Premiership review: Chelsea 0 - 0 Manchester United

Ok, time for a rant. I really didn’t enjoy last night. (And I’m not a cherry picker, I’ve been to every home game this season, including all the cups).

Was it the off the pitch stuff? For the first time this season I chose to sit in the west upper tier. Don’t know what made me pick this area but I had a ManUre family behind me, with the daughter continuously kicking my seat, eastern European tourists left and right and Japanese tourists in front who spent the whole game behind their super long Nikon lens. And to cap it all it cost £180 for 3 tickets.

Or was it the on the pitch stuff, which was dire. Yes I know it was a post season training match but even so we were clueless. Maybe it’s just that when I was younger I was more easily excited but it was so much better with Osgood / Hutchinson or Dixon / Speedie or Zola / Hughes.

Maybe league games should be abandoned after issues have been decided or at least some sort of refund.

And finally, with the imminent departure of Tony Bliar, we can now take the crown for the organisation issuing the highest number of denial statements.

First off, I'm a United fan, but I'm not here to cause trouble. Much of what is said on this blog for example is obviously reasonably accurate.

I have to demur slightly though on your ludicrously high mark for Obi Wan. Yes, he looks a lot better now than he did at the start of the season but some of the praise coming his way is laughable. Yesterday, he suffered a tough, possible foul from Smith (watch it again), and then the red mist descends. Bear in mind as well that a better referee than Poll would have already have booked Mikel by then for his blatant foul on Dong early on. More often than not therefore he would have been sent off before the end of the first half. He also singularly failed to open up a very weak United midfield despite the help of the commanding Essien (now there is a player who United fans really hate missing out on).

He obviously has a temperament problem and while talented, I think he has nowhere near justified his price tag this season. He might well develop into a midfielder of the highest class but he is not there yet. Essien is a marvel and personally would have been my player of the year. Mikel has been fine and is to be commended for at least showing the money you paid was not a total rip off but it seems that many Chelsea fans are so desperate to feel they got value for money that they are turning his performances into something they are blatantly not.

And one more point. Brown's foul was bad but the first bad foul was Mikel. Don't start something and then moan about it. The game descended into niggliness because of him. And that made the game easier for us.

I know people have the opinions on how effective ASBO'S are.... but if one person needs it, it's Graham Poll.
He shouldn't be allowed within 50 miles of a football ground, and not allowed out between the hours of midday and 10pm

That should cover all kick off times around the country

>> That should cover all kick off times around the country

Hold on - we've not seen next season's Sky schedules yet...
:-)

Afternoon Donkey's Ears - congratulations in order on a great season.

Mikel certainly has a tendency towards a red mist moment; something that will hopefully disappear with age and a bit of careful handling. But he's the real deal, without question - - he doesn't really play in his 'proper' position for us but he's dictated several games a player of his age probably shouldn't do this season.

Last night wasn't his best, but watch him closely - just one of those players who seems to have that extra split second on the ball.

But hopefully we'll get to see the best of Obi on May 19...

Mark - odd how we've gone from never commenting on press speculation to a constant stream of denials. We haven't recruited Alastair Campbell by any chance?

Donkeys ears - your sensible and constructive views are appreciated. We're always happy to air other views on this blog provided they are well written and thought out (and not in text speak!). I totally disagree with them of course, as I would do if we were in a pub having a beer. Alan Smith had been nagging away at Mikel for a while before the reaction, but I grant that TSO does need to work on this side of Mikel's nature. With all due respect i have watched every Chelsea game this season , whereas I doubt you have, and indeed would be surprised if you had. Mikel had a ropey start, unsurprising when you consider he hadn't played any real football for over a year.

But TSO's evaluation of him as "pure gold" is seemingly very close. With each game he has come in and played with coolness and precision. His tackling is better than Makalele's as is his distribution. Richard Williams in the Guardian likened him to Viera, who I hated but admired. That's high praise indeed considering he's just turned 20. I don't think we're overstating the potential here, and the press have hardly been raving about him, unlike the plaudits falling on Ronaldo and Rooney's heads, which is natural because they tend to be more spectacular. I, however appreciate the skills that players like Mikel (and therefore Viera before him ) have and for me he will be as important to us as JT, Carvalho and Essien in the future.

On the point of us starting something I refer you to my comment about Leeds Agent Smith - and it in no way absolves Brown or Eagles for their attempts at career ending tackles. Two wrongs don't make a right.

We out played ManUre by a mile last night, pity we couldn't put the ball over the line but hay ho....

Mikel is a big boy, they all think he's a kid, so he brings the beef to show them. Immaturity, look at Rooney's first ManUre season, Mikel will grow out of it next season.

SWP - i've said for two seasons now he should be sold. But after recent games I can forecast next season he'll really shine. Come on Philips....

