A Welcome Option

I will start by apologizing to the entire squad that played on Saturday and the manager what i did. After the goal i had serious doubt that we would be able to return home with the 3pts. I watched the entire first half before being called outside for an errand but by then i was of the opinion that "here we go again". The team were playing the same way that got us 10th position last season. There was no real control of the game from the start and we lacked that cutting edge upfront to take advantage of the few chances that came our way.
I was out for most of the second half but it was while i was returning that i got notification of Watford taking the lead. I was pissed to be honest because i didn't know what to do then? Go in and watch us try for a draw or just relax outside and check the scores on twitter. I am glad that i chose to go in and support my team for whatever results came and funny enough the team equalised just 3min after my arrival before that fantastic winner from Diego Costa. I'm glad i did not miss that celebration.
So this is me apologizing to the team for my faltering faith. It won't happen again this season.

I missed Willian on Saturday. His direct approach was sorely missing in our game and personally i was not impressed with the contribution of Pedro. He likes to play at a fast pace but his passes were surprisingly poor for a player that was really involved with Barcelona. We sorely lacked creativity upfront with Hazard our only go-to guy to create the sparks. The energy level was not as high as against West Ham or we wouldn't be in the position we were. Victor Moses could have started instead of Pedro because he is more creative but that is me and my opinion but the manager has shown his ability to identify weaknesses and make the necessary changes and spring 1 or 2 surprises too.
Against West Ham he chose to replace Hazard, who was having a very good day, with Michy and we got our winning goal. On Saturday he kept Hazard on and replaced Pedro and Oscar instead and switched from 2 anchormen to 1 and brought on Fabregas which also got us the winning goal. But the most striking resemblance in both is that the team switched to 2 strikers with Michy joining Diego Costa and we have seen the effect so why are we not sticking to that formation with 2 strikers?
The combination is quite potent and instead waiting to chase games we can easily take a commanding lead early on and never look back. Costa currently looks full of confidence and Michy is hot right now with 3 goals from 1 start and 2 cameos. Starting them together gives us our own fear factor. 

The teams inability to keep clean sheets is quite disturbing. That is over 8 consecutive games that the team has failed to keep a clean sheet. Our defence line of Aina, Ivanovic, Cahill and Azpilicueta could not keep a clean sheet against Bristol City, with all due respect to the City. It is actually very disturbing because the team cannot afford to want to outscore every team we play and quite frankly it hurts me in my Fantasy league because i have Chelsea players in my defence. We need to really strengthen the defence or sort it out before we start facing the big guns.

i am already looking forward to our next game on Saturday against Burnley and hoping Hull can pull another surprise. 

Lets meet next week. 

Powered By Conte

Now that was a site to behold. Conte punching the air then rushing to hug the fans where Diego Costa scored the winner from 25yards out??? That was awesome and to be honest, I have not been able to stop watching it. The coach is relating with his boys and we can see that the team is shaping up nicely but most importantly he is nicely getting the fans behind the team for this new season and with the fans strongly behind the team at the Bridge it is going to be a different season altogether.

This game against West Ham was to test the team's preparation for this season and i must say that I loved what I saw and so did all the fans. The team played together and covered each other well which was not the case last season. Azpilicueta and Ivanovic were welcome support in attack and defended strongly. Ivanovic was porous last season and was the major hole in our defence but he did his job well last season. I personally preferred Ola Aina to start and improve his game and earn some games but Ivanovic earned his spot.

I said it last week that our major problem last season was in the middle of the pitch. Starting with Matic and Kante as the midfield axis we were able to take control of the match. West Ham's attack were easily repelled until Payet arrived to cause us some real trouble from the wings but all in all the boys played with so much energy and the recovery from the attackers to help win the ball back was just marvellous. We only need to create and take more chances.

