Premier League: Bolton Wanderers 0 - 4 Chelsea... Newspaper reaction, Goal videos, Match report, Player ratings
Saturday, 31 October 09, 07:48 PM · Comments (55)
Newspaper reports
The Observer, Paul Wilson: "After two successive away league defeats, Chelsea can now boast two clean sheets and plenty of goals against Bolton, whose dead-ball repertoire can cause even the best defences problems, though the home side were handicapped by having to play with 10 men for the whole of the second half after Jlloyd Samuel's dismissal."
Sunday Telegraph, Graham Chase: "Just about doing enough on a regular basis and still scoring four goals is what wins titles and that is exactly what Chelsea did against Bolton to maintain their advantage at the top of the Premier League."
Sunday Times, Duncan Castles: "Concerns about set-piece defending have given way to clean sheets; queries about the narrowness of Carlo Ancelotti’s midfield have ceded to an admiration of its effectiveness when Chelsea open the scoring. If an opposition comprised of an Atletico Madrid on the point of sacking their manager, Blackburn and two variants of Bolton has not been elite level, Chelsea’s reply has been."
Independent on Sunday, Myles Hodgson: "Following the 4-0 Carling Cup victory over the same opponents in midweek, Ancelotti's biggest problem was to prevent complacency against a committed Bolton side used to upsetting the big four on home territory. Then again, after offering his grandmother's remedy of red wine and hot milk as a cure for a potential swine flu outbreak at the club, he is unlikely to be unsettled by anything a football match presents."
Official Chelsea FC Website: "Bolton ... has been a happy hunting ground for Chelsea in recent years, with wins recorded here, without conceding, in the last six seasons."
The goals
45' Lampard (pen) 0-1
61' Deco 0-2
82' Knight (og) 0-3
90' Drogba 0-4
The preamble
Hopefully I won’t let you guys down with the review but I’ve been ill all week and so it’s taken me a while to send over my copy to Nick tonight. But a soldier must never let the side down and therefore when I got the call from our Great Leader to sit down and watch our trip up to the snowy wastes of the North, i.e. the Reebok Stadium, I was only too happy to oblige.
The build up to this game has been relatively quiet, mainly due to our recent run of comfortable wins and the small matter of the North London derby but despite the absence of any Chelsea bombshells in the past week, there have been a couple of interesting stories which caught the eye including a potential swine flu scare, a worrying increase in the number of injuries at the club and the crowning of Joe Cole as a genius. Of most interest though was the announcement of the World Player of the Year shortlist. Predictably, Barcelona have dominated the list and this year’s race appears to be a tussle for second behind the genius of Lionel Messi but despite that, Chelsea have been very well represented. The extremely classy, extremely powerful and extremely German Mr. Ballack may have been the surprise inclusion but alongside our number 13 was the core of our side: JT, Essien, Lamps and Didier. My tip is for Lamps to get closest to the top three but I’m not sure anyone can beat Barcelona’s trio of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta or a certain Cristiano Ronaldo.
Anyway, back to the game. We were given the rather daunting challenge, if you believed the press, of following up our perfect run of victories over Atletico Madrid, Blackburn and Bolton with a trip to the Reebok. Some have been saying that we look weak and scared of the high ball away from home, an argument which is reminiscent of the Southern Softies up North argument of old, after two consecutive defeats on our travels. But apart from those of you who are prone to overreacting, most have moved on from an off day at Wigan and some awful defending against Villa to see that on the whole we’ve been playing some brilliant stuff, look threatening and confident in every match we play and are rightly leading the way at the top of the table. Some of us are saying that the title is ours for the taking with United looking poor and only Wenger’s kids looking like posing any sort of threat to us and a win today would go along way to silencing the critics. I firmly believe that Carlo will lead us to glory this year and today’s performance was worthy of potential Champions.
The tactics
Cech; Ivanovic, Carvalho, Terry, Ferreira; Essien, Ballack, Lampard, Deco; Anelka, Drogba.
Subs: Turnbull, Joe Cole, Malouda, Sturridge, Alex, Belletti, Borini.
Basically the big guns were back and the diamond was still firmly in place despite some ill informed hacks questioning its effectiveness away from home. Idiots.
