Is Rafa turning it around?

Rafa Benitez's arrival at the Bridge wasn't really a popular ones for the fans and frosty receptions welcomed him on match days.It didn't help that Chelsea failed to win in the first three matches in charge and the failure to win the Club World Cup again didn't help his reputation. Benitez himself told the media that he needs wins to please the fans. But since arriving back from the Club World Cup, we have been seeing a revival for the Blues and especially in Torres. After placing 5 in the net against Leeds in the Capital One cup, Chelsea's best performance in the season came against Aston Villa, where the Blues romped home 8-0, with 7 different scorers. A 1-0 victory over Norwich followed, but then Norwich beat United and Arsenal this season and are no pushovers.With one game in hand, Chelsea are now 4 points behind City and 11 points behind leaders United, whose never say die attitude again brought them back from the jaws of defeat against Newcastle. 11 points is a big gap to overhaul, but its only reached the half way stage in the premier league. Even last season,City had a lead of 10 points at the half way stage, only to lose the lead going into the final weeks and then regaining it by the end.So Chelsea's pursuit of the premier league isn't exactly over though its going to be really tough. The current form looks good and if we can get a victory against Everton on Sunday, it will be a massive boost to the credentials. Everton hasn't been a happy hunting place for the Blues recently as the last 3 visits have presented defeats. With Everton also in good form, this could really be a match that could lift the Londoners if a win can be achieved.

Rafa's arrival was also meant to revive Torres and if stats are to be taken into consideration, Rafa has managed to get Torres scoring as he has scored 7 in his last 6 outings.Only van Persei with 16 goals in all competitions has more goals than Torres if you consider the players from the Premier League. Even now, its early to say Torres is back as he needs to prove this against better sides and Everton will be an opportunity for this.

Rafa's master stroke so far has been the deployment of David Luiz in the midfield role.He first deployed the Brazilian in the position in the Club World Cup and Luiz has thrived in the role, whether it is winning tackles or in passing the ball quickly to the attacking trio and Torres. Luiz in the pivot role is something the fans had been crying out for long and Rafa's decision could have actually found the best position for the Brazilian, whose is without question a wonderful talent.

Rafa has also managed to use the squad better as the likes of Marin and Piazon have finally made their debuts for Chelsea.Even academy player Nathan Ake played the final few minutes against Norwich.The first team hasn't really changed much from the earlier regime, only that more players are being used.

So Rafa's Chelsea is winning,Torres is scoring and deployment of Luiz in the DM position was a master stroke.Its still early to say that Rafa has turned it around and will be a good bet to take the position on a permanent basis, but the signs are looking good. The lack of depth in the striker's role is something that needs to be sorted out in the January transfer window. Falcao may not arrive after all, but the likes of Andre Schrulle, Negredo and Demba Ba are some of the names that have been rumored as potential targets by the Blues. Personally, I would prefer Demba Ba, as the Senegalese has a proven record in the premier league and will be available if Chelsea trigger his release clause of 7.5 million,not exactly an amount that Roman would even think twice over. With Sturridge seemingly on his way to Liverpool, its important that Chelsea add a proven goal scorer in January.Who knows, if United or City drop points and Chelsea continue its revival, the premier league might not be an impossible objective and with the Capital One Cup,FA and the Europa League, the season could yet prove to be a great one, like last season.

Chelsea 3 Monterrey 1 - Blues through to Club World Cup finals

Chelsea are through to the finals of the Club World Cup after they overcame North & Central American champions Monterrey in the semi finals. Goals from Mata and Torres followed by an own goal gave the Blues a 3-0 lead before the Mexicans pulled one back in injury time.
Chelsea will meet Brazilian side Corinthians in the finals on Sunday.

Torres' revival under Rafa Benitez continues as the Spaniard has now scored 5 goals in his last three matches, without doubt his best spell at the club so far. The goals have however come against easy opposition like Nordjaelland,Sutherland and now Monterrey. The confidence is surely building up, but unless he performs against better opposition, it wouldn't be possible to say that 'he is back'.

Rafa Benitez also experimented with David Luiz as the defensive midfielder alongside Mikel. With Romeu injured and Mikel suspended for 2 more matches in the league, the options in the center of the midfield are very limited with only Ramires and Lampard available to play in the position.With Lampard just coming back from injury, we could see Luiz or Oscar playing in the role alongside Ramires in the next couple of weeks. With Ramires also suspended for the game against Leeds, Lampard remains the only CM available for us against Leeds.so definitely Luiz or Oscar will fill the other spot.It was anyway a good move by Rafa to experiment Luiz in the role,especially with the shortage of options at present.

Monterrey wasn't really expected to give a tough fight to the Blues, but the Brazilian team Corinthians will be no push overs and on Sunday, we could visit a much tougher game.

Blues back to winning ways in the League

Yesterday saw the first premier league win for Rafa Benitez as Chelsea boss. After tasting success against FC Nordjaelland in the Champions League, the first premier league win came after Rafa started with 2 draws and a loss. The exit from the Champions league is a huge disappointment and Chelsea now has become the first champions to not make it into the knock out stage. The draw at home against Juventus, in the first match of the campaign certainly hurt us.

The EPL match against Sunderland saw us returning back to winning games and if Rafa has been brought into to find the lost goal scoring boots of Fernando Torres, it certainly seems to be working. 2 goals against Norjaelland was followed by 2 goals against Sunderland, of which one was a penalty. That Torres wanted to take the penalty shows that the confidence is certainly returning. 4 goals in 2 games is without doubt the best performance from Torres till date in the Blue shirt, but I wouldn't go on and say that he is back. FC Nordjaelland and Sunderland are not really tough opposition and unless Torres finds the back of the net regularly in big matches, the 50 million price tag will still seem like money poorly spent.

Now lets say Torres keeps on scoring during the Rafa Benitez regime. Where does that leave Roman Abramovich in the pursuit of Pep Guardiola? While Benitez might be able to lift the side back to winning ways, Chelsea are never going to play the tika-taka style with Benitez at the helm. Even yesterday, Chelsea were comfortably leading 3-0 when Bertrand came in for Moses. Now that was a very negative move. With the side playing well, it would have been better to go for more goals rather than resorting to the negative ploy of playing a defensive minded Bertrand. Not that it made a difference though as Bertrand played yet another game which showed that he is no where near Cole. If reports are to be believed, Cole will be allowed to go in January or at the end of the season and I certainly don't think that Bertrand is an able replacement. Yes he is a good enough left back,but certainly not in the category of a Cole or Baines.Trying out Patrick van Aanholt wouldn't be a bad option either. The problem with Di Matteo was that he didn't rotate the squad enough and at the end of his regime, Chelsea had used only 19 players in the EPL, the lowest in the league. Rafa Benitez was saying about the importance of rotation, and using Bertrand in place of Moses might have been a case of player rotation, but again why not play Marin? Ok this is not my first post saying that Chelsea haven't used Marin properly, but I certainly feel that he hasn't done much wrong in the warm up matches or in the few minutes he has got on the pitch. Eden Hazard has been playing in almost all the matches and it is high time that he gets a rest. The Belgian will face a burnout if started in every match, and with Marin's natural position being left back, starting Marin in place of Hazard wouldn't be a bad idea. All the substitution proved was that Rafa is not the way forward for Chelsea if Roman wants us to play the Barcelona way. If Dailymail is to be believed, Guardiola may not even join Chelsea with Jurgen Klopp being lined up as an alternative.

Soon after the match, the Blues traveled to Japan for the Club World Cup, where the Blues will play on the 13th in the semi finals and on 16th in the finals if they qualify. 

