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.

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?

Stronger and Tougher

I was at a friend's wedding on Saturday when the match was being played so I could only check updates via various social media and on livescore.com.

The debate and the discussions at the wedding grounds after the match made me realise that almost all of the oppositions never really liked the idea of us going unbeaten. The most obvious reason being that its Chelsea. Anything good about Chelsea leaves a bad taste in the mouths of all non - Chelsea fans and going unbeaten in a season will be the worst taste.

The second being that with Arsenal almost trophy-handicapped and mostly  4th best in the league over a long period of time it was only humane to let them cling on the last modicum of superiority that they have or had depending on which part of the century you are from.

It wasn’t the best result for me, or the team, on a rather delightful day for me but come to think of it, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for the team.

We lost to a Newcastle team that has been on up for some time now at one of our most difficult grounds to play in without our best midfield enforcer in the person of Nemanja Matic. Even Jose Mourinho has not won there on 5 occasions now and almost always the story is the same. We play well but create few chances and are finished off with some fine finishing.

If any team deserved to beat us for the first time this season it was Newcastle. They are not direct title rivals and neither are they London rivals. There is not much animosity between the fans either and we played them at a very good time in the season so no harm done there.

This match, however, gave us 2 things.

First, it eased the pressure on the team. Everybody in the media were so interested in this unbeaten run that it was neck breaking and exhausting and it put so much pressure on the team. Every opposing team prepared so much to have the game of their lives to be able to break it and this made it very difficult for the team.

Well its broken now so you can all relax now and play against us like you play the rest of the teams. Big teams are supposed to be able to handle such pressure but it is always fun to play with that freedom when nothing is at stake, except for the Premier league.

Secondly, it confirmed what I have always been saying that the most important player in this team now is Nemanja Matic. Anybody who knew how important he was to the team would not be surprised that we lost our first match in his absence. His work in putting out opposition fires is so vital and no 1 does it better than him. Mikel did his best but its not easy to command the middle like him. Its good news to have him available for the next games.

We are still 3 pts clear at the top of the table. This team will come stronger and tougher from this defeat. I've always said that the league is ours to lose this season and I still stand by it. We have everything we need to see things through so unless we are hit with the worst kind of hard luck we should be fine.

With the season building up some steam it is a massive blow to Manchester City to lose their best forward and leading goalscorer in the BPL. Aguero's scoring rate is impressive and has been the difference for the team this season both at home and in Europe. His injury is not that surprising considering his history with it and his absence will almost likely hand the title to Chelsea. City has no potent replacement upfront and Chelsea fans will not be feeling sorry at all.

I've always believed that one of the luckiest managers in the world is Arsene Wenger. With the board members of his club, their playing philosophies, the fans and even the players it looks like Arsenal was tailor - made for him. With everything that has been happening on and off the pitch I guess the last thing we all expected was to see the fans fight themselves over him.

The club can endure trophy hunger with him, no Champions league with him, unimpressive transfers and even his losing streak to Mourinho with him. But 1 thing the club cant survive is to lose their supporters. No matter how important you are to a club non can survive without their supporters. Master Wenger must really get his act together or risk leaving his beloved Arsenal like Rafael Benitez left Chelsea. And that is even if he can win something in his last season.

A Fair Point

One point gained or two points lost?

Depends on how you are looking at things.
This was the most nervous match that the team has played this season. These were the type of matches that Chelsea lost last season.

Chelsea actually lost at the Stadium of Light last season. It is a sign of how far this team has progressed that they were still able to dig in deep and keep their shape and composure to get the draw.

Both teams put in a very steady but feisty performance and each had a ball hit the post. Both clearly had their objectives and were playing to it. 1 point each seems like a fair results even though Chelsea will rue not creating enough chances.

The team is high on confidence and on a steady run and can have a go at any team in Europe right now but this draw could be the best thing to happen to them this season. There is nothing more demoralising than to fly so high into the sky and eventually get burned and drop to ground.

Such falls are hard to recover from. It is far better to get an improved results at your supposed "bogey" grounds and still learn the lesson that you are not untouchable so get your stuff together and go finish on a high.