The match
Bolton responded predictably to their 4-0 thrashing on Wednesday by sprinting around like headless chickens for the first ten minutes to show that they “meant business”. Personally I thought they looked clueless and were simply attempting to appease the few home fans who bothered to turn up by getting at ‘em as ‘Arry would say. But soon we settled down and took control of the game. Our midfield was full of movement, creativity and class. It’s a word I’ve used many times lately but I feel that it best describes our team at the moment. We’re a classy team who play beautiful football and today was no different. Anelka and Ivanovic were competing for the Man of the Match award after the first twenty minutes thanks to their brilliant movement, running and passing. Ivanovic was raiding down the right wing to great effect and Anelka was superbly playing the role of the support striker. His movement, pace and work-rate overwhelmed Bolton and after 20 minutes he linked up brilliantly with Didier to latch onto a through ball but his shot was well saved at the near post by Jasskelainen. Our midfield was controlling proceedings but our final ball and finishing was relatively poor and it looked like we would need a moment of brilliance to break Bolton’s resistance. On the 25 minute mark it looked like we would get just that. Didier chipped over a lovely cross which found Ivanovic on the penalty spot whose first effort was blocked but from the subsequent rebound he struck home a wonderful left footed volley into the top corner. It was a stunning finish but the officials decided to ruin it all by ruling it out for offside against Ballack. Personally, I thought he was nowhere near the ball but it didn’t matter in the end as our quality was just too much for plucky Bolton. They offered nothing apart from some hopeless long balls up to Davies and deserved the battering we would give them in the second half.
As the first half continued, Deco and Frank began to get more involved in the game and their link up play with Anelka and strangely Ivanovic was sublime. Anelka, Didier, Ballack and Deco all had shots blocked on the edge of the box after more beautiful build up play and on most days, I would start to get worried that we would never find that elusive first goal. But today was different. The Chelsea pressure was incessant and as the second half eventually showed, we were unstoppable. It didn’t quite reach those levels until the 45th minute when we sprung the first of numerous devastating counter-attacks. Paulo was defending in the left-back position but he cleverly found Essien and within seconds Didier was bearing down on goal after brilliant passing between Essien, Deco and Ballack. Samuel cynically tripped him and was rightly sent-off and thankfully Frank converted yet another penalty to make it 1-0 at half-time. That was his eighth goal against Bolton and was the least we deserved from our lovely first half play.
The second half was simply more of the same. Bolton gave it a good go for a couple of minutes but soon we were breaking forward and exploiting the extra space to devastating effect. Anelka was finding space in the channels and was combining brilliantly with Didier but the big man’s finishing was horribly similar to the Barcelona game last season. We know he’s not the best finisher but on two one-on-ones he simply blasted the ball into the stomach of Jasskelainen and spoilt yet more great midfield play. A David Villa or Pato would thrive in this side and despite the power of Didier and movement of Anelka working really well at the moment, a world class finisher looks like the missing piece in our title chasing jigsaw. Anyway, there would be no stopping us. Frankly, we were battering them. Anelka’s shot was blocked from a Deco cut-back, Lamps smashed a stunning drive against the bar from a Deco corner and Ballack had another long range effort blocked. In the end it fell to Deco to end this game. From a Bolton corner, Ricky went on another of his crazy runs and found Anelka on the halfway line. He turned and beat two men before feeding Deco in the inside-right channel. He beautifully feigned to shoot, cut back onto his left foot and curled the ball into the bottom corner. It was a beautiful finish to a beautiful move but that wouldn’t be the end to the stunning football. After a lull in proceedings as we had a nice little siesta before our trip to Madrid on Tuesday, Frank awoke me from my slumber. An amazing (starting to run out of adjectives now) first time volleyed pass to the left wing found Ricky who cut inside Davies and crossed brilliantly (I know, too many brilliantlies but we really were, well, brilliant) to Ivanovic who forced the ball home via Knight’s shoulder. I know Knight got the final touch but Ivanovic deserved a goal and so I’m giving it to him. But the best was still to come in the 90th minute. Paulo fed Anelka and he crossed to Deco on the edge of the box. Deco then chested the ball to Frank who back-hell volleyed (is that a move?) it to Didier who then volleyed the ball home. It was the goal of the season thus far and was the perfect end to a rather perfect performance.
The good
- Midfield – I love this midfield four and feel a little bit guilty about saying that after Joe’s recent performances. But it’s overflowing with power, experience, creativity, vision, goals and any other attribute you can think of. Essien’s departure will hurt us and I wouldn’t be surprised if we brought in someone like Daniele De Rossi but at the moment our midfield is simply unstoppable.
- Performance/goals – Our build-up play, movement and goals were stunning at times. We’re full of confidence and people only need to see our fourth goal to see how well we’re playing at the moment. United should start worrying.
- Players – There were so many good performances that it would be wrong of me to only pick out one. But Anelka, Ivanovic, Didier, Deco and Frank were all in brilliant form.
- Liverpool defeat – Rafa conceded defeat in the title race after an hour by taking off Torres and if they lose on Wednesday, then it’s all over in Europe as well. But they were shocking at Fulham and all these defeats are getting rather embarrassing.
The bad
- Match of the Day highlights – We deserved more than a pathetic eight or nine minutes.
