Chelsea v West Ham - a throwback

With a crucial match in the title run in against West Ham at the London Stadium – out first visit their in the Premier League – coming up on Monday night, I thought it might be a good idea to write a blog re-living some of our classic battles down the years with our London rivals.

Chelsea v West Ham has always been a fierce derby even though both teams would probably not consider each other their main rivals – Chelsea would point to Spurs plus Liverpool and Arsenal in recent years as their rivals, while West Ham would point to Spurs and Millwall. But both sets of fans have always reserved a considerable amount of hate for each other.

One of my earliest memories was a clash in the first season that captured my imagination as a fan – the 1996/97 season. The Ruud Gullit revolution was starting to take shape with Vialli, Leboeuf and Di Matteo all brought in over the summer and suddenly supporting Chelsea was started to feel exciting as we started to move away from the mid table obscurity years of Hoddle. In the coming weeks before we faced West Ham in our final game before Christmas on 21^st December, we had added a new recruit – an Italian by the name of Gianfranco Zola, signed from Parma. This player looked skillful, diminutive and creative and little did we know seven years later he would be leaving Chelsea a club legend. He was brought in to partner with Vialli, who Gullit later admitted, was ‘not doing the business’. But Vialli would be injured for West Hams visit to us and so it presented an opportunity for Zola to partner up front with Mark Hughes …. little would have been anticipated from that until the two developed such an incredible in sync partnership together, that Vialli would pretty spend the remainder of the season on the bench.

In the opening 6 minutes a low cross was dummied by Zola for mark Hughes to turn and drill home a low shot for Chelsea to lead. A good start, but what followed minutes later arguably was the moment Zola became a legend as early as then with the Chelsea faithful. He had scored one goal previously – a free kick against Everton (not counting the free kick against Newcastle that Vialli nicked off him with his ‘hair’) – but this one was so much better. A counter attack in which Hughes picked up the ball on the halfway line and found Zola one on one with West Ham legend and hard man Julian Dicks, with Zola sending him the wrong way not once, but twice in a mazy run before drilling the ball home for 2-0. With a newly signed foreign player going up against the legendary Dicks and coming out on top, it arguably proved to be the end for Dicks who was moved on from West Ham the following summer. The Zola Hughes partnership wasn’t done there though, but not before Hugo Porfiro fired a long range left foot strike from outside the area past Keeper Frode Grodas (remember him?) a minute after Zola’s goal. On 35 minutes Chelsea restored their two goal advantage which West Ham would fail to come back from, as Zola out on the wing, sent in a cross for a classic thumping Hughes header. Chelsea would go on to lift the FA cup that season with the those two players spearing the front line for much of that season and hand Chelsea their first silverware for twenty six years, which would prove to be the springboard for much more cup success in the following years.

The second match I’m going to look at is an FA cup replay on 6^th February 2002. The first match at the Bridge had finished 1-1 with Kanoute cancelling out Hasselbaink’s opener. So Chelsea had to travel to Upton Park at a time when a different kind of revolution took place, years on from the ‘Ruud revolution’ and via Vialli’s reign, Claudio Ranieri was now charged by Ken Bates with moving Chelsea forward after seemingly going backwards during the Vialli years following rumors of player unrest. A first season brought much transition but this season Ranieri’s vision was starting to take shape. The game struggled to come to life until 37 minutes when Jermaine Defoe’s wild shot took an unlucky deflection off John Terry and in off the bar via Cudicini – 1-0 to West ham. The lead lasted four minutes though as a quickly taken Hasselbaink free kick fooled David James, who was still organizing the wall, and flew into the net.

West Ham regained the lead though on 50 minutes as Don Hutchinson’s low angled shot was spilled by Cudicini into the path of Defoe who side footed home into the empty net. Chelsea put West Ham under pressure for an equalizer and got one through substitute Mikael Forsell who intercepted Schemmel’s weak header back to the keeper to prod home under James for 2-2. So four goals all courtesy of defensive/goalkeeping errors – an entertaining game that looked to be heading for extra time. Up stepped future captain John Terry to powerfully header home a Graham Le Saux corner in stoppage time to give Chelsea victory and a place in round five of the FA cup. Terry was a few years away from being named the clubs permanent captain and this match winning performance was an early notification of how he would go onto be the greatest and most influential captain in our history. Chelsea would go on to reach the final this season as well, but would ultimately lose to Arsenal. However with Chelsea gradually showing signs of improvement and playing a more exciting brand of football under Ranieri following the slow build up play in the Vialli years, it wouldn’t be long before (the following year in fact) Chelsea would catch a certain Roman Abramovich’s attention and a whole new chapter in CFC history would be about to be written – while West Ham were a year away from relegation.

The final game I will recall is from 9^th April 2006 – when a very different Chelsea in the aforementioned Abramovich era, would be closing in on a second successive title but following a slight wobble, and with Man Utd breathing down our necks, the arrival of recently promoted West Ham to the Bridge was not the welcome fixture on paper that it previously would have been. I picked this fixture out because it featured a fantastic performance from under fire striker at the time, Didier Drogba, who produced one of his best performances in a Chelsea shirt at a time when it looked as though he might leave.