Lukaku should be back at Chelsea in January

West Brom currently sit above Chelsea in the EPL table with an impressive forward line to choose from.While first choice striker Shane Long has been brilliant, Romelu Lukaku has proved that he is a more than able to succeed in the premier league with 4 goals and an assist. The stats are really impressive considering that the young Belgian has started from the bench most of the times. While his parent club Chelsea are struggling with their strikers Torres and Sturridge have disappointed. The decision to loan out Lukaku is proving to be an unwise one already. Abramovich might want Torres to succeed, but his performances in front of the goal is really testing the patience of supporters who have always stood by him. While there is a slim chance that Rafa might be able to get back some of the form in Torres, there is every chance that he will not be as lethal as in his Liverpool days. Also, with Sturridge wanting out in January, the clause to get Lukaku back in January should be used by the Blues. The other option is to bring Falcao to Chelsea, but that would again mean spending a load of money. But when we have a youngster doing so well for another club in the premier league, why bring Falcao in? Even if Falcao is in, that would mean more or less that Torres will move in the opposite direction, leaving us again with a single striker. Lukaku has gained valuable experience playing for the Baggies and has proved his worth. Even with a main striker,Torres or Falcao in the squad, there has to be someone who can make an impact from the bench, like Hernandez does for Man United or super sub Dzeko does it for Man City. It all depends on how the manager succeeds in giving playing time to the fringe players,something that RDM didn't do very well. Chelsea have used only 19 players in the EPL till date, which is the lowest in the league. If Man United and City who both have 4 strikers to choose from can rotate their players, why can't Chelsea do the same thing. It brings out the best in the players starting,since they won't be taking their places for granted. Also, it would give some rest to the players. Torres began impressively this season, but has started in almost every game, which would have obviously tired the Spaniard. Isn't that enough reasons to suggest that Lukaku should be back at Chelsea in January?

Lukaku's stats so far at West Brom

Starts : 3*
Substitute appearances : 8*
Goals: 4
Assists : 1

* Lukaku wasn't eligible to play against Chelsea. 11 appearances off a possible 12 for the Baggies

** 3 of his 4 goals have come in winning causes
** Torres has the same number of goals and he has started in all matches

Frosty reception for Rafa as Chelsea and Manchester City play out a draw

The Rafa Benitez era at the Bridge began with the new manager being booed by large sections of the home crowd and support pouring in for Robbie Di Matteo. Rafa has been an unpopular figure for the Stamford Bridge faithful ever since his Liverpool days and for almost the first half, the crowd never got behind the team.All the action was restricted to the crowd as on the pitch,Chelsea and Manchester City were far from impressive as a tame draw was played out. There weren't any clear cut chances for both teams and if Rafa is to win over the fans,he will need the team to win a few matches convincingly. This one did little good to enhance his reputation with the crowd.

Torres was back in the side with the trio of Hazard,Mata and Oscar behind him. Ivanovic was preferred over Cahill at center back with Luiz along side him.The same 4-2-3-1 system was employed but the creative spark which has gone missing for the past few games was again missing as no clear cut chances were created. The result leaves Chelsea in 4th position behind West Brom and City in 2nd position.

Manager Watch:

It would have been really tough for Rafa to hear the chants of 'Rafa Out' in his very first game in charge, but it wasn't unexpected. When you replace a fan favorite with someone who the fans don't want at all, it would have been a surprise if a good reception was given to Rafa. No changes to the system nor the personnel were made by the new manager as the same 4-2-3-1 formation was employed.But the free flowing football was missing,meaning that more emphasis was laid on the defensive side of the game.But with the fans against him, the only way to turn around things is to get wins and I felt that enough wasn't done to win the game.It was City who looked like scoring for most parts of the game.

Substitutions: Benitez made two substitutions in the game. Moses coming in for Hazard and then Romeu for Mikel. While the first one made sense to put fresh legs on the pitch,the second substitution just confirmed the fact that Benitez was happy with a point. It simply didn't make sense for me that Romeu came in for Mikel. If Chelsea were looking to win the game, then another attacker should have been on the pitch. Again the unlucky Marin was to miss out. A 4-1-4-1 formation would have given more of an opportunity to score,with Marin,Oscar,Mata and Moses behind Torres, or even push one of the mid fielders to partner Torres upfront with a 4-1-3-2 formation. Di Matteo was also a bit reluctant to change the formations and watching the first game with Benitez in charge, I fear the same is going to be repeated.

Not a good outing for the new manager in terms of the reception and the substitutions made but a positive from the match would be the clean sheet especially against City who has arguably the best forward line in the premier league.

Rafa Benitez appointed manager till the end of the season

Chelsea's pursuit of Pep Guardiola was due to fail as the former Barcelona manager refused to come out of his sabbatical before the end of the season. Former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has been appointed as the interim manager. Here are my thoughts on the appointment.

Benitez's appointment is seen as a short term solution by the Chelsea hierarchy until Pep comes out of his sabbatical. Having seen the history of Roman's impatience with manager, will Pep be ready to come after all? After all he will need time to implement a free flowing style and Roman's impatience won't help him achieve the success in short term.Now what happens if Benitez wins the Premier League this season? Won't Chelsea be forced to keep him as a good will gesture? Another dilemma for Chelsea would be that Pep will have a lot of offers other than Chelsea, with probably Manchester City or even Man United interested. Sir Alex Fergusson might be retiring in a year or 2 and if SAF decides to go at the end of this season, I see no reason why Pep wouldn't be interested in take up the job. Both the Manchester clubs will provide much more security to his job.

Another problem with Benitez's appointment is that he is almost hated by Chelsea fans.Chelsea fans are not happy with RDM's sacking and on top of it, the hierarchy appoint a person whom Chelsea fans hate. Rafa has to win over the fans and keep winning matches as well. So a lot of pressure is already there on Rafa as he takes the reigns at Stamford Bridge.

Benitez got the boot from Inter Milan, 6 months after taking charge. The same Inter won the treble the previous season with Mourinho at the helm. He wasn't able to land a job for another 2 years after the sacking from Inter. So is he really the right man for the job?

In spite of all this negativity surrounding the appointment of Rafa, there are some qualities in Rafa, that could really inspire the team. He was able to win two La Liga titles with Valencia before winning the Champions league with Liverpool. There is no doubt that he is a successful manager. Another positive about him is that he is the manager under whom Torres thrived. It does makes one wonder whether the appointment is to fire Torres. Personally, I don't really think that Torres will reach that same heights but the plans to revive Torres starts with Rafa's appointment.Another quality that Rafa brings in his no nonsense attitude, which would help in managing the egos within the team.

Will Rafa be able to revive the team low on confidence? Only time will tell and all I can say is "Good luck Rafa". That doesn't mean that I am impressed by the appointment, but lets see what happens at the end of season before being judgmental.

RDM loses his job after loss at Turin leaves Chelsea on the brink of CL exit

6 months after he led Chelsea to its greatest night at Munich, Roberto Di Matteo was sacked by Chelsea after a string of bad results. The loss to Juventus at Turin has left Chelsea facing an exit from the Champions league in the league stage itself, a fact that was too much for Roman to ignore and acted by axing the popular manager.

This is a really shocking decision (rather another shocking decision). True that the results over the past few matches were disappointing but that doesn't mean that the manager has to be sacked,especially since RDM won the Champions league and FA cup as the interim manager last season. Add to the fact that he was a wonderful player for Chelsea, RDM has a legendary image at Chelsea and this decision would have alienated so many fans.

