Here's the link to the article with quotes from Mourinho during his first stint : http://www.smashreport.com/posts/show_article/Session-Numero-Uno-Chelsea.-348
Random Talks!
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Chelsea 1-1 Birmingham : Match Report.
Chelsea’s alarming dip continued as the Blues were held
to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge yesterday. Chelsea went 1-0 down before the
break only to equalise in the 2nd half courtesy a goal from their
saviour of this season, Daniel Sturridge.
The match began with the away section of the crowd taunting AVB with chants of ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’.
Chelsea started with a conventional 4-3-3 formation with
Bertrand, Cahill, Mikel, Ramires all getting starts.
The fact that Ramires, Mikel and Meireles have never
played together in the whole season led to some silly misplaced passes
initially in the half.
Both sides looked even in the first ten minutes with no
teams being able to trouble the opposition goalkeepers.
Chelsea’s only bit of creativity before going down came
in the 15th minute when Sturridge made a low cross to Mata, who
could not intercept.
Soon, the home side went behind in the 19th
minute after some woeful defending after a corner resulted in a massive mix up
inside Chelsea’s box. The ball fell into the path of David Murphy who did not
disappoint with his shot. 1-0 Birmingham, and as a result, pin drop silence and
anxiety at the Bridge.
3 minutes later, Chelsea earned themselves a penalty
after Wade Elliot appeared to have tripped Ramires inside the box. With the
absence of Chelsea legend Lampard, it was Mata who took the responsibility of
taking the penalty, and unfortunately failed to convert from the spot.
Chelsea’s only standout performer of the evening, Daniel
Sturridge put in some good crosses to Torres and Mata in the next 10 odd
minutes, none of which were properly intercepted.
The fact that Chelsea could not pass more directly due to the presence of Fernando Torres made it more difficult for the midfielders to create any real chances.
Luiz though, earned a free kick a few yards outside the
box in the 34th minute decided to take the free kick himself. His
free kick resulted in a brilliant save from Birmingham’s goalkeeper.
Apart from that, Chelsea failed to create any good
chances in the entire first half and went 1-0 at the break amidst boos from the
Stamford Bridge faithful.
And if chants of ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’ weren’t enough, chants of ‘Jose Mourinho’ from Birmingham fans surely added more misery and anxiety around Stamford Bridge.
AVB quickly replaced Torres with Drogba at half time, who
was welcomed back with loud cheers from the Bridge faithful.
Drogba’s presence up front meant more direct long balls
to him instead of diagonal ones to the wingers. And such was the case, with
Ivanovic, Luiz, Meireles all bombarding long balls to Drogba, who looked sharp
inspite of his midweek arrival from the African Cup of Nations.
Chelsea’s persistence in the 2nd half
eventually paid off and they went ahead in the 62nd minute when
Branislav Ivanovic’s brilliant cross to Sturridge resulted in a header from the
youngster that went in.
Chelsea kept testing Birmingham’s resilience all through
the remainder of the game but were also caught occasionally on the break.
Lampard came on for Mata in the 82nd minute but it was too late as his side failed to score the winner and will now have to face Birmingham again for the replay at St. Andrews.
Lampard came on for Mata in the 82nd minute but it was too late as his side failed to score the winner and will now have to face Birmingham again for the replay at St. Andrews.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Match Report : Everton 2-0 Chelsea
Chelsea slipped to 5th place in the table as
the Blues slumped to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Everton last night.
Goals from Pienaar and Denis Stracqualursi ensured that the home team grabbed all 3 points and thereby increased the competition for the final Champions League spot.
Chelsea started the game without the likes of Captain John Terry and Ramires. With Meireles, Lampard and Essien in the midfield, it was a conventional 4-3-3 for the Blues that created absolutely no impact whatsoever to the Everton defence.
Chelsea
hardly settled into the game and matters worsened for them when Pienaar sent
the Toffees ahead in the 6th minute of the game with a neat shot
past goalkeeper Petr Cech.