- Avram – Just caught a glimpse of him on Match of the Day but his haunting appearance still gives me the shivers.
Player ratings
- Cech – 6/10 – A spectator frankly but claimed Bolton’s long punts up field very nicely indeed.
- Ivanovic – 9/10 – The Match of the Day highlights didn’t do his performance justice. Was full of running but more than that his defending, crossing and link-up play was brilliant. At times he can look clumsy when attacking but today confirmed my belief that he should be our first choice right-back.
- Carvalho – 8/10 – Many thought that Carlo should have chosen Alex to combat the aerial threat of Davies and Elmander but Carlo was vindicated in his decision to choose Carvalho. His nudges, trips and shirt pulls were all there but his interceptions, calmness in the tackle and counter-attacking were hugely impressive. Not sure he can sustain it but he can still look world-class at times.
- Terry – 7/10 – A very solid performance from our captain and he kept Davies quiet all game.
- Ferreira – 7/10 – Personally, I love Paulo. As Jose said, he’ll never let you down and will always put in a 7/10 performance. Is certainly not a direct replacement for Ashley but his defending was exemplary and that’s all you can ask from him. Welcome back.
- Essien – 7/10 – Another all-action performance and as I’ve said on numerous occasions, he is revolutionising the Makelele role. Everyone thought that he would be wasted there but he has adapted his game and now looks perfectly suited to the... Essien role. It’s certainly not a regulation holding role anymore.
- Ballack – 7/10 – Everyone in our midfield was brilliant and even though he was overshadowed by others, his class, experience and general presence are crucial to the side.
- Lampard – 8.5/10 – Deserved more goals but his passing and movement were devastating. The bullet from Deco’s corner almost broke the crossbar but it was his back heel volley for the fourth that was simply stunning.
- Deco – 8/10 – Early on he was hustled off the ball but as he found space he showed everyone how perfectly he can play the number 10 role. Joe may have rightly grabbed the headlines this week but Deco can still show more than just a couple of flashes of genius. He may not have the pace but his vision, creativity and shooting are a rival for most in that position.
- Drogba – 8/10 – A minus point for his awful finishing in the second half but apart from that he was again unstoppable. That sums it up really.
- Anelka – 9/10 – Another brilliant display and he really deserved a goal but his movement and running tore apart Bolton on their own.
Man of the Match
It could have been anyone really but I’m going to give it to Ivanovic. Anelka, and Frank were brilliant but Ivanovic played the right-back role to perfection and after his first half volley was struck off his goal (yes he did score) his second half goal was enough to cap a lovely performance from our Serbian powerhouse.
The conclusion
I make no apologies for saying that we look unstoppable at the moment. The title is surely ours if we can get past a tricky run up to Christmas and bring in some fresh talent to cover for the African Nations’ Cup and our summer transfer ban. Our build up play and movement are Barcelona-esque and the United game next Sunday should cement our position at the top of the league. I can’t wait.
Now, off to bed to rest my throbbing head.
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55 Comments · Add yours
Can't really comment on the game based on MotD highlights - lovely fourth goal though.
The result certainly improved my day, which was going swimmingly until about 12 p.m. when the cat I'm looking after returned home from doing whatever it is cats do all day looking like it had been mauled by a considerably larger creature: a painful looking limp and horribly swollen bloody left eye set me a-panicking.
By about 4 p.m. my wallet was £100 lighter, the cat was pumped full of painkillers and antibiotics, and was looking a bit sorry for itself. I stopped thinking about how expensive out-of-hours vet visits are and started thinking about what was going on in the day's football, particularly oop north. I was greatly cheered to find that we were leading 2-0.
Anyway... I'm rambling. Thanks for the splendid write-up, Habs. A pleasure to read as always.
The team's scored 13 goals without reply since I arrived in Cornwall eight days ago. Maybe I should stay here until the end of the season.
Phil Thompson, however, of all people absolutely raved about us. I too watched MoTD and thought we were slightly under-analysed. I also picked up Megsons "What you should expect for £200m" jibe as well. It seems that if we are going to succeed this season it'll be back to the monetary argument, whereas of course Man Utd etc got all their players in a raffle.
I just sensed from MoTD a slight undercurrent of ABC* again. I feel the comfort and security of my old paranoia blanket returning.
*Anyone but Chelsea
Megson is a bitter sod who lost twice in a week 4:0 one can understand that jibe about 200 mil, although unfair, but still just a cry of the bitter man. I have watched our fourth goal already 10 times at least, what a sublime piece of football art!!!
Now Man Utd next week. Last time when we played them in the Community Shield I was in France, watched the game there and we won. This time I am going to be in France again, will watch the game there and hopefully pattern will repeat completely and we win!!!
KTBFFH!!!
