Now thats more like it. I was hoping to get a third goal just to wrap the whole tie up but in the end 2-0 got the job done and it was done well. Now for some other thoughts on the match.
Overall, the team had a great performance. We defended brilliantly, we made one of the better strikers in Europe essentially helpless for 90 mins, we held possession well, and we made (and converted) some really great chances. Again, there were a handful of chances that should have been finished better, but overall we finished when we needed to and our misses didn't come back to hurt us. I do think that we could still score more goals, and maybe it's just me expecting or wanting too much, but I really think that with our attacking players we could put in three our four goals in an average match. But that's for Jose to work on and if someone can get the best out of our players, it's the Special One.
Two players over the course of the match really stood out to me in terms of quality, and one of those players was Frank Lampard. It's been a while since I've seen a performance like that out of Frank, and if he keeps it up we will be in fine shape as far as holding midfielders. Not only did he show his usual hunger in front of goal (he should have done better and probably should have scored with a couple of his chances, but his work to get there was great none the less) but he also showed a hustle and skill in his defensive work. There were a couple of times where he would be blazing back to make a tackle and I wouldn't think it was him because he was going so fast. He had some superb tackles and did great job of moving balls forward into attacking positions.
The other player that I feel had (yet again) a standout game was Dave. His endless pace of going up and down the pitch still astounds me. The boy doesn't tire. Ever. He played the whole 90 minutes and looked every second dangerous on the overlap with Hazard, and solid in defense (and playing defense against the likes of Drogba is no easy feat). Despite losing a couple of aerial duels with the big man, Azpilicueta had a number of beautiful tackles which showed both strength and skill. I honestly don't know what this guy can't do.
So a good result and a good game that hopefully transitions well into taking on Arsenal at home. This game will be vital in not only the premier league title race, but also in proving that we can still take down the other contenders. Hopefully the game will be a little more exciting than the reverse fixture was (and I think that it should be).
-Gage
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
Disappointment at Villa
I'm going to do my best to write about the game against Villa and not blame Chris Foy for the disappointing result. Granted every good football fan "tries" to not complain about the referee but sometimes it's just too hard not too. However I will save those comments for the end of this post.
I thought our match against Villa wasn't terrible, but yet again we lacked the consistent final touch to get ahead and kill the game off while we were playing well. I don't know if this is just a matter of needing a more prolific striker (I am a fan of all three of our strikers and still have some founded and some blind faith that they will prove reliable yet), or our style of play just doesn't lend itself to many goals, or maybe we just haven't gotten into a scoring groove like City or Liverpool have. As far as strikers go, like I said before I still have faith in our frontmen. Yes, they may not be the most prolific scorers, but they do still chip in with important goals (Eto'o vs United, Torres vs the rest of Europe) and I think we could still see some consistency yet. I also don't think that our lack of goals including in the Villa game is due to our playing style. We have had plenty of games where we've had a handful of good chances that just weren't taken as well as they should have. So I think what it comes down to is just too much inconsistency when it comes to finishing from all of our attacking players. If we could get that down, I think we could see goal hauls like the ones City have been seeing.
It's hard to pick a stand out player now that the game has passed, but I think that Matic and Azpi had characteristically good games. I feel like these two are often singled out for playing well, and while the result wasn't great both Matic and Azpi played with their standard level of effort and skill. Matic did a great job of both breaking up play and converting defensive plays into attacks and was very close to scoring a long deserved goal. Azpi showed once again that he will become one of the best fullbacks in the game as he showed his never ending hustle to get up and down the pitch and his flawless skills as a left back.
Despite our halfway decent performance, Chris Foy showed yet again just how incompetent he is. Firstly, the Willian red card was an absolute joke. Yes Willian did commit a foul (albeit a soft one) but was that challenge in anyway aggressive, dangerous, reckless, or stop a clear scoring opportunity? Not even in the slightest and thus a horrible call. As far Ramires, I only saw the challenge a couple of times because my stream was a bit jumpy, but it did seem a bit reckless and no one else seems to have a problem with it so I am assuming it was a fair call. Sending Mourinho off was another mistake by Foy. He was by far not the only one on the pitch that shouldn't have been nor was he the only one confronting the refs. Maybe we didn't absolutely deserve to win that game, but we did deserve better than two reds and a sent off manager.