The game did not start well for us as James Collins headed home near post from a corner to put West Ham 1-0 after 10 minutes. With Chelsea dropping points recently and with Man Utd going on one of their traditional end of season winning runs, it was starting to look worryingly like Chelsea’s title challenge might start to falter. That worry looked more likely when Maniche was given a straight red card seven minutes later for a lunging challenge on Scaloni. So 1-0 down and down to ten men, not looking good but Drogba had other ideas. After 28 minutes, a long ball from Lampard found Drogba who went through on goal but saw his shot blocked by Hislop, only for the ball to ricochet back into his path for him to slot the ball home for 1-1. Just three minutes later, the West Ham fans who had been so boisterous at the start of the match, were stunned into silence when Drogba fired a low cross across the penalty area which found its way to Hernan Crespo at the far post to tap in and put the ten men ahead.

The second half showed Chelsea as the champions they were, and the champions they were soon to be as they put West Ham away despite having one player less. On 54 minutes a William Gallas shot from the edge of the area came crashing off the bar straight into the path of our other centre back Terry who volleyed home for 3-1. On 69 minutes the game was sealed when Robben’s deflected free kick was headed down into the path of Gallas who eventually got his goal and prodded home from close range. There was no doubt who the star of the day was – Didier Drogba who after arriving for a substantial fee of twenty four million, had somewhat struggled in his first couple of seasons and around this time had been touted for a move. But with this being a stand out performance that displayed his true qualities, Drogba ended up staying, winning the golden boot the following season and when on to become voted the greatest player in our history (replacing the previous winner Zola) whose final kick before his (first) departure in 2012 won us the Champions League.

Chelsea have already been to the London Stadium once this season when a fringe eleven lost 2-1 in the league cup, but tomorrow should be a stronger eleven in a crucial game at a crucial point in the season.  

Fans v Pundits

Following the Chelsea v Arsenal game this week, an interesting side story developed which I thought worthy of writing a blog on. It brought up the issue of 'Fans v Pundits' or 'Fans v Media' which is something that is finally being addressed of sorts in the wake of Chelsea's win over Arsenal.

It started towards the end of the game when an Arsenal fan - following Giroud's consolation goal in stoppage time - held up a banner saying "WENGER OUT!" which prompted commentator Gary Neville to describe the fan as 'an idiot' for pre-meditating the situation and bringing the banner into the ground before the game despite everything Wenger has done for the club.

Wenger of course has led Arsenal to great success in his first nine years at the club, winning three titles and four FA cups, including an invincible season. However the eleven years that followed have brought only two FA cups - both of which followed an eight year haul without a trophy, and no titles. Crucially though, Arsenal have qualified for the champions league - and reached the knockout stages - every season and have remained financially stable as well. This is likely why Neville believes Wenger's achievements should be respected - however it is the lack of progress and titles that has angered a large section of fans creating a Wenger in/out divide.

The main issue that seems to have derived from this is the issue of opinion - that fans opinions should be respected. This is what Neville got the most criticism for - although afterwards he made it clear he was not insinuating that the Arsenal supporter did not have a right to his opinion. In fact Gary Neville has a right to his opinion so if he thinks that Arsenal fans that want Wenger out are idiots then fair play to him - but I think it's all about perspective.

Fans pay money to go to games - and going to football now is expensive. I'm a Chelsea fan and no  one needs to tell me this - I made a judgement call based on circumstances not to renew my membership this season (boy am I regretting that now). But fans will literally pay money they barely have, wake up ridiculous hours and travel all over the country to watch their favourite team - they clearly care. While pundits like Neville and the rest of his team at Sky, as far as I'm aware, would not have been paying to attend Stamford Bridge on Saturday, they would have been getting paid to be there in fact. So is it right that Gary Neville can be so dismissive and patronising to a fan for expressing his opinion that he believes it is time for change? Especially as that fan would have been paying to be there. Surely we should respect his opinion?

I was watching a video on YouTube channel "Ball Street" the other day, which had Robbie from Arsenal Fan TV and Sophie from the Chelsea Fans Channel on there as guests - and Sophie made a point about how fans how currently disillusioned with how 'corporate' the game has got. You can't stand at games, at least not without stewards telling you to sit down (something a concerned Chelsea fan reached out to John Terry about on Instagram a few years ago) you can't sing in certain pubs - its all starting to feel corporate. I would add that I can relate to those points myself as a Chelsea fan but also that certain pubs that usually contain more 'atmosphere' are being closed down throughout Fulham (the famous Shed Bar being one), the influx of the prawn sandwich brigade and the prices themselves which are pricing ordinary working class fans out of the game. But this doesn't mean fans don't care less and to have Neville and co all suited and booted sitting in their corporate TV studio dismiss them as idiotic or a disgrace is, as Sophie mentioned, very patronising.

I am however, going to play Devils advocate - just for the sake of it :)

On some level, I can understand Gary Neville's particular singling out of Arsenal TV - as can anyone who has ever watched it. We have something similar at Chelsea and I believe Man City have their own version too, amongst other teams. But no one outside of Chelsea is talking about watching it, especially when we lose, but everyone wants to watch Arsenal TV when Arsenal lose. Why?

Simply that - without sounding rude - the kind of characters that are on Arsenal TV are so ridiculously over the top they set themselves up for ridicule. Hell even I watch some of their videos - it IS comedy gold in all fairness. Some of the points they make, can be easily dismissed. "We lost to Watford because of the rain". Really? To be fair the Arsenal Fan TV presenter did make a point that those fans do get interviewed every week, even when they win and are mostly positive.

