Matches, Premier League - Written by BlueChampion on Tuesday, January 1, 2008 20:17 | 1,817 Views | 46 Comments | Add Comment
Fulham 1-2 Chelsea | Kalou Again!
Fulham are one of the best first half teams this season. They continued their first half form but Chelsea’s superior quality in the second half ended any hopes for a point for Hodgson. Chelsea earns a thoroughly deserved win but had me wondering where the goals would come from.
Grant started with the 4-3-3 / 4-5-1 formation which very much of a norm nowadays. Looks like he would not change his formation even with a loaded gun in his mouth. Anyway, why should he change something that works? He does not strike me as someone who would experiement much. Not that I expect that from him, but just an observation. He made an effective susbtitution this match, right man at the almost right time. Mikel should have started this match ahead of Sidwell. Allowing Sidwell to start and then subbing him for Mikel at half time is more like dropping a coin and picking it up. I’m happy that the coin was picked up though.
The first half once again belonged to the opposition. Even this has not changed over the last season. We allow the opposition to out play us in the first half and concede a goal and then come back roaring in the second half. Familiar script but a happy ending. Due credit to Fulham. They really played well in the first half. It was rather a combination of Fulham doing well and Chelsea playing with no real interest. I was sure that if Chelsea pulls up the sleeves, it would be too much for Fulham.
I expected this to be a physical battle but it was rather a quiet affair for about 30-35 minutes. After that period, the tackles started flying in, tempers flaring and it lived up to my expectation of a new year day match against Fulham at Craven Cottage. Playing Essien as the holding midfielder and Sidwell in the midfield was never going to work. If I were to start Sidwell, I’d rather do it in a comfortable home game, such as the QPR game. Sidwell not only lacks quality but also the confidence. I don’t think he feels a part of this team. If we are not going to sign a quality midfielder, the decision to start Sidwell so late could prove decisive.
I’m happy for Kalou. If you know me, I’m an ardent supporter of Kalou. I still feel he is a great talent and he could be the one for the future, just like Mikel. He did decently well in his first season, which is the last season. This year, he has started scoring at some rate. I don’t know what idea Grant has about Kalou and Mikel. If I were him, I’d keep these two guys, groom them and make them real champions. Especially Mikel has been brilliant. In the football pitch, the most difficult role could be that of the holding midfielder. Normally, it is a role that’s done by a senior, experienced player who has vision and understanding of the game. For Mikel to do this so well at such young age is very special.
If there is one evident positive out of the match, that is Avram has started to show his emotions. I like when he shouts and screams. That shows that he is passionate about winning and also that he is in control of the team and believe me, it can have an positive impact on the players, depending on the respect they have on thier manager. Not everywhere you can apply this logic but in football, there are certain things that cannot wait until the half time talk. Good show Av!
Michael Ballack is on some kind of form. He knows that he has let his down by being absent for such a long time, though it’s not his fault. When he was still nursing his injury, he kept saying he wants to be back on the pitch wearing the blue. It’s certainly worth the wait. He’s been brilliant for a couple fo games but I’m very keen to see how he performs in the next 6 weeks. He is not only the flagship midfielder, but also the new captain, of course, until Terry resumes normal business.
The transfer window has been open for more than a day now. Essien has played his last match before his travel to Ghana and Mikel has just one more match. Are we going to have a gap between players leaving for Africa and new players coming in? I hope not. C’mon Grant! Splash that cash!
If you don’t know already, I’ve just become the manager of Chelsea FC.
46 Comments
1. Blues_Godson
2. Blues_Godson
@ BC…
what does it take to be among the G-14 clubs??? a champions league victory??
3. Blues_Godson
arsenal already leading west ham in the first minute…wooow,cant believe this is the team that won Man Utd…anyhow…BC,i think its nice that you can edit your comment after you’ve posted it…you just keep getting bette…aint no stopping you man..
KTBFFH
4. BlueBlood58
Four games in nine days. 3 wins. No Terry, No Lampard, No Cech (for two and a half games), No Carvalho for two games, No Ashley Cole for one game. Need I go on?
10 points from 12 and two defeats since Grant took over - I am still indifferent about this man and as yet I cannot put my finger on it.
Chelsea fans nowadays have never had it so good in recent years - if you think this is a bad time then you should have been around in the 80s.
I still think it will be miracle if Chelsea win anything this season as I have already said I am still ‘indifferent’ about Grant although he finally started to show emotion this afternoon at Craven Cottage.
The last three games we have seen six different Chelsea’s.
