Chelsea vs Valencia - The Drog Show
The match result left me ecstatic.A 3-0 victory on a night when there was everything to lose speaks volumes of our players nerves. I am a Chelsea fan and loved the Champions League results – the arrogant Manchester United dumped out by Basel and Manchester City humbly shown the exit door by Napoli.
It was a vintage performance by our team – reminds you of the Mourinho and Anchelotti era. Without the ball we defended passionately and with it tried quick counter attacks. There was no desire of ball retention at all.
This was a night dictated by our Old Guard – Terry, Cech and Drogba, sadly Lampard was missing the action. Once again they rose from the ashes of criticisms to put on a grand show. Cech made wonderful saves diving full length. He kept the Valencia attack at bay with ease. There was only one chance when the ball hit the side bar immediately after Chelsea had scored. Otherwise Cech commanded the goal majestically. Terry and Ivanovich stood like walls in front of their goal keeper. Diving into everything, they made sure that the opposition strikers don’t get a chance to come any where near the goal. Valencia had to be content with long range attempts.
But most of all, it was The Drog Show on display at the Stamford Bridge. I am among the people who have voiced for Drogba to be replaced by Torres in the starting line up. But he proved yesterday night that Torres will always find it difficult to be the automatic choice. His strength, aerial prowess and the ability to hold up play was what got us through that night. In times when defending desperately, you could just lop the ball to this man and he’ll take care of the rest.
Yes, it was the experience and not the youth that got us through. It was the will to prove themselves that got us through. People have been talking a lot about a subdued Stamford Bridge and a fortress that once was and can never be again – it was the need to silence them that got us through.
But this was so uncharacteristic of AVB. At the end one can argue that the strategy was effective, but would I want my team to play like this every match? Definitely no!
AVB was brought to transform the style of our play. He wants more ball retention and higher tempo. Chelsea has found it difficult to adjust to these new demands. But you have to go through a painful learning curve. Dumping one philosophy and adopting another is not an easy task as AVB must have realized. Yet one must not give up.
AVB is young and this is his first big assignment. He is also learning. The positive I can take out of the match is that he can have two styles of play – the attacking and the defensive one. Quite often this season we have given away last minute goals. This is because we always stick to the high line of defense – something our defenders are not super comfortable with. Also since we want more ball retention the defenders, when challenged by the other team, try to play the ball to one another or a midfielder instead of just kicking it out of play. Luiz being more comfortable with the ball is able to do this, though he over does it. The others are still learning.
What we can do is to attack and get a bit defensive towards the end of the game when playing a tough opposition – when playing against Manchester City and Spurs for example. As seen yesterday, Terry and co. are very comfortable sitting deep and defending as if their life is at stake. But when we play lesser opponents, I want us to attack all the time. Maintain the high line, press a lot and convert shots on goals. With time we can completely transition to the more attractive style.
There have been lot of rumors in the papers lately. But I want Lampard, Terry and Drogba to see off their playing career with us. They’ve given so much to the team. They were the first revolution. Let’s see what the future holds for them.
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