The point is - do fans really know better? Just because they pay money does it necessarily mean they know better than the professionals of the game and that their opinions should be heard? Not always the case, although of course everyone does have a right to an opinion. A famous example that surfaced just recently in the wake of Frank Lampard's retirement was the 1997 video from the West Ham fan forum. In case you've not seen it, a West Ham fan tells then manager Harry Redknapp that two players they recently released - Scott Canham and Matt Holland - were both better than Frank Lampard and firmly disagreed with Redknapp, prompting Harry to famously and correctly predict that Lampard would go 'right to the very top', which he very well did. Redknapp's arguments were that Scott Canham 'definitely wasn't good enough as he's gone to Brentford and can't get in Brentford's team' (Scott Canham's career after that would be mostly spent in non league football) and Matt Holland 'might bounce back as a good First Division player' (Matt Holland did indeed bounce back as a good First Division player with Ipswich Town) so that's two more predictions Mystic Harry got right. The West Ham fans logic was 'I go to a lot of games and Reserve team games so I clearly know what I'm talking about'. He clearly didn't.

My point is fans don't know what goes on behind the scenes in training, with players attitudes and mentalities etc so do they really know better? If they don't is it then therefore understandable why the likes of Gary Neville would be so (even if they don't mean to be) easily dismissive? Perhaps he shouldn't have been so rude and at least worded it differently but maybe it's not hard to see his viewpoint. Fans don't have the insight professional and ex-professional footballers have - it's like the saying 'if you know, you know' etc.

I remember a few years ago I was mystified we sold Daniel Sturridge to Liverpool - especially as he started scoring loads of goals for them. Couldn't believe we let him go. But fast forward to now and we are hearing that Liverpool aren't happy with him either as he apparently 'doesn't work hard enough in training' and apparently doesn't have the right mentality. Seems unlikely they will keep him beyond the summer - which means he will have been moved on from Man City, Chelsea and (potentially, looking likely) Liverpool.

Yet four years ago I could not believe we let him go and i was very angry.

But then what do I know? I'm just a fan :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0GShEWw5x4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAjd_jTvURc

Chelsea 3 -1 Arsenal

Chelsea retained their nine point lead at the top of the table with a comprehensive win over their title rivals in a game that demonstrated just how accurate the current points gap between the two teams is in terms of showing just how much stronger Chelsea are than their London neighbours.

The reverse fixture earlier in the season was somewhat of a defining moment in Chelsea's season as Chelsea were bruised, battered and 3-0 down at half time and Antionio Conte decided to switch to his signature formation of three at the back at half time - and it was that change of formation that saw Chelsea go storming to the top of the league and win 13 games in a row. I even saw a tweet from one Arsenal fan who acknowledged 'We'd have been better off beating Chelsea 1-0 instead of 3-0 as hammering them has given birth to this Barca-esque team'.

Chelsea made one change from their midweek draw with Pedro coming in for Willian but ultimately remained unchanged from the team that had dominated the Premier League for the last four months. Much was made by the media of Arsene Wenger having to sit in the stands amongst Chelsea fans (due to his touchline ban) but I feel this was an attempt to make a story out of nothing as they always have seats reserved in the East Upper for managers/staff serving touchline bans and this has been the case for about 16 years or so.

A mix up with Courtois and the Chelsea defence almost let Arsenal midfielder Iwobi in with a shot - bit it was deflected around the post for a corner. After that, Chelsea took full control with their midfield dominating the show. They took the lead on 13 minutes when a Pedro cross from the right was headed against the bar by Diego Costa - before the ball dropped down and was headed in by Marcus Alonso. Alonso is becoming somewhat of an unsung hero for Chelsea - he has had a fair few critics regarding his defensive duties but the fact he has played every game in our winning run since we changed formations cannot be ignored. Arsenal fans though were furious that a foul was not given for Alonso's elbow making contact with Bellerin's head as he went up for the header - feeling that Alonso should have been sent off. It was a 50/50 ball though the fact Alonso's eyes were clearly on the ball mean it was correctly allowed.

Chelsea then started to create half chances and openings, with Costa shooting wide of the near post when assisted by Pedro, and the Spanish striker had the chance to put Pedro clean through on goal some minutes later but tried to take the Arsenal defence on and spurned the opportunity. Later in the half the roles would be reversed with Pedro spurning a golden chance to put Costa clean through.

Pedro himself would go close only for his left foot shot to be saved by Cech and out for a corner. (As a sidenote - Chelsea's corners haven't been that great lately I feel, either not clearing the first man or going to wide. I can't remember the last time we took a corner that led to at least a chance)
As the first half came to an end Arsenal created a few chances, with Courtois saving well from a Gabriel header and then on half time Ozil shooting low through a crowd that Courtois comfortably held.

The second half started well and Chelsea doubled their lead on 53 minutes with a wonder goal - picking the ball up on the halfway line, Hazard proceeded to dribble and bamboozle his way through the Arsenal defence and chip the ball over Cech for a sublime finish. For a player that received a lot of criticism last year for various reasons, he seems to be winning the Chelsea fans over again. One thing is for sure is that he is certainly better than Ozil, who was having another one of his 'missing' days.

