Hi
I know it's been a while but here is the first blog of the new season, summarised as a blog for August. Transfer activity wise it was a pretty quiet summer going into the charity shield (a game I very rarely care about) - the most significant transfer being an outgoing one - Petr Cech getting the green light to sign for Arsenal. Chelsea signed Stoke's number one keeper Begovic as a replacement and also added Man Utd flop Falcao as a replacement for the outgoing Didier Drogba. That was an interesting, maybe Jose will get the best out of him. Other than that, it was as you and neither of our new players started the shield match, although Cech lined up against us. I was once again extremely proud of the reception the Chelsea fans gave Cech while Arsenal fans continued to boo Fabregas - but again, the media gave us no credit whatsoever.
A well taken first half goal by Oxlade - Chamberlain, cutting inside and firing in on his left foot, decided this match. Missed sitters from Ramires and Hazard proved costly and Cech's only real moment came when he saved an Oscar free kick. A later flurry where Arsenal could have sealed the win on the counter was all that there was else to report. But overall I'd say it was a lacklustre opening, and only got mildly amusing at full time when Jose and Arsene refused to shake hands(again).
Our first Premier league game of the season was certainly eventful and arguably its aftershocks are still being heard. The line up was still the same as the shield match aside from Costa returning from injury where Remy started and Oscar replacing Ramires. Swansea started brightly and almost took the lead twice through Gomis. First he saw a header drift wide and then was blocked from close range by Terry - the follow up was a shot by Sung - Yeung that Courtois beat away. But despite that, it was Chelsea who scored first, with Oscar sending a low free kick from the left hand side straight into the goal after no one got a touch on it from either side. Swansea though deservedly pulled level when Ayew poked home after Courtois had saved the lively Gomis header - but within a minute or so Chelsea re-took the lead. A willian cross from the left took a huge deflection off Fernandez and onto the Swansea defenders own goal. Chelsea led 2-1 at half time but Swansea started brightly as they did in the first half and created a few half chances before a big moment swung the pendulum back in their favour. Gomis ran onto a Shelvey long ball and Courtois came charging out of his goal and hauled down Gomis - penalty and red card. So Begovic got a chance to make his Chelsea debut earlier than he would have hoped but he couldn't stop Gomis scoring the penalty.
Begovic staked an early claim for the number one spot as he denied Montero and Swansea were denied other chances as well by the replacement keeper, with Hazard going close for Chelsea. All the attention afterwards though went on what happened in the final minutes. Hazard going down injured and the Chelsea doctors Eva Carneiro and Jon Fearn ran on to treat him, this of course meant he had to come off as per the rules, leaving Chelsea with nine men for the final minute. This infuriated Jose Mourinho and he made a point of criticising them in his post match interviews. Eva then put something on her Facebook page 'thanking the fans for all their support'. Next thing you know - Chelsea announce that the pair are dropped from being on the Chelsea bench and although they will continue in their roles as Chelsea doctors they are banned from the team hotel and the training ground. Que a media explosion the likes we can only expect now when anything remotely controversial to do with Chelsea or Jose comes about. At first I thought it was the usual deflection tactics, our next being away at Man City - it might still have been. If it wasn't then I fail to see Jose's point, as Eva and Jon did nothing wrong. They had to come onto the pitch if Hazard showed signs of injury and requested treatment, which he did. Maybe it was the fact she went on Facebook? Because you don't do that, it was almost like she was criticising her boss then. I certainly don't think it was 'sexist', those were some ridiculous claims, after all the fact Jose took his stance with a woman shows that he viewed her no different to her male counterparts. But it was certainly a messy end to the week and probably did more harm than good with our preparations for Man City.
Begovic started in place of suspended Courtois and Ramires replaced Oscar. Begovic was called into action after 30 seconds as Aguero went through on goal but our new keeper denied the Argentine an early goal. In fact, in turned into the Aguero v Begovic show as Aguero was denied twice more and then fired wide in in the opening half an hour. Sadly though, his fifth chance of the game was not to go our way as he wriggled past Cahil to create some space before slotting home inside the far post with Terry or Matic unable to block. There was a flashpoint just before half time as Fernandinho disgracefully fouled Costa, who understandably reacted angrily. The TV cameras disgustingly decided to focus on Costa's 'angry reaction' rather than the foul on him itself. Praise pundit Thiery Henry who fairly said 'If Costa had done that we would all be saying its a red card'. Zouma replaced Terry at half time for a tactical substitution, something that would become a theme throughout the next week. A big moment came when Hazard set up Ramires to score, only for the offside flag to incorrectly rule it out. Hazard saw an effort saved later by Hart before a headed goal by Kompany and a long range shot by Fernandinho finished us off.
Panic was probably starting to set in now a little bit so it was a welcome boost that we snatched Pedro from under Manchester Uniteds noses and signed before our trip to West Brom at the weekend, a venue where we had lost 3 of our last 4 visits there and not won since 2011.
Aside from Ivanovic who has been poor this season, the line was probably our best eleven, with Pedro starting in place of Ramires and Zouma replacing Cahil. After 14 minutes though despite a bright start, Matic conceded a penalty for a needless foul. but Courtois, who returned after a one game suspension, denied Morrison.Not long after that, Pedro marked his debut with a goal, exchanging passes with Hazard and poking home a left foot shot inside the near post. What a start for our new arrival! Not long after that, Pedro had an assist in our second, as Willians good work down the right saw him feed Pedro who drilled a low cross for Costa to convert at the far post for 2-0. 'Are you watching Manchester?' sang the Chelsea fans. After half an hour, a good goal brought West Brom back in it though, as Rondon pulled back an overhit cross and Morrison drilled home a superb strike. Willians spurned a good chance for 3-1 but before half time, Azpilecueta did make it 3-1 when he finished Costa's chest down. A 3-1 half time lead looked good for us but within 10 minutes the nerves were back as Terry was dismissed for bringing down Rondon as the lat man and not long after, a superbly placed header from Morrison made it 3-2. Costa missed a late chance and a nervy last 10 minutes followed as Brunt fired wide and Courtois blocked a last minute attempt from Rondon.
I had a stag do in Prague for our next game against Crystal Palace so to finish this entry off, I know very little about this game but it is just as well really.
Zouma replaced suspended Terry for the only change. From the limited highlights I saw, the game was fairly open with chances for both teams, which is a bit worrying as we are so open at the moment. This couldn't have been more obvious on 65 minutes as Sako burst through our defence to fire home from close range (news of this reached me as I was on a coach on the way back from Go Karting in Prague). Falcao was introduced at some point, and finally got off the mark with eleven to go. A fantastic low cross from Pedro was met with a low diving header from Falcao for 1-1 - but that would not last. A deep cross from Palace 2 minutes later would be headed back across goal to Ward who headed home what turned out to be the winning goal in only Jose Mourinho's second home defeat in the Premier League.
Shocking result but my next blog will update on reaction and all events since then including a rather strange end to the transfer window ...
