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.

Zion's Combined Manchester IV

Ahead of the super sunday clash between the Manchester clubs at the Etihad this is my combined IV to while away the time. And I must say it wasn’t that difficult considering some players are still playing catch-up as the season progresses.

Formation 4-2-3-1

Goalkeeper:
David De Gea - The spaniard has shaken off an awkward start to become 1 of the best keepers in the BPL. He was the reason United kept Chelsea at bay for that long before Van Persie's equalizer. That save from Hazard's shot was an incredible use of body to narrow the space for Hazard.

Defenders:
Kompany - This is easy. He will easily walk into any defence in the world and be a starter. Such is the influence of the Belgian that City has always looked vulnerable without him to lead the team out. He's the complete defender combining strength with pace and agility. He's kept Diego Costa at bay this season, up next is Van Persie.

Demichelis - He was terrible last season and I think he found the solution in getting rid of his ponytail to cut down time at the salon to train and its paid off this season. He's kept Mangala on the bench and keeps the likes of Phil Jones and Smalling from this squad.

Zabaleta - The businessman. Thats what he is. He does his job without fuss. The Argentine would have been the captain of his club if Kompany wasn't so damn good at his job. Luke Shaw was under consideration but he's only had 1 good game all season against Chelsea.

Sagna - His switch from Arsenal to City has been as smooth as he could have wished slotting straight into the team.  He's one the players who can guarantee you an 8/10 performance in every game.

Midfielders:
Yaya Toure - Another easy choice. The ivorian powerhouse has been a little under it this season not really hitting the heights of last season yet but then who's there to knock him out of this team. Rojo has been good this season but its easier to spot in a united team that is not really up there in terms of performance.

Fernando - This was harder. I was tempted to go with flair in the middle and pick Herrera but this team has much of that upfront so I go with tha brazilian hardman. He's so strong in tackles and hardly pick bookings.  He's efficient.

Angel Di Maria -  His price tag would have got him in there anyway. For United its; if u have the ball give it to Di Maria and problem solved. If you don't have it go for it and give it to him and problem solved. That is how much the team depends on him now.

David Silva - Smooth as silk. Classy. Beautiful on the eyes. The brain to Yaya Toure's brawn. He orchestrates all of City's attack and his absence will be a massive loss to them.

Rooney - United's captain is the current highest scorer in the Manchester derby. His presence on sunday will be a massive boost to the team. He plays just off the striker where he's currently more effective.

Striker:
Aguero - Leading goalscorer in the league and highest league scorer for City. Very difficult to play against. He's fast, he's trickery and he scores. On his good day United are in big trouble.

The big match is tomorrow. A draw will be a massive favour to Chelsea

Tactical Nous

Crystal Palace 1-2 Chelsea FC. Not exactly a comfortable scoreline against a team that will definitely be mixing it in to avoid the drop. Manchester City's one-man show against our neighbours Tottenham with 4 - goal hero Sergio Aguero also joining our own Costa as the joint top scorers actually puts our performance at the Selhurst Park in the background. But contrary to all that, this was one of the most comfortable performance from a Chelsea side in a long while. One of the games where the team was able to dominate from the start to the finish. Albeit the game being marred by a red card to a red hot Cesar Azpilicueta for a red hot challenge and Palace balancing the books with a red card of their own to Delaney, the blues looked in full control gor the entirety of the game.

Jose Mourinho has already stated in an interview with Gary Neville for The Telegraph that he does not have a fixed playing philosophy and on sunday it came to the fore. Such is his influence on the blues current game that Cesc Fabregas was being man-marked seriously by James McArthur and with Mile Jedinak trying to boss the middle something had to be done. And so Fab was tasked to move his lapdog to the sides to create space for Oscar and it worked out to be a tactical stroke with the blues enjoying 72% of possession (our highest this season and the fifth highest in the league).

With questions being raised on whether Chelsea could still win without Costa there was no better way to answer them than with 2 goals that had individual brilliance and team play written all over it. That first goal was a fantastic free kick from the ever blossoming Oscar and the technique was quite difficult to execute in that he had to get the ball over the wall to the last pole and still get enough power on it to keep it out of the Keeper's reach. We've seen him done it couple of times and we'll love to see it any day of the week, thank you.
The second goal is best summarised by Mourinho. He called it a Scandal.

17 passes involved

8 players had touches of the ball (Only Gary Cahill and Thibaut Courtois did not touch with Azpilicueta sent off)

9 total touches by Fabregas ( including the final one)
These are the type of intricate play that the team lacked last season.  Fabregas seems to be the key to opening up defences who have their back to the wall.

John Terry
Captain Leader Legend
500 caps as captain
13 trophies as captain

Salute