Chelsea fell 1-0 to Steaua Bucharest in Romania. Steaua have won their 17th game out of 19 home games, so far. Chelsea have started the tie with a horrible start. The 2nd leg will be key if Chelsea want to progress. A lacklustre performance that saw a first half penalty take us down.
Scorers :
Stats :
What We Learned :
1. Time ticking for Benayoun and Torres
2. Playing Lampard-Mikel in the double pivot is a horrendous decision
3. Ryan Bertrand is not yet ready for the big stage
4. Our inconsistency continues
1. Time ticking for Benayoun and Torres :
Yossi was another who struggled with his passing and ball retention, the Israeli looked short of match practice but did have a good shot pushed away by Steaua’s goalkeeper in the first half before he was replaced by Mata with just under half an hour left. And Torres led the line alone and had some small flashes of inspiration, but found himself increasingly isolated with little or no support as the Steaua defenders kept him very quiet. Typical Torres we’ve seen at Chelsea. The fact that him and Benayoun were so poor and anonymous at times (as before) makes me wonder if they’ll be at Chelsea next season.
2. Playing Lampard-Mikel in the double pivot is a horrendous decision :
Mikel was almost completely anonymous in the centre of midfield as the game seemed to largely pass him by and found himself unable to contribute anything of note. Lampard saw a number of his passes go astray as his usual accuracy deserted him, with his attempted long-balls to Torres being particularly unsuccessful. Like I’ve said before, they just can’t function properly together this season and constantly playing them together has been a big reason why we’ve lost many games due to our holding midfield not functioning.
3. Ryan Bertrand is not yet ready for the big stage :
Bertrand found defending difficult as he deputised for Ashley Cole, and was guilty of holding back Raul Rusescu to give away a penalty and earn a booking. He hasn’t been at his best at all this season and especially in Europe. After getting torn apart by Shakhtar earlier in the season, he struggled as well in this match. It’s not that he’s no fit as a replacement to Ashley Cole, it’s just that he’s not fit at this point in the season. The decision to resign Ashley Cole was a great decision as we have no fit replacement as of this moment.
4. Our inconsistency continues :
After impressive victories over Middlesbrough and West Brom, I was very confident of our chances to at least snatch a point or an away goal. However, that was not the case. There was no heart or passion from most Chelsea players except John Terry. It’s not down to Rafael Benitez, as he fielded the best side he possibly could with Sunday in mind. For me, the problem is beyond Benitez, but nonetheless… it was an absolutely miserable performance for Chelsea – the passing was off, the movement was off, everything was off. I really feel for all fans that put up with that, but especially the fans who went to Romania and saw it in person.
Other Points :
- Marko Marin deserves a start
- Juan Mata’s form has run out
- Chelsea’s chances of winning the EL are slowly diminishing
U’ re rit
Nothing came off for us. The passing was beyond poor and players on the ball hardly had a team mate to pass to. Players without the ball should know to run into space,make themselfs available but that wasn’t what I saw. They were just plain lazy and deserve a tick off from Benitez.
What is it with the long balls? I can’t see any sense in that! Are we playing a gambling game now hoping for second balls?! Chelsea have the kind of players who can actually pass it around and mount pressure on the opposition but with those long balls,players like Mata,Hazard,Oscar,Benayoun and Marin hardly get to play their game. These players need the ball often to build momentum in a game.
Benayoun on the wing is a big mistake. His side of the pitch is unproductive and I’m suprised Benitez did it again after it failed against Borough. Rather play Oscar wide and Benayoun behind the striker when picking that line-up.
This is off topic but damn,Spurs are flying now! They comfortably beat Inter 3-0 and it’s worrying for me. They are above us in the league and we still have to play them so it goes without saying,we’re in trouble.
Big trouble. I can’t even sleep anymore. Chelsea is breaking my heart. I dunno if it’s fatigue, or lack of passion, but whatever it is needs to be addressed ASAP. I’m bracing myself up for a trophy-less season already and it hurts so bad. Man U will tear us apart if we play like this at Old Trafford.
