Tag Archive for 'bpl'

EPL: Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur – March 2012

Published on March 24, 2012 in Sports. 0 Comments

No one needs to be reminded about how massive a game this is for both the clubs. A month ago Spurs were flying high in their third place, comfortably ahead of Arsenal. But all that England manager talk seems to have gotten to them and now they are fourth with just 5 more better than Chelsea. If Chelsea were to win today this fight for the final Champions League birth will go right to the end!

Last weeks defeat at the hands of Manchester City coupled with Spurs somehow drawing their match leaves Chelsea with a must-win scenario. 5 points towards the end of the season is too much to make up and a win is absolutely must if we want to qualify for the Champions League. The FA Cup and the Champions League games coming up don’t make life any easier as Di Matteo must take care of player energy levels and rotate the squad. Arsenal and Tottenham do not have this problem – and I don’t envy them for this luxury.

I will be watching the game nervously, hoping for a Chelsea victory. Let’s pile more pressure on Spurs. We know they can crack under pressure and yield us that qualifying spot.

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EPL: Manchester City vs Chelsea – March 2012

Published on March 19, 2012 in Sports. 0 Comments

We have yet another blockbuster coming our way. We travel to the Etihad stadium to face the wounded Manchester City who we defeated 2-1 at home earlier in December. Remember that game when the high flying blue side of Manchester visited a frail Chelsea? That was a sweet victory. We were the first team in this season to defeat Manchester City! Now it’s time to inflict their first home defeat in the premier league. Are we ready? Hell yea – more than we have ever been this whole season.

We have strung together a streak of 4 wins scoring 12 and allowing only 3 in the process. Torres is finding his feet once again and the Old Guard are back to their dominating best. Manchester City on the other hand have just crashed out of the European competition – that’s twice in two months actually – and were also defeated by Swansea City. They are also under tremendous pressure with Manchester United having taken a 4 point lead yesterday. After having spent so much in the summer – a British record – a trophy-less season will be a disaster for Mancini.

Quick Fact: Last time a club smashed the British summer spending record they went on to win the Premier League two consecutive seasons. That was Chelsea of course.

The biggest headache for RDM will be his team selection. Chelsea has mostly played in the 4-3-3 formation. But with Torres and Drogba both showing good form there is a possibility to pair them up at the front. RDM has tried that in the Napoli game towards the end and one wouldn’t call that a disaster.  Also Mata has been playing centrally just behind the strikers the last two games. Has RDM been preparing his team for the coming fixture? Below is the team I would like to see walk out on Wednesday.

football formations

C’mon. Admit it. Every Chelsea fan wants to see the pairing of Drogba and Torres flourish. Add the cunning Mata behind them and you’ve got yourself an entertainment. The only problem with having Mata in the center is that when Chelsea attack through the flanks he becomes useless. Ivanovich has been something like a revelation. The way he’s attacking the right flank and sending across those crosses is amazing. We do need the hard working Ramires in the team. His energy keeps our otherwise static midfield on their toes. Lampard over Meirless is a no brainer. And the tidy Essien should sit in front of the defense. When Essien’s in the mood, and given the Bison that he is nicknamed, he keeps the ball well and helps breakdown opposition attacks.

For me Mata behind the strikers is the key. But he’ll have to deal with the physical presence of Yaya Toure. I’m hoping for another great game of football and keeping my fingers crossed for a Chelsea victory.

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EPL: Wigan Athletic vs Chelsea – Dec 2011 – Post Match

Published on December 18, 2011 in Sports. 0 Comments
Villas Boas

Villas Boas

My reaction after the substitutions – WTF is going on in AVB’s mind?

Bringing on Kalou in place of Romeu made technical sense. A 0-0 scoreline against a weaker opponent suggests the introduction of a more attacking player. The choice of player in this case wasn’t something that pleased me though. Whenever I see Kalou, I am reminded of the handball and subsequent penalty given by him to Valencia in the dying moments. This guy doesn’t inspire confidence.

AVB’s next move is more baffling. He brings on Mikel for Mata! Dude. Just 1 up against a team fighting the relegation threat, one must always be on the offensive. Sacrificing your most creative piece for a player who doesn’t deserve a place in any of the top teams makes no sense at all. With this move, Chelsea went into a 4-2-1-3 formation. The only motive at this point was to desperately hang to the lead. And that’s something you do against a better opponent and not Wigan!

The third substitution was absolutely scandalous. Pray tell us the name of the Oracle that told you removing your goal scorer for a lame runner will benefit your side. At this point Wigan were already pouring forward trying to get the equalizer. AVB’s move – let me pick up someone randomly from the field and the bench and swap them. Gosh! That’s terrible.