A poor first half against Villa and Fulham today and on Satruday a poor second-half against Newcastle, but despite these inconsistencies we remain unbeaten and picked up more points than at the same time last season and with more players out this time round.
KTBFFH
To Blue Godson
Chelsea will never become a G14 club - G14 or is it G17 don’t want Chelsea to join!!!
5. Ashton
hey BB58 nice to see you back here
no ashley - no probs as bridge is anyway better
no lampard - no probs as these guys hated lampard anyway and wanted to see ballack instead
no terry/carvalho - i’d pick alex over terry on form. riccy is missed but ben haim did ok.
no cech/cudicini - yes this could be bad but hang on hilario is quite good for my money!
this is hardly a second team despite the propaganda that we are missing key players. The players that we miss are the ones who are in bad form who should not start anyway (except drogba/cech)
6. Bella
BlueBlood58
“10 points from 12 and two defeats since Grant took over - I am still indifferent about this man and as yet I cannot put my finger on it.”
I know blueblood, I can’t put my finger on it either, I’m totally indifferent to him and don’t think he’s a patch in terms of quality of what we had before. Why this man does not inspire me with confidence despite getting good results I just don’t know.
We played poorly first half and much better in the second. Grant made a good sub with Mikel at half time I thought.
We met a Fulham side that are currently in the relegation zone and in crisis - in that respect Grant did get lucky.
Against a stronger side we might have been in trouble.
As for our style of play it was pretty much as it has always been - slow start, moved up a gear in the second half, recovered our lead and then wasted time to the end to get the 3 points.
So despite Grant saying again yesterday in the paper about how all the fans can see how much better we are playing since he took over I have to tell him that sorry that’s not true, we are playing pretty much the same with a depleted squad and grinding out the results.
Grant has bought nothing new to Chelsea that I can recognize worth a name.
That said, Grant suggested he would let results on the pitch do the talking and I guess he has had the last laugh again today against all his detractors.
I still don’t think we can win anything with Grant but again I can’t really put my finger on why when we are generally getting the results.
I guess when we start to meet our top rivals and play closer to the finals of the CL etc I will be able to access Grant better.
Right now playing the PL teams we have has told me little other than against lowly teams he does okay but against our rivals (away at least) and those in the second tier he tends to struggle.
7. Bella
I agree with you in part Ashton about players missing and all the hype about what a terrible position we are in.
Lampard is in poor form so playing Ballack is better.
I think JT has actually not been playing well and I would prefer Alex.
Bridge I prefer over Ashley a lot of the time.
I can never understand why Belletti went out of favour for a while with Grant as he’s great.
So aside from Drogba, Cech and Riccy the players picked were actually the ones I would have chosen any way and they are available.
JT for me at times this season has been more of a liability than an asset as he has never been fully fit.
The fact Sheva is not available is not big loss as he usually does nothing for us anyway and we use Kalou.
So despite all the fuss, the team out there is not that bad overall.
8. cap123
Ballack said after the game that Grant shouted at the boys and got them back up for it at half time, it’s a nice thought if he actually did.
Also i disagree with a few people here, all the players we have missing do make a difference, as they are more of an actual team unit that all the replacements muddled together that we have out there. It does make a difference imo, maybe not quite as much as people are making out but we would have won comfortably with our 1st team today, it would have been a routine win.
Also Drogba, riccy and cech are a huge part of our team, so passing them off as ‘just’ them missing is silly, they’re very much the spine of our team. The only real mistake by grant was playing sidwell over mikel, why he only decided that at half time i’ve no idea.
Also pleasantly surprised with kalou’s performance today!:D
9. blueblood58
Ashton - TY I have been around but have done a lot of ‘lurking.’ LOL
I am not being unfair on the players that have played recently I was trying to make a point that we are still getting the points with the players that have come in and are doing the job.
Kalou is not a front man he has now got two in two. Ballack with two goals in three and he has played better in the last three games than he did all last season.
Apart from the save at Blackburn, Hilario has had nothing to do - you are right about Bridge I prefer him to Cole as well.
The one problem we do have without Terry on the pitch - we don’t have a leader. It seems to me that no body with or without the armband wants to become that one ’special’ person who wants to lead the team.
To Bella
“Against a stronger side we might have been in trouble.”
Spot on I felt that too
Lets see how Grant gets on during the transfer window - after all he HAS inherited other manager’s players LOL - I am not saying he is going to buy a whole new team - but he will have to buy.