The title is still ours to lose. Such is the competition in the BPL that we can afford to drop the odd points and let your opponents win but still stay ahead comfortably because they will eventually drop some points too.

Every team will drop points and Chelsea might not even go undefeated but in the end it will all depend on how tough the team is mentally to hold on to such a lead and in such circumstances we all trust Mourinho to get us there.

So we play our favourite team on Wednesdays night at home. They have become a bit stable in their last 2 matches after winning their Europa League match and also on Sunday with the last kick of the game.

They will be high on confidence and playing Chelsea in the position that they currently are is always extra motivation for them. Nothing will please our neighbours from North London than to be the first team to defeat us this season and also derail us on our title march.

Well the fun part is that nothing also pleases us more than when we beat up our favourite neighbours at Stamford Bridge.

Southampton put up a spirited fight in the 1st half but after losing Schneiderlin in the 2nd half to injury and playing without Cork to plug the midfield it was always going to be a tough battle keeping Lampard at bay.

Lampsy perfected the art of finding space from deep positions in the league and is a master of it. He did it to Chelsea and he can do it everyday. Its no wonder that Pelligrini wants to keep him beyond January. He's been a very valuable addition.

The race is heating up and Manuel Pelligrini seems up for a fight. That will only make the fight for the title more fun.

At least he did not do a Wenger and concede the title lost before christmas.

Flamboyant And Assured

So my reaction to the match was expertly summed up for me by Fabregas
‘I don’t think I am exaggerating if I don’t remember playing and enjoying a football match as much as I did personally in the first half’.

That first half was a scintillating and flamboyant display by the team that is not normally seen at Stamford Bridge. The one-twos, the PC-assisted passes and the runs by the attackers. It was mesmerising.

I am a man who values efficiency and loved the periods between 2004 to 2010 at Chelsea. The game plan back then was simple. Go and win, no matter what. Grind out results. Bully the opponent to submission. In other words, dont do Arsenal.

Those days were fun and just like in movies, the fun restriction was CF (Chelsea Fans). It was hard for the other teams to like us considering the fact that our daddy was rich and we were bullies too.

But in this period the team seems to be playing to entertain all. Pass pass pass with fewer shots on goals. But the gaffer has the team high in confidence and playing well to win and entertain us all. Long may it continue.

This team is not getting carried away and are careful not to drop their performance and lose confidence as summed by Fabregas again,
‘I don’t compare us with any other big sides because we haven’t won anything, this is just the beginning.
Everyone is talking well about Chelsea now, how great we are and then you lose two games they will talk about how bad we are. We have been long enough in football not to fall into this trap and to just keep going the way we want to achieve things.’

I must admit that I was a bit surprised by the scoreline. The 2-0 might suggest a much stiffer encounter than it was but credit to West Brom that they came into the second half with a game plan not to concede more.

With a man down against this Chelsea team that seemed like the most prudent thing to do. They were very organised at the back and sacrificed possession to protect their dignity. Not conceding in the second half would have been a real lift for them.

Manchester United, before last saturday, had suffered more injuries to their players than Boko Haram in the past 3 months and not really playing at their best. So how on earth did they get a win at the Emirates? You ask any Arsenal fun and the answer is simple.

Arsene Wenger.

The man who shrewdly guided Arsenal to its highest points and helped them build the enviable Emirates stadium has now become redundant at the club. The man who was once considered to be one of the brightest managers on earth is now not counted at the top even by his own fans.

His tactics are questioned, his signings are scoffed at and he seems to identify the problems with his teams a season or 2 later than everyone.

Arsenal has not won against United in their last 7 matches now. They failed to win any of the 2 matches against them last season when United were at an all time low and that was terrible for the fans to take. But Sunday’s loss is leaving a far bitter taste.

Fans are calling for his head and it might be justified this time. Old age is has made him lose his touch with the game and its harming the team and the English game as a whole.

It seems kind of funny that the 2 managers who seems to have problems with teams defending have found their teams susceptible at the back this season. Arsenal have conceded a third of their goals from counter-attacks and Liverpool cant seem to find a plug for the hole im their defence.

