Monday, October 26, 2009

Belletti shines in diamond light

After the Aston Villa loss, we looked a bit shaken up. With upcoming Champions League game coming up and Blackburn next (this past) weekend we needed to bounce back. And bounce we did! Not sure if this was due to "hairdryer" treatment or the fact that Chelsea squad has remained intact for as long as it has, we've netted total of 9 goals past two games!
 At times I feel that we rely too much on Bosingwa and Ashley Cole, both games, neither of them started with Ivanovic, Zhirkov and Belletti filling in.
 Juliano has been outstanding in both games. His drive, determination and experience overshadows his age. Employed as rightback and leftback in both games he's been player that supplied energy,timely tackles and descent crosses into the box. To me, he certainly outperformed Deco, whom takes some time to get into the game and seems a bit sluggish at times. He (Deco) tends to dwell on the ball and to looses it easily if the opposition has enough determination.
Other player that I feel is a bit off is Essien. Nobody can question his work ethic and determination, I do question is rushed passing. As of late, he seems to be on a different wavelength when compared to rest of the team. His passes seem rushed and usually end up at the opponents feet. Perhaps he should try lobbing ball over players versus going through them?
Enough with negativity, we've scored whopping 9 goals during past few games!
Lampard is back on the scoring sheet with 3 goals. Could this mean that he is finally comfortable with the Carlo's Diamond?
Kalou did a fantastic job during the week in the absence of suspended Drogba. Certainly deserved a hat trick but his shocking early miss vs Athletico enssured that he walked away without it. As TV commentator said:
"Who needs Drogba when you have Kalou?"
Joe Cole started against Blackburn and made immediate impact. It was evident how much we have missed his tricks and flicks of the ball and his imagination in general. It was perfect game to start. Blackburn came in to defend only, which is never a good idea at the Bridge :)
Anelka is proving to be an amazing signing, he seems to be loving his football. Pace, versatility and fantastic work with a combination of lethal strike should be good enough to describe Nicolas.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Riccy Carvalho's day off

Second loss of the season was not expected to happen this fast. We seem to try and emulate Liverpool whenever we can. After abismal performance against Wigan, which even Toronto Maple Leafs would be jealous off, Chelsea had a fantastic game against Liverpool. Game this past Saturday exposed some holes that were supposed to be patched by Guus. We were beaten by two set pieces, 2 corner kicks to be exact. Scolari can be proud as his legacy lives on....
 First goal came after slight deflection by Frank Lampard. He tried to clear the ball, but inadvertently   helped it into the path of well positioned Dunne whom was completely unmarked. He did appear to be Riccy's man. One cannot blame Lamps in this situation and I suppose one could make an argument that Riccy was reacting to the original ball velocity.. That might be, but most likely it is due to mixed up assignments by Chelsea defenders.
 Second goal was even worse. Once again it was horrible defending of the corner. This time, Petr was caught in " no man's land"... Only if Petr would decide to stay in the net... it was well taken corner away from Chelsea keeper and straight into the path of Villa defender whom didn't miss. Once again it was a free header. Could Riccy be blamed for this one too?
 Form there on, we did have more than one chance. Deco in particular, could have easily scored but his shot, if you can call it that, was weak and straight at the keeper. Anelka was guilty of shooting straight at the keeper on more than one occasion.
 Could it be that Chelsea players relaxed too early after Drogba's goal? If anything it seemed that Villa wanted to win more. Perhaps we should stop re-signing everyone to all of them crazy extensions and give chance to some youngsters.
 Whatever it is it sux and should be dealt with, the sooner the better. Perhaps some corner practices could be useful, we did have like 10 of them...
 Overall, Carlo's diamond was too narrow against Villa, with 2 wingers sitting on the bench I was surprised to see that we didn't even try to change formation. This Saturday I truly missed Jose...

Friday, October 16, 2009

Signings and appeal

While Kalou and Alex signing new deals is a welcome sign, personally I am waiting on Joe Cole to put pen and paper to new contract. Some predicted that youngsters will get a chance to play but it seems this transfer ban is benefiting established players instead.
 It's good to see that ones of Stoch and Di Santo are doing well and should be welcome additions when loan spells have completed. At this point I am not sure who's going to be back in January, we'll need hot striker to replace African Cup bound Drogba. While Anelka should be able to cope, it will be nice to have another option.
 In a mean time, we're officially appealing transfer ban. Hopefully this circus will be over soon. Naturally I am hoping for complete ban overturn, but for some reason I feel it will be just reduced... Hopefully I am wrong.

Canoe trip and trashing of LFC

I am back. It was very good canoe trip, fall colours are spectacular...

It was slightly cold, made me realise that it is very important to have appropriate gear for this type of adventure. Lots of portages, got to "meet" couple of moose:


Interesting creatures they are, little bit scary paddling right next to it though, when you know there is not help near by and closes vehicle is at least 3 hours away.
 Rain was unwelcome but in October one cannot expect not to get wet during such trips.
 Got back to the "civilization" tired and smelling of smoke, we stopepd at a pub for some dinner fairly late at night, was afraid even to think at what might have happened in the morning at Stamford Bridge...
 Since I live in hockey crazed country, it took good hour for TSN finally show highlights of the game... Let me say that I got few odd looks when I screamed loud "YES! Way to go boys!"... It didn't matter, I was happy as a fat kid in the candy store!
 Finally got to see complete game following Wednesday, for some strange reason Setanta decided to show Chelsea TV at 3am EST.. Call me crazy, but I woke up, watched teh game and went back to sleep for a few extra hours. you know, to me it was worth it. What a fantastic performance by Chelsea... how good was our defence, especially in the first. It took "mighty" Liverpool 29 minutes to have first shot on the net! It could have been me in the net instead of Hilario (not a good idea).
 Surely we were lucky not to concede, especially when Yossi missed sure goal, but it doesnt' matter, this is football. If you can't hit the net, you don't deserver a goal.