EPL Talk » Chelsea

Chelsea Gain Edge in Premiership Title Race

footballnewsblog — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:28:37 +0000

In the first showdown between the two teams most likely to be challenging for major honours at the start of the season, Chelsea took one step closer to the Premiership title on Sunday after beating Manchester United 1-0 in a match many felt that United had to win. Chelsea are now 5 points clear of their rivals, and although there is a long way to go have taken the early lead in the title race.

John Terry grabbed the only goal of the game, heading in from a Lampard free-kick to secure the 10th straight home win and extend Chelseas lad at the top of the table. The game as you would expect became heated at times with referee decisions being a talking point as always but overall the team played well and deserved the victory.

Many of the players have had a better day in Chelsea shirts with few players really shining but it was the team performance that was important and that performance got the victory that could prove crucial at the end of the season.

One bit of bad news though was that Ashley Cole now looks set for a stint on the sidelines after aggravating a leg injury picked up against Atletico Madrid which will mean that the team will need to be reshuffled, possibly with the inclusion of new signing Zhirkov who has yet to play an important role in the first team this season.

Chelsea are now exactly where they want to be and look the strongest side in the league by far at the moment, and with Anelka and Drogba looking more lethal every game they play this season has the foundations of a great one.

Written by Danny Watson, a sports editor who blogs about football kits

Benitez Cannot Buckle Under Pressure

Paul Bestall — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:05:21 +0000

“It is difficult for us to qualify, but not impossible,We have to win our game and see what happens with Fiorentina and Lyon. Then we will approach the last game.” Benitez has certainly fought his corner today after the galling last minute equaliser Liverpool conceded in the Stade Gerland last night. Of course, the nay sayers and doom merchants are already drafting Rafa’s last rites as the promise of last season seems already consigned to the dustbin by mid November.

Even Liverpool’s most feverish critics must be surprised how quickly the wheels have fallen off this season. 5 league defeats, knocked out of the League Cup and facing demotion to the Europa League have seen Benitez under the most pressure he’s ever faced during his tenure at Anfield. With the financial situation at Liverpool as tight as it can be, the key achievement for Liverpool to aim for this season is to finish in the top 4 in the Premier League.

Of course, Lyon may win in Florence in 3 weeks time and Liverpool could win the last two games, making sure they beat Fiorentina by 3 clear goals to finish second, but it’s a straw that is swaying away from Benitez. With Torres still carrying a groin injury, Gerrard injured for who knows how long and Carragher having his ropiest period in a Liverpool shirt, the Reds 3 key players are all suffering in one form or another.

During the summer, all the predictions pointed to that it would be Arsenal who would be the one side in the big four that would be the most nervous about retaining their place at the Premiership’s top table. With Manchester City, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Everton all waiting to pounce, no-one considered that Liverpool would be the one with the most to lose.

Without the stadium revenue that Manchester United and Arsenal can pull and without the billionaire sugar daddies that Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham can call on, the financial rewards that the Champions League has to offer is crucial to Liverpool’s continued success. They NEED to be in Champions League to continue progressing, regardless of reputation, Manchester City have already shown money can attract players above their current station.

Yet Liverpool will not find it any easier and by December 13th they could be staring up at the top four and hoping that they can find a vein of form that has so far eluded them this season. They’ve failed to beat every decent side they’ve played this season, with the exception of Manchester United two weeks ago and that in itself is a worrying trend. With massive matches against Manchester City, Everton, Fiorentina and Arsenal in the next five weeks, something needs to sorted and quickly.

Of course, Benitez has a position of strength in the fact that he signed a 5 year contract in March this year and Liverpool’s finances would tend to support the argument that the club can’t afford to sack him. Liverpool fans tend to support their manager through thick or thin, only Graeme Souness lost the fans in the last 30 years and at the moment the attention for the fans frustration is the owners.

Chelsea sacked Scolari when the club were fourth, 7 points behind Manchester United. Liverpool are currently 6th, 9 points behind and whilst we may assume what Hicks and Gillett do, would it surprised anyone if they pressed the panic button? Unfortunately not. Trouble is, they may call on Jurgen Klinsmann, which shows just how little about club football they actually know.

