Chelsea 1-0 Stoke - Match Report

Post Match Analysis

They may have left it late, and given us fans a scare, but eventually, Chelsea grabbed those vital 3 points in what proved to be a very hard-fought match against challenging opponents Stoke City, and who would have guessed that Ashley Cole would be the man on target to save Chelsea from a fourth consecutive game without a win in all competitions, and regain our now relatively comfortable hold at the top of the premier League.

Chelsea started the game extremely fast and in quite a similar fashion in which they did against Juventus, with four corners and two efforts on target within the first 15 minutes. Roberto Di-Matteo most probably ordered for the team to grab an early goal so they could continue the rest of the game fairly comfortably. Chelsea very nearly did get an early goal, especially when Juan Mata played a delicate chipped through ball into Fernando Torres, only for Torres to control but then miss-hit the ball on the second, most important, touch and Asmir Begovic collected. The first 25 minutes were mainly dominated by Chelsea, however Stoke also had a couple of chances; their first which Johnathan Walters headed against the crossbar from a free-kick, and their second from Peter Crouch attempting to emulate his heroics against Manchester City from last season with a similar shot turn and volley at goal, this time steering off target. The lateral stages of the first-half were somewhat frustrating and irritating, as Chelsea kept bombing forward, getting into the final third but then not doing anything constructive with the ball. A reason for this being that Stoke had about 8 men behind the ball whenever we attacked and closed us down very well, giving us no space and time to pick out a pass or have a shot on goal. Another reason being that having Hazard, Mata and Oscar (all central play-makers) on the pitch at the same time, we lacked width and were trying to play central, which failed every time.

RDM must have picked up on this, as after his team talk we came out in the second half playing with more width and created more opportunities, also taking more efforts at goal. Oscar was booked for diving in the area (a little harsh) after a good spell of possession, and straight after Juan Mata had a good shot at goal which went just wide. Play again died down as it did in the first half around the hour mark, and we found ourselves lacking width and no end product. Fans were calling for Victor Moses to come on to give us some width and also some physicality, which comes in handy against a team like Stoke. He eventually came on for Eden Hazard, who had a fairly quiet afternoon, and his introduction immediately boosted our performance and style of play. Chelsea began to have many more attempts on target, including a particularly testing one from Oscar, which demanded a good full-stretched save from Begovic. Moments later Juan Mata had an appealing sight at goal on his favoured left foot, but as he was about to shoot Ryan Shawcross intercepted with his long right leg. Moses created even more chances, and five minutes later, after completing a tremendous dribble he played a low cross in towards Fernando Torres who unfortunately could only managed a weak deflected effort on goal. Chance after chance was wasted by Chelsea, and as the game progressed into the 80th minute, it seemed as though it would finish a 0-0, but we kept attacking and persisted to get that winner, and in the 86th minute Mata fed a lovely ball through to the unlikely Ashley Cole, and he kept his cool and chipped the ball over Begovic to win the game for the Blues.

Our performance overall was similar to the one against Juventus; keep good possession of the ball, play some nice passes but create no end product in the final third. Leaving out Terry and Lampard was an interesting line-up from RDM, but Chelsea coped well and replaced them with confident players. Defensively, without John Terry we looked good, keeping an incredible fourth clean sheet out of a possible five in the Premier League this season. Ashley Cole and David Luiz both had good, solid performances, and Ivanovic looked dangerous going forward and into the box, he had a few penalty claims. At the centre of midfield, despite his abusive comments he received on twitter, Obi-Mikel had a good game and battled well, however his partner Ramires, playing in my opinion his best position, had an even better performance and looked comfortable. The attacking trio of Hazard-Mata-Oscar brought some beautiful passing and moving and link-up play, but also a lack of width and physicality, and despite Mata, not enough service into Torres. When Moses came on he brought all three and changed the shape of the game. Oscar and Mata both looked sharp at goal and Oscar produced a beautiful turn on Robert Huth early on in the game that is sure to make Soccer AM's 'showboat'. Fernando Torres had a quiet game again and besides Mata playing him through in the first half, never looked attentive on goal and lacked contribution towards the game. The game was a very stressful one, but the result was a huge relief but now we sit comfortably on top of the table no matter what the scores of Arsenal vs Man City and United vs Liverpool are!

Up The Chels!