Pep Guardiola has long been sought after by Roman and is favorite to replace RDM. Whether he will come out of his sabbatical is still a major roadblock for Chelsea. Rafa Benitez is another candidate for the job.

So sorry for Di Matteo. Led the team to its greatest night and still didn't keep his job. While I accept that Chelsea would have been nothing without Roman, he cannot continue axing managers after a string of bad results. What happens if Pep comes in and loses 5 matches - he too will be fired. So will he even take a job that is so insecure? Disappointed by the decision.

November blues continue as Chelsea as slump continues at West Brom

Over the past few years, the month of November has been a very bad month for Chelsea as the team some how seem to lose the momentum and this season also has proved so far that the curse of November is still there. A 2-1 loss to West Brom meant that Chelsea are now 4 league games without a win. With Man United losing to Norwich later in the day, it was also an opportunity missed to close the gap. As it stands, the Blues are now 4 points behind new league leaders Manchester City and 3 points behind United.

Di Matteo decided to bench key players for the game as many of them were on duty for their country during mid week. Oscar,Ramires,Mata and Ivanovic were absent from the starting line up. RDM's rotation has been really poor and the Blues have used only 19 players in the league, the least in the Premier League. With the talent at his disposal, Di Matteo should be using more of his players to prevent the key players from burning out. With Mata and Oscar benched, RDM started with Moses,Hazard and Sturridge behing Torres. Again for some reasons, Marin was again left on the bench. Hazard has normally played on the left side for Chelsea and with Marin's preferred position being the left, one would have thought that the Belgian could also be given a break and play Marin in the position. The Belgian was however one of the brighter players on the pitch and scored Chelsea's lone goal by heading in Azpilicueta's cross. Torres was again anonymous.With Sturridge moving to the center when Torres was taken off,Chelsea carved out some chances for scoring. Sturridge did his chances no harm as he forced the keeper into a couple of good saves. But the "selfish" nature in him was again evident as he chose to shoot instead of passing to a better placed team mate.

The lack of quality up front is really hurting Chelsea and with Torres again misfiring after the good start to the season ,the need to get a good striker in January will be the top priority. News reports suggest that Falcao will arrive in January. I don't really think the Chelsea need to go spent another 50 million on a striker and would prefer Lukaku brought back from his loan spell. 

Blues lose further ground on league leaders with draw against Liverpool

While the Blues began the season in absolutely wonderfully well, the last few games have been a different story with Chelsea struggling to notch up victories. While the match against Manchester United was lost in controversial circumstances, even in that match, the first two goals were conceded so easily. Last week the Blues allowed Swansea to draw level after taking the lead and it was the same story this week as well as Terry's opener was cancelled out by Luiz Suarez. This makes it 3 EPL games without a win and 2 points out of a possible 9 is not at all championship winning form.What will concern more for RDM is that Terry's comeback was cut short by an injury,which looks like will keep him out for some time.

Chelsea had enough chances to win the game and were guilty of not finishing well. There is obviously a lot of tired legs in the midfield, who have been laboring week and week out. While the depth of the squad is great, the rotation seems to be happening only in the defense. Moses has got some action, but the bulk of the matches have seen Mata,Hazard and Oscar line up. It would probably be a good thing to bring in Marin and Piazon for some of the matches to avoid a burnout for Hazard,Mata and Oscar.

The draw saw us lose further ground as United's and City's wins means that Chelsea are now in third position. Next up is West Brom away, which will again be another massive test. West Brom are currently fifth in the table.

Looking ahead to Chelsea vs Liverpool

Competition: EPL
Opponent: Liverpool
Venue: Stamford Bridge,Chelsea

After the mid week triumph against Shakthar Donetsk in the Champions league, Chelsea resume their battle for the EPL crown on Sunday with another tough match, this time against Liverpool. The current table position shows the Blues in second place while Liverpool are languishing in 12th, but that wouldn't mean that this will be an easy game. Liverpool have the habit of raising their game against the likes of Chelsea,Man United,Man City and Arsenal and are a dangerous opponent. The results may have gone against them, but with Suarez,Gerrand,Allen etc in the team, Liverpool are still a strong side. Also, Liverpool have been something of a thorn in the flesh for Chelsea as they have been one of the most successful clubs to have face Chelsea in the recent past. In the last four meetings at the Bridge, the Reds have amazingly won 3 of them, including a 2-1 win last season.

With Chelsea opting the expansive style, goals are something that the Blues are sure to offer these days.But a recent slump in form following the defeat against Man United and an away draw at Swansea saw the Blues losing the top spot in the EPL tables. With Man United winning against the Villans today, Chelsea are now 4 points behind the league leaders and thus this game becomes a must win to keep up with United.

John Terry might have been benched against Shakthar, but I expect him to be given the start against Liverpool, especially after a horror show by the center backs against Shakthar. Cahill would probably keep his place ahead of Luiz. Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard are still out injured. Bertrand will obviously start at left back against Liverpool. Bertrand was absolutely poor against Shakthar and will hope that he doesn't make such mistakes in this game especially against the pacy 17 year old Raheem Sterling.

Another key battle is for Torres. Torres had a legendary status at Liverpool before Chelsea prized him away but the Spaniard is yet to score against his old club in three meetings.He will be certainly hoping to add to his Chelsea tally of goals. Torres is still not to his best and needs a good game with a goal or two. The striker at the other end, Suarez has been in red hot form in EPL and has already scored 7 goals. The problem for Liverpool has been that none of the others have been contributing much goals. So stopping Suarez will be of primary importance for the Chelsea defense. Expect Terry to be closely marking Suarez.

The mid field trio of Mata,Hazard and Oscar will again start behind Torres. RDM has been saying about squad rotation and while he has rotated his defenders, he has been reluctant to rotate Mata,Hazard and Oscar. Marin is yet to get a game, while Moses has impressed recently with two goals in the last two matches. If Chelsea need width, then it would be good idea to bring on Moses and Marin as the game progresses.

Probable Team : Cech,Ivanovic,Cahill,Terry,Bertrand,Ramires,Mikel,Mata,Oscar,Hazard,Torres

This is another massively important game and a must win if Chelsea have to keep pace with United and City in the battle for the EPL crown.On paper, the Blues should easily brush aside Liverpool,but recent record for the Kop shows that they perform  really well against the Blues. This could be another match with end-to-end stuff and I am really looking forward to it. Only concern is about the referee, Howard Webb. Hopefully the referee and his assistants won't be in the news for all the wrong reasons after the game.

Last gasp winner keeps alive Champions league defense

A last gasp header from Victor Moses gave Chelsea a 3-2 win at Stamford Bridge against Ukrainian champions Shakthar Donetsk. Shakthar had already shown that they are a wonderful team when they thoroughly outplayed the European champions at Donbass Arena, and they once again nearly outplayed the Blues at the Bridge. Two goalkeeping mistakes led to 2 Chelsea goals and the result would probably had been different if not for their defensive lapses, not that Chelsea defended great themselves.

It was an entertaining match with the attack minded players from both sides running riot while both the defenses looked like conceding every now and then. Oscar's wonderful cross in the 5th minute should have probably been turned into the net by Torres,but the Spaniard made up for his miss soon enough as his opportunism meant that Andriy Pyatov hit straight onto Torres. It was more of a gift from the goalkeeper, but Chelsea were soon giving the gift back as horrendous defending from Bertrand and Luiz allowed Willian to slot home after Fernandinho's wonderful run in the 7th minute. The Shakthar goalkeeper was again the culprit as he tried to play sweeper when Mata crossed to the path of Torres. His clearance went straight to Oscar, who lobbed the ball into the empty net from 45 yards. 2-1 to Chelsea at half time.

