Archive for the ‘football’ Tag
Never in my whole entire life as a Chelsea supporter, have I been able to witness such an amazing 2 weeks of European football. Not only have we been able to reach the Champions League final, but we were able to do it, by overthrowing the darlings of European Football, Barcelona! At the very beginning, I thought we could never do it, but here I am, sitting here, writing a blog on this site, telling you how enthusiastic I am with my Chelsea heroes!
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Chelsea 1-0 Barcelona – UEFA Champions League – 18/4/12
Didier Drogba’s goal on the stroke of half time was the only goal scored here, amid a constant early threat from Barcelona at Stamford Bridge! The Catalans had hit the woodwork twice during the game.. once when Alexis Sanchez lobbed the ball over Petr Cech only for it to bounce off the crossbar, and secondly, in the last few seconds of the game when Pedro’s effort went through everyone and bounced off the post! We were so lucky, but in the end, we were able to get a very precious victory to take to the Nou Camp!
“One Shot, One Goal”, that’s all it took! Barcelona could have had all the possession, all the passing, and all the shots.. but what mattered the most, is that the number of goals were more for us than them on the night, and we went away thinking, that only half the job was done, but that part of the job was a hard one in itself, as it meant that Barcelona had failed to score against us away from home, which meant the away goals rule was firmly on our side going into the second leg the following week!
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Barcelona 2-2 Chelsea (Agg: 2-3) – UEFA Champions League – 24/4/12
This is a night, that I will never, EVER forget!
The night we defied all the odds, the night where 10 men wearing Chelsea badges on their shirts became warriors and heroes, the night that we over-threw the darlings of European football, rubbed it in their fans’ faces, and starting singing songs about going to Munich! This was the night when I had been reminded what it was like to be a hardcore Chelsea fan! It felt like we had won ugly because of our constant sitting back and defending, but it was worth it because our defence worked so hard in keeping Barca out for a whole second half, and for it to be rounded off by a goal scored by Fernando Torres, it was just a beautiful sight!
It was difficult to begin with however, as goals from Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta had put the tie in their favour with goals that you had expected to see at some point in the game. Sandwich those goals with a stupid dismissal of John Terry after he had jousted a knee into the back of Alexis Sanchez which was just…. uncalled for! At 2-0 down, and with JT sent off, it seemed like we had lost the plot, and JT was to be blamed for everything……
….not on our watch!!
Ramires, linking up well with Frank Lampard puts us back in it with a tremendous lob over Victor Valdes, and puts us right back into the tie, scoring a huge and vital away goal… half time whistle goes, and we all start to believe again!
The beginning of the second half started very sourly though, as Barcelona got a penalty after Cesc Fabregas played for a foul following Drogba’s tackle on him, but Lionel Messi, whom despite his world class fame, had never scored a goal against Chelsea in his career, and has his penalty pinged off the bar and came out.. you could say, that the blue angel that had watched over us in the game at Stamford Bridge, was certainly on our side at the Nou Camp as well!
The Barcelona wave was not done there however! Alexis Sanchez almost beat the offside trap to nod the ball in only for it to be waved off. Javier Mascherano tested Petr Cech from some way out, and Messi tested Cech from the same distance, only for it to be palmed lightly onto the post! In between these efforts though, endured more than just blood, sweat and tears, as we constantly defended for our lives.. a squad that had no Terry or Cahill, Jose Bosingwa playing at “LEFT centre back” and a man light!
…. and then …. it happened!
Ashley Cole deep in the penalty box hoofed the ball up the pitch, and on the end of it, the lone substitute, Fernando Torres who sprinted up the pitch all alone in the Barcelona half, up came Valdes to meet him, but Torres was able to sneak round him and roll the ball into the net, levelling the score up at 2-2 and sending us to Munich for our second European Final in 4 years!
Now if THAT GOAL, is not worth £50 million, then I could probably sell my tatty old sofa for the same amount at a car boot sale if I wanted to! And if that goal doesn’t bring back his old self again, you might as well sign me up and put me up front and sell Drogba!