Let them ask the man who has made it his art to perfect it.

Jose Mourinho

Giles Smith: Lighting up

A great performance and a life-enhancing result at Anfield. And what a reaction. That Saturday night, people round my way were letting off fireworks long into the night, and from what I can gather it was the same in many other parts of the country.

In some places, apparently, they even built huge bonfires, like beacons, and set fire to them. And, on the Thames, in the early part of the evening, newspapers and television reported that a glorious display of fireworks was launched from a barge moored mid-stream just east of Waterloo Bridge while a delighted crowd looked on from the pavement.

Extraordinary scenes, and it showed you how much that result meant to everyone – a testament to the way that football can really bring people together from time to time, and certainly when Chelsea win away at Liverpool.

Actually, now I come to think of it, people were still letting off fireworks more than 24 hours later, on the Sunday evening – largely, I guess, because, by then, a defeat for Arsenal at Swansea had been added into the celebratory mix, along with that pitifully scraped draw for Manchester City away at QPR. And also because it seems people just can’t stop letting off fireworks once they start.

Anyway, festive times. Those combined results left us:
1. Four points clear at the top of the table.
2. Eight points clear of Manchester City.
3. Twelve points clear of Arsenal, whose manager went on to state that the title was now officially beyond his team’s reach.
4. Thirteen points clear of Manchester United, whose manager has yet to express an opinion about the title but who surely wouldn’t want to quibble with an analyst of the game as shrewd and experienced as Arsene Wenger.
5. Fifteen points and 10 places clear of Liverpool.
6. Fifteen points and 11 places clear of Tottenham.
7. Only 10 points and 37 places clear of Fulham – but don’t forget that we have six games in hand on them.
8. Unbeaten in 17 games in all competitions since the season started, which is a new club best.

Really, you would have to say, that outcome was worth a Catherine wheel and a family pack of sparklers in anyone’s back garden. And that’s before you consider the remarkable fact that we would be four points even better off than we are, had the Manchester United game ended 10 seconds earlier than it did and had Frank Lampard not scored that own goal in the dying moments at the Etihad.

Not wishing to be greedy, or anything.

It’s been a truly outstanding opening phase, though, leaving us all with a sense of quiet, understated and becomingly modest confidence to take into the latest of this season’s seemingly fortnightly international breaks, and with some warm and fond memories to look back on as England take on the Faroe Isles or Iceland or Caragua or whoever it is they’re playing this time. Let’s not get carried away, though.

Despite the fact that we’re under a third of the way through the season, we’re already hearing people talk about whether a complete campaign without defeat in the league might be possible for this Chelsea side, emulating the achievement of Arsenal’s 'Invincibles' of 2003/04.

And obviously it’s nice when your team inspires that kind of conversation, because there are far worse kinds of conversation that a team can inspire. But, even so, don’t you kind of wish, deep down, that people wouldn’t? After all, it’s no longer 2003/04. The league in which Arsenal racked up 90 points, drew 12 times and suffered no defeats, included Charlton Athletic, Wolves, Bolton, Portsmouth, Fulham, Leicester, who were on their way down, and even Leeds, who were also on their way down. (Arsenal’s aggregate score against Leeds that season: 9-1.) Hard to spot the equivalent of today’s Swansea or Southampton or Stoke in there – tough, so called ‘over-achievers’, perfectly capable of ripping three points out of the hands of anybody who grows complacent. It was also a league in which Manchester City, Tottenham and Everton all contrived to finish well inside the bottom half. (Everton weren’t far off being relegated.)

The point is, in the intervening decade, the league got harder – more random, more variable and better, you could argue. It got so much harder and more random that it’s currently a place where, after 11 games, Arsenal are sixth, Manchester United are seventh and Liverpool are 11th. No disrespect to Arsenal, of course, but one hardly expects to see invincibility in such circumstances – not this season, of all seasons.

Or perhaps one should put it another way: if it happens, it will be a far greater achievement than anything the Premier League has known. One should also remember that you don’t have to win or draw all of your games in order to win the title. Though, of course, it helps. Brendan Rodgers got a lot of stick at the end of what turned out to be a triple-defeat week for Liverpool, but much of that stick was enormously unfair and even gleefully opportunistic in my opinion.