All motoring along very nicely - hope Ferdinand is back for next week's table-topping Soopa Sunday extravaganza; Drogs and Nic will be very happy.
Front three were magnificent; Anelka playing the best football of his career, probably Drogs too. Think it suits to play Deco away from home rather than Joey Cole as he retains and recycles the ball far more effectively in that position. Ancelotti is also succeeding in making Frank, one of the smartest midfielders in the business, even smarter. No mean feat.
Megson is a graceless arse. If it's about money, someone needs to look at the cash he's spent - it ain't exactly peanuts - since arriving at the Reebok and ask why they look so unbelievably piss-poor and are only three points from the drop zone.
The downside of the weekend is that I'm starting to get very concerned that Rafa will get the boot though... :-)
And I know that Arsenal fans can be a touch smug, but when your closest (proximity-wise, at least) local rivals pop up twice a season with the "Arsenal are definitely there for the taking..." line then proceed to fail miserably (and often quite spectacularly) almost every time, you would take the piss a bit, wouldn't you?
Oh, and the fourth goal was wank material. If you like that sort of thing. *Ahem*
It's difficult to understand where the Spuds' cockiness comes from, since they've been fairly soundly thrashed every time they've played anyone good this season. As for the Arse, we'll have to see how they get on as the weather turns nasty. They seem to have some problematic egos there -- Bendtner is obviously a prize git and Van Pissy doesn't strike one as the most team-oriented character either, while our old chum Gallas is sure to go bonkers at some stage -- so it'll be interesting to see if they can keep soldiering on when it gets a bit tougher. Though to be honest I wouldn't mind seeing them do okay this season. It's hard not to admire the way Whinger builds his team, and Fabregas and Arshavin are a pleasure to watch.
The 'Poo meltdown is comedy gold. I'm with JD: let's hope they can cling on and keep Mad Rafa in his job.
Can't say much about us as I too saw no more than the grudging MotD highlights. Part of the issue is that our game was given to Shearer to comment on, which is enough to make you think it hadn't even happened. There must be someone in the country who can say something about Drogs other than "he's big ... he's powerful ... When he's on this form he's unplayable." I mean, for goodness' sake, does he get paid money for that? Hansen finds something you didn't see yourself pretty much every time he does his analysis. Shearer's just a Sun-reading pub bore.
Having been an Anelkasceptic all last season I shall tuck into my humble flan for Sunday lunch.
Sometimes, someone's brain is wank material....., and desire to be "original" and "clever" just exposes it.
Reply to Blue_MikeL:
Bite me, bitch.
Reply to ChelseaTony:
I think the ABC is mainly because a lot of the pundits had tipped the Poo to go the extra mile this year and win it. And the latest from the "Mad Waiter" is, he stated that you don't have to win things to be classed as successful.
Long may it continue Rafa, because the longer you're there the longer you'll go without winning the PL, because you can't win that on a penalty shootout.
Reply to KaiserJonny_II:
Been watching porn JD? ;-)
Reply to Clive:
Oh yeaaaaaaaaaaah, baby... :-)
We haven't had a good scrap on here in a while... Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! :)
@Clive - Re your comment earlier in the week which I read and then duly forgot to reply to: I don't spend much of my journey on the M5 - I leave at junction 29 and use the A30. That said, if I'm ever in your neck of the woods I'll drop you a message.
Reply to KaiserJonny_II:
Where would you like your bite?
"..Didier Drogba has done well to engineer the penalty", Megson.
For some strange reason I'm finding Drogbas dives hilarious now. Strange how everything looks different when one gets his erection problems sorted.
Reply to chelseablog:
No problem Nick, you would be more than welcome at my local, we're quite civilised down here in Zommerzet these days, we have running water and electricity.
Quite spectacular stuff. It really says something when a game that has poor finishing from us ends up scoring four goals.
I thought Ivanovic was impressive. I knew something was up when his first cross went into the box, rather than the other touchline. A shame his goal was ruled offside, because it was rather nice.
More offside misery- Blackburn scored a comeback goal against Man U that was bizarrely ruled offside. As usual, Man U gets one set of rules, everyone else another.
I'm quite shocked by Liverpool, but tremendously happy about it. They seem to have a run of results which shows more than just calamity, but that, like a relegation side, they are learning how to lose games. Unfortunately, that means Rafa will lose his job.
In other news- our transfer target, Hamsik, scored the winner against Juventus this weekend. I do hope we get him before someone else does!
Great report, which reflects the pride and optimism so many of us are feeling so far this season.
My only slight disagreement was over the comment that Bolton "offered nothing apart from some hopeless long balls up to Davies..."
Watching the match live on Sopcast Bolton had three great chances either side of our penalty. If Davies had been a better goal-scorer rather than just an elbow-waving thug, he would have scored.
