Chelsea
Another Mad March Mishap
By Gary Watton
March 30 2014
Well the fiasco at the Palace brings the curtain down on a schizophrenic Chelsea's March commitments. We managed to slaughter Tottensham Hypespur by four goals to nil and to demolish Arse-nil by SIX goals to NIL and easily overcome Galatasaray two-nil, but we flopped at Aston Villa, who then lost 4-1 at home to Stoke City, and now we've shot ourselves in the foot at struggling Crystal Palace.
Of course, Jose Mourinho is trying to be clever through the whole unfolding farce that is our league campaign. He is predicting that Chelsea won't win the league. If we don't, he will have been proven right and regarded as very astute. Bully for him. If we do exceed all expectations, especially his own, he will be hailed as a manager who has achieved success with his little horse, against all the odds. So either way, Mr Mourinho cannot lose. The truth is that Liverpoo have been blessed with less resources than Chelsea and they are outshining us. We cannot really use the excuse that they have no European commitments to burden them, valid though it is. In recent years, the Uniteds, Barcelonas, Munichs, and even Chelseas have been required to compete on both the domestic front and on the European front, so we cannot state that we have been handicapped by our extra fixtures. A team that has a midweek match doesn't really train that day, while a team that has no match has to train, so both teams have to exert themselves, and ultimately there is no substitute for good match practice, whatever sport that one is competing in. The Mourinho can do no wrong brigade will give Jose the benefit of the doubt this trophy-less year, but he will have less room to be offering excuses this time next year, if Chelsea are still in the shadow of at least one Manchester team and continuing to play cautious [some might say boring] football.
The weaknesses in Chelsea's domestic rollercoaster this year can be explained quite simply from the following catalogue of blunders: We failed to score at Manchester United. We failed to score at Everton. We failed to score at Newcastle. We failed to score at Arsenal. We failed to score at Aston Villa. We failed to score at Crystal Palace. We also failed to score at home to West Ham United. It isn't simply a case of impotence in front of goal, though that is one theory, nor is it merely a case of a lack of creativity, although that is another possible explanation. I will always maintain that sport is as much about the mind as it is about actual ability and technical prowess. Chelsea try to coast through matches, starting off by passing too many times with so much deliberation and no pace that defences just get themselves set up for the eventual attack. We don't play with any urgency until we've gone behind, and then regrettably we lose composure in front of goal which is why we rarely seem to equalise when we concede the lead.
I read a Liverpoo fan on Facepuke stating that Mourinho was right to describe Monsieur Whinger as "a specialist in failure." I readily concur. However, I have to concede that Arsene is equally accurate to state that Mourinho is afraid to lose. There is nothing startlingly wrong with that, but we now have a team that is afraid to lose the ball and afraid to lose a goal. We are playing with so much fear. Then, when the opposition do sneak a goal, we suddenly shove two strikers up top and panic in front of goal. Why oh why can't we take matches by the scruff of the neck from the off and seize the initiative instead of gradually feeling our way into the proceedings? With the exception of the first-half goal rushes against Arse-nil and Galatasaray, Chelsea are woefully unable to score in the first 45 minutes. This only serves to increase the confidence of our opponents when we go in scoreless at the interval.
Chelsea just might win the Champions League where the challenge of Paris St Germain and the Spanish and German giants may be more to our liking than tricky trips to Villa Park or Selhurst Park, and we are still mathematically in the hunt for the Premiership, but I am far from convinced by Jose's project so far. It wasn't like he was brought in mid-season to steady a sinking ship. No, he has had two transfer windows already. We have bought the hot and cold Schurrle while van Ginkel was nothing to write home about, so much so that Mourinho felt the need to bring in Matic, presumably because he has less faith in the returning van Ginkel.
Of course it's not all doom and gloom. It's just hard to take when we produce fine results against the norf London wannabes and at Manchester Mercenaries, only to succumb to bottom half of the table opposition. Don't get me wrong, however, because Crystal Palace were inspired against us and thoroughly deserved their maximum points. What is most annoying however is how they will go back into their shell when Liverpoo come to town. Or maybe that is because the Liverfools won't make our mistake of playing over-cautious football. Perhaps they're not Liverfools after all.
Of our three Championship-winning seasons, perhaps the Ancelotti campaign of 2010 was marginally better to the Mourinho successes of previous years. Under Carlo, we were lethal in front of goals, while under Jose we seem distinctly timid, and it's no point blaming Torres for our scoreless woes. We are where we are for a reason. I look forward to the day, if it ever comes, where Chelsea can be as effective in front of the opposition goals as we normally are in front of our own. Boasting the league's best defence and goalkeeper is fine, but clearly we have limitations if we are not winning the league with such good defensive statistics. Are we indeed just so terrified to lose that we daren't lose the ball and we daren't lose a goal? How about daring to go on the attack from the first minute and go for the jugular?
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30/03/2014 15:59
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