Does Chelsea have a Frank Lampard problem?

Sebastian Shepard — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:48:03 +0000

After 10 games, one might think that Frank Lampard, the engine and inspiration behind most of Chelsea’s offensive production over the past 5 seasons, has run into a torrid patch of form. This is mostly due to his low goal return – one in the Premiership and one in the Community Shield. Most fans expect 3 or 4 goals by now, especially against the relatively weak opposition that Chelsea have faced thus far in the Champions League and EPL.

But before we condemn Frank Lampard, let’s wind back our memories to the summer of Real Madrid spending. Carlo Ancelotti arrived and sought Andrea Pirlo to be the visionary passer in his midfield diamond. The Italian didn’t arrive, and nobody filled his role. According to some.

According to me, Lampard is now positioned as an advanced Pirlo (who doesn’t score a tremendous amount of goals, but is the offensive heartbeat of AC Milan). The goal drought is more due to formation and position rather than a failure of Lampard’s or bad form.

In Mourinho’s 4-3-3, the wingers knew they couldn’t only rely on crosses to Drogba and cutting inside to take the occasional shot to win games. Enter Lampard. He excelled at arriving and providing a lethal 3rd option. Thus the 20-goal seasons.

Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea plays a midfield diamond, with Lampard supposedly at the top. But he lacks the right qualities to fill this role and has dropped a little deeper than players who naturally can fill this role like Kaka. Nonetheless Chelsea play the diamond.

The change in formation requires less goal return from the midfield because two strikers lurking in the box will both score more goals and require service. Both of these will drain the midfield of its goals, but not its productivity.

Frank Lampard already has four EPL assists in 7 games. Last season he recorded 10 in 37 games. One could argue that Lampard has adopted a Pirlo mindset, but not quite his position. As he fans out dangerous passes to the in-form Malouda, Anelka, and Drogba while staying a little deeper, Lampard is actively contributing to Chelsea’s good start to the season. For this, he is labeled as out of form.

Granted, his finishing has suffered under Ancelotti. He seems to be missing chances that three or four years ago, he would bury ten times a season. Perhaps he is uncomfortable in his new semi-trequartista, semi-Pirlo position. In any case, I’m not sure Chelsea fans have a great cause to be worried. The system seems to be working for the rest of the team, and even if Lampard won’t get his 20 goals, he’ll rack up many more assists. If the sort-of-diamond can bring back the silverware of the EPL title or the Champions League, even Lampard won’t complain.

Ancelotti’s Honesty Is So Refreshing

Paul Bestall — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:57:55 +0000

Well, I had to check a couple of times that I’d read the paper right on Sunday morning such was the surprise that I viewed Carlo Ancelotti’s comments about Chelsea’s shock defeat at the D.W Stadium. Perhaps it was the shock at playing at one of the worst named grounds in England, but either way it was so refreshing to hear one of the big four managers actually not try and wash over the event.

There is one thing that incenses me when I listen to post match comments and that’s when a manager blames everyone else but themselves for a defeat. The prime example of this idiotic line of defensive commentary is Neil Warnock. I have never, ever heard him in a post match interview admit his side were beaten by a better team. Never. In nearly twenty years of listening to him whine, he has never lost a game to a better team.

He whined at Notts County, he whined at Huddersfield Town, at Oldham, at Plymouth and it was everyone else’s fault at Sheffield United. It was always the referee, or the opposition cheated or anything but face the fact that he’d got it wrong. Again, time after time and it became simply pathetic.The main reason Sheffield United were relegated was that the manager bought badly, played too defensively away from home and paid the price. Of course West Ham United cheated, but if he’d got anything about him, United wouldn’ t have been in that position.

Ferguson last season after Liverpool had absolutely ripped Manchester United to pieces at Old Trafford with a 4-1 win was in danger of being sectioned after his summary. “I thought the best team lost” he countered. Really? Honestly? Seriously? Liverpool absolutely tonked United that day, no question about it. To say anything else simply made Ferguson seem silly.