L. Urso-Baiarda

Chelsea 2-2 Juventus - Match Report

Post Match Analysis

Despite throwing away a two-goal lead at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea's night did not consist entirely of concerns, as the Blues performance showed real signs of attacking flair and threat.

Oscar's one-minute wonder brace looked set to have secured not only a dream Champions League debut, but also a victory for Chelsea, however Juventus had other ideas, and with the help of some poor defending and slacking off by the Blues, they seemed to have been granted the comeback.

The First-half started with Chelsea on the upper hand, receiving five corners within the first 25 minutes of play, and both Frank Lampard and David Luiz having efforts on target. Chelsea kept possession of the ball well, and both sides looked fairly comfortable on the ball. Due to the Old Lady's 3-5-2 formation and the lack of back-tracking done by Asamoah and Giovinco, the likes of Oscar and Hazard capitalized and broke with pace down the wings. However, what was missing for Chelsea was the final pass, many a time Hazard, Ramires and Torres misplaced a pass in the final third that could have proven to be crucial. Chelsea eventually lead after 30 minutes through a deflected Oscar attempt at goal, and around 60 seconds afterwards, Oscar again received a pass with his back to goal, turned Pirlo with his first touch and with his second he unleashed an ambitious curling effort at goal, which fell directly into the top corner to make it 2-0 to Chelsea. Five minutes after, Juventus pressured for a goal and eventually Vidal struck when the Blues were at their most vulnerable, and Juventus went into Half-time with a chance.

Play resumed in the Second-half very much as it did in the first, Chelsea maintaining possession of the ball well, with Juventus having their spells as well. Again the problem for Chelsea was the final third; in Torres they lacked presence and contribution to the game and he was being outshone by Juventus' centre-backs, in particular Giorgio Chiellini. When Torres did find himself on the ball however, it was regularly in poor positions, and he wasn't saying central like a lone striker should. Chelsea maintained their hold on the game up until about 60 minutes in, when Eden Hazard was brought down by Barzagli in the area and the referee wrongly waved play-on. This was a turning point in the game, as from here on the defending champions seemed to lose their heads and granted Juventus much time on the ball and many opportunities, every one of which they seemed likelier and likelier to score. The centre of the park seemed to pose the biggest threat to Chelsea, nobody was picking up Marchisio and he was gifted space and time on the ball. The same said for Arturo Vidal, arguably man of the match, he was granted space and composed the Juventus team (almost Pirlo-esque), from the heart. Eventually, in the 80th minute, Juventus' sub Quagliarella was released through on goal due to a poor mistake my John Obi Mikel and an even poorer recovery, and slotted the ball calmly through Petr Cech's legs to equalize. Ten minutes later the referee blew the whistle, and both sides were unsuccessful in looking for a winner.

Overall, I feel that as a unit and a team in progression, Chelsea played some good football, had the upper hand in possession (54% - 46%), and completed 77 more passes than the Italian giants. Oscar had a brilliant game, and his second goal was a real gem, my man of the match award goes to him. Frank Lampard helped keep the solidity of our attacks, and as always Eden Hazard proved the opposition a handful. Although we showed good signs in this game, there were also some bad ones, in particular the sloppiness shown by John Obi-Mikel conceding the second goal. Fernando Torres' lack of participation and his consistency to wonder off to the flanks is a cause of concern, and what with Daniel Sturridge out with a hamstring injury, we only have him to rely on. I also feel that Branislav Ivanovic's recent performances have not been up to scratch, he gives the ball away too easily, and he is prone to error. What with Cesar Azpilicueta signing in the summer, he may be given the nod to show what he has to offer.

Hopefully as a squad in transition and progression, we can move onwards from this match, take the positives and improve on the negatives, and ensure that we get ourselves out for this Champions League group! KTBFFH.

L. Urso-Baiarda

Chelsea FIFA 13 Ratings

FIFA and Chelsea fans, the REAL player ratings of the European Champions have been announced; 

Petr Cech; 84, Branislav Ivanovic; 82, John Terry; 84, David Luiz; 79, Ashley Cole; 84, Frank Lampard; 83, John Obi-Mikel; 80, Eden Hazard; 87, Juan Mata; 86, Ramires; 81, Fernando Torres; 85, Hilario; 72, Ross Turnbull; 72, Jamal Blackman; 58, Cesar Azpilicueta; 76, Paulo Ferreira; 73, Gary Cahill; 79, Ryan Bertrand; 71, Oriol Romeu; 72, Florent Malouda; 81, Victor Moses; 75, Oscar; 80, Marko Marin; 78, Daniel Sturridge; 78, Patrick Bamford; 61, Lucas Piazon; 61.