To this day, I still can’t believe how we did it, with 10 footballers on the pitch, no recognised centrebacks and no captain, we beat Barcelona at the Nou Camp.. it just goes to show, that no matter how well-recognised a football club is for their beautiful football, it doesn’t mean they’re the best and that they’re not beatable! Football is a funny game!
I will never forget this night, and I hope to the heavens that we can beat Bayern Munich in the final. The odds are stacked against us because Munich will be playing on familiar grounds, but to me, that’s bullshit! If we can beat one of the greatest football clubs, who play the greatest football ever seen.. in their own back yard, we can dispose of the Germans, and we will finally win what Roman Abramovich has been dreaming of having for a whole decade… the European Trophy! ….. and we will be the first London club to do so as well!!
With every game we win, I’m really starting to trust Roberto Di Matteo’s philosophy because judging from the results we’re getting under his leadership, albeit an interim one, it’s giving us all the confidence we need to turn our season around, and hopefully end the season, either with a Champions League place, or even winning the Champions League.
And our great form under Di Matteo continued today with a very well-deserved 4-2 away win over Aston Villa. Considering that this was only our 2nd win at Villa Park in 12 meetings, I’d say this was a key win today.. and Arsenal lost 2-1 away to QPR, so it’s smiles all round for us blues. If Swansea can defeat Spurs tomorrow, then that would just be the icing on the cake!
Daniel Sturridge got us off the mark with a tap in on 9 minutes, and then it stayed 1-0 until Branislav Ivanovic popped up to nod in our second goal. Villa fought back however through goals by James Collins and Eric Lichaj to make it level at 2-2, and suddenly, all hope looked bleak.. another game at Villa park without a win was looming… until Ivanovic smashed in our third, and then Fernando Torres, after 6 months without a league goal, ended his drought with a last minute strike.
Speaking of Torres, I think he deserves all the recent plaudits given to him by the Chelsea fans. It wasn’t very long ago that he was playing second fiddle to Didier Drogba because he was on the decline under Andre Villas-Boas, and there were question marks on his future at the club.. now under Roberto, he has found the sparkle in his form, and is now linking up well with Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge in attack, and it looks like we’re finally seeing the Torres of old.
Another player I want to talk a little briefly about is Mata. When I first saw the team sheet before the game, I said to myself, “oh goodness me, why is he starting again for Chelsea? He NEEDS to rest!” .. but to tell you the truth, Mata certainly plays well for someone who’s played 4 straight matches without being able to rest.. he was one of our star performers until he had to come off for Florent Malouda.. definitely deserved the plaudits, and should have definitely scored a goal for himself.
And just a little more here about David Luiz coming off at half time? What was wrong with him. Some people say that he came off with an injury to his ankle. Well, when he walked off the pitch to be replaced by Gary Cahill, he was walking perfectly fine to me. Maybe it was a slight injury to his ankle, and nothing more than that. I reckon he will be fit for the home leg against Benfica next week.
In conclusion, great win! Especially at a venue where we don’t win very often, and Roberto Di Matteo is certainly getting it right in terms of rotating the squad, and letting players work in the way that they want. It was never like that under AVB.. players emotions and feelings were all over the place back then, and hence the barrage of defeats.. but under RDM, players play because they care about the club, and the turnaround of results in all competitions we’re in really proves that. Can we snatch 4th place from Tottenham… I say YES… we can!
Never in my whole entire life as a Chelsea supporter, have I witnessed anything like the match I watched tonight! And it comes at a promising time when the fixture list gets tough, and winning points could be hard to come by!! Right from the off in the Champions League tie at home against Napoli, I expected us to flourish! I said to myself, “I don’t care where the goals come from, I just want Chelsea to find the goals needed, and get the job done”, and by jove, they certainly did that!