My favourite moment in the game last night was when Emerdale Eminem or Heinze had the ball, ran at Essien and tried to barge 'The Bison' out of the way. Needless to say they ending up on the floor and 'The Bison' didn't even blink.

...THAT MAN IS A MONSTER...
in a good way of course....


.........................K.T.B.F.F.H.............................

As we've alluded to, not the greatest footballing spectacle there's been this season.

Tony, I hope for your mates sake, you keep him anonymous. I think I'm closer to being the next Terry Henry than Kalou, and I play right back. In their combined 90 minutes last night, Sinclair and Sahar showed more potential than Kalou has all season. He's like one of your mates when you played footy in the playground, just goal-hanging all the time, waiting for the 2-yard tap in. He consistently makes the wrong choices. He was pretty much a passenger. I sincerely hope he's no higher up the pecking order next year than either of them.

I feel really sorry for Sinclair, he was just coming into the game, having seen off ManUSA's 319th choice right back, he started to rip Wes a new one. Until the blundering oaf mis-timed his challenge that is (it was only mis-timed, hardly much intent).

The 'guard of honour' was a joke. The idea's a good one, but surely only if you actually applaud the champions, and not the kids who clean their boots. Utterly pointless.

All in all, I think things look pretty good for the future. Some really good young players making their mark. Not sure on the actula figures, but the average age must have been pretty low. If you take ino account who could play we have Cech at, what 25 ???; Diarra at RB (19), Terry CB (26), Carvalho (29), Ashley (26), Joe Cole (24), Essien (25), Mikel (19), Sinclair (18), Robben (23), Sahar (20). Things are looking good, throw in a couple of young-ish new signings.

And on the plus-side, we didn't want to get involved in a bidding war with ManUSA for Dong. Surely one of the most average debuts in Premiership history. With the likes of Marco Boogers. And Stephen Guivarch. And that bloke who played for Souness at Southampton after claiming his cousin was George Weah. Ahhh, they were the days........

Blimey, Marco Boogers. Didn't he go bonkers and end up living in a caravan?

Stephen Guivarch has a World Cup winner's medal, you know...

Clive,
I clearly do not understand why do they keep someone like this Poll - prick as a referee. He is probably the worst referee ever !!!!

Chelsea Beef are there any new about meeting on FA Cup final?

MikeL
agree with you on Poll. Probably no surprise to anyone who saw last night's game or indeed any of Poll's over the last couple of years. Interesting that's the first Chelsea match he has officiated since our loss at WHL. FA choose to put him in charge of a meaningless fixture and he is, allegedly, the best they have. Why not expose a younger, less experienced referee to the top level without the pressure? Poll, with whatever limited ability he ever had to control a game has lost it. And it's so bloody obvious he cannot abide CFC. Apropos the 19th. Big game; big performance desirable; competent referee essential.

Ian,
To best of my knowledge it is not going to be Poll-prick. Let's see who is going to officiate the game.

Ian - I'm pretty sure Poll was lined up to officiate before United sealed the League.

If last night's game had been the title decider... well, it just doesn't bare thinking about.

Poll is incompetent, simple as. He was the biggest factor in all the ill feeling during the game.

He should have been demoted after the World Cup.

Everybody HEAR!!!!!,
Graham Poll has decided to quit refereeing at the end of the season after becoming fed up of getting abuse. (Daily Mirror)

Maybe he shouldn't have spent his career being an attention seeking tw*t then.

No loss to the game - sure he's always endeavoured to do his best, but his judgement is just very poor. Good riddance if it's true.

Gunner fan here. Let's forget our enmities for a moment and savour this joyous occasion. Poll quitting (albeit with an opportunity to spew his filth on our last game at Pompey).

The thing is right,

Who wants to be a ref? No matter what team the supporters follow and who their opponents are the ref is always the enemy/devil/*anker in the black. This is the only conclusion i can come to when trying to fathum why G.Poll is so highly rated; it's due to a lack of referees so the best is sometimes terrible.

Obviously when video reffing comes it decisions will be more acurate. BUT, there should be a national campaigne or somink' to promote the job of referee, publisise the benefits and (this is something only the media can do) publisise the job in a good light, not Satanical!

MikeL,

Me being lazy and forgetful; i haven't gone in to the Shed to find out. i know a local team 'Chelsea Town' (check out MySpaz) will all be packed in to SW6 (aka the rock, accross from Havanas).

.............................K.T.B.F.F.H.............................

Tony

I read that Richard Williams article and found it, like most of the people who commented on it, a strange piece of journalism. For one thing, even in the areas where Mikel is obviously talented, he doesn't remind me at all of Vieira. Vieira made his mark with surging runs ending with a surprisingly deft through ball to Wright. I have watched a fair amount of Chelsea this season (you've been hard to avoid) and even in games where Mikel was reasonably effective, I don't remember him playing at all like a young Vieira. Usually he just switches play from one side to the next. Certainly, I’d be surprised if he had actually directly set-up many goals. Personally, I found it rather lazy journalism.