Last night i saw enough of N'golo Kante to reaffirm my belief that he is going to be our best signing this season. He won 50% of his tackles despite being in the yellow card from the 3rd minute and completed 92% of his attempted passes with over 50% going forward. His presence gave the defence the protection they needed and started attacks nicely. They are saying in the papers that he might be our new Makelele and that is saying something.

I am very happy for Diego Costa and Hazard. The goals will do them good considering they took a while to get started last season and Hazard for one was terrible. Getting off the block so quick will only spur them on and they both have points to prove. Costa could have been sent off for his lounge on the keeper but he got lucky and I believe the coach is right in not trying to curb his wild side. That is what makes him the Costa we love. It turns out he is as nuts as the coach so I love them even more.

Oscar put on an energetic display last night. I have not been impressed by his progress at Chelsea since he arrived. He seems to be the same person with the same quality he brought to England with no improvement in about 4 seasons now. Everybody improves their game and i wish Oscar could bring something new to the team now and then or at least be consistent on his good performances. I think that is why there has been so many speculations about him leaving but he did himself good yesterday and if he can replicate that performance day in day out then he could be a mainstay in the team like Hazard and Willian.

Overall it was a good game on a monday night and long may it continue.

Exciting Season Ahead

It has been too long since i posted here but sometimes these things happen where we find ourselves focusing on some pressing issues. But BlueHiver is back again this season with sizzling updates on everything Chelsea.

Last season was a bust. No doubt about that. 10th placed finish for a league champion is downright disaster and a record too, if i heard/read right. But we all need a reality check and a kick on the backside once in a while.
But it will not happen again i hope. I am personally very bold in saying that this is going to be an exciting season at The Bridge and i will tell you why.

1. N'golo Kante
Chelsea's biggest strength in the Abramovic era has always been the midfield. From Claud Makelele to Essien to Lampsy and Ballack Chelsea has always had the presence in the middle of the pitch that could scare any team they faced. The team surrendered the midfield in most of our matches because Matic and most of the team actually were terrible. But with the acquisition of N'golo Kante the biggest missing piece has been acquired. It is said that water covers about 70% of the world and rest is covered by none other than our new boy Kante. With that presence in the middle the team can do whatever they want as we saw in his debut and second half display against AC Milan. He literally changed the game.
Welcome Kante.

2. No Champions League
Now as a Chelsea fan who has been enjoying Champions League football since i could remember i am not proud to say this but having to only focus on the domestic front this season can be benefitial to the team. There will be as much as 7 teams competing for the league title this season which will already be more competitive than ever with our biggest rivals landing experienced winners as managers and spending big so the slightest advantage can make a huge difference.
No European constraints helped Liverpool fight for the title last 3 seasons and also Leicester last season. The team can rest between matches and make enough tactical adjustments for the next matches.
We will be in the Champions League next season though. We can't afford to miss it 2 seasons in a row.

3. Antonio Conte
Our manager has forged his own identity and success againts huge odds at club and international level but he is still among the lesser experienced in the coaches that will be fighting for the title this season. He is one to relish such battles though. He feeds off such pressure and it is only to our advantage that the fans have such a passionate manager to rally behind. Stamford Bridge will be charged this season for Conte and the opponents will not enjoy themselves.
He is strict enough to deal with our plenty egoistic stars but young enough to really connect with them. His relations with the players has been excellent so far and we are seeing an improvement in the team.

4. The New First Team Members

I have already talked of Kante but we also have Michy Batshuayi joining the team and possibly Lukaku making a return to The Bridge. Juan Cuadrado and Victor Moses are back from loan moves and done well in preseason. We also have academy graduates Ola Aina and Nathaniel Chalobah impressing in preseason and could feature more for the blues this season. The young boys are always wild cards since they are not known and when they play without being held back they become a thorny opposition. Our season is shaping up nicely and these guys are nicely in the picture.

We have some reinforcements to be done especially in defence and while the team awaits Kurt Zouma's return we could do well to find another powerful center back.
But if it does not happen i know Conte has already prepared for that.