Didier Drogba on 28 minutes started the comeback with a stunning header from a cross by Ramires, who showed off quite a stunning performance himself. Then later, in the second half, John Terry nodded in a header from a corner to make it 2-0 and level the tie at 3-3, putting us in the driving seat to go through. But a rather breathtaking strike from Gökhan Inler from outside the box swung the tie back in Napoli’s favour again with the score at 2-1.
Frank Lampard however, thrashed in a penalty to take the game into extra time, with us winning on the night 3-1, until Branislav Ivanovic powered in our 4th goal from Drogba’s low cross to ensure our progress into the Quarter Finals!
Is this the beginning of the long-awaited Chelsea revival?? YES, and MORE! Roberto Di Matteo has only managed 3 Chelsea matches, with the team scoring 7 goals, and letting in just one… compare that run of form with what we had to endure with AVB, and the results speak for themselves. I know this is only 3 games, but let’s be honest. If you have players such as the ones who performed like beasts out there today, coming back from a 3-1 deficit against one of the most in-form Italian clubs to date, you can clearly see that this club HAS what it takes to turn the season around! I bet those who threatened to burn their Chelsea shirts and give up on the club because the team weren’t delivering the goods, are well and truely changing their tune now!
One question that must be asked, is who do I want to see us playing in the Quarter Finals? Well, right off the bat, Barcelona have to be avoided because right now, as we all know, their football is on a different planet at the moment, particularly when Lionel Messi seems untouchable, and that they are unbeaten at home in La Liga, dropping just 2 points from 13 matches. On the other hand, Real Madrid are possibly one to give a miss as well because they have Jose Mourinho, and despite Barca’s untouchable home form, they boast an impressive 10-point gap over the Catalans at the top of that table!
With that said, I’d go for either Marseille or APOEL. And I say that only because I claim those teams to be the weaker of the 7 teams available. Benfica might be a do-able tie, and it would mean both David Luiz and Ramires would be returning to familiar grounds! Bayern Munich and AC Milan could be tough opponents as well, although most English teams now know the faults of Milan’s back line, because Arsenal were able to put 3 past them at the Emirates.
But whatever team we’re drawn against on Friday, I have my full backing, not just for the team, but for the manager. Roberto Di Matteo since he took over as interim manager has impressed me from day one. He stated right from the off, that he cared about the club, and wanted to bring the best he can in the latter stages of this season, and with this fine display and impressive win over Napoli, he has ticked a dozen of boxes!
Who Needs Mourinho??
After brief spells as Milton Keynes Dons and West Bromwich Albion manager, and having already won the FA Cup in 1997 for Chelsea courtesy of scoring a first minute screamer against Middlesbrough at Wembley, it’s time for Roberto Di Matteo to experience his first game in charge as interim manager with a very tough FA Cup replay match against Birmingham City.
After AVB’s sacking on Monday, a new but familiar face was appointed by Di Matteo, Eddie Newton was brought in as the Italian’s assistant in an attempt to bring back some desire for wanting this precious club to see more success than failures this season.
At Stamford Bridge, we drew 1-1 with Birmingham, with our players showing the kind of performance that would make a loyal supporter of the club drop their jaw and admit embarrasingly to how awful they were. Credit to Birmingham however.. they had gone into the game on the back of a very impressive run of form under Chris Hughton, going 7 games in all competitions without a defeat.
But even so.. we were at home in a statium which, not so long ago, used to be a stern fortress, and not only were our players showing no desire on the pitch to win the game, but our home support around the stadium, was non-existant, and that’s been a common problem for us this season.
Some of the players right now are still in shock following events that saw AVB get shown his P45 by Roman but, if I was Roberto Di Matteo going into this game, I would consider playing a young, hungry team. Players like David Luiz, Gary Cahill and Juan Mata who, in my opinion, have been the most impressive players and ones who really play like they want to bring glory to the team and the fans.