All this while when Chelsea were in trouble I have defended AVB. But today I am forced to ask what his plans actually were? What was he really expecting his substitutes to accomplish? How can he publicly state that he’ll help Torres find his best form and never give him a chance to play?

I think AVB has totally lost his plot. The pressure’s gotten to him. He has finally bowed down and abolished his attacking principles. The complete 90 minutes Chelsea were playing a purposeless game. There was no real passion or determination to win the game. They just sat back to defend and hoped they get a goal as a gift. It was a drab, dull and boring match. A waste of 90 minutes. Nightmarish. This was just as terrible as the 5-3 drubbing by Arsenal. They could have just bent over and saved themselves the humiliation of almost getting beat by an 18th placed team.

I don’t know what else to say. There was not a single minute in the game when Chelsea looked confident or a title challenger. Easily one of the worst games of the season so far.

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EPL: Chelsea vs Manchester City – Dec 2011 – Post Match

Published on December 15, 2011 in Sports. 0 Comments
Chelsea vs Manchester City

Lampard converts a penalty to hand Manchester City their first loss of the season

Did you just see how Lampard celebrated his penalty conversion? Did you notice his passion for the club? Well one thing is certain, he won’t be leaving the club any time soon. And if any manager dares to put him on the transfer list he’ll receive a lot of stick for such an action.

But the writing on the wall is a sure sign that we are moving away from the era dominated by Terry, Cech, Lampard and Drogba. In the past it was mostly Lampard who would take the free kicks. 99% of the penalties were also taken by him. But that role has now passed on to Mata as AVB explained after the match. Slowly but surely a new team is being built with Malouda and Anelka already relegated to the bench in favour of Sturridge and Mata. Also Mikel finds no place for himself as the more technical and quick Romeu has proven to be more than adept at that position. And with Drogba leaving for the African Cup of Nations in January, who knows how much good will it do to Torres and Sturridge. Perhaps when Drogba returns we’ll already have 3 top central strikers – Lukaku being the third.

The game began just as I had expected. Chelsea started with the same attacking philosophy and the high defensive line and were immediately penalized by a marvelous Aguero setting up Balotelli’s goal. Another 10 minutes of misery and our defenders decided to abolish the high line and defend deeper. The impact was immediate. Manchester City were no longer able to find space to trouble Cech and our quick midfield counter attacked whenever given the chance. And then with a moment of Sturridge’s brilliance Meirless found the net to equalize.

Second half started on a better note for Chelsea. Now that we were defending deeper, the confidence cascaded across the team and we got forward a lot more. Clichy’s wretched night saw him earn a second yellow. In all fairness he was no match for Sturridge on that day. With Manchester City down to 10 men, their game plan was to defend and hold out for a draw. This spurred us on. And once again Sturridge was the man of the moment. His shot was blocked by Lescott’s hand and a penalty awarded to Chelsea. Lampard converted the penalty with ease. From that moment on, there was no looking back. A deserved victory saw us cut down the difference to the top of the table to 7 points now. With any luck, if Manchester City were to lose to Arsenal and Chelsea win against Spurs, we will have a great shot at the title.

Romeu seems to have made the DM position his own. He is so calm at the ball, it’s as if he has a while minute to decide whom to pass the ball. That was something missing with Mikel. Ramires and his bursts of energy has seen Chelsea attack a lot more through the right wing this year. Earlier it was the combination of Cole and Malouda on the left that did the trick for Chelsea.

But once again we had to rely completely on Drogba for the central position. This is something that continues to worry me. Lampard is already being phased out and we need to do the same with Drogba. Torres needs to play more. We need to have faith in him for the long term.

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EPL: Chelsea vs Manchester City – Dec 2011

Published on December 12, 2011 in Sports. 0 Comments
Chelsea vs Manchester City

Chelsea vs Manchester City

It’s the big one today. We face the table toppers at our home. It’s the clash of a fearsome attack against a shaky defense. And I’m afraid. Already AVB has declared that if we lose this game our title race is all but over. A win is vital today and nothing else will do.

Manchester City has set the premier league alight with an amazing display of attack. Having scored 48 goals in the first 14 matches they’ll beat Premier League’s record of highest number of goals – 103 by Chelsea in 2009 – 2010 season – by a big margin. It’s their latest acquisition – Sergio Aguero – who has been the most devastating. He is a potent goal scoring machine. And what makes it worse is that Chelsea had kept tabs on this guy and he could have been in our team had things turned out differently (we put our faith in Torres).