And I am STILL waiting for us to go in 2-0 up at half-time!
And I forgot to add. Riccy seemed to me the poorest player on our side. Didn't get near Davies all afternoon.
While Ivanovic was just awesome! My MOM by a long way.
Oh, by the way, top hole report young Habs.
On a slight aside , contrast the Beebs apology for Jenson Button's use of 'Bastard' and 'Fuck it' when chatting with Weber and Vettel after the race with the Sky/Keys indignation and Daily mail-esque outrage at Drogba's swearing last year. The Beeb just did a swift 'oops' and moved on. Did they feel the need to stoke up a load of faux outrage that young children may be smitten down for life by hearing this industrial language? Errrr.....no. Just shows how far Sky have to go when it comes to proper adult and intelligent coverage of football. Whilst the moronic patronizer in cheif Keys remains this will never happen.
"Our...play and movement are Barcelona-esque"
Let's hope we don't require referees and thumping in goals by hand in order to win trophies, like the Catalans! Avoiding a loss against the giants of Rubin Kazan at home would be preferable as well...
We're playing some great football and four clean sheets in a row prove that the Villa game was just a bad day at the office - defensively speaking, as we were the better team in that match too. Can't wait for next week when the Pensioners will thrash ManUre at Rememberance Day!
KTBFFH!
Reply to KaiserJonny_II:
"Wank material", "bite me bitch", where do you find your inspirations? However, don't reply keep your filth to yourself.
Reply to Blue_MikeL:
Then keep your whiny self-important thoughts about what I post to yourself, you fucknut, and we'll be fine won't we?
Reply to KaiserJonny_II:
Didn't Musumba leave here because or the ribald remarks JD?
Keep it up! ;-)
Reply to Clive:
As I recall, that was Mr. Glover's potty mouth - far superior to my occasional lapses into terrace vernacular... :-)
Anelka's foot, Deco's chest and Lampard's heel had indeed made me cum...
I want more!!! :-)
Reply to KaiserJonny_II:
I take my potty mouth lessons from Malcolm Tucker!
Reply to KaiserJonny_II:
:-))) Is it a threat :-)))) Don't make me laugh you self obsessed git. I have no any desire to be fine with a wank like you :-))) "We shall be fine" you really full of wank material :-)) LOL!!!!!
Like Habs, I just caught sight of Avram on MotD 2.
Now that Paul Hart seems to have got the team playing well, no doubt it won't be long before Avram sneaks up behind him in the dugout, stabs him in the back and takes all the credit for his hard work.
Can't wait for the moment when Avram glides vampirically into Paul Hart's job and brings about the transformation in style that proved to be so inspired here at Chelsea. "We are trying to move the ball forward a little bit quicker," wasn't that it?
Sort of like the managerial equivalent of Shearer's punditry.
Even Scolari got offered a job after failing here. Avram couldn't even get Uzbekistan.
Chelsea were fantastic. Fill in the blanks yourself.
Regarding Avram, I wonder if it crossed anyone's mind that the reason Pompey have started putting the ball in the back of the net and keeping clean sheets is because he just joined them. Just like when he joined us, all of a sudden they start winning again.
Contrary to the view of him as a buffoon, maybe someone should start considering the possibility that his input is making a difference in the right direction.
The behaviour toward him was disgraceful in the past and it looks like the same knee-jerk is going on now.
I'd like to hear a reason - a proper one for a change - that explains why not. Seriously, it's not a coincidence.
I sort of agree re:Avram. I was not his biggest fan and was not too upset when he left, but some of the abuse he got seemed a bit too far to me.
He did get us to the Champions League Final after all.
Reply to Blue_MikeL:
Positively Wildean.
Reply to Agh57:
Is Avram lurking in the background at Pompey? Probably the most polite thing you can say is that he polarises opinion amongst Chelsea fans... Did a reasonable job of keeping things steady at a difficult time, but was clearly overpromoted way beyond his ability.
Most notable thing is that he doesn't actually get jobs when he applies for them - Poland and numerous others have been mentioned since his departure from the Bridge - he just seems to end up in the hotseat by way of connection and default. Says a lot about the man, in my opinion.
Habs,
Agree with your conclusion, though I think we need only look ahead as far as next Sunday at the moment. 3 points against ManUSA and we'll be sitting very pretty, anything else and it's time to remain conservative.
There are still plenty of ups and downs to be had. I watched large parts of the Citeh game yesterday. They were fairly shit, but were missing a few key personnel - I still regard them as having a big say in the title race. They wont win it, but they'll take points off the 'Big 3 TM' (please note this new trademark, registered at 4.45 pm on Saturday to commemorate the passing of Liverpools title bid for [yet] another season).