So thank you Carlo Ancelotti for coming out and saying it like it is. Wigan were immense on Saturday, they really were and Chelsea were completely out of sorts all match. It was like a performance under Phil Scolari rather than the exuberant style of play Ancelotti has managed to stamp on Chelsea so soon in his managerial career at Stamford Bridge. I doubt however that Chelsea fans need worry about a return to those days. It was simply a bad day at the office. Nothing more, nothing less and the manager recognised it as such.

By stating he didn’t know what had gone wrong, he showed a new side to the fans. He picked the best team, gave them the tactics and they couldn’t put it in to place. It happens. Of course the sending off didn’t help, even though I thought it was a little harsh, but it certainly was a penalty. He didn’t even dispute that decision. Astounding. Football managers do not do this kind of thing, but I wished more of them did. It gives them kudos for being honest rather than the usual defending terrible displays with criticism of the officials. It makes them seem more real, more unbiased and more like the viewer.

Sometimes post match comments are so insipid, so bland that it makes you want to throw something at the screen. The banality of some footballers and managers post match comment could put an insomniac to sleep. One former Premiership manager’s inability to talk without using the word yerknow every four words simply made him sound dreadful, but I doubt anyone will give him another chance for quite a while.

Ancelotti really has impressed me since he arrived at Stamford Bridge and Saturdays humble and erudite summary of the game coupled with his honesty makes me appreciate him even more. I won’t hold my breath for the others to follow suit though but more’s the shame because of it. It really makes a refreshing change and shows they are human after all.

Arsenal Hit By Double Injury Blow Just As Walcott Returns

Paul Bestall — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:53:25 +0000

Just when Arsene Wenger thought his injury problems were behind him, with Theo Walcott looking likely to return to first team action this week, Nicklas Bendtner decides to off road in his Aston Martin on the way to training on an empty road and Denilson has had a fractured bone in his back confirmed by Arsenal’s medical team.

Thankfully, Bendtner seems to be simply bruised and battered and no doubt a little shook up by his little escapade on the A1 yesterday on his way to training. Wenger seems to be taking a safety first option with the young striker, whilst he’ll miss tomorrow’s Champions League game against Olympiakos he should be back for the weekend fixture against Blackburn.

It’s unfortunate as his performance in the comeback against Standard Liege was probably his best performance in an Arsenal shirt since he’s been at the club. He was fantastic, pulling the Liege defence all over the place and dragging the Gunners back in to the match. he’s certainly been playing well this season and it’s a disruption he could do without.

The news about Denilson sounds a little more serious and it’s unusual as its taken over two weeks to confirm the injury he sustained against Manchester City. He has been extremely impressive so far this season, capped with wonderful goal in the 6-1 rout of Everton on the first weekend of the Premiership season. His work rate, passing and distribution have kept Arsenal ticking along despite the defeats to both halves of Manchester’s footballing rivalry.

After the progress he made last season, and the consistency he seems to finally have added to his undoubted talent, it’s a real shame. He’s pencilled in to return in time for the clash with Chelsea at the Emirates on Sunday November 29th. To be honest, the run Arsenal have over the next 2 months, they’ll be happier with the quality of the opposition they face in the period he’ll be missing than later in the season.

December and January will be tough on most clubs, but Arsenal have to play Aston Villa, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton as well as their favourite away trip to Bolton Wanderers. At least they don’t have to go to Blackburn or play the return of the Gunners new grudge match against Manchester City.

Walcott’s return can’t come soon enough for the young lad BUT he really needs to ease himself back into action. Whilst he may have fallen behind Aaron Lennon and Shaun Wright Phillips in the England pecking order, he needs to focus on returning to a consistent level of performance for Arsenal first. He doesn’t need to worry too much about England, they’ve already qualified for the World Cup.

With his attributes as either a winger, a striker or even playing as right midfield, Walcott has options few other players can match. Fabio Capello is quite aware of the qualities Walcott can bring to the England team, he simply needs to concentrate on getting a good, consistent season for Arsenal. If he manages that, he should easily be in the 23 man squad that goes out to South Africa come June next year.