Showing posts with label Chelsea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chelsea. Show all posts

Wednesday, 27 October 2010

Chelsea 2 - 0 Wolves

Petr Cech described Saturday's game as his busiest game since he joined Chelsea. Now if you thought he'd be saying that before the game, you are much entitled to laugh at the suggestion.

First half, we gave Chelsea a run for their money, we created chances but the shots we had were so easy for Cech to grasp hold of. We didn't allow Chelsea to get out of first gear, although they were pressing but the very few chances they had was thwarted by Marcus Hahnemann. But they did take the lead when Yuri Zhirkov pulled the ball back for Florent Malouda to tap in. But even after the goal, we looked threatening and we went in at half-time encouraged.


Second half saw the debut of Stephen Hunt and straight away he made a difference, almost scoring with a diving header only to be cleared off the line by Michael Essien. There was a bit more to come from Hunt as he was pegging Chelsea more and more back and a equaliser was more than certainly on the cards but our chances of a great draw was dashed by a great triangle move started by Salomon Kalou, who passed to Didier Drogba for Michael Essien to tee up Kalou to make it 2-0.

This is a performance that should set a standard for the rest of the season and get the team to start believing.

'Grobs'

Friday, 22 October 2010

Chelsea v Wolves

Tomorrow we face the first big cheese of the season as we travel to Stamford Bridge and there's only gonna be one outcome.

Chelsea have scored 45 goals in the 9 league games (you do the math to find out the ratio) at Stamford Bridge and despite the absense of Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, they still have plenty of goals in them through the medium of Florent Malouda, Michael Essien, Salomon Kalou and the in-form Nicolas Anelka.

 


As for us, we're down to our bare bones in midfield, so much so that we had to call back David Davis from a loan spell over the road at Walsall. With Karl Henry and Adlene Guedioura out and Michael Mancienne ineligible, the three midfield men most likely to start are David Jones and Dave Edwards with what I would believe would be Nenad Milijas in the holding role. Jody Craddock will be a great miss but I hope Richard Stearman can kick on from last week's performance.

The outcome is inevitable. It's like an arranged marriage. There's no getting away from it, no matter how much you dislike it, but we'll have a go for the hell of it.

'Grobs'
 
POSSIBLE LINE-UP

CHELSEA (4-3-3): Cech; Ferriera, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; Mikel, Ramires, Essien; Kalou, Anelka, Malouda

WOLVES (4-5-1): Hahnemann; Foley, Stearman, Berra, Ward; Jarvis, Milijas, Jones, Edwards, Hunt; Doyle


KEY PLAYER: Florent Malouda. Supplier and a scorer of many goals.

WEAKEST LINK: Er...

NOTABLE MUTUAL ALUMNI: Dave Beasant, Carlton Cole, Michael Mancienne, Jim McCalliog, Bill Barraclough


ODDS (with William Hill)

WIN: Chelsea 1/7; Draw 6/1; Wolves 20/1

FIRST GOALSCORER: Anelka (Chelsea) 3/1; Malouda (Chelsea) 7/2; Kalou (Chelsea) 4/1; Essien (Chelsea) 5/1; Ramires (Chelsea) 12/1; Fletcher (Wolves) 16/1; Doyle (Wolves) 16/1; Cole (Chelsea) 20/1; Terry (Chelsea) 20/1; Ebanks-Blake (Wolves) 20/1; Hunt (Wolves) 25/1; Jarvis (Wolves) 25/1; Stearman (Wolves) 40/1; Foley (Wolves) 80/1


Thursday, 21 October 2010

Four Horsemen Of The (Premiership) Apocalypse

Eight games, six points and here come the Four Horsemen Of The Premiership Apocalypse and I'm not talking about Conquest, War, Famine and Death, but Ancelotti, Mancini, 'Taggart' and Wenger. To kept the results respectable or even withstand any chance of getting a measly point, we must set our stall out - 4-5-1, men behind the ball and get forward whenever possible - like we did in the latter half of last season. Let's take a quick close glance at what could be the top 4 come May.

Chelsea (a)

Even with the absense of Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, they should win with no need to move to top gear. Way too much firepower with Nicolas Anelka, Salomon Kalou and Flourent Malouda still at large.

Manchester City (h)

Their away form has been rather unconvincing so far this season and should Carlos Tevez not be available for selection, then they could pay the price for their over-reliance on the Argentinian striker.

Manchester United (a)

They've not been the most convincing this season. However Old Trafford is quite a fortress and after West Brom grabbed a draw there, 'Taggart' will look to make sure more points aren't dropped at home to smaller sides.

Arsenal (h)

Like Manchester City, their away form hasn't been the best season. And with the absense of Robin van Persie and (potentially) Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal can be a ordinary side on a bad day. Play our cards right and test whichever keeper Arsene Wenger chooses to put out and we could get summat.

But all in all, points at this stage, points should be considered as a bonus as our priority is to finish these next four games with our pride and confidence intact, otherwise we might not turn up for the more winnable games after.

'Grobs'