No clear cut chances followed but Chelsea continued to dominate - with Kante immense in midfield winning every tackle. Gary Neville commented in commentary that Arsenals midfield of Iwobi, Oxlade Chamberlain and Ozil would not win you league - and it definitely showed. There was a flash point that will no doubt have been ignored by Arsenal fans still incensed about Alonso's 'foul' - and that was an elbow from Gabriel on Hazards face which was missed. Arguably more of a red card than Alonso but the media chose not to focus on it for some reason. Gabriel of course was sent off in the corresponding fixture last season when clashing with Costa.

Welbeck and Mustafi both went close with headers late on as Arsenal tried to get back into the game, but then the game was put to bed when two former players on opposing teams combined in a comical moment. Cech against his old club, seemingly forgot he was no longer a Chelsea player - or forgot Fabregas (who had come on as a sub) was no longer an Arsenal player as the Czech keeper passed the ball straight to the Chelsea midfielder who then lobbed him for number three.

Arsenal did grab a consolation in stoppage time with a Giroud header - a goal that I think Courtois should have done better with. Zouma - another substitute - should have been tracking him but he is probably still lacking some slight match fitness after his long lay-off. Lots of rumours that Courtois will be off in the summer. I am still not totally 100% convinced of how good he is as a keeper and I feel like if he really did want to move on to Madrid, then Chelsea should possibly make a move for Joe Hart, if City don't want him back of course.

So it finished 3-1 and at the start of the week, I'd have taken two draws but considering no one took advantage when we drew with Liverpool in the week, this is more than acceptable. Still nine points clear and having played most of our main rivals played twice accept for City, who we still have to face at home and United away. We're also still in the FA cup which I think, may become more of a priority the longer we stay in it providing our Premier League form continues to be good.

Plenty of reasons to be positive at the minute! Come on the Chels!

What is going on?

Ok - first of all, apologies for my lack of blogs this season. For one reason or another I haven't quite been able to dedicate the time to them. However, I feel now the time has come to summarise what's happened in the season so far with a blog about Chelsea's poor form and why things might be going wrong.

