Chelsea
Costa Defies United
Concern For Kurt
By Gary Watton
February 8 2016
Yet another late equaliser in a home match has once more rescued Chelsea and preserved our unbeaten run under Guus Hiddink. However, four points from four home matches under the Dutch senior citizen is scarcely anything to crow about. It is after all the equivalent of one win, one draw, and two defeats. The reason that three points was introduced for a win back in the 'eighties was to induce teams to press for that extra goal that would minimise drawn encounters. However, it seems that Chelsea are incapable of either scoring that extra goal or of conceding one less goal. They have after all conceded eight goals from four league matches at home under Mr Hiddink, and that is not the stuff of champions. The Blues remain marooned in thirteenth position. They are not there by accident. They find themselves there on merit.
They have another important home fixture this Saturday when the Magpies come to town. They are not to be underestimated, as they did a number on a visit to Tottenham Hotspur before Christmas. Furthermore, we cannot rely upon the much-maligned Diego Costa to bail us out all the time. We need more scorers. The goals from Willian have dried up, it seems. It is a pity that we cannot consider resting Costa and a few others for the clash against PSG a few days later, as DC is invaluable at present. Can we afford to risk him against Newcastle and end up with him sidelined for the trip to Paris? I doubt whether Hiddink will tinker with the team and keep people fresh for the visit to France. He is just as cautious, it seems, as his Portuguese predecessor. Furthermore, it was interesting to note that ManUre, who appear to have more at stake than our mid-table under-achievers, still possessed the boldness to field quite a few young players, such as Borthwick-Jackson, Lingard, and Martial. Why oh why can frightened Chelsea not do likewise? We also have a very good youngster with a weird double-barrelled surname in our ranks, hint hint.
Slightly off-topic, I respect the Liverfools for walking out after 77 minutes at home to Sunderland on Saturday afternoon. Yes it's bloody daft paying good money and then leaving early. However, the walkout is like a strike. To go on strike is a risk to your livelihood but sometimes it's important to make a stand. Well done to the Kopshites for taking a stand. Yes you can accuse them of being whingers, but only boycotts will persuade football clubs that we are not happy with their prices. Funnily enough a Liverpoo geezer came on 606 last night and said it would be better to just boycott the club shop and the rip-off half time refreshments.
Finally, let us hope that the forcible removal of Kurt Zouma with a seemingly nasty knee injury is not as alarming as it first seemed. Is his season at an end? If they are not careful, the rest of the team's season will be finished shortly too.
CHELSEA 1 Manchester United 1; half time: 0-0.
CHELSEA goal scorer: Costa
CHELSEA team: Courtois; Azpilicueta; Ivanovic; Zouma; Terry; Mikel; Oscar; Fabregas; Costa; Willian; Matic. Used substitutes: Hazard; Cahill; Pedro.
CHELSEA LEADING SCORERS:
Costa eleven goals
Oscar eight goals
Willian eight goals
Pedro three goals
Ramires three goals
Remy three goals
Azpilicueta two goals
Cahill two goals
Fabregas two goals
Zouma two goals
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08/02/2016 11:57
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