The team returns to London after a good preseason in the USA and to the rest of the league we say 'Bring it on'

No Complaints

All in all we didn’t really have any cause to complain about Wilfred Bony’s transfer to Manchester City, at least for the rest of this season. How UEFA will allow Manchester City to balance their books is none of our concern but what the transfer did give us was a considerably weakened Swansea team to use as shooting practice for the tougher games ahead. 5-0 away from home IS a big scoreline even by our superb standards.

The home side looked totally lost against a resurgent Chelsea without their big man to provide them with a target upfront. Granted that Chelsea offered them little space to maneuver but what did they have to gain going forward anyway? Gomis is a decent striker but he is not the 1 you choose to lead your attack if you are trying to get past the second best defence in the league. And Bony’s national assignment with Ivory Coast at the AFCON means we don’t have any bony business till next season.

So no reason to complain at all.

After the Spurs game on the New Year the media everywhere were making honest mistakes in finding adjectives to describe the 5-3 defeat. I recall thrashing was used. And mauling. I think some pieces that I nearly didn’t read used massacred. So as benevolent as Chelsea is we had to educate them on what game you can describe with those words hence the performance at the Liberty Stadium. Funny enough they don’t seem to think this game deserves those monstrous words too. One paper used “near-perfect”.

No complains there too.

Costa and Oscar bagged a brace each on Saturday

It took 58 mins for the Van Gaal to understand that maybe he needs to pay attention to the United fans. Before then the team was playing the infamous 3-5-2, Di Maria was playing as a striker and Phil Jones was taking the corner kicks. What exactly goes on in this man’s head is up for debate for those of us who cant read minds but from what we could read from the game, it looks pretty much like he wanted to be a magician but turned to football when he could not pronounce “Abrakadabra”.

The 3-5-2 does not work for United no matter how pretty it may be. And its not pretty too. It leaves your back-line stretched when your wing backs cant get into position in time. It leaves your midfield crowded which cuts out much needed space for your playmakers. United spent all that huge money in the summer buying players that will fit into this system but it is just not working. This is a traditional team that has 4-4-2 written in their genetic code and anyone who can change them to fit into a formation that is mostly unfamiliar, not for United alone but the BPL in general, must be one hell of a magician.

Louis Van Gaal on the United bench

How long did it take for Arsene Wenger to understand that you cant play every game the same way against every team? A very long time I must say and arent we all glad that he has? Sunday’s win at the Etihad was just about the biggest performance they have put on since they won at the Allianz Arena and that much was just a formality for the Germans. On Sunday, Arsenal were more than happy to let City do all the huffing and puffing but made the most of the ball when they had it and that is how to play against the big teams away from home, especially in Europe.

Manchester City have now not won a single premier league match without Yaya Toure since April last year. Now how about that for dependency? City played well on Sunday and were undone by that penalty but even with Aguero and Silva on you could still feel them lacking that extra swagger that they normally have and Arsenal capitalized on that. They face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge next. How will they fair without their big man at a grounds that is naturally for all teams? In previous meetings Jose Mourinho has always tasked Nemanja Matic to do a job on Toure. With him absent the Serbian will have all the time in the world for Silva and that will only be to our benefit.

Yaya Toure and Matic battles for the ball

So tough luck to City when we meet but tonight all eyes are focused on Anfield where we meet Liverpool in the Capital One cup semi-final 1^st leg. This will be a wonderful match. It always is with Chelsea-Liverpool in cup games. I think a draw wont be bad for the Scousers.

See you at Anfield blues.

FIFA RONALD'OR

It is nice to finally post again after what has been a very lengthy break. I really decided to endulge myself in last years festivities and it took me longer than I anticipated to get back but I am back and I want to wish each and every cherished reader of this blog a very Happy New year as late as it is.

So straight to the hottest topic of the day which is the FIFA Ballon d'Or which will be given out this evening and the announcement of the FIFPRO eleven.