Firstly, I don't think it's one thing. I think it's a number of contributing factors. To begin I'd have to go back to the summer. I don't think the players had enough time off after the efforts they put in to win the title last season. But the fault there lies with the club - I've noticed the last few years Chelsea (and other Premier league clubs in fairness) have sent their teams on a 'post season tour'. I question the merits of this - as if going on a pre-season tour somewhere is not enough anymore? I understand the clubs reasoning is to make money but they should not do so at the risk of burning players out. On the 30th May at the end of last season the team were ordered to fly to Thailand for a friendly and then to Sydney for a friendly game three days later. Just over a week later all these players would then have to meet up with their international teams for the latest round of Euro qualifiers before having then to meet up with their clubs early July for pre season which saw us play our first game on July 23rd. So I'm not entirely sure the players had enough time off. Secondly I don't think the board backed Jose enough. I've seen heard were interested in Benteke who was interested in a move to Chelsea even though he knew he wouldn't have been number two to Costa - but Chelsea said no to the asking price of £30m and ended up with Falcao on loan. Falcao if we didn't already know it, is finished unfortunately. The pursuit of John Stones went on far too long, we should have lumped up the 30 or 40 million up front early doors. Is it too much money? Maybe, but that's the nature of the market, clubs have to predict how much money they will lose on shirt sales/merchandise as English players bring the most money in to them since there are so few. We were also apparently talking to Pogba quite late in the transfer window - but far too late. Yes we did fork out some money late in the window after a stuttering start but Jose brought in Pedro who hasn't exactly shone and Papy Djilobodji was brought in on deadline day as a result of not getting Stones. He has played one minute since.
As much as I love Mourinho, one of the very small criticisms I had of him the first time round (very small I must stress) was that he wasn't great with his signings - if you look at all the players he brought in first time round, there's probably a considerable percentage that didn't turn out too great (Kezman, Jarosik, Tiago to name a few) and this time round, there's been a few transfers that haven't turned out too great for one reason or another. Letting Bertrand go and bringing in Filipe Luis, I'm not sure what was a great decision (assuming it was Mourinho's and not Emenlo's call). He's since replaced Luis with Baba Rahman, as yet I don't quite see if Rahman is an adequate replacement. Also he sold Shurrle, who was having an ok-but-not-too-great first half of last season, and replaced him with Cuadrado, who turned out to be awful. The question of whether these are Mourinho or Emenlo's calls is subject to some speculation, I'm hearing that Djilobodji was signed on Emenlo's recommendation.
Also, he sold Kevin De Bruyne who has since gone on to become a hell of a player. Now maybe he had a bit of a bad attitude and didn't want to fight for his place as Jose instructed (bit similar to Pogba at Man Utd), but it still does not look great. David Luiz was an erratic defender at best but was a very good defensive midfielder I maintain, Benitez was the first manager who tried him there but maybe Jose didn't want to play him there because he had too much pride and didn't want to acknowledge anything his old rival did? Maybe. Juan Mata was another player (following Duff and Robben first time round) who became a victim of Mourinho's restrictive and defensive style of play and he was sold. Now obviously selling all of those players was instrumental in financing the deals for Costa, Fabregas and Matic who all had big parts to play in winning the title last season so of course it was the right decision BUT I do wonder  - could we have tried keeping Luiz, De Bruyne and Mata and still signed Costa, Fabregas and Matic? I certainly think Chelsea would be a better team if they had kept all those players, for example we could have moved on Ramires and Obi Mikel who are frustrating players to watch and Oscar who is far too erratic and Pedro who hasn't yet shone, would not have needed to come. There is talk that Jose (providing he doesn't get sacked before January) will need to spend big to overhaul the squad in January so if Roman is resigned to spending a shed load more money to overhaul the squad, wouldn't it have made sense initially to keep Mata, De Bruyne and Luiz whilst still signing Costa, Fabregas and Matic? We'd certainly be a hell of a better team I do think.
While we're on the subject of Mourinho's restrictive tactics, is that another factor? We're hearing rumours (hopefully not true) that Hazard wants out as he wants to play for a team that allows him to express himself more, so he is trying to force a move to Real Madrid if we are to believe that. One of the things that really annoyed me about last season was the PSG home game, one of the worst performances I've seen for a long time. Personally I feel Mourinho's tactics were to blame - it seemed like we were sitting back too defensively, as a 0-0 would have sent us through on away goals. Even went they went down to 10 men after their most dangerous striker got sent off, we still played the same way, like we were the ones down to 10 playing away from home. Incredible game really, and I just wonder - this is just a theory - if the players secretly had some kind of resentment after that game? Our form certainly took a noticeable dip afterwards (not enough to derail our title challenge) as we drew with Southampton then had three wins in a row courtesy of goalkeeping errors (Hull 3-2 Stoke 2-1 QPR 1-0) but afterwards we seemed to get back on track as the title was in sight. But perhaps the ramifications of the ill-feeling has caught up to this season? Sometimes I do feel we are far too pragmatic and wish we would allow certain players to express themselves more, some players do need to have a free role but Jose's track record speaks for itself and he clearly doesn't need to tell anyone to do anything against his philosophy.
Then on the first game of the season there was the infamous 'Doctor row'. I think we all know this story by now. If we are to take what we know and assume Mourinho did literally have a go at them for simply doing their jobs, then unfortunately I don't think he has a leg to stand on but you would assume he wouldn't be that much of an idiot to do something like that and assume that there must have been more to it and there was something going on behind the scenes. Was she disruptive and a distraction? Has the row affected and distracted the team? Who knows, but one thing is for sure it seems the team are still suffering the ramifications of this row.
Finally, there is the simple point that is more than likely the main cause of Chelsea's decline - that the players are just not performing anywhere near the required standard. A fair few players who made key contributions last season have been awful this term. Ivanovic has been one of our worst players, making crucial mistakes in almost every game, yet Mourinho did not seem to drop him! I can't work that out, although it must be something to do with the fact he doesn't trust Baba Rahman enough, although surely he needs time to settle in? Terry is a spent force sadly (that was always going to happen even after the phenomenal efforts of last season) but I feel Mourinho wrongly made him a scapegoat when he subbed him at half time against Man City. He struggled to get back into the team afterwards where as Ivanovic seemed un-droppable. Fabregas was making loads of assists this time last season but is a shadow of that player. He normally trails off in the second half of the season but seemed to have carried his traditional end of season form into the beginning of this season. Costa has two goals so far this season - is he happy in England? He came back for pre-season overweight which is amazingly unprofessional. Last season he was banging the goals in and along with Fabregas, you have two players right there who were two key cogs in the Chelsea machine that started last season so well but are not performing this season. Perhaps that is the simple answer to Chelsea's problems but you would like to think Chelsea are more than just a two man team. Matic has also been under performing, Zouma doesn't not appear to be ready yet and appears to lack concentration. The players all appear to have lost confidence, they look scared to make decisions and indecisive which is so unlike us. Maybe we are missing Courtois who has been injured for a while. Where are the young players we were supposedly bringing through - what about Ruben Loftus Cheek? Is he going to get a chance?
One thing is for sure is that I am fully 100% behind Mourinho despite all the points I've raised and suggested - his track record is one of the best there is left in the game now Sir Alex Ferguson has retired and he also loves the club so we know his heart is in it. Sometimes I would like to see him come out and just admit the other team were better but I know he loves making outbursts to wind up the media and deflect attention so I understand why he does it, and Ferguson was doing it for years. Are the players are fed up with his outbursts which some reports have suggested? I doubt that myself, as I can't imagine them paying attention to what he would say to the media anyway. The media as well have been VERY harsh with Jose and Chelsea and I'm glad some people I've spoken to have noticed this as well, so I'd like to think there are more neutral people out there who have clocked the media's agenda as well. The whole debate about Chelsea players 'surrounding the referee' is one thing that really gets me as ALL teams have done it one time or another but this has come up a few times in Chelsea games lately, with certain commentators (I'm looking at you, BT Sport commentators v Liverpool) condemning Chelsea for this. The incident against Man City with Kompany v Costa where Kompany should have been sent off but Sky Sports chose to focus on Costa's angry reaction (and he was entitled to be angry) which wasn't even red card worthy (praise to Thierry Henry for remaining un-biased while this was going on and pointing out that if Costa had done what Kompany did we would be saying what a disgrace Costa is).
I do worry what Roman is thinking regarding whether or not to get rid of Jose and I really hope he doesn't, as I don't think he can replace him with anyone better. He did for the first time ever, refuse to sack Jose after Jose won nothing in his first season back despite sacking all other managers who had won nothing in a season so that was a sign that he was committed to building a dynasty with Jose. His patience must surely be getting tested now though. Someone I met once said recently that Roman cares a lot about the champions league and as long as we are doing well in that, then Jose is possibly safe for now, and as long as Jose hangs on until January then he will more than likely let Jose bring in reinforcements that are badly needed.

