Premiership: Blackburn Rovers 0 - 2 Chelsea
Tuesday, 29 August 06, 03:23 AM · Comments (15)
Match reports
The Guardian, Kevin McCarra: "It is engrossing to watch Chelsea at the moment but the mesmeric power has nothing to do with the glamour in Jose Mourinho's squad. Particularly at away grounds the fascination lies in the sight of champions trying to rediscover their old selves."
The Independent, James Lawton: "Chelsea's problem was the same as the one that afflicted them at Middlesbrough. It was a lack of balance, a sense that the individual midfield strength of such as Lampard, Ballack and Essien was draining away in the starkest case of duplication."
Daily Telegraph, Henry Winter: "It was a clear penalty, and Mark Clattenburg was correct, as Jose Mourinho pointed out. "If a player holds on to another for two to three seconds, it is a penalty," observed the Chelsea manager."
The Times, Oliver Kay: "It was a performance that failed either to stir the soul or to resolve any of the various tactical conundrums thrown up by their summer transfer activity, but Jose Mourinho would prefer his detractors to ignore all that and marvel at the way that his machine clicked straight back into gear after their surprise defeat by Middlesbrough."
Official Chelsea FC Website: "It was not a masterful Chelsea performance. But the win was, in the end, by a clear margin. This was grand for confidence. As for Blackburn, who attracted a crowd of just 19,398 and saw many of them leave before the end, things may not work out so well this season."
The good
- Petr Cech. Made his first appearance since undergoing shoulder surgery after the World Cup and was simply outstanding: decisive, brave, different class. Without him the team might have had to settle for a single point or less.
- Didier Drogba. Despite only playing a little over thirty minutes of the second half, and with the team already a goal to the good, the big Ivorian still made a significant impact. Salomon Kalou, whom Drogba replaced, played reasonably well but lacks composure when it matters - he is only 20 and has time to learn. Drogba also lacks composure on occasions but brings so much more to the team, most notably pace and power. Drogba demonstrated these qualities in the 81st minute: notwithstanding the vice-like attentions of Andre Ooijer, who had already given Chelsea a penalty after bringing down John Terry, he stayed on his feet, even keeping his balance when Ooijer's last desperate attempt to trip him failed, and smashed the ball past Brad Friedel from an increasingly difficult angle. A great goal which came at just the right time.
- The result. It was imperative Chelsea left Ewood Park with three points after last Wednesday's defeat to Middlesbrough; the performance was secondary. Saying that, it was evident there's still a lot of improving to do.
The bad
- The narrow, diamond midfield formation. It just didn't seem to click, particularly in the first half. Some credit for this must go to Blackburn whose ability to limit space in the middle third of the pitch gave little opportunity for free-flowing football. Frank Lampard appeared hampered by the presence of the two Michaels, Essien and Ballack, and it wasn't until Rovers had to chase the game that the diamond seemed to function as intended.
Mourinho declared himself satisfied with the wingless line-up saying, "I think we are adapting to the players we have because we don't have Robben and we don't have Joe Cole." On this evidence there's a tad more adapting to do. And one is left pondering what Shaun Wright-Phillips thinks of Mourinho's starting eleven.
- Mark Hughes. The Blackburn manager's implication during his post-match interview that John Terry dived to earn Chelsea's penalty had me wondering if the former Blue had developed a touch of Arsene Wenger's selective myopia; Ooijer's bear hug on Terry couldn't have been a more blatant penalty.
Admittedly Ricardo Carvalho was lucky not to concede a spot-kick at the other end when he pulled back Jason Roberts, but that was no reason for Hughes to question Terry's integrity. Replays of the Carvalho incident showed that Claude Makelele was obstructing referee Mark Clattenburg's view, proving that the Portuguese defender had fortune on his side once again (he got away with a similar shirt pull on Yakubu Ayegbeni at the Riverside). There's no doubt his use of the dark arts of defending will cost the team at some point in the near future, probably during one of the upcoming games against Barcelona in the Champions League.
Man of the Match
Petr Cech. See above.