Also, important players on loan include; 
Romelu Lukaku; 74, Thibaut Courtois; 79, Thorgan Hazard; 61, Nathaniel Chalobah; 60, Conor Clifford; 61, Jeffrey Bruma; 72, Sam Hutchinson; 63, Josh McEachren; 71, Kevin De Bruyne; 78, Michael Essien; 82, Yossi Benayoun; 78.

Incredibly, after winning the Champions League, pretty much thanks to our solid defence, EA have decided to decrease 3/5 of our defenders ability and the other 2 remain the same.  Most notably Branislav Ivanovic, who had an incredible campaign for the Blues last season, has decreased by one rating, and David Luiz, decreased by three! The fact that Frank Lampard has also decreased by 4 ratings sickens me, and the fact that Florent Malouda is still seen as having the same ability as Ramires and more than Oscar, Moses and Marin is bewildering. After reading these ratings, I was so disappointed that I thought that I would post this blog, and share with you my final conclusion; EA are anti-chelsea scumbags.

David Luiz vs Gary Cahill

Who deserves to start for the European Champions?

When Gary Cahill joined Chelsea in January 2012, an argument arose – ‘Who should partner as a centre-back along-side JT, David Luiz or Gary Cahill?’ Both players are young, pacy defenders, but for now, only one of them can play when Terry is available.

There’s no question really that David Luiz, on his day, is a world class centre back – he has all the attributes; pace, strength, tackling, heading, even flair. But the biggest eyebrow raiser towards Luiz is how often ‘his day’ comes about. Many Chelsea, and general football fans, feel that the number 4 is far too inconsistent to play for a club of the Blues standard. Of course this is a true assumption, however, his recent performances toward the end of last season and his performances in Chelsea’s cup runs suggest otherwise.

From battling relegation with Bolton to winning the Champions League with Chelsea, Gary Cahill’s experienced an unforgettable 2011/12 season. Many struggle to find fault in any of Cahill’s performances, in both Chelsea and England colours (before being pushed by Mertens and missing the Euro’s). However, unlike Luiz, he rarely grabs the headlines for any right or wrong reasons, after a fairly little money move in January from Bolton, nobody expected great things, and his solid performances often go unnoticed when selected.

Ultimately, although both centre-backs are of high ability (on most days), only one is chosen and currently RDM seems to think David Luiz has the edge, but one or two more bad days at the office, and he could well be axed from the starting line-up. Using Opta’s stats from last years Premier League season, I take a look at whom, statistically speaking, should have their place cemented in Chelsea’s starting line-up…

In general, David Luiz was the superior of the two Centre-Halves, taking into account that Gary Cahil played around a third more (2494) minutes than Luiz had (1649). Luiz contributed more key passes (9), than Cahill (3), and more assists too (1 to 0), Luiz’s pass completion rate, surprisingly was also greater than Gary’s (85% to 79%) and even more surprisingly, he performed less unsuccessful passes in the defensive third (9) than Cahill’s 24. However, unsurprisingly, Luiz attempted far more dribbles than Gary Cahill, (31 to 5), but Gary had higher dribble completion rate (80%) then David’s 61%, an area for improvement for David Luiz.

Moving on to more defensive statistics; both Luiz and Cahill averaged a similar amount of duels completed, (56% to 58%), with David Luiz being more consistent with aerial duels (72%) than Gary (61%). Both defenders averaged 53% of ground duels completed, and also sharing similar tackle completion rate, (Luiz’s 82% to Cahill’s 79%). During the campaign, the Brazilian made 2 last-man tackles, whereas the Englishman made just 1.

Perhaps the most impressive stats of all however, are those in favour of David Luiz, showing that despite playing around 850 minutes less than Cahill (equalling around 9 and a half games), he managed to still perform more interceptions and recoveries than Gary Cahill, (56 to 53 and 222 to 200).

Opta’s stats back-up Roberto Di-Matteo’s current decision of starting Luiz over Cahill, and perhaps have converted many minds of supporters deluded in this argument, in the favour of the man with the curly haired perm.

L. Urso-Baiarda