One thing is for sure I fully behind Jose and hope he will turn it around - as much as its been fun to remember what it was like to be a mid - table team in the nineties, I'm not sure my heart can take much more so I hope we can turn it around soon!

New Season: August

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 ...

Final 3 games and post season review

With the title wrapped up, the final three games were a formality, just the aim of getting as many points as possible. First up was the exciting prospect of Liverpool giving us a guard of honour - including one Steven Gerrard on his final Stamford Bridge appearance for Liverpool...
Ruben Loftus-Cheek was given a first start for Chelsea as Mourinho made good on his promise to give more youngsters playing time. Filipe Luis and Zouma started as well as Obi Mikel and Remy as several changes were made. It didn't look like they mattered as John Terry gave us the lead after 5 minutes - heading home a Fabregas corner and making hin the Premier leagues highest scoring defender - which is an incredible achivement when you bear in mind that the player he overtook, David unsworth, mostly took penalties and free kicks where as Terry has not a single set piece goal.
Filipe Luis diverted a Coutinho shot wide shorty after and Mignolet pushed a Fabregas shot around the post. An early injury saw Zouma replaced by Cahill. Liverpool equalised before half time when - wouldn't you know it - Gerrard headed home Hendersons free kick. I'd say liverpool edged the second half as complacency and possible lack of motivation hit the already crowned champions, Lalanna and Coutinho going close with wide shots. Willian then also fired wide and Fabregas saw a shot comfortably saved - before with 13 minutes left came my favourite moment of the match. Gerrard subbed in his last ever Stamford Bridge appearance and the Chelsea fans gave him a standing ovation showing their class (he wouldn't have got that at Old Trafford). A late Coutinho shot almost fooled Courtois but the Belgian keeper made a save to deny Liverpool a late win. Afterwards Gerrard gave a funny interview addressing the standing ovation where he dismissed the gesture saying "It was nice of them (the Chelsea fans) to turn up for once". Ok, I guess he deserved that after all the stick we gave him, I do think footballers are allowed to give stick back to fans. I'd like to think the next day he was a bit more appreciative of that though. Overall I was happy with Loftus - Cheeks performance, he kept things neat and simple.
The next match away to West Brom was one to forget. Costa returned to the starting line up although Remy retained his place, moving out to the wide left. Matic came in for Obi Mikel and Cahill for Zouma. Loftus - Cheek retained his place. We had it all to do though after an early scare, as Berahino gave West Brom the lead with a brilliant goal, a right foot strike outside the penalty area into the bottom corner. Can't fault that. Hazard fire over the bar before a comedic moment saw Chelsea reduced to 10 men. Costa clashed with a couple of West Brom players and while the referee tried (and struggled) to restore order, Fabregas took the ball and pinned into straight onto Brunts head. It was quite funny and brilliant precision in fairness, but the referee saw it as a red card offfence and dismissed him. Chelsea though almost pulled themselves level when Filipe Luis saw a free kick saved by the keeper and at the other end Courtois saved low from Brunt. A minute into the second half and any hope of getting back into the match was dashed as Terry fouled Berahino who charged towards goal. Berahino himself took the penalty and made it 2-0. Chelsea best effort of the second half came when Remy struck a 20 yard shot against the post, while late on Brunt struck a powerful left foot strike home from a corner to make it 3-0. With the title in the bag I can't say I was too bothered though...
So then onto the final game against Sunderland with the chance to lift the trophy in front of the fans. Drogba annonced before the match he would be leaving Chelsea again - signalling his desire to play more regularly. He captained Chelsea today, Terry still started though, ensuring he has played every minute of Chelseas 38 game season. Cech came in as well so he could pick up a winners medal - will he be there next season I wonder? Willian started in place of suspended Fabregas and so did Cuadrado. Willian and Larsson each tested the keepers with a free kick and then Cech also kept out Defore before Sunderland took the lead. A Johnson corner was headed in at the far post by Fletcher. Shortly afterwards Chelsea made a substitution, but not just any substitution. Drogba having announced he was leaving was being withdrawn, having only just returned from an injury. All his team mates (Cech included) ran towards him to lift him up and carry him to the touchline where he was given a standing ovation by fans, staff and manager. It was a lovely moment as Stamford Bridge said goodbye to the player recently voted as its greatest ever player. Costa came on to replace him and it didn't take too long for him to make an impact. Cuadrado was sent tumbling by Rodwell inside the penalty area for a penalty - I might be wrong but I think it might be the most significant thing he's done since joining! Hazard could have taken it and gone level with Costa as top scorer, but he unselfishly gave it to Costa to get on the scoresheet for the first time since his injury at Hull two months agao - and the striker did not disapoint as he smashed home the penalty for 1-1. Cuadrado ended up being subbed for Remy before half time. As the second half started Remy almost opened the scoring but saw an effort deflect wide while a the other end, Azpilecueta cleared off the line from Defoe. Cahill saw a drive saved while Willian also went close before with 20 minutes left, Hazard gave one final reminder of why he has been the best player this season as he went on a run and fed Remy who slotted home. Youngster Christensen was brought on for Obi Mikel before Remy sealed the win as he finished off a Costa centre with minutes remaining.