Thankfully however, that game is done and in the past and now we have to look forward to Gala and Didier coming to the Bridge. Here's to hoping that we can get a good result and a good performance.
-Gage
I thought our match against Villa wasn't terrible, but yet again we lacked the consistent final touch to get ahead and kill the game off while we were playing well. I don't know if this is just a matter of needing a more prolific striker (I am a fan of all three of our strikers and still have some founded and some blind faith that they will prove reliable yet), or our style of play just doesn't lend itself to many goals, or maybe we just haven't gotten into a scoring groove like City or Liverpool have. As far as strikers go, like I said before I still have faith in our frontmen. Yes, they may not be the most prolific scorers, but they do still chip in with important goals (Eto'o vs United, Torres vs the rest of Europe) and I think we could still see some consistency yet. I also don't think that our lack of goals including in the Villa game is due to our playing style. We have had plenty of games where we've had a handful of good chances that just weren't taken as well as they should have. So I think what it comes down to is just too much inconsistency when it comes to finishing from all of our attacking players. If we could get that down, I think we could see goal hauls like the ones City have been seeing.
It's hard to pick a stand out player now that the game has passed, but I think that Matic and Azpi had characteristically good games. I feel like these two are often singled out for playing well, and while the result wasn't great both Matic and Azpi played with their standard level of effort and skill. Matic did a great job of both breaking up play and converting defensive plays into attacks and was very close to scoring a long deserved goal. Azpi showed once again that he will become one of the best fullbacks in the game as he showed his never ending hustle to get up and down the pitch and his flawless skills as a left back.
Despite our halfway decent performance, Chris Foy showed yet again just how incompetent he is. Firstly, the Willian red card was an absolute joke. Yes Willian did commit a foul (albeit a soft one) but was that challenge in anyway aggressive, dangerous, reckless, or stop a clear scoring opportunity? Not even in the slightest and thus a horrible call. As far Ramires, I only saw the challenge a couple of times because my stream was a bit jumpy, but it did seem a bit reckless and no one else seems to have a problem with it so I am assuming it was a fair call. Sending Mourinho off was another mistake by Foy. He was by far not the only one on the pitch that shouldn't have been nor was he the only one confronting the refs. Maybe we didn't absolutely deserve to win that game, but we did deserve better than two reds and a sent off manager.
Thankfully however, that game is done and in the past and now we have to look forward to Gala and Didier coming to the Bridge. Here's to hoping that we can get a good result and a good performance.
-Gage
Friday, March 14, 2014
Time to start
I've decided it's time. It's time that I put all my passion and commitment to Chelsea Football Club towards something at least semi-productive. I mean I spend enough time thinking, analyzing, talking, and worrying about Chelsea that I should probably be able to make something out of all of that. So I've decided to start this blog. I don't know how many people are going to view this, but at the very least I can have a place to get my blues related thoughts out. I'll try to write after each game giving my post-match thoughts and some very amateur analysis. If anyone does happen to read this, I would very much appreciate some feedback or thoughts!
The next game will be away at Villa on Saturday. Hoping for a good result especially ahead of a tough week against King Drogba and then the gooners a week from Saturday. I think if we can make it through those couple of games I'll allow myself to become a little more optimistic about at least winning the league. But in the end, we're still just that little horse.
Until Saturday, win or lose up the blues!
-Gage
The next game will be away at Villa on Saturday. Hoping for a good result especially ahead of a tough week against King Drogba and then the gooners a week from Saturday. I think if we can make it through those couple of games I'll allow myself to become a little more optimistic about at least winning the league. But in the end, we're still just that little horse.
Until Saturday, win or lose up the blues!
-Gage
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)