I see transfer window silly season is in full-swing already with the stories about Villa and Hamsik. Both would be great additions to the squad.
Finally the forth goal. There's definitely a hint of ABC about the praise that's (not) been given for it. Had it been Fabregas to Arshavin to Van Persie, or Scholes to Rooney to Berbatov, or Stevie Me to Torres to Stevie Me to Torres (see what I did there?) then it would already be hailed goal of the season / decade / century.
As it is, Drogba was offside and it hit Lamps on the calf, obviously.
Reply to KaiserJonny_II:
I am not an Irish, so this comparison would not work. By the way I hope in addition to all your other problems you are not homophobic?
Reply to Blue_MikeL:
Nice accusation. Of course I'm not homophobic.
I love my house.
It's deeply touching that you want to follow me around this blog yapping impotently like an angry neutered little puppy at every comment I make, but I have things to do. Find another carer, would you?
@ Harry 30
At the risk of squaring up to the blog's Mr Angryman, I'll try and account for my Avramophobia.
First, it seems at least as perverse to credit one 4-0 win to the arrival of a behind-the-scenes director of football as it does to heap ridicule on a manager whose team nearly won the Champions League. Grant was DoF at Chelsea at the end of the Mourinho era, so if he's taking credit from that role for Pompey's win over Wigan, then he's taking the same amount of blame for our draw at home against Rosenborg and so forth ... Clearly there's not much future in that argument either way.
So what we're talking about with Grant is his effectiveness as a manager, and his general effect on clubs that he's been associated with.
It seems unarguable to me that when Mourinho left Chelsea, Grant must have presented himself to Abramovich as a manager who could fulfil RA's fantasies of a popular club playing "attractive" and winning football. Unarguable, because on the open market it's impossible to believe RA wouldn't have preferred to go for a big name manager with a proven record (as evidenced by the subsequent signings of Scolari and Ancelotti). Grant must have been the in-house candidate, trading off his general likeability (attested to by David James and by our own Frank, two of England's more intelligent and humane footballers) and his connections (the well-known Pini Zahavi links).
No doubt Grant genuinely believed he could do what RA expected. However, there's no evidence that he had any effect on the side at all. Both Scolari and Ancelotti managed to impose perfectly obvious and visible changes to the side, immediately: in other words, they both clearly had an idea of how they wanted Chelsea to play, got the players to understand it, and executed it. Mourinho did the same when he arrived, of course. All three were making obviously intelligent use of the resources at their disposal. It seems reasonable to say that this is what a manager does, at the most ...
Reply to KaiserJonny_II:
I think you are imprisoned by some sort of misconception. First of all you should learn the meaning of the word accusation, so you will be capable of seeing that I merely asked, but not accused. Second - I am not following you and have no any intention to do so. You have started it actually by making accusation (as I said above you should learn you manners and meanings)"Oh, and the fourth goal was wank material. If you like that sort of thing. *Ahem*"
This phrase is not only rude, but yet stupid and this is actually what I am trying to tell you and, if you were not so self obsessed and arrogant as you are you might have understood by now.
Reply to Blue_MikeL:
You got that upset about one throwaway remark made about a goal?
Let it go, really. We'll all feel better.
… basic level.
I only see home games live, so I didn't watch every Grant game from beginning to end, but from the ones I saw there was no sign of this at all. What I saw was Mourinho's team playing with a little less defensive organisation than usual. I remember a number of post-match articles on the club website (where all news is good, obviously, and where the manager doesn't get criticised) in which Grant was quoted as saying that his aim was to effect a "subtle change" in the team's style by "moving the ball forward more quickly."
I don't think it's unreasonable to translate that as: "I don't really know how to make a team play the way I want them to play, nor can I make this team of excellent players any better, but I do want to keep my job because I promised Mr Abramovich that we would be more attacking."
There's anecdotal evidence to suggest that the team managed themselves that season. A newspaper report on the CL final said that Grant was reputedly the most nervous person in the dressing room before the game. When the team was bad (e.g. the Carling Cup final, and the late goals conceded in the home draws) it looked lost and disorganised. Of course that's unfair to Grant's diplomatic abilities: one thing he did just about manage to do was stop the club imploding, and keep the players who would have walked across water for Mourinho (Drogba, Frank, Riccy, JT) from flipping out and sulking. But he showed no ability to influence games from the bench or to change the team's style according to changes in personnel.
One could argue back and forth about results for ages without getting anywhere. Yes, we got to the CL final and nearly won it. Does that make Grant better than Hiddink, who (just) didn't get to the CL final? Grant had fantastic luck with the CL draw; Hiddink had to play easily the best club team on the planet in the semi-final, didn't lose either game, and was seconds away from putting them out. You have to look at the wider picture, I think.