Straight after half time, Shakthar equalised through Willian in the 47th minute. With the score at 2-2,Shakthar even hit the post while Chelsea also had a case for a penalty. Finally in the last minute of extra time, with almost the last kick of the game, an unmarked Moses rose to head home Juan Mata's corner to keep the Champions league hopes alive.

Shakthar definitely looked the better side and was probably unlucky to lose. With Juventus winning 4-0 at home to Nordjaelland, the group is interestingly poised with Shakthar and Chelsea with 7 points while Juve have 6 points. It could go down to the wire and Chelsea have to improve a lot against Juventus, who as always are strong at home.

Chelsea vs Shakthar Donetsk Preview

Competition: UEFA Champions League
Opponent : Shakthar Donetsk(Ukraine)
Venue: Stamford Bridge,London

Chelsea face off with Ukrainian champions Shakthar Donetsk in the Champions league today in what is a must win game for the Blues. Chelsea is in second position in the group with a win against Nordjaelland and a draw against Juventus. The 2-1 reverse against Shakthar away means that the Blues have to win the remaining home games and probably will need a point from Turin to progress to the next stage.

Juan Mata seems to have recovered from the injury that kept him out of the Swansea match and this is really good news for the Blues. Without Mata in the lineup, Chelsea seemed to be struggling to create chances, even with the likes of Hazard and Oscar in the team. But left back Ashley Cole will sit out of the game with injury along with Frank Lampard. John Terry returns to the side which is good news considering the fact that the defense gave away 10 goals in the 4 matches without him.

Probable team for the game:

Cech

Cahill                        Terry

Ivanovic                                                  Bertrand

Ramires                  Mikel

Mata                 Oscar          Hazard

     Torres

Shakthar are a strong attacking unit and they have a 100% record in the Ukranian league after 13 games with a 12 point lead already. They are scoring goals for fun and the Blues were quite lucky not to have conceded more against Shakthar in the previous game. The Blues will have to take their chances and also cope against the counter attacks from Shakthar. Hopefully Di Matteo won't try to protect a single goal lead as in the Swansea game. Torres has been off color in the recent games and needs to step up. The Spanish striker was awarded the Golden boot award for his goals in Euro 2012 held at Ukraine, but has lost form after starting well this season.Chelsea cannot afford their star striker to be off-color in this must win game and hopefully Torres will come good. Mikel has been found wanting in the champions league matches this season,even though he has performed well in the league. Mistakes like the one against Juventus has to be avoided.

So what to you think the score will be tonight?

Mata awarded the Player of the Month for October

Spanish maestro Juan Mata has been awarded the Premier League player of the month award for the month of October. Mata has been in superb form since he was given a 2 week rest by Di Matteo and in a superb spell in October, Mata scored thrice in the EPL and twice in the other competitions. The EPL goals came against Tottenham and Manchester United. Mata also ended with 5 assists in October to go along with the 5 goals.

With a must win game against Shakthar tonight in the Champions league, Chelsea will be hoping that Mata will recover from his hamstring injury and continue his good form. Mata has been a revelation since he joined last season from Valencia and was the first player to be awarded the Chelsea player of the season in his very first season after Ruud Gullit.

Lackluster Chelsea held by Swansea

With Spanish play maker Juan Mata out with a hamstring injury, Chelsea struggled to create the chances that we normally create these days and in a lackluster performance, allowed Swansea to share the spoils at the Liberty stadium. With the draw, Chelsea's reign at the top of the EPL also came to an end with Manchester United's victory over Arsenal earlier in the day.

With Luiz out with injury, Chelsea started with Ivanovic and Cahill at the center of the defense with Cole and Azpilicueta at the full back positions. Romeu was given a start along side Mikel at the center of the midfield, with Moses coming in for Mata. Hazard,Oscar and Torres completed the attacking four. Chelsea still had the attacking threat,but the lack of creativity in the absence of Mata was very evident right from the start. Chelsea somehow got the lead through Moses, after he deflected a Cahill header towards goal. Chelsea seemed to be happy with a 1-0 victory as RDM sent out Bertrand in place of Oscar, only to see the Swans hit back through Hernandez to make it 1-1. Overall a very disappointing performance to say the least. So what went wrong? Here are my thoughts.

Romeu and Mikel shouldn't have started together:
Romeu and Mikel are very similar kind of players and are a bit slow in passing the ball. This meant that the attacking midfield trio did not get the balls quickly enough.Ramires should have started the game along with either Mikel or Romeu. Ramires eventually came on at half time.

Why is Marin not playing:
One player who must be kicking himself for joining Chelsea would be German winger Marko Marin. The pre-season saw the German coming up with some really good performances on the left. At the start of the season,Marin was injured and after a frustrating period on the sidelines,Marin is now fit but it does seem that RDM is simply not prepared to put the German on the pitch. Today was a perfect opportunity to give him at least 10 minutes, if RDM was prepared to sent in Marin instead of substituting Oscar with Bertrand. At 1-0,we should have tried to score one more instead of the defensive option of Bertrand. Also it would have given some time on the pitch for Marin.

Hazard and Oscar were disappointing today:
There were too many loose passes from Hazard and Oscar today and this contributed to Chelsea lacking the punch going forward. All the more reason why Marin should have come on for either of them . Torres too was disappointing in the final third as another goal drought seem to have hit the Spaniard. Hopefully it won't run for a long time.

Next up is Shakthar Donetsk at the Bridge in what is a very important game for us to qualify to the knock out stages of the Champions League. In the must win game, Chelsea will have to up their tempo and hopefully Mata will be back for the game. A performance like today, and Shakthar will punish us.

Swansea vs Chelsea - Preview

Competition: EPL
Opponent: Swansea
Venue: Liberty Stadium,Swansea

After 2 back to back encounters with Manchester United, Chesea face off with Swansea City in the English Premier League on Saturday.The Swans may have lost their manager Brendan Rodgers to Liverpool, but under Micheal Laudrup, the Swans still play the tika-taka style of football and are still a wonderful team to watch. In Michu, they have  free scoring midfielder and the last match even saw the Spaniard being deployed as the center forward.

The League cup victory needed almost the full team and playing the whole 120 minutes after the dramatical 90 minutes on Sunday seems to have taken its toll on  the players. Midfield maestro Juan Mata is a major doubt against Swansea as he has a hamstring injury. David Luiz is also a major doubt as he is sidelined with an ankle injury. Both players took part in the whole 120 minutes on Wednesday in the League cup and Di Matteo's lack of the squad rotation is proving difficult to understand.Luiz anyway wouldn't have made the squad for Swansea as he serves a one match ban for picking  up a 5th yellow card of the domestic season. German winger Marko Marin is back from injury but yet to get a look in from the Chelsea manager. I would have thought that Marin would start the League cup, only to see Mata again being asked to lead the attacking midfield. With Mata injured, RDM is now forced to look for options in the attacking midfield. Lampard is also out while Terry serves the last of his 4 match ban. Torres and Ivanovic will be back after serving their 1 match bans for the red cards received on Sunday.

With big games coming in the Champions League and the EPL, Di Matteo will be well served to rest Juan Mata and Luiz in the game against Swansea. That means that either Marin or Moses should start against Swansea. I have a feeling that RDM will go for Moses instead of Marin in that case, but certainly hope that the German gets some minutes on the pitch. This is  by no means an easy outing for the Blues, but the changes are more or less forced. This is a time the squad's depth will be tested and with a good pool of players available, it would be better not to take any undue risks on players.

