By dixon9
September 29 2010

Chelsea picked up the points and Marseille rarely threatened but did we struggle in the 2nd half to keep the French champions at arms length? ...or did the players ease up on the pace in order to conserve energy for this weekend´s match against Arsenal?

Arsenal not on our minds

Ancelotti has become known for insisting that we maintain goal-seeking rhythm even if the game is in the bag so it’s hard to imagine that we did deliberately ease up after going 2 goals ahead.  Indeed his words after the game reflected that this was not an energy saving tactic:

"It wasn't comfortable because the second half was more difficult as Marseille wanted to get back into the game,” said the Italian.

"They put pressure on our midfield and we didn't play as well as in the first half, but we did create a lot of chances.”

"I don't think we were thinking about the Arsenal game on Sunday in the second half,”  he added.

"The result was good for this, but the Premier League is a different story."

Then again, he could just as well wish to hide what was our real intention?

Refreshing changes

Ancelotti certainly wasn’t afraid to change things around a bit and make the most of our squad given the current queue outside the treatment room.  His level of experimentation included giving our youngsters further run outs with Kakuta starting and MCreachen coming on during the closing stages.

Youth generally impress in a difficult game

Kakuta looked bright during the opening period but seemed to labour as the match wore on (no doubt his training regime has been fairly irregular since the back injury during the match against Newcastle) whilst MCreachen still managed to display some impressive flashes of skill despite his limited time on the pitch.  It was also refreshing to see Zhirkov in his more natural position of attacking midfield for a change.

John Terry flicked in the first from a Kakuta corner and Anelka slotted home another nonchalant penalty to seal the points.

Tenacious French

Marseille rallied in the 2^nd half and there were periods where we either couldn’t (or didn’t show the desire) to get the ball off them.  The French side had a few chances but most lacked conviction whilst both Alex, with a thunderbolt of a free-kick, and Essien hit the woodwork.  Sturridge will be kicking himself for opting for a cocky finish when a simple tap-in would have brought us our 3^rd goal.

Whatever your opinion on the 2^nd half siesta, Marseille manager Deschamps left no doubt about the justness of the result:

“We were almost strangled by Chelsea's superiority,"

"We were dominated, both technically and physically.”

"We found the first half tough and lacked aggression at times. We tried harder in the second half, but they could have added a third. There was a huge difference between the sides."

Struggling or resting? Chelsea 2 Marseille 0

Discussion started by 50 Years Over 100 Years , 29/09/2010 19:43

50 Years Over 100 Years
29/09/2010 19:43

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Since 66
29/09/2010 20:25

Even JT said we eased up and he was not happy about it, but we did hit the woodwork three times in the 2nd half, after we surpressed Marseille's fightback.

ROLL ON WOOLWICH



FROM KEY WEST FLORIDA

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dixon9
29/09/2010 20:59

Transatlantic!





"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.

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Since 66
29/09/2010 21:40

Only until tomorrow then back in the wilds till Sunday



FROM KEY WEST FLORIDA

Don't Gamble, Bet Risk Free

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