Final thoughts
I was just happy to see the players come away from Ewood Park with three points and no injuries; it was only the third game of a very long season so the performance was less important. There's no doubt that the improvement will come, and very soon everything will click into place and somebody will be on the end of a thrashing - hopefully Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in three weeks' time.
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Happy with the result, and the performance sounded good if not exceptional. It'll take the ballack-essien-lamps midfield a while to work, but i don't see any reason why it can't click - though it's key that the fullbacks get forward, which Bridge and Boogaloo didn't manage on Sunday. Blatant penalty, as were the Kalou and Carvalho incidents.
After the kicking Rovers dealt us two years ago and Hughes's subsequent denials, I have no sympathy for him or his team and hope they get relegated.
Could it be that Mark Hughes was trying to deflect attention away from his decision to play Ooijer in the first place?
The guy had only been at Blackburn for about 3/4 days and looked so uncomfortable it wasn't true - don't know what their injury / suspension list looked like but surely someone with a bit more experience might have been better suited to such a game?
He gave away a couple of fairly needless free kicks, nearly stuffed Friedel with a dodgy back pass, climbed all over JT for the penalty and got completely battered and outrun by Drogba for the second goal. I suppose you would try and make him feel better after a debut like that if you were in Hughes's position.
JT did a decent job of staying on his feet for as long as he did; having a 6 foot 12 stone centre half on your back is generally likely to make your legs give way eventually!
Once when Mourinho gets a formation and the right men together, Chelsea will be more exciting to watch than the '03-04 Gooners. SWP supporters are a bit discouraged that he isn't getting much time on the field. But, a win is a win. If he continues to play with a sense of purpose and uses his words more carefully, Drogba could have the best season of his career.
I just hope that no player starts counting chickens before they hatch. I remember last season, Del Horno and others were boasting about winning the prem by Christmas. Man U chased them until April 29th thanks to some embarrasing draws and losses after January. The champion's league draw is a nightmare and danged near anything can happen in the leage and FA cup. If they just play one game at a time, the silverware will take care of themselves.
Good enough we won the game. my greatest JOY was the return in goal for Peter Cech. he gives so much confidence to the team. without further ado, cudicini should be allowed to go, as hes shows no motivation whatsoever at all.
I rest my case and waiting for Jimmy next at the bridge.
common blues!
Dylbo Baggins: Here is Guddys goal for Barca yesterday. Looks like Ronaldinho has been teaching him new tricks :) Great stuff.
Celta de Vigo - Barcelona - Gudjohnsen 2-3
LINK
I thought we played well in the second half but that was only cuz blackburn had to attack to get something out of the game.
I feel the 4132 formation won't break down teams as there is no width, to stretch the play. it maybe handy to control the midfield, and great for counter attacking, but most of the premiership teams will sit back and defend.
can't wait for our wings to come back
they say red bull gives u wings maybe mourinho should try it
15 Comments · Add yours
that fixture with blackburn is always one that i'd be happy to walk away with a point from. there's something sticky about it, for sure. so thrilled with the 3 points. i thought the boys started to look good late in the game, could have put 4 past them.
Interesting to see that Guddy scored the winner for Barcelona over night too, glad to see him getting a go. will be VERY VERY interesting in the Champions League.
also interesting, (and i know theyre rumours) but allegedly ronnie wasn't injured, he was left out of the team because of a fight with the coach... apparently ac milan and chelsea are on high alert, though i highly doubt that he will leave.
would be good to see him unsettled though, might give us the edge in the group stages...
Yep three points was all that mattered.
Second half was encouraging, first half was pretty bad.
Big Pete makes a massive difference. Essien is superb at the moment. The cannibal had a solid debut, I suspect is a more able centre back.
Carvalho is a champions league nightmare waiting to happen. Plus Richard Keys repetitive outbursts on Sky ("he is always tugging shirts" - he is) won't have gone unnoticed by Premier League referees across the land.
We still have our two best flair players to come back (Cole and Robben) and so once we regain some balance in the middle/up front I see no reason to worry.
Up the Chels!