Grant's purplest patch was during the ACoN. Perhaps his general calmness and pragmatism helped when we were missing key players, and the squad had to get by on leaner resources. But even then there was no sign of him actually moulding the team.
The really striking contrast is with Hiddink. Like Avram, Guus came in mid-season(ish) and so had the excuse of not being able to make the team his own. Unlike Avram's, Guus's arrival instantly made the team look different: no major change in tactics, but a startling transformation in organisation and coherence. Perhaps that's why Avram was fired after a relatively successful three-quarter-season. If he'd had the support of the players, he might have been given his chance, but it's pretty obvious that they didn't respect him, however much they may have liked him. I doubt RA was happy at having to admit so publicly to having made a mistake; one suspects he wouldn't have done so unless everyone at the club had made it very clear to him that it *was* a mistake.
Going on what I saw, Grant is a mediocre manager who should never have been put in charge of a top-level team. He must have agitated for the job, probably by presenting himself as the antidote to Mourinho. On that basis I think he's earned his ridicule.
As DoF, good luck to him. If he's not agitating for a managerial position again, even better luck to him. But based on what happened at Chelsea, why shouldn't we assume that he's essentially a person of very limited talent who has found ways to get himself promoted far beyond his deserts? The academic world (my old stamping ground) is richly populated with that sort. They're not hugely impressive people.
Am I the only one who had never noticed till reading it in one of yesterday's papers that one of the Glazer family at ManU is also called Avram, co-Chairman no less?
Will every club want an Avram on their board soon ;-)
As for Saturday I was irritated by the consensus of the TV commentators/ pundits [MOTD, Sky and the mighty Warren Barton on Fox Sports Channel - I watched an internet stream] all peddling the notion that Bolton were holding their own until the penalty, which entirely turned the match.
Even allowing for my bias I saw a team clinging on desperately, looking increasingly unlikely to hold us off as we peppered their goal more and more - as the possession stats for the first half confirmed: something like 70:30 in our favour.
From the corner where BB cowers, crying gently, a little afraid..
I have deep issues with conflict going back to a playground incident at the age of 9 where instead of punching my best friend in the face I missed and punched the Catholic Church. My analyst tells me that I should talk them through, while my priest says I should say 40,000 decades of the Rosary and hope to avoid eternal hell fire.
Hence I feel moved to try and temper the recent exchange between Blue_Mikel and KJII.
In the first place BM had made several references, as had others to the quality of the fourth goal.
KJII in an aside referred to this goal as “wank material”. Now that sort of reference may not be everybody’s cup of tea but is actually a fairly common mode of speech, particularly, maybe even exclusively among blokes. It is merely a way of indicating the level of excitement induced by the incident and no more.
The addition of “if you like that sort of thing” is again a common mode of speech where on is distancing oneself from a behaviour or practice that you have just been discussing. It is meant to be ironic and humorous.
As I read it there was no accusation levelled at anyone or a suggestion that any particular individual engaged in the deplorable practice of self-abuse. It was merely a way of indicating how good JKII thought the goal was.
Therefore the recent spat has grown out of a misunderstanding.
For the most part, other than when serious football stuff is discussed, I would say that the general tone on here is one of quirky good humour.
It goes without saying that some may find language, imagery or reference too much at times and are entitled to say so.
However the written word can easily be misinterpreted without the help of vocal tone or facial expression and therefore it is probably worth a quick post seeking clarification before flaming commences.
Thank you for reading, you can now tell me to **** off and mind my own business
Reply to blueboydave:
I was on that particular stream... Habs had Bolton's plan nailed in the first line of his review of the game - run around a lot and look busy.
And yes, it is enough to make you Avramophobic. They're out to take over - pass my tin foil hat, would you?
Reply to BlueBayou:
Damn it - you're spot on, BB. I should have used a ;-) to indicate the jocular nature of my comment...
Although said emoticon could be mistaken for imagery crudely associated with someone turning Japanese. Which would only bring on the Vapors and confuse things even further.
Yours, heading to Dr. Bayou's couch without passing go...
Well done on the report Habs. With little in the way of highlights and no radio coverage I could access, it helps to have a little detail.
And what’s with this “only sick people can write match reports” business.
It started with a defeat to Villa but with a 5-0 and 4-0 for the last two PL reports, my guess is we need a correspondent who’s just short of a coma to guarantee the points come Sunday. Come on let’s have a volunteer.
@BBD
Have to say the bloke they went to for updates on R5 Live was more honest and nearer the mark for once.
Part of the problem for the media at the moment is how to characterize us. With the current goalfest they’re in uncharted waters and feeling a little uncomfortable.