Management is about getting the best out of what you’re got, after all. Rodgers was noisily criticised for standing down seven first-teamers for a Champions League match against Real Madrid, in order to keep them pristine for a league match against Chelsea. Yet the plan worked pretty much perfectly.

His team selection for the Bernabeu effectively removed the competitive sting from the game and turned it into a televised training match. As a consequence, Liverpool came away with a narrow defeat, and nothing like the humiliation expected at the hands of a side that had already comfortably beaten them 3-0 at Anfield.

Moreover the first team was then fresh and motivated enough to restrict us to just the two goals – and, again, a predicted humiliation with genuinely lasting consequences for Liverpool's morale was averted. (They’ll be over this one by Christmas, no question about it. Or soon after.) Excellent maximising of resources, then, by Rodgers.

Last year’s ‘Make Us Dream’ slogan up at Anfield seems to have modified, metaphorically speaking, to this year’s ‘Spare Us Our Worst Nightmares’, and Rodgers more than met the fans’ requirements in that area, so they should give him credit for that.

We all should.

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

Giles Smith - Not Musical

Yet another international break has come and almost gone, carelessly drilling yet another two-week hole in the fixture list and leaving us all twiddling our thumbs and staring out of the window in the absence of proper football.

And also, I don’t mind saying, feeling slightly picked-upon because this sort of thing seems to be happening quite a lot at the moment. Wasn't there one of these dire interludes just a month ago, in September? And isn’t there due to be another one in as little as a month’s time, in November?
I’ve just checked and, incredibly, it seems that there is. Who benefits?

Roy Hodgson, I suppose, for one – although you could argue that even he normally doesn’t end up enjoying the fortnight as much as he probably hoped he would. (There were six points in this one for Roy, it’s true, but for that he had to sit through two games of nearly unwatchably boring football, and then endure a tiresome re-ignition of the ‘club v. country’ debate, in the form of the tiredness, or otherwise, of Raheem Sterling. Sometimes you have to think that even Roy Hodgson can’t look forward to the international break.)

Any other plausible beneficiaries?

Well, the interval created, I suppose, a handy news vacuum into which, say, a cricketer might release a volume of autobiography or in which Roy Keane might find himself generating copious headlines by going public with various ancient, trusty rifts and also by the simpler means of shaving off a beard.

And, beyond Keane and KP, I suppose there could equally well have been some profitable way for the rest of us to spend this enforced, football-free purgatory – this period when the things we prefer to think about weren’t there to be thought about. It would have been the perfect time, on reflection, to learn to play the trombone, say, or to master basket-weaving or to redecorate the bathroom, or something constructive along those lines.

In which case, personally, I can’t help feeling that I rather squandered an opportunity, having spent the deserted fortnight learning precisely no new musical instruments, mastering precisely no new time-honoured artisanal skills and leaving the walls of the bathroom precisely alone. Instead (in common with many in this region, I imagine), I seem to have filled the fortnight with fretting about Diego Costa ’s hamstrings and wanting to know that they were safely delivered from Spain. (Needless worrying, as it turned out: the news is they have been returned in workable condition, the best of the week's headlines, in my opinion.)

But aside from the stark and persistent low-level fear of losing one of your key talents to a loose challenge somewhere in Slovenia, it’s the loss of momentum that one mostly worries about. Everyone agrees that momentum is the key for a team that’s serious about doing well in the league. And everyone agrees that momentum is something our current team has been showing impressive signs of achieving in these opening weeks. But just when the momentum seems to be building nicely in your favour, the season has to stop – not once, but twice and, soon, a third time.

Talk about frustrating. You’re trying to get on with something and the doorbell keeps going. And every time it’s Roy Hodgson. And every time he’s come round to ask if he can borrow Gary Cahill .
And we smile weakly and once again hand him Gary Cahill , because obviously that's the neighbourly thing to do. But deep down inside, we're thinking, 'Get your own Gary Cahill .'
Of course, as we know, that frustration can be channelled in a good way. Our team’s response to being rudely interrupted by an international break last time around was to regroup and put four goals past Swansea. You just have to hope that something of the same pent-up irritation is released at Crystal Palace on Saturday.