Now the FIFA Ballon d'Or is an association football award given annually to the male player who is considered to have performed the best in the previous year from November 30, 2013 to November 21, 2014. It is awarded based on votes by coaches and captains of international teams, as well as journalists from around the world. And the shortlisted 3 for this year are C. Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer.

We all know Mr. Neuer is there to add to the numbers and also help FIFA appease the Germans who painstakingly won the World Cup in Brazil but its a known fact that he couldn't possibly win it ahead of the other 2. Such is their dominance in world football. If Wesley Sneider could not win it ahead of them in 2010 considering the season he had it is understandable why Neuer will not get close.

That leaves Messi and Ronaldo and I must admit that considering the season both had in 2014 I am surprised by the argument from the Messi camp.

Dont want to bore you with the statistics but this is a year in which Ronaldo outscored Messi and won more trophies and personal accolades than him. Messi played in the World Cup final and won the golden ball but Neuer actually won the trophy and won the golden gloves. Ronaldo in fact played in 3 finals and won all 3.

All these arguments would not have bothered until Messi became the all time leading scorer in both the la liga and the Champions league. Admiral achievement but in my opinion not worthy of determining who wins an award that is given for achievements in a single year.

If Barcelona fans think making those records should be rewarded the best thing to do will be to award him a life time something because that is what those records are. Achieved throughout a lifetime of football.

Only one player deserve to be crowned the world best in 2014 tonight and that is Cristiano Ronaldo.

A Wonderful 2015

I still don't really know what to make of the festive fixtures. Was it a success when we played away to Stoke ( Arsenal lost there), Southampton and Tottenham, and only 1 home fixture against our neighbours West Ham and picked up 7pts out of a possible 12? Or was it a disappointing one starting the new year dead level with Manchester City and only leading by alphabetical arrangements after leading by 8pts?

The team did an amazing work at the Britannia and against West Ham at home, which was expected. Southampton had their plan and almost succeeded but for the brilliance of Eden Hazard to get us the equalizer. The game at White Hart Lane was just an anomaly. It's that simple. We know it, they know it, Phil Dowd knows it and incidentally, Barcelona (who managed to tweet that they have nothing to do on their break but follow Chelsea scores) also knows. Cheers mate.

The simple truth is that those 7pts were hard-fought for at very difficult grounds and it could have been worse had our rivals from Manchester had the balls to maintain a 2-goal lead against Burnley. So it really wasn't the worst results we've had over the festive period, if you can ask Andre Villas Boas, so we look ahead to a wonderful 2015.

And just a week later things are looking better. We are 2 pts and +2 goals ahead, Diego Costa is leading the golden boot race again, Cesc Fabregas has almost forgotten he is competing for the assist king, we only have the Emirates waiting as the only tough grounds left in the league and we are still competing in all competitions.

It really will be a wonderful 2015.

How on earth did Luis Van Gaal manage to fool us all that he has been a better manager than David Moyes for Manchester United?

We know Moyes broke some unnecessary records at United, allowing some teams who normally came to just surrender at Old Trafford have the hope of winning, but the last time Southampton won there was in January 1988 before the Premier League was born.

After last weekend's match we know Van Gaal has not really fared any better than his predecessor. After playing the same number of matches (21) both managers had 37pts from a possible 63. Moyes actually had more wins (11 to 10) and more goals (35 to 34) than Van Gaal.

What Van Gaal has managed to do is lose less, draw more and string together 6 straight victories. Oh and he has United at 4th compared to Moyes' 7th at the same stage, but we all know that is largely due to the Merseysiders forgetting how to win this season.

So Louis van Gaal has not actually bettered the team from last season. Rooney is still the main man, Van Persie is wasting the chances he is being given ahead of Falcao and the team is crap without Fletcher. All this with an over £200M spending.

Question is; how did he fool us?

