West Brom 1-1 Chelsea - REALITY CHECK!
Chelsea were denied the chance to extend their lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League last night and blew it with a disappointing...
https://www.chelseadaft.org/2014/02/west-brom-1-1-chelsea-reality-check.html
Chelsea were denied the chance to extend their lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League last night and blew it with a disappointing 1-1 draw at The Hawthorns. Credit must be given to West Brom but I can't hide my disappointment this morning!
Let's be honest here, we dominated the game but never really created enough clear cut chances. Those we did have, we never took and it came back to bite us on the arse!
As Eden Hazard was played through down the left hand side with around 20 minutes to go or so, Chelsea had the break on West Brom with players forward who had out numbered the opposition defence.
All we needed was an early cross from Hazard to someone waiting in the box to prod it home and wrap up the three points but he waited too long and the chance had gone.
What happens? Late on in the game we are punished as we couldn't deal with a cross into the box. Anichebe glances a header home beating Luiz to the ball as Cech comes out into no-man's land and leaves himself stranded!
At least we didn't lose based on the attempts on goal West Brom had in the final 30 minutes. You have to hold your hands up and congratulate WBA for never giving up and having a real go at us. If they continue to play like that, they will climb up the table no problem.
As for Chelsea? At times we were too narrow and needed width. Hazard, Oscar and Willian all played inside and as a result with WBA's 4-4-2 formation, there was little space to work in.
For some reason, we also sat back too deep and allowed WBA to come onto us. When the changes were made, we should have switched to 4-3-3 to provide more balance.
It's two points dropped in a game we had control of. Tonight we are hoping for a Man United win at Arsenal to stay above them but can pretty much count out Sunderland from getting anything from City. City will go above us at the top of the league on goal difference.
Disappointing but hopefully just a minor blip. If anything last night's result is a reality check for all of us to not get carried away and to take things game by game.
What did you think?
Carefree & KTBFFH!
Chelsea please sell Ramirez.
ReplyDeleteYou need a head / brain check
DeleteJust as I thought and commented previously that whilst our matches look easy on paper because we are playing bottom teams,we should be cautious and work even more to dispel the tendency of dropping points with teams at the bottom of the table.They are our "thorn in the flesh" and that has to change.
ReplyDeleteThe press tend to love talking about "mind games" and second guessing Mourinho but, whilst he may emphasise certain aspects to suit himself and the club, he essentially tells it how it is. His "little horse" comment had a large element of truth attached to it, we are suffering from the inconsistency that goes with a team in transition. A team whose victories against City and Newcastle are sandwiched between draws with West Ham and WBA are unlikely to win the title. A top four finish is not yet guaranteed (something else that Mourinho has mentioned) and we must somehow improve our performance levels in these so called "easier" fixtures.
ReplyDeleteOn a different but related note, I'm a massive Mourinho fan but he's not infallible. I can't help thinking that sending Lukaku out on another loan was a mistake. I can understand the reasons behind it in terms of him still being raw, lacking experience, etc, but lack of opportunity/playing time at Chelsea?!.......did Mourinho not realise just how poor Torres, Etoo and Ba are? With things so tight at the top a genuine striker who, whilst not yet in his prime is at least not way passed his best, could make the difference between finishing first or, God forbid, fifth.
As you say a reality check!
Spot on! What we needed was to force the defence to open up by using the flanks. Ivanovic tried to do that down the right but Azpillicueta failed to do same down the left. Hazard was probably told to play a free role and it affected the team as he kept moving into the spaces that Willian and Oscar should have been occupying instead of staying wider. As a result we choked up the middle and without width, we played into West Brom's hands. Mourinho also has to take a massive amount of blame for the defeat because he should a total like of confidence in his players by failing to rest as least one of Hazard, Oscar and Willian to give Schurrle a chance. Also, Cole should have started ahead of Azpillicueta so as to give Luiz more protection in defence (as we all know Luiz can be very erratic as he later showed in the game) as well as natural width in attack. Also the moment when Mel brought in Vydra and Anichebe, I expected Mourinho to take off Luiz and move Ivanovic to centre-back so that Cole could come in at left-back and Azpillicueta moving to right-back. Luiz was totally out-played by the sheer physicality of Anichebe and his total lack of positional sense led to the goal as he failed to track the run of Anichebe, despite the fact that he was the one closest to him. Also, if Cech knew that he had no intention of going for the ball, why did he attempt to come for it? That was school-boy goalkeeping and not what you expect from a goalkeeper with his experience as well as the captain of the side.
ReplyDeleteHaven said that, the referee also played his part has he kept issuing fouls against and cards to Chelsea players which made no sense, cases in point the cards issued to Eto'o and Willian. Willian had a good game and was probably our best player alongside Cahill and Matic.
Hey anonymous, it wasn't a defeat, it was a draw!
DeleteHow come no one is talking about the fact that we played short of 2 players as Oscar and Ramires were not in the game. Of course Mourinho being his sturborn self did not want to take Ramires off especially with the boos from the WestBrom fans. Lampard or Shurlle should have replaced Ramires at half time.
ReplyDeleteThe moment Torres came on we lost all shape and discipline ! Poor substitutions on Jose`s part , the only change that needed making was Frank for Oscar .. No big fan of Eto` but what Torres offers the team I just find baffling , two points thrown away !
ReplyDeleteI thought we did well, but we are still struggling to kill off games in a way that will be necessary the rest of the season. I felt the team looked tired and needed some freshness brought in from the get go. I feel Lampard coming in would have been a stronger substitution choice to sure up the midfield and regain control in the final ten minutes. Also, Schurrle would've been a excellent addition to provide some width in the final moments.
ReplyDelete