Lampard should have played at CAM position. benayoun should have played alongside mikel and oscar on the wings or he cud have been rested and marin given a start on the wings. Lampard has played as CAM all his career and i still believe he can do great there. as much as torres is criticized, at times it feels very unfair. We all.know he isnt the old torres anymore but every time the team doesnt perform well he is made the scapegoat even though he has one of the best workrate, he tries hard and chase down opposition defenders and goes to wing and does everyghing he can but its not working for him. as much as i would like him to succeed at chelsea, i wish him to leave now , for his own sake. As a matter of fact chelsea game is too slow him. if he was real.madrid he would still be one of the top strikers.
KTBFFH!
ShawnS’tha ur right,Torres tries he’s best.The midfielders are sometimes really selfish.They have to pass the ball to the striker,Instead they go by themselves.Sometimes Lampard has to try out passing the ball.He takes a shot as soon as he comes near the goal.Torres’s work rate his good.He’s scored 15 goals and assisted 5 goals.Not bad.It’s the midfielders who have the capability to bring his confidence back by the passing the ball to him often in the Box!!
@ Abishack I tink I agree wt u on our mild fielders shooting outside 18yards but some time I dnt blame dem doing dt,countless time dis guy’s gv Torres one on one ball he end up wasting d ball and if u check most of d game we win dis season is 4m dis mild fielders can u imagine in a game where we score 4 goals n our No9 name is not dre how wl u fill as a mild fielders,is Man U mild fielder beta dan ours No but day av gud,sharp,pacy n committed striker who complement d effort of dis mild fielders
I tink one of our problem dis season is wrong selection which also leads 2 wrong sub, Tactics is one of it n sentiment 4m d coach,wen Ba came he hardly play 20 minute wen we are down wt a goal or 2,2ndly we wl av Marin on d bench Betrand wl b playing as winger,Torres wl not hold ball or gv trouble defender n E wl player 90 minute and we need goals
esto no va bien…no entiendo como AVB no pudo hacer con nosotros lo que esta haciendo con los Spurs..los jugadores perdieron esa chispa y por su culpa perdimos a RDM especialmente por la de TORRES!!…no creo que con la vuelta de mouh podamos mejorar!! esa chipa se fue con DROGBA!!. LAMPARD Y TERRY NO PUEDEN TRASMITIR ESA CHISPA QUE QUEDA Y SI LO HACEN ES POR POCO TIEMPO….si queremos terminar 2 o 3 lugar…. ya la liga es imposible no solo tendremos que vencer al rival si no tambien a nosotros mismos…a ese juego mediocre y conformista…con el partido contra el MANU no hay mucho q pensar ellos van a por todo!!y teniendo haward webb de su lado todo estara acabado en la F.A. cup para nosotros..pero no perdiendo la esperanza espero una victoria!!…ademas espero que los pocos partidos que nos quedan en casa no tengan mas ese ambiente ostil que llego junto con BENITEZ….si realmente amamos al CHELSEA FC tenemos que apoyar al equipo sin importar lo que haga o deje de hacer BENITEZ o TORRES el equipo peligra!! yo daria lo que fuera por poder estar en STAMFORDBRIDGE pero la distancia no me lo permite solo puedo esperar a ver al equipo por TV…..solo queda sufrir y esperar que los jugadores se dejen de ñiñerias!! y empiecen a jugar de verdad!!!…..yo desde america latina(Bolivia) puedo notar todo esto..y…espero que ustedes tambien lo noten TENEMOS Q APOYAR AL EQUIPO olvidense de TORREZ y BENITEZ…como ya dije solo el apoyo como siempre se mostro en casa especialmente l año pasodo contra NAPOLI…BARCELONA…e incluso se puede decir BAYER en MUNICH…talvez si los jugadores sientan de nuevo ese calor esa pacion POR EL EQUIPO CAMBIEN!!! CON TODA LA FE Y ESPERANZA ESPERO PODER VER AL EQUIPO CAMBIAR!!
Bertrand :Not to say he is not ready for the big stage but truth is he is not yet a finished product or will never be. Luke Shaw is your than Ryan but is a better player than him in all aspects of the game no wonder we still keen to sign him. Torres: Couldn’t even tell what was wrong with him maybe he had those stomach pains again by the way he lacked passion. Its a pity his brother RB still sees some flash of brilliance where as for us the blues we only see a dejected and subdued Torres. Yossi: Another passenger in his own right even confused not to know where he is going. Apart from the 1-2 with Hazard and the final shot which was on target but then saved everything about him was a mystery even how he get to be on the pitch ahead of Marin. Maybe because he once donned the red jersey of the Mersisiders LFC
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It goes much deeper than Rafa but lets start with him .
