightweight, gets pushed aside easily and does not mark.
Malouda- very inconsistent and also does not mark
Joe Cole- no end product, makes the team just because he is english
That just leaves essien, lamps and Obi to do all the work.
until Chelsea buy players to freshen the team up, nothing will change, hiring and firing coaches every year but leaving the same set of players won’t take us anywhere.
by end of january manchester will be on top.
[quote comment="79888"]The team needs freshening up. there hasn’t been major changes since the special one was fired. Its not the coaches, problem is in the midfield.
Ballack- very slow due to old age
Deco- lightweight, gets pushed aside easily and does not mark.
Malouda- very inconsistent and also does not mark
Joe Cole- no end product, makes the team just because he is english
That just leaves essien, lamps and Obi to do all the work.
until Chelsea buy players to freshen the team up, nothing will change, hiring and firing coaches every year but leaving the same set of players won’t take us anywhere.
by end of january manchester will be on top.[/quote]
believe in our team we can be top
I’m a same fan as you, but if our team plays like this (i mean CRAP) and loses the top spot to either MU or Arsenal, i won’t complain, this is what our team deserves. Recent games after Arsenal were crap! Get Matic for def-mid and Kakuta for att-mid or second striker. Sell Ballack, Deco. get some hungry for goals, fast midfielders.
Why do other teams that were playing against have their facking best game against us, Why are we letting teams like Birmingham, Wigan, WestHam bite us.
This is shameful!
No. 12 (sly the Blue spy) said if perfectly!! Read it, re-read it…memorize it!
The team needs freshening up. there hasn’t been major changes since the special one was fired. Its not the coaches, problem is in the midfield.
Ballack- very slow due to old age
Deco- lightweight, gets pushed aside easily and does not mark.
Malouda- very inconsistent and also does not mark
Joe Cole- no end product, makes the team just because he is english
That just leaves essien, lamps and Obi to do all the work.
until Chelsea buy players to freshen the team up, nothing will change, hiring and firing coaches every year but leaving the same set of players won’t take us anywhere.
by end of january manchester will be on top.
[quote comment="79888"]The team needs freshening up. there hasn’t been major changes since the special one was fired. Its not the coaches, problem is in the midfield.
Ballack- very slow due to old age
Deco- lightweight, gets pushed aside easily and does not mark.
Malouda- very inconsistent and also does not mark
Joe Cole- no end product, makes the team just because he is english
That just leaves essien, lamps and Obi to do all the work.
until Chelsea buy players to freshen the team up, nothing will change, hiring and firing coaches every year but leaving the same set of players won’t take us anywhere.
by end of january manchester will be on top.[/quote]
You are right the team needs freshening up..Hope we buy quality in January….