Chelsea 1-2 PSG: Fallout from the game justified or over-reaction?
Chelsea lost out to Paris Saint Germain for the second season running and the fallout has been immense. I am asking the question if it...
https://www.chelseadaft.org/2016/03/chelsea-1-2-psg-fallout-from-game.html
Chelsea lost out to Paris Saint Germain for the second season running and the fallout has been immense. I am asking the question if it's justified or if it's a total over-reaction and would love to read your opinion.
Being honest, we were never going to win the Champions League this season based on the quality of the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich in the competition. Any progress beyond PSG would have been a bonus if we are honest based on our season this time around.
Let's also not forget that we have key players injured which hampered our preparations for the game. Both John Terry and Kurt Zouma (who would have started if fit in my opinion) were missing which meant that we would be weak in one of our full back positions with Branislav Ivanovic coming inside next to Gary Cahill. This is not an excuse but fact.
We had the likes of Diego Costa, Eden Hazard and Pedro all carrying knocks into the game also which also hampers our preparation with reports that Diego Costa could not take part in training at all on Tuesday. All these factors play a part in the outcome of big games such as these and there is no point stating that we could win the Champions League this season when most of us wouldn't believe it.
In my opinion, Guus Hiddink got his team selection wrong from the start by not playing Nemanja Matic alongside Mikel in the deeper midfield positions. We needed that added protection in front of our back four to remain compact, solid and to negate the space that PSG exposed time and time again.
I really like Guus Hiddink and what he has done for our club on both occasions he has come in and taken over. There has not been many occasions where I disagreed with him but last night was one of them. Was Kenedy the answer at left back also or should Baba Rahman have started?
Granted it's all well and good talking about issues such as these after the game but it's what happens on the pitch that provides the press with ammunition post-match and Eden Hazard is the target of plenty of opinion this morning.
Do I agree with swapping shirts at half-time? NO! For anyone to do that is ridiculous especially in front of the fans in the Stadium. If you are going to do it or have discussed it during the first half then go and do it inside the tunnel where no one would be privy from the media in seeing it.
Talking of Eden Hazard, I had posted that he needs to deliver a big, big performance if Chelsea were to progress through to the next round. I had stated that you could count on one hand the times where in the big games he had done exactly that and proved to be the difference we all believe he can be.
What happened? He went missing again, although struggling with a knock, and was eventually booed off the pitch by the Chelsea fans frustrated at his lack of performance once again. Were they right in doing so? Yes, why not? He is our highest earner on over £200,000 a week and failed to deliver when everyone at the club expects him to.
If he was injured, why not bring in Matic next to Mikel, play Pedro wide left, Fabregas through the middle as our number ten and Willian out wide right? Why take the risk if he is struggling?
There are plenty of articles now stating that Chelsea need to re-invent themselves and get rid of the so-called deadwood at the club. Once again the clubs Loan policy has come under scrutiny but is it really that bad? This is a team that are unbeaten in thirteen games under Hiddink in the Premier League. So why the negativity because we went out of a competition we never expected to win anyway?
I am gutted and frustrated as much as anyone today but we have to face reality here. It's important to have some perspective of things and to not jump on the press bandwagon that are keen to snowball over the coming days.
We have a good team, we have world class players and we have a good manager. We still have a chance of Europe and to win the FA Cup, if you were offered that when Guus Hiddink took over ALL of you would taken it at that moment.
Would do you think? Onwards and upwards for me!
Zouma is the future and (hopefully still) has a lot of pace that is key for CBs in that formation.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand it will be sad not to see him play much anymore but it was about time we at least tried to move on from relying on 35 years old Terry to bail our defense time after time.