Anelka’s name wont go out of the frame. The media are in a frenzy about Berbatov being signed (wont happen)!!! Modric has said that he wants to stay where he is….. we shall just have to wait and see
KTBFFH
10. Maysam
I expected chelsea to win this game, I said 2-1 or 1-0 (2 penalties) 
.
I am very happy that Ballack scored in this game.
Well , Thanks for information, I did not know Anelka signed a new contract so his stroy book isclosed here.
Berbatov is a good striker but I should tell you, he cannot do anythnig alone. he needs someone beside himslef. He is like Sheva. so if chelsea signed him , they would sign another striker in summer for sure.
Arsenal 2-0 West ham 77′ I expected this result. well if Ronaldo scored the penalty aganst them they would never win Manchester.
Manchester 1-0 Birimnigham , I am watchnig this game right now, Birmingham is struggling , it does not seem they can do somethnig. Manchester will score any moment, Actually Birmingham was lucky. Manchester could score several times.
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12. Nick
I think Sidwell was started to prepare him for when Mikel and Essien depart for the AFC, which is very, very soon (it’s Essien’s last game for Chelsea for a while). He was only taken off for Mikel after we were desperate for a win.
13. Nihongo Blue
“Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu” aka happy new year to you all
we entered the new year with a win with some “LOUD” talks from grant as ballack said.. 3 points good for us as arsenal and man utd won.
looking fwd to the transfer window.. berbatov is the man
this match we were OK… considering the injury list its a good performance..
i liked bellatti… what a signing by jose!!!! has anybody ever mentioned this?
14. andrew,usa
ballack played supereb football
15. ballack fan,usa
ballack rocks big time in chelsea and played a wonderful foot ball as he always played for german&b.munich but still he want to improve his game specially in passing to the strikers…
16. rocky,china
chelsea played a better football without major players. ballack played his part..
17. TrueBlueInd
Hi guys,
Nice game…bad 1st half..great 2nd half
We created a lot of chances, but we lack players to put the ball into the net on a regular basis
Why isnt any transfer news coming out..wat about Franco Di santo..when is that kid joining us??
Are there any decent CBs available in the market..Micah richards is one..but I dont think Man City will sell him..
We need a good striker..i hope Grant has identified the men he wants to come in..act fast Mr Grant
QPR next..
Cmon BLUES
18. CaLiFoRNiCaTioN
Wowwwwwwwww
i didn’t expect to win today :)\
no pizarro
? not even on the bench…
boooooooo
19. CFC
Good result, few points in the bag, closing on the leaders arsenal and man utd. lets give the guy some credit. I was impressed the way he made subs as well, he changed at hlf time when things are not going good, bringing on OBi, which gives the defence a bit more stability. then later on when we went up a goal, he subed j cole for paulo, good thinking, when we are winning theres nothing wrong to go a bit defensive keep the lead and then with pizz on for SWP a bit more time wasting, all good. a well deserved 3 poiints from the second half performance.
I am still not convinced kalou is up there yet to play himself alone, but time being with sheva and drogba out we hardly hav any other option, unless we play pizz and kalou upfront with 4-4-2. but then again midfield wud be weak with essien and ballack. mikel gives that extra protection for back 4.
I have to say, alex is doing a great job at the back with out the likes of terry and riccky. ofcourse he has some bad games, but with injuries and suspensions, hes kept his cool. Hilario is impressive as well, with shot stopping and saves, but corners hes a bit sloppy. doesnt command like cech but said that he saved us 3 points with a brillaint save against blackburn.
Why grant doesnt play belletti at times is becos, belleti is a bit more offensive than paulo, and at times sometimes you have to go for a bit defensive minded full backs. thats quite understandable.
Anelka has signed a deal with bolton but those are just on papers and do anyone really bother about contracts ??? lol hes on his way to stamford bridge as far as i am aware, they have pritty much done the deal and he should be inline for a start at stamford bridge pritty soon in blue colors.
We play QPR next in FA cup, could be another thriller, but we should be ok with the players we have at the moment. then we play everton, and for that game, cech, sheva and riccky should be back from injury and suspenson. but i am not sure, when the players are going to leave for African cup, i hope chelsea dont let them go untill 14 th after the game against spurs.
20. Adonis
YES!! I’ve missed the last two matches, they haven’t played them on any channels in north america, but I’m very glad that we’re playing well.
