LEVERKUSEN 2-1 CHELSEA : I THINK WE WERE UNLUCKY DON'T YOU?

Last night I got stuck at work till 2200 so Sky+'d the game. Obviously kept up to date with the score while I was here and knew we had lost. I was reading twitter comments and some comments posted on here last night and had the impression that this was a shambles and Chelsea had a shocker! My view is far from that and we were hard done by.

At the moment things are going against us, whether or not its down to players making mistakes or that we just aren't getting the run of the ball at the moment, we are finding it difficult to get a good all round performance and three points under our belts. It's as simple as that.

I will say though, I cannot understand why Fernando Torres wasn't playing again. I know Drogba has been out for a while and needs games but I would have thought after Drogba started against Liverpool, Torres would have been back in for this one?

So to the actual game itself, it was a typical tight European game. It was something that was to be expected and overall Chelsea created some good opportunities. There was a stone-wall penalty that wasn't given on Drogba and that could have changed the game in my view.

OK, the Germans also created some good opportunities too but if it wasn't for Cech it could have been a different story after he made a couple of great saves and one in particular from Michael Ballack.

I thought Sturridge was really good last night and showed a different side to his game picking out passes and playing people in. It was his ball to Drogba that led to the goal. Drogba did well to keep control of the ball first of all under pressure from two defenders and his finish was different class.

The problem with Drogba which was highlighted again last night is at times when we are under pressure we need him to hold the ball up and make it stick which, after all, is what he is in the side to do. Last night far too often it kept coming back again and apart from two or three moments of class from Drogba his performance wasn't really good enough.

I thought our midfield didn't do that bad. Ramires was impressive again, Lampard nearly got on the end of a few chances and maybe you could argue should have done better with his header that went straight into the keepers arms, but apart from that had an OK game nothing special.

Meireles I like and he too had a decent game. Nothing to spectacular and at times his tackles leave alot to be desired but his use of the ball gives us different options.

Mata got involved when he could but to be honest we didn't give him enough of the ball to really get him to influence the game like we need him to so I understood the decision to swap him with Malouda.

The decision to swap Meireles for Mikel I also understood purely because we had conceded the goal and needed Mikel's defensive influence and fresh legs on the pitch. That's why I think he brought him on and I understood why he did.

Our back four last night also did OK. Bosingwa wasn't really tested at left back and it was noticeable that he didn't push on as much down the wing during the game. Considering I don't think he would have been playing, he did alright at left back. JT was solid enough too. Playing a deeper line, he swept up well enough.

David Luiz had a better game again. I wasn't too convinced about taking him off for Alex but when Luiz came off complaining of pain in his chest after being whacked there during the second half you could understand why AVB made the decision so no complaints about that one either.

Ivanovic did well enough also. He got round on the cover when needed and made his tackles. all in all the back four did OK.

Now the Leverkusen goals. People were moaning last night pointing the finger at JT and Bosingwa last night for the goal which is something I couldn't really understand after watching the game. The simple fact is that no one thought their striker would go to control the ball and miss it totally taking Ivanovic out of the game as he had come in narrow to defend our line.

As soon as the striker miss controlled the ball, our whole defensive line was caught on the back foot because you never expect it to happen, it's just one of those things. OK, Sturridge should have been back covering some people are saying but like I said, you never expected what happened, to happen!.

As a result, they had a man over on our right hand side who never imagined he would get the ball in the first place who play his cross into the back post to the striker who miss controlled the ball on the run, and with our defenders now on the back foot, was able to head the ball home from close range. We can be really critical and harsh on our defence here but being honest in my view, it was just one of those things.

So even at 1-1 we were still top of the league and AVB made the tactical substitutions he did which was understandable. A draw in Germany would have been a decent result based on current form and that's what I believe at that moment he would have accepted.

The came the killer blow which again is hard on Chelsea in my view. OK, the corner should have been defended better in the first place never to allow someone a free header in the box but even still it wasn't flying towards goal like a rocket was it.

I honestly believe that Cech thought it was going just over and put his hands up to be certain. When he realised the ball was going to go in he realised it was too late and it was soft goal to concede. It was a simple error of judgement from Cech that has cost us dearly. It could happen to anyone.

I still don't think we deserved to lose the game and the result was hard on Chelsea. As usual the press and media are calling last night a shocker and a disaster for us. I don't agree at all. Chelsea were hard done by and if you are honest you surely have to feel the same way.

I just want to say a word on Michael Ballack. He is still class isn't he and last night proved he can still compete at this level. He movement and use of the ball was far better than any of our players apart from Danny Sturridge last night. If you have never read my tribute to Ballack when he left us, read it here. I stand by everything I said in that article.

The thing is, it's still in our hands to qualify and all we need is a draw against Valencia. It will be tough game but I think we will get at least a draw. Hopefully by the time we play them we will have some good results to restore confidence once more.

You would have to think now that he Germans will beat Genk at their place and win the group and Chelsea will have to settle for second as long as we get the right result. If we do qualify then we are in the pot up against the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayer Munich etc.

It's typical that when it comes to the Champions League in recent seasons, Chelsea want to do it the hard way. You never know, Genk might do us a favour and we win the league.

For now, it's all doom and gloom at the Bridge as far as the press are concerned and some of you Chelsea fans. I understand why don't get me wrong but surely in this particular game you have to feel that we were hard done by?

KTBFFH

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