My Chelsea team vs Birmingham City (4-3-3):
Cech; Ivanovic, Luiz, Cahill, Bertrand; Ramires, Mikel, Lampard; Sturridge, Drogba, Mata
Subs: Turnbull, Bosingwa, Cole, Essien, Romeu, Malouda, Torres
As every Chelsea fan found out last Sunday morning, Andre Villas-Boas was given his marching orders by Roman Abramovich, and then launched a scathing attack on some of our players, blaming them for the Portugese’s exit! Why? .. Was it because they were underachieving on the pitch week-in-week-out, or was it due to the fact that there was just no trust between the players and the manager?? Well, this is what I’m here to try and get to the bottom of.
When AVB was first appointed as Chelsea manager back in June 2011, there were some high hopes from most fans, not only due to the boasting of his unanamous success in the Portuguese League, and the Europa League with FC Porto, but also because he had worked with the club before, in 2005, under Jose Mourinho’s wing! Villas-Boas back then, had been installed as Mourinho’s left-hand man… a silent, yet intelligent personality, whose job, was to gain as much information on each opponent as possible, and offer it to the Chelsea players in the form of DVDs, which they could watch and study, before putting all of their preparation into practice on the pitch!
The interesting thing, was that it all worked like a charm back then! With the use of Mourinho’s so called, “boring” approach to every league match, Chelsea won the Premier League in 2005, and then again in 2006, becoming the first London-based team to win back-to-back Premiership titles since it’s rearrangement in 1992.
With that said, there was plenty of positives to ponder ahead of AVB’s second spell at the club.. however, there were question marks over his appointment… although AVB had boasted a jaw-dropping season with Porto the previous year, at only 33, the Portuguese was still at a very young age to be managing in one of Europe’s toughest leagues, resulting in many fans to believe he was either overrated or just “too young” to take over! I for one believed in this at first because he was much younger than more experienced tacticians such as former boss, Guus Hiddink, who was also linked with a return to the club. Quite frankly, it was Hiddink I was mostly hoping for.
Instead, Roman Abramovich decided to spend £13.5 million to release AVB from his contract at Porto, and appoint him as Carlo Ancelotti’s successor! And my god did it backfire!! Only 1 win in 7 games in all competitions. I hate to say it with such negativity, but that’s the form of relegation standards!
Now that AVB has gone… it leaves me with something to ponder over the coming months… what now for the club?? Will we really struggle to confirm a top 4 finish and qualify for the Champions League under Roberto Di Matteo? If we don’t qualify for Europe, will some of our players get fed up and leave at the end of the season? What role will Roman Abramovich play in the proposed massive exodus at the club this summer??
The main question I want to know however… is what will happen to long servers like Frank Lampard at the end of the season? The player many fans are led to believe to be one of the firestarters that led to AVB’s demise at the club.. along with Ashley Cole, and suprisingly Michael Essien! But was there really a spat between AVB and Lampard? Or was it just the fuel needed to further encourage news hungry media to spread all over the back pages??
If you ask me.. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a bit of both! There had been a number of times where AVB had dropped Lampard for games, and fairly important ones I might add…. in his place, comes a former Liverpool employer, Raul Meireles (whom, if I’m honest as I can be, has not impressed me at all). Yes, I understand the idea of giving the younger generation a chance to show the Chelsea fans their true worth. But I watched Chris Kamara on TV a few weeks ago, and he said something rather important about the likes of Lampard and Drogba, “If they know the club inside out; If they are there to be used, just use them!”
At this point, I give you readers who follow Chelsea, a question.. what is the best way forward to get this club back to where they used to be? Keep the old guard, (Lampard, Drogba, Essien, Kalou, Malouda, Bosingwa) and use them as learning mentors to upcoming talent… or, do it Roman’s way: completely rip the whole squad apart and start fresh, with a massive overhaul of new players and staff, and at the same time, giving the younger generation a chance to push their way easily into the setup?
Just remember, the second option needs to be given more of a thought than usual, because if we don’t make the top 4 this season, and we can’t guarantee Champions League football, we might lose our appeal to some of the biggest talents known to exist out there at the moment… most noticeably, a little Belgian wizard we like to call Eden Hazard.
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