After all, it’s the mark of a title-worthy team that it can survive the ceaseless distractions thrown into its path by the international football schedule. And it’s a mark of the title-worthy supporter as well.

None of my business, of course, but I did find the fuss generated by Roy Keane about our manager’s shake-of-hands at the end of the Aston Villa match a little hard to comprehend. Last season, Paul Lambert, the Villa manager, complained because of the perceived absence of a handshake; this time the complaints are all because he was offered one. It seems as though you’re damned if you don’t and damned if you do.

And what a minefield for etiquette it turns out to be, down there around the technical areas. Managers must constantly feel like they’re sitting at the table at an extremely posh dinner, and worrying about picking up the wrong spoon for the soup.

At least when football comes back, it comes back properly: the Premier League game against Palace on Saturday is quickly followed by the Champions League match against Maribor at home on Tuesday night.

Straight back into the proper rhythm of things, then, which is a consolation of sorts. Who knows? This time next week, it could almost be as though football had never gone away.

Round Up from the International Break

BPL managers have periodically complained about the scheduling of the international break and the toll it takes on the players who have to travel long journeys to play for their countries. From the look of things the battle between club and country does not look like going down considering the number of crocked players coming back from the break

Injured BPL players in this international break:
Hugo Lloris - Tottenham Hotspurs (France)
Gareth McAuley - Stoke City (Northern Ireland)
Dejan Lovren - Liverpool (Croatia)
Laurent Koscielny - Arsenal (France)
Vincent Kompany - Manchester City (Belgium)
Mesut Ozil - Arsenal (Germany)
Eden Hazard - Chelsea (Belgium)
Raheem Sterling - Liverpool (England)
Marko Arnautovic - Stoke City (Austria)
Chris Brunt - Stoke City (Northern Ireland)
Danny Welbeck - Arsenal (England)

The clubs will be compensated for the loss of the players but no amount of money can compensate for the effect Hazard's loss will have on Chelsea or Vincent Kompany on Man City or even Sterling on Liverpool. These are players who are the livewire or backbone, in Kompany's case, of their respective teams and their loss in the upcoming games will make for bitter swallowing for their managers.

It had to happen at some point but what a relief it must be for Diego Costa when he finally broke his duck in Spanish shirt in the 4-0 thumping of Luxembourg.  He'll have no problem that its against a less glamorous team like Luxembourg. Its amazing that it took him 7 games to get there considering his level and the team but its not all that surprising considering the team and Costa's style of play.
Spain is not playing to suit him and his style of play is ironically more suited to the country he rejected than the one he joined. But at 26 he still has lots of years ahead of him to score more goals for his adopted country. We only hope his next goal doesn’t take this long.

Jaimie Redknapp said: “Why on earth did Hodgson say it?
Honesty is not the best policy. Why has Roy got into this? He could have said ‘I want to freshen this up.’ This wouldn’t even be a conversation.”
Gary Lineker tweeted: "Teenagers do get tired and even moody.
He's young, still developing, we should cut him some slack."
Darren Lewis wrote: “ He was tired. It happens. Physically or, more
importantly, mentally he didn't feel up to it. Hodgson could - and should - have done far better to handle the situation and protect the player ”

Everybody is saying something and here is mine. From the starting
XI against Estonia only Chelsea's Gary Cahill, with 1164 minutes, had played more often this season. Sterling has been on the go more than Jack Wilshere, Jordan Henderson, Leighton Baines and
Phil Jagielka and he's only 19.
His workload has more than tripled within the same period from last year. And people find it difficult to understand that he asked for a break.
Rooney would have benefited from such breaks before tournaments, Jack Wilshere is now becoming more injury-prone than Ledley King because he wasn't bold enough to ask for such breaks when he clearly needed it. England should have more than enough in their team to qualify for the EURO'S and if they cant because a 19 yr old wants to rest and prolong his playing career then that's not his fault.