Not to forget David Silva. The guy picked up from where he left the previous season. He’s arguably among the best midfielders in the league, if not the best. He is their main architect.

I’m afraid that these two could rip apart the Chelsea defense just the way they did it with Manchester United, more so if AVB decides to revert back to the high defensive line that our back four are so uncomfortable with. That brings us to the main question – what is going to be AVB’s strategy today? Will he defend deep like he did against Valencia in a do-or-die game? Seems likely because he cannot risk losing this game and slipping 13 points off the top. In fact, he might just play the same team that defeated Valencia by counter attacking which means that Torres will spend another game watching from the bench. Mancini would suspect the same. So will AVB surprise everyone by doing just the opposite and play like Chelsea played against Manchester United – remember had our strikers been more accurate we could have won that day.

For this game I do not want to voice my opinion. I just want us to win this one – hook or by crook. We cannot afford any more losses. And AVB needs a few victories for all the unpleasant rumors to die down. Only by winning a few matches can he gain the confidence of fans and experiment.

I’ll be watching the game with my fingers crossed.

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Yea Chelsea Won, But Where’s The Magic?

Published on August 21, 2011 in Sports. 0 Comments

Two years ago, and the trio of Drogba, Anelka and Malouda formed the lethal frontline and Chelsea netted more than 100 times in the Premiere League. Fast forward to the 2011, the same players are struggling to find the back of the net just once! It’s sad, disappointing and to a certain extent frustrating.

There was the era when Joe Cole would weave down the right flank and Ballack would power his way through the center. But we do not have them any more. We have instead chosen to replace them with players like Ramires, Benayoun, McEacharen. Chelsea need to realize that the days of powerplay are over, that we need a creative midfielder to make the best use of Torres, that the golden days of Drogba are done – yeah, sadly, but I do admit it.

The problem with the current crop of players is that I do not have confidence in half of them. I’ve never liked Anelka. Drogba is past his prime. Malouda, well, half the time he’s amazing and the other times he a flop. I think it’s only because of his understanding and teamwork with Cole that he keeps his place in the starting lineup. Kalou has been a disappointment. And being a deep lying midfielder, Mikel misplaces a lot of his passes.

I love Terry as a captain. Lampard is good going forward. Cech is an amazing keeper. I also like Cole, Ivanovich and David Luiz. Ramires keeps himself busy going back and forth. And I believe in Torres, a lot.

There you go, half my starting likeup doesn’t impress me. I would want Josh to play instead of Mikel. Now that we have got Lukaku, let him start instead of Kalou.

But unless Chelsea really up their game it’s going to be another slow and long season. And I do not want to sit hoping in front of the television only to be disappointed every other time.

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Liverpool Humbles Manchester United

Published on March 15, 2009 in Sports. 0 Comments

Ferguson vs. Benitez

A win was needed to save the hopes of a title chase for the Reds, and a win they got after 90 minutes of entertaining play. Torres and Gerrard ensured that Liverpool not only beat Manu, but do so convincingly. A 4-0 win against Real Madrid backed up with another 4-1 victory at Old Trafford speaks a lot about the renewed Liverpool.

The match began just like any other one, with Manu pressing forward and looking aggressive. They were the ones to win the first corner of the game. Quater of an hour later, a Ronaldo penalty kick saw them take the lead at the Theater of Dreams. And if the records were to be consulted, you would learn that Manu has never lost at Old Trafford when Ronaldo has scored.

However, a crucial judgemental error by Vidic saw a composed Torres equalise the score. It was a calm and composed striker making sure the ball finds the net. A few minutes left to the half time and Evra fouled Gerrard inside the penalty area. A clean strike and Liverpool were up, a repeat of their performance when they staged Manu at Anfield and won the match 2-1 conceding first.

Gerrard Penalty Shot

Gerrard Penalty Shot

The match was far from over. Manu showed urgency coming into the second half, pushing Liverpool onto defensive. Ferguson altered the 4-4-2 formation into a 4-3-3 by making three substitutions. Drama took place just moments later when Vidic fouled Gerrard and was shown red card by the referee. A perfect free kick and Liverpool were in the driving seat. With the scoreline 3-1 in Liverpool’s favour, Benitez substituted the-not-100-percent-fit Torres. Defending anxiously each wave of Manu’s attack, Liverpool managed to break free once again and score a fourth goal.

Well, Liverpool got what it needed, a victory against Manu at this crucial time. They have now been the better team at both the occasions, winning 2-1 at home and 4-1 away. With newly discovered form and spirit, they do pose a considerable threat to whoever they are drawn against in the Champions League.

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