Probable team:

Cech

Ivanovic                    Cahill

Azpilicueta                                                                   Cole

Ramires                 Mikel

Moses                  Oscar             Hazard

     Torres

Blues through to Quarters of league cup after unconvincing win

Chelsea are through to the Quarter finals of the League Cup after an unconvincing 5-4 victory against Manchester United. The fact that the Blues needed almost a full strength team to achieve the victory against a young United side is a worry for the Blues, but it was enough to avoid a 3rd straight loss.Chelsea started with Piazon,Moses and Mata in the attacking midfield ,with Sturridge starting as the lone front man in the absence of Torres. There were starts for Cesar Azpilicueta and Bertrand at the wing backs and for Romeu in the central midfield. In an uninspiring performance, Chelsea went behind 3 times and needed a last minute penalty from Hazard to take the match to extra time. Chelsea will face Leeds United away in the next round.

Chelsea Team for the match: Cech,Azpilicueta,Cahill,Luiz,Bertrand,Romeu,Mikel,Moses,Mata,Piazon,Sturridge
Subs- Ramires for Mikel(h/t),Hazard for Piazon(55'),Oscar for Romeu(71')

Chelsea    5             Manchester United   4
                                         Giggs  22'
Luiz(p)   31'
                                         Hernandez  43'
Cahill      52'
                                         Nani   59'
Hazard(p)  90'+4
Sturridge    97'
Ramires      116'
                                          Giggs(p)  120' 

Chelsea vs Manchester United- Capital One Cup- Preview

Competition : Capital One Cup
Opponent: Manchester United
Venue: Stamford Bridge




After the stormy affair at the Bridge where the referee's poor decisions cost us the game, Chelsea and United go head to head again, this time in the league cup. With a new race row also added to an already ridiculous performance on Sunday, Mark Clattenburg will really find it hard to justify his actions and words. Thats another story and I am not really interested in discussing any aspects of the game that I certainly thought we were robbed in.

The league cup gives an opportunity for the manager to try out his fringe players and RDM should use it to give some much needed experience to some of the players on the fringes of the first team. Suspensions to Ivanovic and Torres means that they will definitely not start the game. Terry continues his suspension while Lampard is still injured. The likes of Mata,Oscar and Hazard have toiled hard without rest for a number of weeks now,and they carry a risk of burn out. As such RDM should choose a fresh team for Wednesday's match. Marko Marin might get his first start for the Blues. This is the team I would like to see on Wednesday.

Turnbull

Cahill                           Luiz

Azpilicueta                                                                       Bertrand

Ramires                  Romeu

Moses                                        Piazon                                    Marin

         Sturridge

Piazon deserves a chance in his preferred position as he looked good in the Capital One clash against Wolves. Moses and Marin are best suited for the flanks and should give us plenty of pace along with Ramires. Sturridge leads the line in the absence of Torres and will hope to impress RDM in the lone striker role. 

Hopefully, this won't be marred by controversial decisions and the young team should give a good account of themselves.

Man of the match Clattenburg gives United victory

It was disappointment again for the Blues as Chelsea went down 2-3 to United at Stamford Bridge. It was yet another match which again saw an absolute appalling performance from the referee. United were 2-nil up by 12 minutes before a brilliant free kick from Mata followed by a Ramires header brought it to 2-2. Chelsea were dominating the second half, when Ivanovic was shown a straight red for denying a goal scoring opportunity for a foul on Ashley Young. Probably the right call. The second red was absolute rubbish. Torres was fouled by Evans, only for Torres' and Chelsea fans' horror to see that Clattenburg give him a second yellow. On wonders why such decisions go in favor of United in these big games. Yet United needed an offside goal to win against 9 man Chelsea.
It was a wonderful match until it was destroyed by the morons officiating the match. The two suspensions means that Chelsea have a lot to worry in the coming matches

Chelsea vs Manchester United - Preview

Competition: EPL
Opponent: Manchester United
Venue: Stamford Bridge


Form(latest first)
Chelsea: LWWWW
Man United: WWWWL




In what promises to be yet another watering clash, Chelsea and Manchester United go head to head at the Bridge on Sunday. While the high flying Blues suffered a set back in the UCL in midweek, Manchester United once again demonstrated their ability to come back from adverse scenario, winning 3-2 against Braga after being 2-0 up.

The Reds are at second place in the league,four points behind us and scored the maximum number of goals(21) in the league. But they have also conceded 11 goals,which shows that the defense is leaky. Chelsea have scored 19 goals but have conceded only 6 goals. The Red Devils have not won at Chelsea in their last 10 meetings, a record which no other club in EPL has. Last year saw United making another comeback to draw at 3-3 with two penalties awarded by Howard Webb. But Chelsea are a completely different team from the team that went unbeaten at home for 10 games. With Van Persie and Ronney in their ranks, United are one of the most dangerous teams going forward and our defense have to be wary of them. Van Persie is among the most successful away players at the Bridge,scoring 5 times(all in his Arsenal days). Our defense have not conceded many goals, in fact we have the best defensive record along with Arsenal, but it has looked shaky at times.

United's worry will also be their defense with the team leaking goals at will in the continued absence of Nemanja Vidic. They will have a tough time negotiating the fantastic 3 of Chelsea- Mata,Hazard and Oscar.

RDM will not take any risk with his starting lineup though some of them really seem to be fatigued.

Cech

Cahill                            Luiz

Ivanovic                                                                      Cole

Ramires                  Mikel

Mata                                 Oscar                           Hazard

   Torres

Squad rotation is one area that RDM has been found wanting. With Marko Marin fit, we could probably see him coming on for one of the 3 attacking mid fielders as the game proceeds. Torres has been found wanting in the last couple of matches and would need to answer his critics by scoring in a match of such high profile.

United will probably be lining up in the below formation:

De Gea

Ferdinand                                 Evans

Rafael                                                                         Evra

Scholes                    Carrick

Valencia                   Ronney               Hernandez

Van Persie

The two teams will meet again at the same venue for the Capital one clash on Wednesday. The result of this game will obviously have an impact on the next match. The league may be just onto Game week 9, but 3 points here will give us a 7 point advantage against one of the contenders. 

The match promises so much and lets hope that its not ruined by any bad referring decisions. Can't wait to watch it.

Please leave your thoughts on the game.

Chelsea humbled by Shakthar

The away game against Shakthar was always going to be difficult one,but the way that Chelsea went down might have raised eye brows as to how much capable the team is in defending the crown. Shakthar were dominant in the game and a scoreline of 2-1 didn't mean that it was a close game. It was a game where our midfield was dominated by the opposition midfield and where our main striker again showed his reluctance to shoot from favourable positions. The only good outcome of yesterday's matches were that Nordjaelland held Juventus at home,which means that Chelsea are second in the group despite the loss. The home matches against Nordjaelland and Shakthar now becomes must win games for Chelsea to qualify and we will also need a point at least from Juventus.

The performance has certainly upset the momentum of the side before the face off against Manchester United this weekend. Hopefully, it will not affect the performance in the league. 

Shakthar Donetsk vs Chelsea- Preview

Competition: Champions League
Opponent: Shakthar Donetsk
Venue: Donbass Arena


Chlesea travel to Ukraine to meet the current Ukrainian Premier League champions Shakthar Donetsk on Tuesday.
The Blues are in dominant form at the moment winning the last 6 matches since the 2-2 draw against Juventus but if anyone thought that the Ukranian outfit can be easily brushed aside by the ever improving Blues, here are some quick facts about Shakthar Donetsk.

