Saturday, January 15, 2011

Thanks Ipswich

Chelsea finally wins a game in the premier league and dont concede any goals while doing it. They could thank Ipswich for giving them good practice during the FA cup tie since Chelsea did look like having the earlier missing conviction even though they were very suspect in the last third of the pitch. Champions of last seaon, hitting truckload of goals early in the season and now desperate for a win. Only a true chelsea optimist can see them winning the league this season. In fact, the way man city and spurs are playing, chelsea will have to fight real hard to make it to europe next year. That being said, and focussing more on tonights game, chelsea went into champion mode albeit for a few mins here and there. As promising as that may seem, they still have a lot of worries...

Lets start with ramires. He was brought in this season and I am yet to see a 90 min consistent game from him. Sure he is hard working, sure he is physical and sure he gets a few balls here and there, but for someone who is pushing essien into a holding role (mikel is injured) he sure does not know where to put the ball when on a quick break. He does not seem like a good buy as of yet and should be pushed into a holding role. Next is Anelka. He did score tonight, but that was more of an Ivanovic goal than anything else. To me, anelka is a spent force. He has a good touch on the ball, but doesnt do anything with the ball. He makes the most obvious of passes, take the most obvious of shots, makes the most obvious of tackles etc etc. As I said, he is a spent force! Next in line, the inimitable Drogba. Be it malaria or his charity work, drogba just hasnt been himself. He is only a physical presence these days and is lacking that skill component which in addition to his physical prowess made him the threat he was. He needs to take a break and get back to full fitness before putting himself up for selection. Next is Lampard. Yes, he can be given the benefit of doubt that he is coming back off a longish injury, but for someone of Lampards experience, the nervousness in front of goal is most unexpected. In tonights match, he was willing to do anything but shoot the ball at goal. And when he did, there was absolutely no conviction in it. There are a couple more I suppose, but dont want to judge them on a single game.

It is not like there were no positives for chelsea though. Ivanovic was brilliant as usual and honestly should be credited with both the goals. The defence seemed less brittle and bosingwa was finally put to some use and thanks in no small amount to essien who kept finding him on the flank. They managed to kill the game in the second half with 2 goals and then holding, something they couldn't manage against Aston Villa. And finally, if someone did manage to see the young boy mceachran play his 10 minutes should know that this boy is good! In my opinion, Carlo, who could lose his job any day should bite the pill and give a few boys a good run in the first team. First vote would be mceachran because he looks like he can make a big difference to an ageing chelsea side. Second vote would be sturridge, who in my books is better than kalou and anelka in the current form and my third vote would go to kakuta. He has the spark and if channelised well can be the difference needed to win those tight matches.

But Carlo in true italian style is playing defensive even if he concedes goals (pun intended)!!

No comments:

Post a Comment