We’re more than just physical and efficient now. We can only be aging when we’re losing. The recent defeats promised a crisis that’s disappeared. The diamond/lack of width angle promised plenty of wordage, but now it seems to be working. Ancellotti’s autobiography may have promised a character they could get their teeth into, but he’s been operating below the radar at the moment and anyway Rafa’s imminent(?) demise and Fergals ref bashing provide distraction enough.
Where do they go? Attractive fluid football, easy on the eye?
Oh dear me no. That’s reserved for Mr Wenger sir, I’m afraid we must ask you to vacate that seat sir.
So we wait. And they wait.
At least next Sunday they know they can nail a headline, ‘cause the “Champions” and “best manager in the World” are in town.
Depending on the result:
We’ll be aging, in crisis, defensively vulnerable, zonal marking blah, narrow diamond blah, wily old fox clever tactics blah, seen off another pretender to his crown blah.
Or
How was a near pensioner able to hang a referee in front of over 40,000 people and no-one could stop him? Where did he get the rope? Was that Phelan kicking over the the stool?
Oh and Ferdinand is completely bollixed, time to ship him off to Spur
err that should say Spurs (aka North london's Finest, give or take a couple of minutes either side of half time)
Reply to BlueBayou:
I shall be covering the United game. Which is fortunate, as it well documented on here that I am very sick of mind and way beyond help...
You just couldn’t make it up…….
And speaking of disturbing co-incidences, I feel I have to share a very unsettling incident that occurred only moments ago, which dovetails very neatly with the subject of material employed to create physical excitement in the nether parts, a theme that has featured recently on this blog…..
My current employer was involved in the construction of the Emirates Stadium, indeed we have a degree of ongoing involvement. (Thankfully my hands remain unsoiled).
As part of the contract related publicity we were allowed to use, boxes of a magazine called Emirates Stadium – The Official Magazine of the Emirates Development Project were provided, to be distributed as part of our marketing: standard practice for this kind of project. Obviously a certain team and its well known personnel past and present, feature heavily, along with advertising for structural steel, air handing units, distribution boards and the like.
Not all copies were disposed of and in recent days as part of an office reorganisation, a couple of boxes were unearthed in a corner.
Needing to pass water, I happened to see the open boxes on the way to the lavatory. Imagine my discomfort when once ensconced in said lavatory, I gazed bowlwards and noticed a copy of this publication propped up in the corner……….
Needless to say I retreated as hurridly as my bladder would allow, taking care to avoid a zip/spare flesh interface, washed my hands and left.
I am looking around the office uneasily……….
(and before you ask, yes there were adequate supplies of toilet paper, so it wasn't a Spurs fan who took it in there)
PS
Also I hate Avram 'cos he's funny-looking. Nyah.
Reply to limetreebower:
Good call...
Interesting to see Joe Cole doing the press conference ahead of the game tonight; indication that he might start?
There, as they say, but for the grace of god go we....
LINK
It'll be intersting to see if the new coach has had any effect on morale yet. They have some decent players and were apparently on top for the first 15 minutes at the Bridge (I was still trying to get in.) So I'm not assuming it's done and dusted by any means.
They lost 1-0 away to Athletic Bilbao on Saturday for what it's worth.
Reading this reminded me of how I hoped we'd sign him once the money arrived and Lazio wasn't working out, particularly as he'd played under Ranieri. He was fantastic at Valencia.
LINK
We never saw the best of him here and I'm sure the serious knee injury that took the edge off his game. He never seemed to get fit with one injury after another. Fell out with Southgate too by the looks of it.
Oh well time and tide and all that.
40. limetreebower
Yup I agree with the statement Grant was so lucky and Hiddink was unlucky with CL. I think we truly were the best team in the Europe since Hiddink came...(or after Barcelona) ...but it was late for Premiership.
Seriously- Juventus kicked out, Liverpool in 2 amazing matches and Barcelona game... Barcelona are a great team, lets not be subjective, but the referee...I get frustrated by only talking about it...
We were the team Barcelona didn't score a goal the longest I think in the season...
It all depends on the draw we get. We have good team and a coach and we are in good form , but CL-you have to be lucky.
Whatever happens-PLEASE NOT LIVERPOOL AGAIN.
Atletico Madrid have some fine players, but we are beating them...and I hope we come back to Madrid in May :)
Look forward to the report after a dull and rather slow match. Some general conclusions include:
1. The Utd game was clearly on everyone's minds.
2. The back-ups who were drafted in (Malouda, Joe Cole, Kalou) made little to no impact and were virtually anonymous until the 80th minute when Malouda decided to put in a lovely cross.
3. Aguero is class.
4. The experience and quality of Ballack and now Deco are becoming crucial to the way we play the diamond.
5. Didier is an awful finisher but still a great striker. Does that even add up?
But apart from that it was a rather meaningless night in which we were always going to qualify. Now it's time for Utd who look really awful at the moment.