|
It has been a very important week for Chelsea Football Club. Last Sunday’s victory against Liverpool was very important not only as it meant three crucial points against a direct opponent but also because of the manner of the victory. For over 40 minutes, Chelsea played with only 10 men and survived.
The belief generated by a clean sheet in a match such as this can not be exaggerated. The players were asked to dig that much deeper to find the inner strength that will bear great fruit as the season progresses and becomes more difficult. Mourinho was very active on the sideline (just below me as it happens) encouraging them on in a manner which was in great contrast to his calmness after Drogba’s wonder goal. It is easy to recognise the crucial matches with hindsight but even at this early stage in the season, this was a very important one. There are matches that require extraordinary grit to achieve victory and this helps to unify the whole squad. Winning matches 4-0 is good for self confidence but not necessarily good for creating bonding. One needs to battle and to see the rest of one’s team mates battle. One needs to see Essien running forever, to know that he expects the same from all his own team mates.
For Liverpool, it was a difficult match. They have a very large squad but are still very dependent on a few exceptional players. There are a number of players currently playing who do not seem to be of true class. Pennant and Bellamy are two that immediately come to mind and though Kuyt and Crouch are good players, they are not in the Gerrard’s league. Their midfield is very strong as is the defence but it is hard to see where the goals are going to come from against the big teams in England and in Europe. They are over dependent on their captain and though they have a great manager, he seems to want to change the team every match which does not allow for consistency. The new tinker man!
The other teams that participated in Super Sunday last weekend, also learnt a lot about themselves. Manchester United discovered that they may not be quite as good as their early season form suggested and that their squad does not have as much strength in depth as they may require for a long season. Scholes was a great player on Wednesday against Celtic and nowhere on Sunday. Saha can score goals against the smaller clubs but I am sure that they will regret selling van Nistelroy.
Arsenal found that they can play when they are allowed to. The problem is that there are very few clubs in England who allow them to play their normal game. United thought that they were good enough to take them on but found to their cost that this was not the case. Most of the rest of the Premiership clubs do not suffer from this illusion and so do not give Farbegas and the rest of the players the time to think. The success of Arsenal in the Champions League last year was due to their opponents not harassing them. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks and how the other teams try to play against them. I suggest that it will be more frenetic.
After five matches of the season, Chelsea have 12 points. It is thought in England that an average of two points a match will win you the Premiership. Over the last two years, Chelsea have gone past the 90 point mark over the 38 matches but this is very unusual. Normally 76 points is enough to win the Premiership or at least be very close. I think that it will be much closer this year as many of the top teams have the capability of beating each other. There are at present only four teams who have more than 2 points per match played and I suspect that two of them will not be able to keep up the pace.
Chelsea have found it very hard to settle down and yet they are only one point away from the leaders. They have had very little time to train together after the World Cup. Their new players need to gel and familiarise themselves with the new club and the rapid speed of the Premiership. Michael Ballack is often being caught in possession, whilst Shevchenko’s renowned sharpness is conspicuously absent as he tries to find full fitness. Even more importantly is that Mourinho is desperate to make the new system work. The midfield is very crowded at present, as he tries to fit in four excellent players in a system with no wingers and thus no width. Watching the matches, I cannot help but doubt if it will ever work but he may have more experience than I do! The midfield is very crowded and there are no outlets. It is nearly as if Chelsea are so confident that they can win that they can try to handicap themselves by playing in this way.
Ballack’s dismissal last Sunday means that he is forced to miss the next three matches and so the system can be put on hold. I assume that Robben will take his place and play wide possibly in a 4.3.3 formation with Shevchenko playing slightly on the right. This is a more familiar formation and one that the players will be more comfortable with and I am sure is more likely to pay dividends starting with Fulham this weekend. For the first time this season, the team will have a full week to train together and to work on their fitness and tactics since there has not been a mid-week match this week. This will be followed by a succession of weeks with two matches for the next month and a half.
There are big changes that will happen this year but we must remember that the season has only just begun.
|