Overall I think we've been the best team this season by far, in all competitions we've only lost four games, three in the premier league (one when we were already crowned champions) and one in the FA cup against Bradford. In the champions league we were knocked out on away goals by PSG so didn't actually lose in that competition. For next season, I think we still need to improve the squad - our rivals will most certainly improve there's. I'm hearing rumours that Falcao is being lined up as a replacement for Drogba - if that is true then I don't know what I think of that. He would only be our third choise striker of course but he didn't exaclty light up Old Trafford, but maybe Mourinho has other plans for him. I think Cuadrado for Schurrle was a bad bit of business if I'm being honest, although he may yet still come good. I think maybe another left back is needed and another midfielder - I'd go for Pogba but he will most likely be too expensive. It was nice to see more youngsters given a chance this year but still don't think it was done enough - I'd like to see more of that next season, especially Ruben Loftus - Cheek. I think the Bradford game and the manner of our performance in the second leg v PSG shows we do need to strengthen the squad. For that reason, I'd like Cech to stay, we could really do with that, but I'm hearing it is unlikely.

Below I've selected some of my highs and lows for the season - they are just my personal opinions though. Let me know if you agree or disagree.

Player of the season: John Terry
Goal of the season: Oscar v QPR
Most important goal: Fabregas v QPR
Most important game: Chelsea 1-0 Man Utd
Best game of the season: Everton 3 - 6 Chelsea
One to watch: Loftus Cheek
Worst game: Chelsea 2 -2 PSG (due to the fact it was on my birthday)
Best game I went to: Chelsea 3 - 0 Tottenham
Favourite player: Eden Hazard
Team of the season: Courtois, Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Azpilecueta, Matic, Fabregas, Hazard, Willian, Remy, Costa
Best chant: 'Fabregas is magic' followed closely by the Gerrard song which I didn't pick first due to it being over-done.
Shout out: Chelsea fans showing their class by giving Gerrard a standing ovation and Lampard after he scored against us - media did not bother praising us for either though
Thoughts for next season: Retain the league but do much better in champions league

Come on the Chels!

Champions again!