WINNERS AT 2014 BALLON D'OR GALA IN ZURICH

Ballon d'Or: Cristiano Ronaldo
Women's world player of the year: Nadine Kessler
Puskas award: James Rodriguez
World coach of the year for men's football: Joachim Low
World coach of the year for women's football: Ralf Kellermann
World XI: Neuer; Lahm, Ramos, David Luiz, Thiago Silva; Di Maria, Iniesta, Kroos; Messi, Ronaldo, Robben
FIFA presidential award: Hiroshi Kagawa
FIFA fair play award: FIFA volunteers

And this is what the man had to say after winning:
'I can see my mother, my family. I would like to thank all those who voted for me. My coach, my fellow player, the President of my club.

'It's been an unforgettable year. To win this trophy, a trophy of this kind, is something unique and all I can say is I want to continue working as I have so far, trying to go on to more titles - individual and as a team - for my mother, my father who is up there looking at me and my son.'

'I want to get better as the days go by. I want to say to all the Portuguese that I never thought I could win this trophy on three different occasions. Of course it is something that is always with me, I want to become one of the greatest players of all time, and this requires a lot so I would like to thank you for all this evening.'

He is the best player in the world.
Congratulations

And this is how England manager Roy Hodgson voted; 1) Mascherano 2) Lahm 3) Neuer.

How could a man be so off target with 3 chances?

Giles Smith: Standing to reason

A lot can happen in the space of 10 days, so it’s worth briefly recapping the events that occurred following December 6th – which, you will no doubt recall, was that extraordinary, unprecedented and, in some quarters, even dumbfounding day in the 2014/15 season when Chelsea finally got round to losing a Premier League match.

The ensuing Wednesday, with the shockwaves still being felt around the country after our defeat by the odd goal in three away at Newcastle, and with some observers rather eagerly wondering whether this would be the point at which it would ‘all unravel’, we returned to Stamford Bridge to beat Sporting Lisbon 3-1 in a match with nothing riding on it from our point of view (and everything riding on it from the point of view of our opponent’s), merely confirming our qualification for the knock-out stages of the Champions League as group winners, yet confirming it rather emphatically, none the less.

Then, the following Saturday, we played Hull at home and, without breaking very much in the way of sweat other than to jump out of the way of various scything tackles which might otherwise have done certain members of our squad lasting mischief, won 2-0 to maintain our three-point lead at the top of the table.

And then, on Tuesday, we went to Derby where, in the tipping rain, we scored a pair of goals (Eden Hazard’s slapshot, Filipe Luis’s free-kick in the form of a 24-gun salute) which have probably already burned their way onto the showreel for Chelsea TV’s Goal of the Season contest. In the process, we beat the recent Championship leaders 3-1, and advanced in an admirably unflustered manner into the semi-finals of the Capital One Cup.

Accordingly, our record so far this season, accounting for all competitions, reads as follows: Played 25, Lost 1, Drawn 5, Won 19.

Okay, so you could argue that it’s not the form of Real Madrid, whose unblemished run of victories currently stands at 21. But then, unlike Real, we’re not playing in Spain and a high proportion of our matches have brought us up against opponents who are actually quite good. So I would suggest the achievement easily stands comparison, and is possibly even superior in terms of durability, consistency under pressure and… well, winning when it’s really quite hard to do so.

And the loss to Newcastle? Well, it doesn’t seemed to have altered the team’s course very much, by the look of the intervening fortnight. Defeat, you will hear people say, is the furnace in which character is forged - which always sounds grand, although it has never seemed to me a particularly strong argument against avoiding defeat wherever possible and simply deciding to take the hit, character-wise.

Nevertheless, on those inevitable occasions when defeat simply can’t be avoided (up at St James’ Park, for instance, when, convincingly pressing for an equaliser, you’ve just hit the post, only for the opposition to go scampering up the other end, capitalise on a once-in-a-lifetime error by your centre-back and double their lead), the art, clearly, then lies in bouncing back in such a way as to minimise the defeat’s effects.

And three successive victories in three elaborately different sets of circumstance, does go a long way towards reducing it and perhaps even covering its traces over completely. In fact, correct me if I’m wrong, but, a fortnight on, it’s almost like Newcastle never happened.