Can we say that Ballack’s silencing his doubters? All of last year he kept showing signs, 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there, a half here, a half there. He can be brilliant, absolutely devastating, and run the team. But he hasn’t played like this since his Bayern days. This is what I want. I’m sort of glad that Lampard is off to the side because Essien/Mikel and Ballack mesh a lot better than Franky and him do. It’s such a good sign.
I wish I’d seen SWP’s performance today, a few games out of the rotation were well diserved after two or three extremely wasteful games.
Good to see Ballack wearing the armband… His first time captaining us, isn’t it??
21. Adonis
Cool feature about editing the comments, BC. Three thumbs up
22. moyo.
jose mourinho has signed a contract to take over Ac milan by july. Reports have also confirmed that Didier drogba will be joining him for 25 million pounds. Lampard will also be leaving for Barcelona during that period. If all these happens, then, we will be doomed.
23. SoCalBlue
I cant beleave some can say 2nd team, Chelsea with the quality of players , cant have a second team, what we have is a second class Manager, If he dont play under Mourinho style he cant make a decent team, This “manager” is trying to make goals with Drogba sub1(Sheva) sub2(Kalou) sub3(Pizarro) but he dont know how to use the different qualities any of them can offer to a Chelsea team. If you pretend to play Sheva and Pizarro under a tactic made for Drogba you are a dumb, I beleave Sheva is really good and Pizarro also but with completely different characteristics than Drogba (Kalou is Drogba alike but Selfish, playing for Kalou FC) , For Sheva and Pizarro you need a diferent aproach of playing , you have to see Pizarro and Ballack playing in Bayern to see what is the function for Pizaaroo , He is strong and go to have physical contact with the defenders , the loose balls from that are turn to goals for other strikers like Sheva, or midfielders like Lampard or Ballack, then you have to have Joe Cole and SWP, to take the Pizarro 1,2 , What I mean is that if the manager dont know how to use his players then make then fail , be boooed and make them loose confidence , to me Grand dont understand what Mourinho try to do with Pizarro and make him look bad or not chelsea quality player and that is not true , Pizarro need to be used in a different way , is for delux managers like Mourinho to understand this.
24. Quark
You are right, Socalble. Pizarro is a good CF. It has 15 goals in Champions League. See, for example, both goals that turned against the Inter Champions 2007. When Mourinho contracted Pizarro, it knew that it did because it gave other variants him of attack. Pizarro usually played in Bayern in a 4-4-2, with McKaay. It is not a striker like Drogba, he needs a companion like Sheva, for example, or Drogba.
25. Quark
You are right, Socalblue. Pizarro is a good CF. It has 15 goals in Champions League. See, for example, both goals that turned against the Inter Champions 2007. When Mourinho contracted Pizarro, it knew that it did because it gave other variants him of attack. Pizarro usually played in Bayern in a 4-4-2, with McKaay. It is not a striker like Drogba, he needs a companion like Sheva, for example, or Drogba.
26. CaLiFoRNiCaTioN
I am tired of watching everybody giving the ball to DRogba…
it looks like a tennis game…
ping pong …. one side
pong ping …on the other side…
27. CaLiFoRNiCaTioN
I Don’t think Kalou is better player than pizarro…. HOw long has Kalou being playing for CHelsea….3-4 seasons….
Pizarro needs one more season…and he will be fit…. he is only 28 … shevchenko and drogba 30////
CHelsea only paid 5 K for piza…
just got to wait…
i turn off my t.v
28. Ringo
Happy New Year guys ,and gals?
Sorry I’m late ,stuff to do!
and why is that clock ticking down on me ,I fell like I’m g
29. raja
ballack,rahul dravid,actor vijay(indian actor) ,drogba,peterson rocks the show
30. Bella
I wasn’t suggesting cap123 that missing Cech, Drogba, Riccy and JT is not a problem and they are not the spine of our team (the untouchables as Mourinho called them) but I think some in the press and certain fans are laying it on a bit thick. One paper said we were playing with our reserve side and how magnificantly Grant had coped.
Our reserve side?
Grant had the option during that match to call on and use:
Joe Cole, Alex, TBH, Paulo, Kalou, Ballack, SWP, Belletti, Bridge, Hilario, Essien, Pizarro and Mikel.
Out of the ones that played I would say that about 7 of those players would make up a first team side depending upon formation of course.
Bridge I actually prefer very often to Ashley Cole so I consider him first team material.
As for players missing (not counting the untouchables I’ve mentioned), Sheva hardly makes the opposition quake in their boots and Malouda doesnt appear to be trusted overly by Grant to play much in any case.
Lampard would normally feature of course but he in fact has tailed off in form recently so Ballack is a more than top class replacement.
