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01 01 2007 Fulham 1 Chelsea 2
Happy New Year! It was certainly not a very happy first half performance today from a Chelsea side that looked as if it
had joined in the New Year's Eve festivities. Chelsea began brightly - both Kalou and SWP had great opportunities to
score but spurned their chances - against better sides later on in the season we will be punished for such misses.
Chelsea fans were less than pleased and at half time a large minority booed the team off the pitch - again, how this is
helping us I do not know. After a stupid tackle by Joe Cole that earned Fulham a penalty it seemed the confidence
drained from the Chelsea side. The fans fell silent, and what followed was one of the worst periods of play that I can
recall in recent history. Ben Haim was woeful, Essien seemed to want to distribute the ball to the Fulham fans rather than
anyone in a Chelsea shirt and Sidwell quite simply did not know what his role on the pitch was.
Obi Mikel was rightly dropped after his mistakes at the Newcastle game on Saturday, but it was him coming on for Sidwell
that helped change the course of the game for Chelsea. He plays as an anchoring defensive midfielder, and when he is
in the side Chelsea resemble a more attacking side - Belletti and Bridge seem to be able to use the width of the pitch
better as there are more players covering for them at the back and therefore they can take risks.
Chelsea should have been awarded a penalty for a Fulham handball barely minutes into the second half. Even if it was
accidental, it stopped the Blues from crossing into the box and possibly setting up a goalscoring opportunity. How the
linesman did not see the incident I will never know, but I am sure Sky will replay the incident fifty times a day as they do
on the odd occasion when a dodgy decision actually goes our way. This incident seemed to galvanise the fans into life.
The sense of injustice from this saw increased determination from the players, and a fantastic corner from Belletti (why
does he not take them more often?) led to a superb far post headed set up from Alex to Kalou, who amazingly managed
to hit the back of the net, and not the fans behind the goal or the 'keeper (only joking Salomon!) In fact, Kalou had one
of his best games of the season (despite being caught offside loads AGAIN), and about time too.
Justice for the earlier decision not to award a penalty to Chelsea arrived in an incident where Ballack was pulled down in
the box. These decisions rarely seem to go our way, but the German calmly slotted it in the corner and completed a very
good display - dare I say that he was the best player on the pitch? A year ago, I would not have believed it.
QPR next week in the FA Cup - Fulham Road will be very... "lively" I am sure. More importantly is the home game against
Spurs - one of the better teams in the Premiership. Hopefully we shall have signed Berbatov by then. Ten points from a
possible twelve over Christmas, and amazingly only six points behind the leaders. The performances have been pretty
average, but I would like to think that the fact we are still in touching distance of the leaders is more down to the strength
of our squad rather than any tactical genius from Avram.
had joined in the New Year's Eve festivities. Chelsea began brightly - both Kalou and SWP had great opportunities to
score but spurned their chances - against better sides later on in the season we will be punished for such misses.
Chelsea fans were less than pleased and at half time a large minority booed the team off the pitch - again, how this is
helping us I do not know. After a stupid tackle by Joe Cole that earned Fulham a penalty it seemed the confidence
drained from the Chelsea side. The fans fell silent, and what followed was one of the worst periods of play that I can
recall in recent history. Ben Haim was woeful, Essien seemed to want to distribute the ball to the Fulham fans rather than
anyone in a Chelsea shirt and Sidwell quite simply did not know what his role on the pitch was.
Obi Mikel was rightly dropped after his mistakes at the Newcastle game on Saturday, but it was him coming on for Sidwell
that helped change the course of the game for Chelsea. He plays as an anchoring defensive midfielder, and when he is
in the side Chelsea resemble a more attacking side - Belletti and Bridge seem to be able to use the width of the pitch
better as there are more players covering for them at the back and therefore they can take risks.
Chelsea should have been awarded a penalty for a Fulham handball barely minutes into the second half. Even if it was
accidental, it stopped the Blues from crossing into the box and possibly setting up a goalscoring opportunity. How the
linesman did not see the incident I will never know, but I am sure Sky will replay the incident fifty times a day as they do
on the odd occasion when a dodgy decision actually goes our way. This incident seemed to galvanise the fans into life.
The sense of injustice from this saw increased determination from the players, and a fantastic corner from Belletti (why
does he not take them more often?) led to a superb far post headed set up from Alex to Kalou, who amazingly managed
to hit the back of the net, and not the fans behind the goal or the 'keeper (only joking Salomon!) In fact, Kalou had one
of his best games of the season (despite being caught offside loads AGAIN), and about time too.
Justice for the earlier decision not to award a penalty to Chelsea arrived in an incident where Ballack was pulled down in
the box. These decisions rarely seem to go our way, but the German calmly slotted it in the corner and completed a very
good display - dare I say that he was the best player on the pitch? A year ago, I would not have believed it.
QPR next week in the FA Cup - Fulham Road will be very... "lively" I am sure. More importantly is the home game against
Spurs - one of the better teams in the Premiership. Hopefully we shall have signed Berbatov by then. Ten points from a
possible twelve over Christmas, and amazingly only six points behind the leaders. The performances have been pretty
average, but I would like to think that the fact we are still in touching distance of the leaders is more down to the strength
of our squad rather than any tactical genius from Avram.