He does seem, as Jonathon says, to have that extra time on the ball, and his physique makes him difficult to intimidate. I am sure he has more to show, from what I gather for example from people who watched him play for Nigeria, he is excellent at dead ball situations and can dictate play very effectively for example. But so far although he looks reasonably composed and strong, I have not seen him play many (if any) genuinely creative passes. Put it this way, as an opposition fan, I’d be happy to see him have the ball.

And I do think his temperament is an issue. He has already been sent of twice (although I grant you the dismissal against Arsenal was harsh) but I would always fancy my chances of getting him booked early on and limiting his ability to break-up play. And while young players always need to learn, I am not sure that he offers that much more than a number of other players.

And my point was also one of value. He cost £16m in the end. He may end up being a good player but was he really worth £16m. That makes Essien look even better value (and he is already look very good value to me).

He may end up being ‘pure gold’, but all I am saying is that right now I think you’d be hard pushed to make the case that he has shown what all the fuss was about this season. At best he has had a goodish second half of the season. In January, one Chelsea fan asked me if Mikel had been some kind of United con. If you want to be described as ‘pure gold’, I think you need to do better than that.

In our pre much dinner the debate was over whether Mourhino could turn Kalou into a premiership class striker - I was in the "oh yes he can " contingent. SWP still shows theres no such thing as a lost cause but I am starting to feel that my argument may be fatally flawed.

kalou is deficient in pace, strength, first touch, decision making and finishing. I'm struggling to see the potential and - as another comentator below observed, it must be demoralising for Sahar to have to sit in the stand and watch whilst he meanders incompetantly and aimlessly around the pitch.

The match was woefull and I should have done what others around me did at half time - left for the pub, but hey - it might have been the biggest league match ever played at the Bridge had things worked out differently.

and so Wembley and lets hope its 4-3-3 with a front 3 of Drobga, Robben and Cole - go help us if Kalou is played (now I've said that he'll probably score the winner!)

Donkey's Ears - I think we've generally given up in terms of value for money as we simply don't pay realistic prices for players any more. We're not entirely blameless on that front of course, but it is difficult to gauge in comparison to what anyone else might have paid whether he represents (or will in the future) 'value' in the truest sense of the word.

I wasn't convinced by the Vieira thing either; all about opinions though and mine is that in terms of style he does remind me a little bit of Gullit.

Other than being tall and black, Mikel is no Vieira (by that rationale, one could describe Crouch as being the new Le Tissier). But he is an absolutely superb player and I'd already take him above Carrick, who Ferguson signed as the nearest thing to a replacement for Mikel (and I really rate Carrick). His performance against Spurs in the FA Cup replay is the most assured I have ever seen from a player of his age - he may not make the killer passes, yet, but he is frequently the base from which attacking moves are made. His potential is scary.

Like Diarra, Mikel makes too many silly tackles, but that's something that can get ironed out. Perhaps if he was white and English, like Rooney or Terry, he could get away with it.

He cost a lot of money, but so did every Chelsea player (would Kalou have cost Arsene Wenger £8m? I bet Bolton could have got Boulahrouz for £2m). No other club is asked to pay the prices we do; that's partly our fault and is something we appear to be trying to rectify, although it could be too late.

I believe in Kalou, but as I've said many times on here, as a subsititute not as a starter. Coming off the bench, he looks lethal; starting he looks lost.

Fair enough. I take the points about value. And we'll see how he develops.

My gut instinct is that he likes to slow the play down too much. Which imo has been a weakness of your play this season. Essien seems one of the few who can drive from deep. But it was his first season and so maybe I am being a tad critical.

I'm not overly sure we signed Carrick as a replacement to be fair. Our interest in him predated confirmation that Mikel was headed to the Bridge as far as I am aware.

Incidentally, I see Eidur is up for sale. Now if any player has Manchester United written all over him, it's that lad. Fantastic talent, would really prosper at OT, away from the bright lights of London.

DE - Could be wrong about Carrick, I just see them as doing very similar jobs, though Carrick's role will change when Hargreaves arrives I assume.

A midfield of Mikel, Essien, Cole and Diarra would have an ideal balance by my reckoning (though it's got a touch too much of the Arsenal 'potential' about it).

The last thing I want is to see Eidur playing for ManUtd.....

Bring Eidur back !!!!!!!

It's a tough choice deciding whether or not to cut your losses at a £30m signing, but surely next seasons trophy haul depends on it. I'd ditch him. Harsh I know, but I honestly cannot see how he'll offer any more than he did this year. Let Sheva go back to Galliano and the rest at AC, and lets play Eidur just behind Drogs. What a proposition.......