(1)Players obviously dislike him ,do not listen to him and to be fair his tatic’s are awful ,but it seems they are trying to get him fired .
(2)Hazard was poor today .
(3)Michael Emenalo deserves the sack more than anyone .
(4) Emenalo sold Raul ,left us with Torres as our sole striker until Jan ,loaned Essien and 24 other players leaving us with an unbalanced small squad when we had to play the most matches in a season in our history .
The problem with chelsea is d startin line we need a 1st eleven team includin,ba marin,hazard, oscar,mata startin d game. Without a striker too chelsea can win their game perfectly but i dont knw what is wrong with them this season
For me Hazard was the flop of the match. Poor passing, losing possession..is like he was off. Torres sucks nothing more to say. And sorry for this but it’s seem that Lampard is only targeting his goals record..he was poor last night
Well atleast some1 saw wat am saying Lampard is only targeting his goal record noting more ad 2 ay dis dats unfair of lampard ad d best double pivot is ramires and mikel simple ad torres was d best 2 da even do he didnt 4rm e any pass 4rm lampard and banayoun he still tried and slow marin was at his best bt didnt get d flow of d game look at his first attack look wat he did with it and Mata is wearing out and Oscar is coming up de should probably swap position now ad Mata iii good on d wings dats was d way rdm use d mazacar so swap mode should be activated ad dat means hazard 4 marin Oscar 4 Mata and wat!! Imagine we have lone al our player dat should be helping d team and gettin their debut menn next season we will see our reserve player leaving d club cos kakuta is already 21 dats d aaaage hazard came 2 us ad loads of dem we should atleast av called back de bruyne, chalobah or mcECHRAN be yea swap mode ad stop d torres blame even van.persie get d help of midfield so stop blaming him plssss
Did I hear u say we loss many game wt mikel n Lamps bcuz dy are not 4tioning,apart 4m d fact dt I dnt lyk mikel Lamps instead Mikel n Rammy is ok,but on our mild field not functioning u cnt blame dem 4 dt if not Torres who keep wasteful in front of post can u count how many one on one he has n so on,or his Man u mild fielders or defense beta dn our No but bcuz dy av gud,pacy,sharp n committed No9 unlyk Torres
I’m in support of the board lamps shldnt be given a new contract he is selfish that’s the bitter truth..we hv younger players that can replace him
Player power got rid of avb at cfc now look at wht he’s doing with spurs
As far as i’m concerned rafa’s tactics didnt wrk! We need a new coach
As a Chelsea Fc fan im very worried by how
our club is being run. I mean we have had 8
managers since the special One! You can
clearly see that Rafa is not working for us and
probably will never work. Us Chelsea fans do
have some relief knowing in fact that Rafa will
leave, but does this mean we have the right to
abuse him?! Over the past couple of weeks
there has been alot of speculation over who
Roman and the board will pick. I know for a
fact Antonio Conte has been mentioned.
These managers that could me possible are all
very respected and are good at what they do.
But if your a Chelsea fan, there is only ONE
name that we care about and that is Jose
Mourinho. We want him but in actual fact we
also NEED him. We know what he can do at
Chelsea. He even admitted himself he would
loves Chelsea and would like to come back
some day. I hope that it will be for the next
season, but what am i to know what the
board are thinking?
As a Chelsea Fc fan im very worried by how
our club is being run. I mean we have had 8
managers since the special One! You can
clearly see that Rafa is not working for us and
probably will never work. Us Chelsea fans do
have some relief knowing in fact that Rafa will
leave, but does this mean we have the right to
abuse him?! Over the past couple of weeks
there has been alot of speculation over who
Roman and the board will pick. I know for a
fact Antonio Conte has been mentioned.
These managers that could me possible are all
very respected and are good at what they do.
But if your a Chelsea fan, there is only ONE
name that we care about and that is Jose
Mourinho. We want him but in actual fact we
also NEED him. We know what he can do at
Chelsea. He even admitted himself he would
loves Chelsea and would like to come back
some day. I hope that it will be for the next
season, but what am i to know what the
board are thinking?
We should let go of Lampard after this season. Lampard out, Fellaini in.
siempre que te leo me sorprendes para bien, muchas gracias