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.
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.
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