• Shakthar are the current holders of the Ukranian Premier League. They won an impressive 25 matches in the league campaign,losing only once to garner 79 points out of a possible 90 last season.
• This season has been even more impressive as they have won all 12 of their matches, scoring an outstanding 38 goals in the process.Shakthar already leads the table by 12 points.
• Including last season, they are on an unbeaten streak of 28 matches in the league, winning 26 of them.
• Shakthar also has a Brazilian flavour to its side with as many as 9 Brazilians in the team,including the highly rated Willian.

The facts above prove that Shakthar Donetsk are no pushovers and the match being played at Ukraine makes this tie a lot more difficult for Chelsea. Shakthar also has a good record against English opposition at their home ground winning 3 out of the 4 matches played. All this proves that we are off to face a tough opposition and with the table interestingly poised, Chelsea has to come back with at least a point from Ukraine.

The match promises to be yet another encounter that promises a lot of goals. Chelsea have scored 4 in each of their last three matches and with Mata and Hazard in sublime form at the moment, goals will come. Our defense will be tested against the likes of the Armenian attacker Henrikh Mkhitaryan,Eduardo and Willian and getting back with a clean sheet will be really difficult. It all the more proves that this should be another match where we will need to take the attack to the opposition.

RDM will not want to lose the top position in the group, and with Juventus tipped to win against FC Norjaelland, RDM will certainly hope that the team comes away from Ukraine still at the top of the pile. Di Matteo will again be forced to choose his best XI for the encounter.Probable team for the match :

Cech

Luiz                           Terry 

Ivanovic                                                          Cole

Ramires             Mikel

Mata                             Oscar                     Hazard

    Torres

The central midfield pairing of Ramires and Mikel seems to be the best for Chelsea and both were absolutely wonderful against Tottenham, with Mikel breaking up plays and Ramires thrusting forward whenever there was an opportunity. Torres missed a couple of good chances against Tottenham and will need to make amends for them. Having started all of Chelsea's matches so far, the Spaniard might be tiring and RDM might be thinking about giving a rest to him but with Sturridge just back from injury, I don't think he will risk it.I hope to see Marin playing at least as a substitute in the match but with the abundance of talent at his disposal, RDM might be having a hard time to select even the bench for the matches.

This is certainly going to be another encounter that promises end to end stuff from the two teams.

Blues prevail in a pulsating encounter

The match was sure to be a pulsating encounter with two form teams going head to head, and it was a really pulsating encounter and Chelsea prevailed by 4-2.

With Terry out suspended, Cahill started in his place and it was probably a blessing in disguise as the defender blasted home a volley at 17 minutes to provide the lead for the Blues. The first half was almost Chelsea's as Tottenham struggled to keep track of the one touch passing. There weren't helped by the fact that Gareth Bale and Dembele were out of the squad and the Blues were able to dominate the first half quite easily. It could have been more than a goal but Spurs were gaining momentum and as the first half came to a close,Tottenham were looking dangerous.

Ten minutes of slack defending in the second half allowed Tottenham to go 2-1 up as Gallas and then Defoe scored. All of a sudden our proud record of not allowing any second half goals in the EPL was gone. But with the likes of Hazard,Mata and Oscar in the lineup, there was always the chance that the Blues will come back strongly and it was the in form Spaniard Mata who drew us level and then put us into the lead after a wonderful pass from Eden Hazard. The time when Chelsea would resort to going deep after securing the lead is not something we have come to see this season as the Blues kept on attacking and so was Tottenham. It was end to end stuff as Cech was forced into a couple of good saves. The win was all secured as Mata robbed Kyle Walker at the right hand side and slided a pass to substitute Sturridge who slotted home from a yard out.

 Two goals and an assist, Mata is clearly in absolute form and it is probably the time we needed our main players to be on form.

The win was a first at the Lane since 2005 and kept our unbeaten record in the EPL. The way the Blues came back after going 2-1 down is just another sign that Chelsea are serious contenders for the title.

Tottenham   2                                 Chelsea   4
                                                             Cahill   17'
Gallas  47'
Defoe  54'
                                                             Mata  66'
                                                             Mata  69'
                                                             Sturridge  90+1'

Do we really need Radamel Falcao?

The sport sites are buzzing with news that Atletico Madrid striker, Radamel Falcao will be signed up by Chelsea in the January transfer window. While the Colombian is a real potent force in front of the goal, something that Chelsea saw in the Super Cup loss,one wonders whether we really need Falcao at the club. There is no doubt that Falcao is a really good striker but the question is whether he will be beneficial to us?

Falcao - Do we need him?

Chelsea are playing exciting football while scoring a lot of goals in the process. With Torres slowly but surely thriving in the main striker's role, the arrival of Falcao will spoil the current set up. With RDM preferring the 4-2-3-1 formation, there is simply no place for two strikers on the pitch. With the likes of Mata,Hazard,Oscar,Marin and Moses behind the lone striker, changing the formation to one that fits in 2 strikers will again spoil the balance. Can we go for a 4-2-2? Well its possible, only that it will mean that the we might not get the best out of our midfield trio. Another possibility is to have just one defensive midfielder, with the attacking midfield trio behind Torres and Falcao, but this will mean our defense will get exposed more often than not and with the likes of Hazard and co needing to track back and support the defense every now and then. This will again limit their threat going forward. So it does look like the only formation we can use to get the best out of our attacking midfielders is the 4-2-3-1 formation.Which again means that only one of either Torres or Falcao can play and after spending 50 million on Torres and finally getting back the value from him, it wouldn't be a wise decision.

Torres isn't the only reason I think that we shouldn't sign Falcao. What happens of our young strikers? The likes of Islam Feruz,Piazon and Lukaku needs game time and if Falcao arrives, it will send them again down the pecking order. Sturridge is presumably on the way out in January and this will leave Torres as the lone striker in the team. The easy decision for the Chelsea hierarchy would be to sign another striker like Falcao. But the wiser decision would be to bring Lukaku back from his loan spell at West Brom. While the Belgian impressed at West Brom,already scoring 2 goals, he isn't getting enough playing time there and it would be better for him to return to Chelsea and with only Torres as the striker, he will surely get his chances at his parent club. The Belgian has the pace and power to easily fit into the current setup and should Torres get injured, we will have an adequate replacement in Lukaku. 

Lukaku has impressed at West Brom

The academy graduates Islam Feruz and Lucas Piazon are two exciting prospects for Chelsea and if the Barcelona style is what Chelsea wishes for, giving the youngsters a chance is also really important.Lukaku,Feruz and Piazon may well want to leave Chelsea if another striker is signed.

All this brings me into one conclusion. We don't really need to sign Falcao. He is brilliant and there may be times when we would feel that he should have been signed but for a team that is not at all struggling in front of the goal at present and with exciting young talents at their disposal, the wise decision would be a "NO".

Do should your opinions by commenting on the article.

Tottenham vs Chelsea Preview

Competition : Barclays Premier League
Opponent : Tottenham
Venue : White Hart Lane, London
Form(Last 5 matches.Latest first)
Chelsea: WWWWW
Tottenham:WDWWW



After the international break is over, a visit to White Hart Lane marks the beginning of a tough group of matches for Chelsea. Following Tottenham is an away game against Shakthar Donetsk, 2 home games against Man United followed by Swansea away,Shakthar at home and then Liverpool at home. It continues to a trip to West Brom followed by an away game against Juventus followed by a visit from Manchester City to the Bridge. All these between the 20th of this month till the 24th of November. There is no doubt that this period of the season will almost prove the credentials of Chelsea to the EPL and Champions league crowns yet again and marks the most important phase of the season. And that's why a win in the game against a high flying Tottenham is so important.