We did it - Chelsea champions again for the fifth time in their history, fourth time in a decade, and first time in five years. The third league title won by Jose Mourinho and the thirteenth trophy in the Abramovich era. Chelsea always seem to win when the year ends in a five - 1955 2005 2015 not to mention they were formed in 1905!
Chelsea's march to the title started with Arsenal away, and there was much spice in the build up as it was Wenger v Mourinho again. Wenger had never beaten Mourinho and much was being made of this fact. Fabregas returning to his old club - he gave Arsenal many years of service and went to Barcelona when he realised his Arsenal career was producing no trophies. Typical Arsenal fans showing little class by giving him a poor reception unlike the great reception Chelsea fans gave Mata last week. Chelsea had a problem up front as Remy was still injured and Drogba also picked up an injury in mid week, so in the end, Jose opted for no strikers up front with Costa still being out. Willian, Ramires Oscar and Hazard up front were selected as our forwards with Fabregas and Matic sitting in front of the familiar back four.
There wasn't much to report on this game as Chelsea set themselves up to do a job on Arsenal and get the necessary result, something Jose knows how to do so well. There was a strong early claim for a penalty when Fabregas (getting booed during every touch) lofted a ball over the top setting Oscar clear, only for Arsenal keeper Ospina to completely take the Brazilian out, not before he managed to get a touch on the ball diverting it goalwards only for Bellerin to clear off the line. Oscar needed immediate medical treatment and would be substitued for Drogba at half time after replays showed he had a taken a blow to the head with some force. Fabregas also had a penalty appeal turned down, only for the referee to show him a yellow card for simulation much to the joy of the deluded gooners. Chelsea's best chance came before half time as Willian slipped Ramires through - six yards from goal he only had Ospina to beat. The Brazillians tame effort with the outside of his right foot though was easily gathered by the keeper.  Chelsea would not get a better chance. Arsenal themselves had a chance of sorts as Ozil fired through a crowd of players straight at Courtois - their only shot on target.
Drogba replaced Oscar at half time with Fabregas taking over the number 10 role and Ramires dropping back. Aside from a long range Drogba shot that was easily saved and a Mertasacker shot through a crowded penalty area that went wide after Courtois had punched a corner, there were little chances in this match as Chelsea did a superb defensive performance on Arsenal, especially John Terry. One Twitter user joked that the highlights of Arsenal v Chelsea was just John Terry continuously heading the ball away. As Arsenal pressed late on for a winner, Cazorla dragged a shot wide and in stoppage time, Ozil and Welbeck missed-kicked a low cross as it finished a stalemate. Chants of 'boring boring Chelsea' ran around the Emirates at full time as Chelsea's superb defensive performance took a battering. It did set Mourinho up for a brilliant response to the critics - 'Ten years without a title - that's boring'. There was also praise for John Terry who looked all set to finish an outstanding season as one of our best players, with Mourinho calling this performance as Terry's best ever for Chelsea. Later that night Terry, along with Ivanovic, Cahill, Hazard, Matic and Costa were selected in the PFA team of the year with Hazard winning the top prize of player of the year, just as Terry did a decade ago under Mourinho.
The Arsenal result meant we were two more wins away from winning the league and the first of those possible victories came in our game in hand away to Leicester. The only changes to the line up was that Drogba was deemed fit enough to start and replaced Oscar, however Courtois was not deemed fit enough and was dropped in place of Cech. Chelsea took a while to get going in this game and aside from Leicester being so unlucky they were forced to make two early substitutions because of injury, no real incidents of any note arrived until the 40th minute when Leicester almost took the lead - Konchesky's right foot shot threatened to squeeze in at Cechs near post, only for Cech to fingertip it against the post. There was a bit of ping-pong that followed which was finished by Albrighton seeing his shot blocked on the line. A bit of a scare but it didn't spring Chelsea into first gear just yet, as Leicester took the lead right on half time. Vardy escaped down the left and sent a low cross in and due to the crazy weather (it started off with sunshine, then heavy rain and then the first half ended with sunshine again but a very slippery pitch) a few defenders slipped in attempting to break up the attack, only for Albrighton to arrive at the far post to side foot home and put the hosts 1-0 up at the break.
One of the great things about Mourinho though is you always seem to have faith that he will turn things around at half time. Chelseas response right at the start of the second half was worthy of champions - as Ivanovic sent home a low cross for Drogba to turn home. The Ivorian almost added a second minutes later as he sidefooted Fabregas' pull back high over the bar. Chelsea were in control now but had to wait until the 79th minute before they took the lead as Cahills header from a corner was saved by Schmeichel only for Terry to shin the rebound home from close range. Chelsea fans could then be heard sarcastically chanting 'boring boring Chelsea' in response to Arsenal's ridiculous chant at the weekend. The chant was immediately interrupted though by an outstanding goal from Ramires as he smashed home a left footed strike from the edge of the area into the top corner. Fantastic goal to seal the win. Chelsea now one win away from being champions again ...
Crystal Palace were the visitors to Stamford Bridge on May 3rd, in good form under Alan Pardew. The only changes were Courtois coming back in place of Cech and Ramires getting ill in the warm up and having to go straight to hospital, so Cuadrado coning in for him. I still don't see the improvement in replacing Schurrle with Cuadrado. Schurrle wasn't having a good season but I'm not sure if Jose has been a bit too ruthless with him - Cuadrado has been signed 'for next season' apparently as he may not be ready but then why not keep Schurrle and sign Cuadrado in the summer? I get Chelsea are doing well with keeping in the rules of FFP and it was a good bit of business but Cuadrado hasn't been great since he arrived, I think I'd rather we kept Schurrle. Although a few players have come out and said that Jose has a sixth sense when it comes to knowing when to sell players - and it clearly hasn't made a difference anyway!
An early ball from Fabregas was almost headed in by Drogba but the Chelsea striker was inches away from making contact. A Drogba free kick that went straight at Speroni and a fantastic Terry block rolling back the years, preventing a certain goal from Puncheon, where the only notable incidents of the first half. It looked set for 0-0 at half time before Eden Hazard charged into the penalty area and was brought down after trying to squeeze through Mariappa and McArthur. His spot kick though, using his tried and trusted 'Mendieta technique' failed this time as Speroni made the save, but Hazard had the luck of the bounce and headed in the rebound to put Chelsea ahead at the break. The second half saw the atmosphere crank up a notch as the title neared closer and closer - Ivanovic and Puncheon exchanged wide shots, while Cahil fired over and Zaha forced Courtois into making a save after being found unmarked at the back post. Nearing the end of the game, Chelsea hit Palace on the counter and Willian finished with a wide shot. But with Obi Mikel coming on for Cuadrado at half time, Chelsea were always set to close the game out and get the result they needed - as they had been doing for the second half of the season - and inevitably the game did finish 1-0 and Chelsea had the title. Que celebrations all over West London. I watched the game in Brogans just down the road and the atmosphere was electric - Queens 'We are the champions' blasted out at full time along with all the other classic Chelsea songs likely to be heard on match-day, such as Blue is the Colour, Liquidator and Blue day among others.
So a decade on from 2005 we're champions again, and should we win all our remaining games we could reach 92 points, which would be the second highest in the Premier League era, second to our haul of 95 in 2005! Mourinho wins another title (it was nice to see him embrace his family behind the goal immediately after the final whistle) and his record since 2002 now reads 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 1st as well as 2 Premeira Liga titles, 1 Champions league and 1 Uefa cup with Porto, 3 Premier league titles, 3 league cups and 1 FA cup with Chelsea, 2 Serie A titles, 1 Coppa Italia and 1 Champions league with Inter Milan, 1 La Liga and 1 Copa Del Ray with Real Madrid. All the talk now will be about summer acquisitions, i.e how to make the team better and maybe even win the Champions League. Once I submit my final report for the last three games I'll also have a summary report for the season as a whole. In the meantime though - let the celebrations begin! CHAMPIONS!!!