Chelsea
More Penalty Shootout Trauma
Deja Vu
By Gary Watton
October 27 2015
History certainly repeats itself, like a bad dose of indigestion, as Stoke once more defeated Chelsea in the League Cup (for the fourth time) and Chelsea lost yet another penalty shootout under manager Mourinho (for a fifth time).
Again, like the West Ham debacle days before, Chelsea could consider themselves unlucky and yes the manager and his sheeplike supporters can state that the team played quite well. However, when you can only score once in two hours of football against a mid-table team and then throw yourselves at the mercy of the merciless penalty kicks lottery, well it definitely does not bode well. Would Bayern Munich, Barcelona, or Real Madrid immerse themselves in self-congratulations about playing well at Stoke and Dynamo Kiev, with one solitary goal all that there is to show for 210 minutes of football? Chelsea are now completely impotent and seemingly cannot score from open play. We are not carving defences open and running rings around anyone anymore. However, I gather that manager and fans alike are not too concerned about yet another defeat. They seem willing to embrace mediocrity and hope that the club owner will feel the same way. The word deluded springs to mind!
We had thirty minutes with a one-man advantage against the tired legs of the hosts and still we fluffed our lines. Not to worry. The Mourinho fans urge everyone to keep calm, be patient, be loyal, be thankful for last year's greatness (which must be viewed in the context of no other team mounting any kind of sustained challenge).
Oh and can we now put to bed the nonsense about all the penalties that we should have been awarded over the last year? Judging by our rank record in penalty shootouts, we would be better off avoiding spot kicks. Even our chief penalty-taker (the misfiring Hazard) has missed both his efforts from the penalty spot this truly awful season. If we cannot win a single shootout under Mourinho, surely we should be busting a gut to avoid such a fate, but guess what, we allowed ourselves to go behind yet again. Chelsea are just lurching from one fiasco to the next. I just hope that Abramovich has retained Ancelotti's telephone number. Those are words that I never thought that I would be typing any time soon. Alternatively we can keep the faith, be patient, and return to mid-table mediocrity. Mind you, when we were a mid-table club, we were still capable of summoning the occasional outpouring of excellence. Unfortunately, Mourinho cares little for sexy football and he has bewitched his loyal supporters to such an extent that they don't even seem to long for it any more either.
Next on the agenda of woe is the visit of 'the normal one' and our beloved friends from Liverpoo. The first name on the Chelsea team sheet for Liverfools will be Mikel, and John Obi, I'm afraid, couldn't dribble the ball past a window shop dummy. The question is: when Thibaut Courtois eventually returns, will he be playing for a new manager?
Stoke City 1 CHELSEA 1 (after extra time); half time: 0-0; full time: 1-1. Stoke City win 5-4 on penalties.
Chelsea scorer: Remy
CHELSEA team: Begovic; Cahill; Rahman; Terry; Zouma; Mikel; Oscar; Ramires; Costa; Willian; Hazard. Used substitutes: Remy; Kenedy; Traore.
CHELSEA LEADING SCORERS:
Willian four goals
Costa three goals
Oscar two goals
Pedro two goals
Ramires two goals
Digg
Delicious
Facebook
Reddit
Stumbleupon
27/10/2015 20:16
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
