It looks like we are heading towards that "Month of November" all over again, which caused Ancelloti's and AVB's Chelsea side stumble in the past. I can see some justification from tonight's game, but it certainly shouldn't be that way, and I got frustrated throughout the game, and frustrated that we weren't getting any wins recently, and now I doubt Chelsea's chance in Juventus in the coming midweek. And my exams are coming up so you can imagine how hellish I am feeling right now.
The side that started was one that looked interesting, a very young side indeed. Cech, Luiz, Cahill, Mikel, Hazard, and Torres are the regular starters. Bertrand came in for Cole, who is perhaps being prepared for the Juventus game, after a hamstring injury. Ivanovic had a tough game in midweek, and so did Oscar & Mata (both whom travelled far) who needed to be rested, replaced by Azpilicueta, Sturridge & Moses respectively. Same goes for Ramires, replaced by Romeu. It was an interesting side, and though it looked weaker, the talents and potentials are there for them to show it.
Throughout both halves, we dominated possession. We had nearly 3 times the number of shots of West Brom, yet only able to find one goal (which is one of the most unlikeliest of goals, a header by the smallest player on the side), while the home side were able to find two. I must admit that overall, West Brom looked confident in defending, and they were apparently very dangerous in counter attacks. Credit to them, I always felt nervous when they had the ball.
I can say that we played well overall, but we weren't clinical enough in front of goal, and we just lacked that special touch in the final third. We still looked like playing the football we used to, but just not finding the net, and apparently also conceding goals we should not have.
I apparently shouldn't have stated the blame to whom explicitly, but after tonight I thoroughly felt disappointed by one Daniel Sturridge, and another in David Luiz. Daniel Sturridge was unbelievably wasteful. He perhaps made some excellent touches when playing behind Torres, but when given the chance up front, he was wasteful and selfish. Counting the number of times Mata supplied and excellent ball to him, and he didn't deliver, and then when he could have given the ball to Mata to tap the ball in, he didn't. I was so frustrated I wished Torres was back on in the game, although Torres didn't have the best of games either. And then there's Luiz who I think is at fault for our goals conceded. He needed to have that extra composure and positioning, and he just isn't the centre back I expected him to be.
Looking at this game, I think we really needed JT back there, not just as the leader, but also to bolster our leaking defense. If you check the statistics, you can see we kept more clean sheets and conceded less goals with JT there. And then I think we may actually need Falcao after all. I preferred not, if only Torres can perform, and Lukaku returns to support him. But if it goes on like this, I am happy to see Falcao in the blue shirt. Credit to the Azpilicueta and Bertrand who proved that they can be relied on in the future, just needed more game time and experience I think. Same goes for Romeu, and Moses did well tonight. And I think the problem is in the final third, and that somehow, we are still leaking in defense.
I don't know if this "Month of November" curse is coming back to haunt us (certainly hope not), but I certainly don't feel confident about the upcoming game in Turin. I'll be supporting us all the way, but I'm not expecting much, at least until we start winning games again. Now we dropped another 3 points, and potentially losing six points to the leaders (after leading 4 just weeks ago), and only 1 point ahead of West Brom in fourth. Hopefully the situation will change soon, starting with a win in Juventus.
Before we end, I wanted to thank all you readers, as my blog page views just reached 1000 last weekend. I wanted to thank you all for your constant support, and I am just glad that there are people like you guys appreciating my imperfect piece of writings, and hopefully, share the same thoughts and support towards our blue heroes, Chelsea FC. #CFC
Links:
http://www.chelseafc.com/news-article/article/2983371/title/match-report-west-bromwich-albion-2-chelsea-1
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/match/80939/west-bromwich-albion-vs-chelsea-fc/player-ratings
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/match/80939/west-bromwich-albion-vs-chelsea-fc/report
Nice Review and All the best for your exam!
ReplyDeleteThanks!! :)
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