I can't really get my head around all these Hargreaves to ManUSA stories. Carrick will never, ever be an attacking midfielder, so what the hell will happen to him if Hargreaves signs. On second thoughts - why do I care ???

Anyone else find it incredible we're being linked to Sidwell ??? £50k a week for, by all intents and purposes, an above average Championsip midfielder. Surely not....

Sidwell has had a decent season and the fact he's on a free may explain it. But for some reason the words "Scott" and "Parker" keep popping into my head...

Peter - problem with that midfield is that there aren't many goals in it.

I am not sure that Diarra is up to it - has rarely played well against top opposition.

Anthony - just like the Arsenal midfield... You could be right, though Cole is worth at least 10 a season and Mikel and Essien should chip in with more if they played further forward.

nice suggestion Fifty, but I don't think it's gonna happen.
Remember how Eidur celebrated his goal against us with his Barca mates?
It was clear he got pissed off by the TSO words that he had turned into a diver right after he reached Barca?
Now don't get me wrong, I ADORE the guy, but I think JM and Eidur are not that good with each other anymore.

A little snippet from the BBC football section in the gossip column....

Graham Poll has decided to quit refereeing at the end of the season after becoming fed up of getting abuse. (Daily Mirror)

If it's true we can celebrate on Sunday like we've won the league :-)

50, I think it is a bit early to be giving up on Sheva. Drogba also struggled in his first year at the Bridge and Sheva certainly had more of a pedigree coming in. I expect to see him excel next season. He showed flashes of brilliant talent at times this season. I think we can all agree he is a better option than Kalou.

I just read on SkySports that Sidwell is set to run the medical exams at Chelsea, to tell the truth, I dont really know anything about him except what I saw this season (Due to the fact that I live in Syria).

Could anybody PLEASE tell me more about the guy?

I noticed that many of you don't really like him. Is he a bad signing? or will he be a second choice?

Proud To Be Blue.

Sidwell is a good young prospect but do we need another midfielder, in less TSO plans to transform him into a centre back. Ex-Arsenal academy boy who could be a bargain for a free transfer.

Here is an idea: Chelsea should sell Robben and buy Tevez instead! Tevez is just as young, fast and skilled but also has 100 times the toughness and desire that Robben will ever be capable of....

Despite reservations, I think he will sign. Coppell apparently knows where he's going, and Jose wont comment on it, other than mentioning the African Nations cup next season. We'll be without midfielders Mikel and Essien (provided we sign another centre back !!!) so it would make sense.

Not a bad signing, but hardly one that makes us better.

Thank you TG, thank you guys, now it's clear, but what about Drogba and Calou?
now we need :
2 strikers
1 midfielder
1 or 2 CB
1 right winger
1 RB

Holy God, RA will be really mad to hear this :)

what do you think?

Proud To Be Blue.

Andy, your idea is one of the worst ideas in the history of ideas.
Tevez better than Robben? Not in a million years. Tevez may have the power n' persona of a savage half-man, half beast but he doesnt have the flair and the vision that Arjen brings into the game. Chelsea indeed play some of the most uninspiring footie when he is not around. Next season, I really hope Jose builds a team around Robben like what van Basten did in the WC. We already have a squad which'll scare our opponents shitless, so stop thinking on which new guy to buy and start building a squad around your best player next season.

Tony G, agree I was a bit surprised to see us in for yet another "all-action" central midfielder, decent player though he is and we haven't had a proper ginge for a few years.

Rav1, how many games will Arjen play next season?

I still think Defoe could come good if we took a gamble and he wouldn't cost the earth.

But I would be "dead made up" - as our scouse friends say - to see Tevez down the Bridge next year. Exactly the kind of signing to get Roman to renew his season ticket too.

ravenous1 - I understand that you are the ultimate Robben fan, but you will have to eventually understand that nobody can build a team around a player that gets hurt even by the touch of rain drops! It rains quite a bit during premiership games, you know!
To question Tevez' "flair and vision" only indicates to you haven't seen him play, which again, it's fine. I haven't questioned Robben's skill or pace but he is without a doubt soft as jelly! Therefore, useless in the premiership.

I can never come to terms with the fact that our own fans are getting tired of him. From the moment I saw him...I had the feeling, this guy is an absolute genius, thoughts of trophy after trophy...and now..phew! Ah...maybe we are being too critical. I'am sure he'll be around (hopefully beat Frankie's record) next season for good cuz his Dad is doing some business with FC Groningen, feeder club for CFC etc., and more interestingly, ^TeveZ^ has stopped english tuitions :-)

I don't want to see Eidur playing for Manchester!