CHELSEA 2-1 WEST BROM - RUBBISH!!

I want to start my view on the game on Saturday by congratulating West Brom on how they came here, approached the game and delivered the performance by playing the game exactly how their manager wanted them to. They took the lead, defended well for the most part and at times exposed some problems in our defence. If you play like that all season, another healthy league finish is on the cards so fair play to you.

Now, as for Chelsea!. What happened to the flowing football? What happened to the way we had been playing in pre season? What happened to having the freedom to express yourselves and what happened to the pressing, high intensity football that we looked like adapting to this season under AVB especially in the first half?.

Instead, we looked like the Chelsea of last season. Slow paced, no width or urgency to move the ball forward quickly and rather than run at their defence, take them on to the byline when we had opportunities to, we stopped and passed the ball backwards once again and it became so bloody frustrating.

Does AVB expect Chelsea fans looking forward to a new, fresh approach to the side and the way we want to play football, to accept the way we played in the first half? Yes there were some boo's as they walked off as people became frustrated with the fact that it looked like everything we had worked on simply went out the window and we slipped back into the slow laboured Chelsea that opposition find easy to deal with.

Chelsea are at their best, and I have said this so many times for months now, moving the ball forward at pace and getting it into the final third or wide quickly. It's when we up the tempo of our game that teams find it difficult to live with us. It's when we take our time without urgency then West Brom and teams like them will have it easy as they have the time to get their two lines of four behind the ball to make it difficult.

The problem with Saturday for me was two fold. First of all, I don't know why Salomon Kalou started the game. AVB said that the team selection would be based on form and so far ever since pre season he has been woeful. Again, same can be said on Saturday so it was no surprised, and a decision that impressed me, to take him off as early as he did. It was a bold statement from AVB and I commend him for that.

Secondly, the game exposed our lack of a creative midfielder. Now whether or not that's through the middle or down the right hand side with Malouda down the left is another thing (MATA) but we looked like a side that needed inspiration.

Thank god for Nico Anelka and Jose Bosingwa. Anelka's willingness to get to take his man on and beat him to then score. Bosingwa's desire to beat the two men in front of him and to play the cross of the game into the path of Malouda to score the winner. That's all it takes for Chelsea to win games, to take people on, beat their man, get to the byline and get it in the box. It was just so frustrating that it took us so long to do it.

AVB spoke after the game about the boo's at half time and said:

"I was whistled and the season ended with four trophies and no more boos, It's just a natural reaction from a demanding public. Nothing new. It was the anxiety and demands of the public regarding what happened last year, and the demands for what they want this year.

But they did see an immediate performance. Maybe not in the first half, because we suffered that goal so early on, but we had a fantastic second half. You have to separate the first from the second half. It's not fair to judge the performance based only on the first half. We are still looking for that 90-minute performance, but these first games in the Premier League are very difficult for the top teams."

(Source)
In response AVB all I want to say is, you had promised so much and have worked so hard on the way you want us to play and it simply never happened in the first half. Question's need to be asked of your players now and to find out why.

We learnt the hard way last season and it was too late. It's only the first couple of games I know, but we were 10 mins or so away from getting just 2 points from Stoke away and West Brom at home and that is the simple fact. If we have title ambitions we should have had six points from six with the players we have.

We expect and hope for a marked improvement against Norwich this weekend.

KTBFFH

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