30 12 2006 Chelsea 2 Fulham 2
What a depressing end to the year this match was. Chelsea more or less dominated the game for the first 60 minutes
but after going ahead lost the plot.
In the first half Chelsea had many chances to put the game beyond Fulham. Instead, Fulham, who bravely played very
attacking football, went ahead against the run of play. After the goal Chelsea, as has been the case in the last few
games, missed many opportunities to bury our rivals. Fulham had one golden opportunity to score but the impressive
Rosenior could not hit the target.
In the second half Chelsea continued in the same vein. When Drogba scored it seemed inevitable that Fulham would
capitulate and Chelsea would win by two or three clear goals. How misguided that feeling was! After Chelsea went ahead
I have to say that I must have witnessed arguably the worst football Chelsea has played under Jose's leadership.
Passes going astray, players demonstrating that they can only play comfortably with one foot and woeful defending. I
have no idea what happened in that last half hour but it honestly seemed as if Chelsea wanted to drop points
deliberately!
What ires me the most are the wages some of these superstars are on and yet they make such basic cockups. I counted
at least five errors from Ballack and Carvalho was left wanting. Ashley proved again that he is terribly afraid to use his
right foot: Kalou looks and feels promising but is not providing the goods. Then Jose brought on Wayne Bridge for some
reason instead of keeping an attacking lineup. Fulham equalised from a very harsh free kick but again the amount of
miskicks to clear the ball made the penalty area resemble a bunch of men dressed in blue doing the can-can.
Of course, one can make excuses: many key players injured; the bad weather; the goalie wasn't ready etc. However, we
are supposed to have strength in depth and this is obviously not the case. What was even more shocking was Jose
finally admitting that the players were not pulling their weight and saying that even he felt to blame. Ultimately for some
of the Internationals we have (every player on that pitch has played international football at some stage apart from
Hilario) to make such idiotic mistakes is unforgivable. I am not giving up the ghost yet, but Chelsea will only have
themselves to blame if they lose the title.
There are some exceptions of course. Essien and Drogba have been phenomenal. Didier really looks like the only
player who cares at the moment: chasing after the ball and hurrying the 'keeper to take his goal kicks quicker. Frank
does not seem to be a real leader on the pitch even though he has been consistently good this season. Nevertheless,
you have to start worrying when even Maka starts losing the ball in the middle of the park.
United are six points clear, which is really seven points when you consider their goal difference. Now all the pessimists
who love to slag off Jose will point out how his buys have been so poor etcetc. Chelsea are certainly going through a
bad patch at the moment but while we are inside the stadium we should get behind them as much as we can despite the
fact that the team is frustrating us so. I can't imagine that we will buy anyone in the transfer window - perhaps just a loan
(as what will happen when our key players come back from injury!) What I can be sure of is that I will not be surprised if
we suffer a shock defeat at Villa Park.
I wish everyone a Happy New Year.
but after going ahead lost the plot.
In the first half Chelsea had many chances to put the game beyond Fulham. Instead, Fulham, who bravely played very
attacking football, went ahead against the run of play. After the goal Chelsea, as has been the case in the last few
games, missed many opportunities to bury our rivals. Fulham had one golden opportunity to score but the impressive
Rosenior could not hit the target.
In the second half Chelsea continued in the same vein. When Drogba scored it seemed inevitable that Fulham would
capitulate and Chelsea would win by two or three clear goals. How misguided that feeling was! After Chelsea went ahead
I have to say that I must have witnessed arguably the worst football Chelsea has played under Jose's leadership.
Passes going astray, players demonstrating that they can only play comfortably with one foot and woeful defending. I
have no idea what happened in that last half hour but it honestly seemed as if Chelsea wanted to drop points
deliberately!
What ires me the most are the wages some of these superstars are on and yet they make such basic cockups. I counted
at least five errors from Ballack and Carvalho was left wanting. Ashley proved again that he is terribly afraid to use his
right foot: Kalou looks and feels promising but is not providing the goods. Then Jose brought on Wayne Bridge for some
reason instead of keeping an attacking lineup. Fulham equalised from a very harsh free kick but again the amount of
miskicks to clear the ball made the penalty area resemble a bunch of men dressed in blue doing the can-can.
Of course, one can make excuses: many key players injured; the bad weather; the goalie wasn't ready etc. However, we
are supposed to have strength in depth and this is obviously not the case. What was even more shocking was Jose
finally admitting that the players were not pulling their weight and saying that even he felt to blame. Ultimately for some
of the Internationals we have (every player on that pitch has played international football at some stage apart from
Hilario) to make such idiotic mistakes is unforgivable. I am not giving up the ghost yet, but Chelsea will only have
themselves to blame if they lose the title.
There are some exceptions of course. Essien and Drogba have been phenomenal. Didier really looks like the only
player who cares at the moment: chasing after the ball and hurrying the 'keeper to take his goal kicks quicker. Frank
does not seem to be a real leader on the pitch even though he has been consistently good this season. Nevertheless,
you have to start worrying when even Maka starts losing the ball in the middle of the park.
United are six points clear, which is really seven points when you consider their goal difference. Now all the pessimists
who love to slag off Jose will point out how his buys have been so poor etcetc. Chelsea are certainly going through a
bad patch at the moment but while we are inside the stadium we should get behind them as much as we can despite the
fact that the team is frustrating us so. I can't imagine that we will buy anyone in the transfer window - perhaps just a loan
(as what will happen when our key players come back from injury!) What I can be sure of is that I will not be surprised if
we suffer a shock defeat at Villa Park.
I wish everyone a Happy New Year.