The two teams we ‘didn’t want’, according to all the analysts, were Juventus and Paris St-Germain. And, when the draw was made, we didn’t get Juventus. But we did get PSG. So, to summarise, we didn’t get what we wanted.

Really? There was a false logic in operation there, surely. Being the two biggest sides that we could possibly have been matched with at this stage of the tournament, and representing measurably the two biggest threats to our continuing presence in Europe, Juventus and PSG were, I would suggest, EXACTLY the kind of sides that we would have hoped to be drawn against. And therefore, like lucky children at Christmas, we did get what we wished for, after all (although, arguably, Juventus would have represented the stiffer challenge, so Santa could have been even kinder).

It stands to reason, doesn’t it? Why be in the Champions League in the first place if, as soon as the competition gets serious, you’re going to cringe and hide and hope to get lucky? After all, there’s plenty of opportunity to cringe and hide and hope to get lucky every year in the Capital One Cup and the FA Cup. We certainly don’t need the Champions League for that. On the contrary, in that context the only sensible post-Christmas attitude is ‘bring on the big guns’.

There’s a time and a place for playing BATE Borisov, in my opinion, and it’s October in the Europa League. Come February, on the other hand, and the knock-out stages of Europe’s elite-level cup competition, you instinctively want it large. You want a big, glossy name on your ticket and the prospect of a big, glossy night ahead of you. Otherwise, what’s the point of it all?

Remember, too, that we didn’t win the Champions League by getting soft draws against Monaco. We won it by taking down a then formidable Napoli side (who brought a 3-1 lead into the second leg), seeing off the legendary and storied Benfica, barging aside an ultra-sophisticated Barcelona and vanquishing the mighty Bayern Munich who (and this should never be under-emphasised) were actually at home in the final, which is about as soft as a draw gets at that stage.

There was immense and eternal pride to be found in that – as, I would suggest, there might not have been (or not to quite the same extent) if our path to permanent glory had gone via Trabzonspor, Dnipro, Red Bull Salzburg and Arsenal at the Emirates.

Similarly the sympathy one has heard being voiced for Manchester City, who have hopped from a frying-pan group-stage into the fire of a two-legged tie against Barca, is entirely misplaced. In the absence of a frying pan, the fire is exactly where anyone who buys into the competition’s true spirit wants to be, so that’s a proper draw, right there. True, it may also be the end of City’s Champions League campaign. But there’s a nobility to be found even in that, because you might as well go down dizzy and in flames trying to contain Lionel Messi as go out on goal difference to Shakhtar Donetsk (no disrespect).

Anyway, may it be the same story for us this time as it was in 2012, or a very similar one: big guns blazing (and preferably getting blazed), all the way. That, after all, is what it’s for. And for everything else, there’s the Capital One.

On the topic of which, congratulations to Liverpool on that shock victory at Bournemouth last night. That was a result which nobody saw coming, and all credit to Brendan Rodgers’s men for having the self-belief, even when under siege in the second half, to ignore the doubters and produce it. 

Note, too, that not everyone has written off Liverpool at this point. Indeed, it’s a mark of the respect Bournemouth were still able to show the struggling Premier League side that, on the night, they put out a side which was only a few players short of full strength.

After that came the draw for the semi-finals, performed, with the traditional sense of balance and objectivity for which televised football is increasingly famous, by two ex-Liverpool players. It was Graeme Souness and Jamie Redknapp who withdrew the balls of destiny from what seemed to be a black motorcycle helmet, possibly requisitioned from a passing pizza delivery man. (You use what you can get your hands on, I guess.) And accordingly, it’s those two who were responsible for getting their former club a tie against a big team in the next round – namely us. But it promises to be quite exciting for us, too, and I'm sure we'll get up for it as best we can.

Giles Smith is a columnist for the official Chelsea FC website and his weekly piece is published every Thursday throughout the season.