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.