Under former Chelsea boss Andre Vilas Boas, Tottenham are also hit a purple patch and have hit form with the likes of Mousa Dembele , Defoe and Gareth Bale shining. The away win against Man United ( a first in the EPL era for Spurs) should surely be seen as a great achievement and Tottenham at home should pose the greatest threat to our unbeaten start to the premier league campaign. I still think that Andre Vilas Boas wasn't given much time at Chelsea and his theories struggled with the ageing squad at his disposal. The change of fortunes was led by a man Vilas Boas chose as his assistant and with the huge spending in the summer, Chelsea are without doubt a very different team than the one Vilas Boas had to manage. With Tottenham also playing exciting football, the tactics of Vilas Boas and Di Matteo will have a great influence on the game as the style of the players involved are going to be almost the same. There is no doubt that to get a positive result, Chelsea should take the attack to the opposition like the game against Arsenal and controlling the central midfield area will be really important. Dembele has proved to be a wonderful signing for Spurs and getting past him will be a real challenge for our attacking midfield trio.

The managers will be hoping that none of the players pick up any injuries in the internationals and will hope to pick the XI from a fully fit squad. With the importance of the match very evident, RDM will not tinker with the side's formation.

Cech

         Luiz                      Cahill

Ivanovic                                                                  Cole

Ramires                Mikel

Mata                            Oscar                     Hazard

     Torres

With Terry probably being suspended for the game, Luiz and Cahill will start at the center back positions with Ivanovic and Cole at the right and left sides respectively. Stopping the runs of the pacy Gareth Bale will be off top most priority and for Chelsea to have a good game, it has to be a good performance from Ivanovic. Ramires should start at the right of the central midfield pairing since he has the energy to stop any runs from Bale. The other flank also has the influential Aaron Lennon for Spurs and Cole will have to be guarded against the runs from his England colleague.

Thankfully we have the pace to give the Spurs defenders a headache with the attacking trio of Oscar,Mata and Hazard along with Ramires. With Mata in supreme form at the moment and Oscar and Hazard also establishing themselves very quickly in the league, the trio behind Torres will give a tough time for the Spurs defenders. It becomes really critical that the chances are put away and hence Torres has to have a good day on the pitch. This should be a really exciting game to watch- end to end stuff with a small mistake or two proving to be the difference at the end.I am going for an exciting 2-2 draw.

Men to watch out for :

Dembele : The former Fulham man has been hugely impressive for Tottenham in the central midfield role alongside Sandro

Bale: The influential Welsh will again be a man to watch and Ivanovic has to be at his best.

Ramires : The Brazilian has the energy to stop the likes of Bale and his passes and tackles in the central midfield area will control Chelsea's momentum.

Mata : The Spaniard has been Chelsea's most inventive players off late and his rapport with Oscar and Hazard has developed well within a short span of time. The holy trinity should give the Spurs defenders plenty to think about.

Chelsea vs Norwich City - Vintage Performance

It was vintage Chelsea at the Bridge today as they crushed a hapless Norwich side 4-1 and the scoreline would have been much more some really good chances weren't missed and it the penalties were awarded. 2 clear penalties were not given, both involving Eden Hazard. That is now 3 clear penalties that referees have not given when Hazard was involved, perhaps something of a concern especially with the big matches coming.

This was perhaps the first match where the holy trinity of Hazard, Mata and Oscar really gelled together and it made life really difficult for the struggling Norwich side. Even though they opened the scoring with Holt volleying home, Chelsea came back strongly and were 3-1 up by half time with Torres,Lampard and Hazard scoring. The second half also saw a great deal of attacking flair from Chelsea but it needed our goal scoring defender Ivanovic to add to the tally.

RDM will be really pleased with the result and especially the performance. It just proves once again that Chelsea can play with flair and this was the best example of it. Torres will be a tad disappointed that he couldn't score more than one as he had the chances. Mata is in red hot form now, and with Oscar and Hazard also combining well with the Spaniard, things are looking good for the blues. The weeks after the international break will see us facing some difficult games against Tottenham(away), Shakthar(away) and Manchester United (twice home-League and League cup), but with the team gelling as a unit, Chelsea go into these matches with real confidence.

Chelsea    4    Norwich  1

                            Holt 10'

Torres  13'

Lampard 20'

Hazard  30'

Ivanovic 75

 

Chelsea vs Norwich City Preview

Competition : Premier League
Venue : Stamford Bridge
Opponent : Norwich City
Form(Last Five Matches.Latest First)
Chelsea : WWWWD
Norwich City :LWLDD


Chelsea continue their EPL campaign on Saturday when Norwich City visits us at Stamford Bridge and even though we are at the top of the table after 6 games, this is a must win game. With tough away games to Tottenham and then Shaktar Donetsk(in the Champions League) coming after the international break, followed by 2 back to back home games against Manchester United, this is a game we cannot afford any thing less than 3 points.

Things are looking good for Chelsea in a campaign so far both in the Champions League and the EPL and with Norwich struggling in the league, RDM and his boys will expect to romp home in the fixture. But you can never take any game easily as we saw from the Champions League encounter against FC Norjaelland, who nearly punished us for the lackluster performance. With so many options available in the midfield, RDM is doing well to rotate the players around, but still there are some who haven't got the opportunity. Marin and Azpilicueta badly needs game time and I think RDM should try them in the Norwich game. Here is my pick for the game

Cech

Terry                       Luiz

Azpilicueta                                                              Cole

Ramires                     Mikel

Hazard                                  Mata                                    Marin

Torres

Marin is fit again but has found it tough even to get onto the bench but having impressed with his pace and trickery in the pre season, he is due his chance and it is worth trying him. Hazard hasn't added to his tally of assists after the initial four but has always looked lively and dangerous. Mata has been our best player for the past few matches with him contributing goals and providing assists. He is in a rich vein of form and it would be foolish not to take advantage of it. With Sturridge still out with injury, Torres will again start. He missed a couple of good chances against FC Nordjaelland and will hope to add to his tally against a defense that leaked 5 against Liverpool. Ramires has played in the central midfield position in the last 2 matches and has impressed. So it would be better to keep him in the XI again. Ivanovic is another player who will need some rest and Azpilicueta also need some game time in the league. Might come on as a substitute if Chelsea is leading by a 2 goal margin but certainly hope the young Spaniard gets an importunity. 

Norwich will be hell bent on improving from last week's horror show against Liverpool but Chelsea should prevail in this game by at least a 2 goal margin. 

Chelsea prevail 4-0 but an unconvincing performance

The 4-0 scoreline would normally mean a match that we dominated but the match was far more closer than the final score line suggested. A flurry of late goals meant that the scoreline had a gloss to it but the performance of the team in the match against Champions league newbies FC Nordsjaelland was far from convincing.

RDM started a really attack minded team against the Danish champions with Lampard and Ramires in central midfield and Oscar,Moses and Mata behind Torres. That meant that there were as many as 6 goal scoring midfielders in the Chelsea ranks. Terry was rested which meant that Cahill and Luiz started at the center back positions with Cole and Ivanovic on either flanks. The first half saw the Danish champions giving the European champions a real fight and it was really an even match until Mata scored following build up play from Torres and Lampard.Until the 79th minute, the Danes threatened many times at the Chelsea goal with Cech called into action more than a couple of times. They even hit the post and were the dominant team in many parts of the games. At 79th minute the flurry of goals started with David Luiz converting a lethal free kick followed up on the 82nd minute by Mata's second. Ramires' tap in from Oscar's pass on the 88th minute gave the scoreline a gloss but it wasn't a fair reflection of the actual contest.