So I have to laugh when the squad Grant has to pick from is called a reserve side or second string side - it’s not in the majority Yes some key players are missing but against the likes Fulham and Newcastle we should have been more than able to cope and did - we were also lucky to face them when they are both currently going through a period of crisis and so never got really severely tested.
In short, even with our “reserve” side we proved more than a match for these teams we encountered over Christmas.
As for our transfers it appears Anelka will shortly be with us and possibly Berbatov! Seems we are spending big in this transfer window.
31. CaLiFoRNiCaTioN
who wants to bet w/ me $100 american dollars that PIZARRO will not leave CHELSEA 
in january ?????
pizarro will stay
what does it mean : Your comment is awaiting moderation. ????
thanks
32. CFC
Hey daily star has reported Grant is going for a mega spending during trasfer with both anelka, which is almost done and berbatov for a combined 35 million pounds. and as someone mentioned here, jose to take up milan end of the season and drogba to join him is also highly possible, so it could be a long term replacement for drogba. but i doubt very much grant want to part with drogba, hes the best out there as an out and out striker who create goals for others as well as himself. soo as grant said when asked about both the stikers, “wait and see”.
I read in papers that grant gave a half time rollocking to the team, and ballacks post match interview, “it was a bit noisy in the dressing room at half time” lol the fat old bloke can shout as well, haha. See i told u guys hes pritty dyam a mafia king. quite but effective.
33. Bella
If Drogba wants to go CFC he will and I think he’ll go in the summer so Berbatov could fill his shoes. I’m sure Grant will be spending big bucks.
He can and he will.
34. Maysam
guys , Man City just scored against N’Castle.
turn on your TV , and say goodbye to Big Sam.
35. Maysam
:))
can u believe this : Liverpool 1 - 1 Wigan Athletic :))
36. Adonis
It’s great to see us getting results without our tried and true spine of Cech, Terry, Lampard, and Drogba. I wouldn’t be shattered to see any of these players leave in the coming summer or seasons. Chelsea has proved time and again that it’s bigger than a single person, yes, even Jose Mourinho, or any of these superb players.
I was thinking about player of the year, and a favorite has immerged, in my mind… Alex. He’s been rock-solid, scoring scorchers, knocking down balls for assists… He’s the tank. All of last summer I was hoping that he wouldn’t make me eat all the words of praise that I said of him before he’s joined. But he’s been awesome.
What do you all think??
37. Adonis
And how about Belletti last match?? The freekicks were good, the pace is awesome, and the crossing is always dangerous.
He’s a very good right back. We shouldn’t buy another right back this January.
38. Niko
Buena Kaolu es un kapo y Ballack iso lo mas facil es un maestro tambien. Lo malo fue que cobraron el penal que no fue penal, que cagada 
39. Maysam
@BC : I want you to build a new poll
1 - Benitez and Sam will be sacked on the same day
2- Benitez and Sam will be sacked on diffrent days.
:))
becasue both will be sacked soon :))
40. JoseHoliday
Happy New Year everybody !
41. blueblood58
Have You Ever Seen Gerrard Win the League???? eheheheheh Not this year and it will be 18 years since Liverpool last won it LOL LOL LOL
KTBFFH
42. used2gonwatchcfc
I am afraid i could not be CFC manager, I am no a*****er,lol
Besides I like to achieve higher posts on my achievements
not on friends or being an “yes” man.
Some still have dignity and self esteem.
a belated happy new year to all.
43. Adonis
It’s a shame Gerrard’s wasting on a team that’s built to fail domestically. He should’ve come to Chelsea when he could’ve.
44. Blue Champion
BB @ 42 - That was hilllarious!!! “Have you ever seen Gerrard win the league?” lol
45. israeli
43 - used2gonwatchcfc
Whats your point ?
you uesd all your brain cells befor posting?
46. moyo.
we don’t need gerrard
HAPPY NEW YEAR Y’ALLL….GREAT GIFT FROM CHELSEA TO ALL OF YOU….A WIN IN THE BAG….
berbatov’s agent has said he’s ready to quit totteham….i have always loved this guy and i think it would be really nice to see him pait with sheva upfront…we should forget about anelka because he has signed a new contract with bolton already that would keep in at the club till 2011…
lets see who comes and who leaves….cant wait for the NATIONS CUP TO START,as an african,i hope my country NIGERIA wins and yes True Blue Fusion..thats a racist comment that only maybe the africans want to come to chelsea.
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