The Danes can feel proud of having given a really good fight to the European champions. RDM and Chelsea would know that they will need to improve, especially with tough encounters coming up against the likes of Tottenham,Man United and Shaktar. With Shaktar drawing against Juventus in the other Group E encounter, Chelsea are top of the pile in the standings but they will know that they really didn't perform that well. 

How are Chelsea's on-loan youngsters faring - Part2

I had accessed how some of our on-loan youngsters are faring in Part 1 of this article, namely in the Dutch Eredivisie. Here is the second part of the article where we can take a look at some more on-loan players.

Milan Lalkovic

Club: Vitória Guimarães (Portuguese Liga)
Playing Position : Striker
Nationality : Slovakia
Age : 19
Apperances : 5 (All as substitutes)

Milan Lalkovic joined Chelsea in 2006 after a successful trial period at the tender age of 14 and has been part of the FA Youth cup winning team of 2009-10.Before being part of the Vitória Guimarães team this year, he has had loan spells at Doncaster Rovers and ADO Den Haag. The Slovak is a pacy and tricky striker who can also play wide as a winger or as an attacking midfielder. Seeing the huge influx of creative talent at Chelsea now, it does seem that Lalkovic will have better chances as a striker in the Chelsea set up. Lalkovic made his Portuguese league debut in the first match of the season against Portuguese giants Sporting in a 0-0 draw as a 87th minute substitute. In the second match against Porto, he was given more time to impress as he came on as a 63rd minute substitute but Vitória Guimarães went down 4-0 to a very impressive Porto side.After 5 rounds of the Portuguese league, Lalkovic has been a used substitute in all 5 matches and has been getting some much needed minutes on the pitch. Vitória Guimarães are struggling at 14th in the league, but Lalkovic is really getting some good minutes on the pitch. Lalkovic has company at Vitória Guimarães with Croatian goalkeeper Matej Delac also joining the Portuguese side on loan on a year long deal from Chelsea.Delac is yet to make a league appearance for his new club.

Thorgan Hazard
Club : SV Zulte Waregem (Belgium)
Nationality : Belgium
Playing Position : Attacking Midfielder
Age:19
Apperances : 3

The younger Hazard, Thorgan joined his brother Eden at Chelsea at the start of the season from French second division side FC Lens. His brother values him as a more technically gifted palyer than himself and if Thorgan can rise up like Eden did, we could soon have the Hazards lining up for Chelsea in the very near future. He was loaned out to SV Zulte Waregem just before the end of the transfer deadline. He made his debut for SV Zulte Waregem starting in a 1-0 victory and has started in all 3 games since his debut,completing all 90 minutes in all of them. The Belgian has certainly broken into the first team and we should be seeing some impressive performances from the younger Hazard and may very soon join his brother at Chelsea.


Kevin De Bruyne
Club : Werder Bremen (Germany)
Playing Position: Left Winger
Nationality: Belgium
Age :21

The Belgian winger's signing from Racing Genk in January 2012 started the Chelsea revolution of signing attack minded pacy wingers and attacking midfielders. Marin,Hazard,Oscar and Moses followed which meant that the pacy and skillful Belgian had to play else where to have regular football. De Bruyne was loaned out to Werder Bremen at the start of the season and he has already alerted his parent club of the enormous potential that he is. At Bremen, De Bruyne has also been employed as a false 9. He has started in every of Bremen's matches so far and has scored 2 goals and provided an assist in 6 matches.
Goals : 2 Assist :1

Jeffery Bruma
Club : Hamburg (Germany)
Playing Position : Center Back
Age:20
Nationality : Netherlands

The Dutch center back is in his second season at Hamburg having extended the loan deal that   began at the start of the 2011/12 season and has been a regular in the team ever since. Bruma kept his place in the starting XI at the start of the season but is currently injured and missed the last 3 matches.

How are Chelsea's on-loan youngsters faring- Part1

There are a number of our young prospects who are plying their trade away from Chelsea. We know about Lukaku and McEachran's loans to West Brom and Middlesborough but there a lot more little known players who are really doing well. Here is a look at our on-loan players who play in the Dutch Eredivisie in Part 1 of this article.

Facts and Figures as on October 2,2012

Kenneth Omeruo:

Club - ADO Den Haag

Nationality - Nigeria

Playing Position: Center Back

Age : 18

Appearances  - 7 (Started in all 7)

Kenneth Omeruo may not be well known like other other on-loan players but his loan spell at Dutch side ADO Den Haag is proving to be a really good one. The Nigerian was signed from Belgian side Standard Liege in 2012 and has was loaned out to ADO Den Haag immediately on an 18 month deal that will keep him at the club till the end of the 2012-13 season.

Omeruo started the first match in the new season at the center back position for ADO against Vitesse ,who has as many as 3 Chelsea players in their ranks - Kakuta, Van Aanholt and Tomas Kalas. The 18 year old had sealed his place in the starting line up for ADO Den Haag and has started in all 7 of the league matches this season. Omeruo's ADO Den Haag currently lie 7th in the table.

Tomas Kalas

Club - Vitesse

Nationality - Czech Republic

Playing Position: Center Back/ Right Back

Age : 19

Appearances  - 7 (Started in all 7)

Tomas Kalas has become an integral part of the Vitesse XI and has started in all 7 games so far this season. Kalas is in his second season at the club having joined them in August 2011. The loan was extended to the end of this season. Kalas made 29 appearances last season while cementing his place in the Vitesse XI. This season also Kalas' position in the team is not threatened and also scored against FC Groningen in a 3-0 away victory. Tomas Kalas is definitely proving to be one for the future and he has been awarded with a Chelsea contract till 2017. This lad will soon be competing for a spot in the Chelsea XI.

Patrick Van Aanholt

Club - Vitesse

Nationality - Netherlands

Playing Position: Left Back

Age : 22

Appearances  - 6 (Started in 6)

Van Aanholt made his Chelsea debut in 2009 as a substitute against Portsmouth and again made a substitute appearance against Aston Villa. After a string of loan spells at Coventry,Newcastle, Leister and Wigan, Van Aanholt returned to his homeland with Vitesse in January 2012. The loan deal was extended to the end of this season and Van Aanholt has made good progress in the season so far with 6 starts. Like Kalas, Van Aanholt is also cementing his place in the Vitesse starting line up and is gaining some much needed experience. Based on his performances, Ryan Bertrand may well have really good competition from van Aanholt to the left back position when Ashley Cole leaves. Vitesse currenly lie 2nd in the table.

Amin Affane

Club - Roda JC

Nationality - Sweden

Playing Position: Left Winger/ Central midfielder

Age : 18

Appearances  - 4  

Amin Affane is another player who is making good progress at Roda JC. The Swedish attacker signed a loan deal on August 31st and since has played in all 4 of Roda JC's matches. He came on as a substitute in his first match against Willem II and impressed with an assist and a Man of the Match award. Amin started the next two matches and scored his first goal for the club coming on as a substitute.

Goals - 1 

Kakuta also joined van Aanholt and Kalas at Vitesse at the end of the transfer window and is yet to make an appearance. More on him and the others as the season progresses. Watch this space.