Chelsea dominated possession after going ahead but failed to break into Everton’s defence. It was not until the 25th minute that Chelsea had their first real threat when Mata’s pass from the side to Sturridge resulted in a shot that was well defended by Phil Neville.
Chelsea
had their best chance in the 28th minute when Mata’s low cross was
met by Lampard. But his resulting shot with his left foot was just wide of the
post. That was a chance missed for Chelsea considering Lampard’s calibre.
In
the last minute of the first half, Torres made his way into the box and was ‘supposedly’
tripped. Massive appeals for a penalty by Torres were denied by the referee.
With that, Chelsea went 1-0 at the break, with the 4-3-3 formation proving ineffective yet again.
AVB
probably didn’t learn anything from the 1st half as Chelsea began
the 2nd half from where they left the 1st, plenty of
possession but no real threat to the Tofees’ defence.
Loud
chants of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ from the away section were heard
when AVB replaced Essien with Malouda. AVB probably knew what he was doing.
Shifting from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1 with Mata in the hole, but the fact that he
replaced Chelsea’s best player of the game with possibly Chelsea’s least
interested prompted the chants from the Chelsea faithful.
The
introduction of Malouda and a change in formation didn’t add any creativity
whatsoever and to make matters worse, Chelsea went 2-0 down in the 71st
minute.
This
time though, it was Chelsea’s left full back who was at fault. Cole was
dispossessed after a hard but perfect tackle by Phil Neville. The resulting ball
was picked up by Donovan who’s through ball to Straq resulted in Everton
scoring their second and thereby putting the game to bed.
Meanwhile,
AVB called for further abuse on himself from the travelling fans when he
replaced Mata with Lukaku. The intentions were clear, but the reason why he
replaced Chelsea’s only genuine creative player for Lukaku was a mystery.
Lukaku
had a half chance inside the box but his left shot was well saved by Tim
Howard. That was probably the only real save Howard made all day.
With
no more chances being created till the final whistle by both sides, Chelsea
slumped to a defeat, and out of the top 4 thereby increasing the pressure on
the young shoulders of Andre Villas Boas.
- Abhishek Easwaran
Monday, January 30, 2012
Swansea vs Chelsea - Pre match.
Swansea City vs Chelsea pre match briefing :
The only place outside England where Liverpool will play
this season, Liberty Stadium, sees Swansea take on Chelsea in what will be an
encounter that most people believe will be a low scoring one.
Chelsea have conceded just 1 goal in their last 5 games, none in their last 4. In the process however, Chelsea’s scoring record has not been very impressive apart from the 4-0 win over Pompey.
Chelsea’s last 5 games’ results read :
1. QPR 0-1 Chelsea
2. Norwich
0-0 Chelsea
3. Chelsea 1-0 Sunderland
4. Chelsea 4-0 Portsmouth
5. Wolverhampton 1-2 Chelsea
The stats look impressive, Chelsea have won 4 of their last 5 games, but the real story is something completely different. Lack of creativity and as a result, lack of goals up front will hurt Chelsea.
Injuries for Chelsea :
1. Ramires.
2. Lampard
3. Mikel.
The absence of Ramires and Lampard will surely be felt
for Chelsea who’s midfield department is already struggling to create genuine
chances in the final third for their strikers.
Mata and Sturridge have had average games offlate.
Torres has been really impressive in the past few games,
his touches and movement has been great, but the goals just aren’t coming. Do
we blame him for that? Or the fact that the midfield isn’t doing enough to
provide good final balls?
Interesting, yet worrying stat : Torres didn’t attempt a
single shot in the 90 minutes he played against QPR!
Meanwhile,
Possible Lineup :
-------------------Cech---------------------
---Ivanovic----JT--------Luiz----------Cole-----
------------------Romeu---------------------
-------Meireles-------------Essien--------------
-Sturridge--------------------------------Mata—
-----------------Torres------------------------
Problem area?
1. Center
Back – Luiz, he’s one player who will be excellent the entire match but will
make one or two silly errors that will cost Chelsea.
2. Midfield
trio – Romeu does his job well, but the fact that Essien is a similar defensive
minded player and that Meireles isn’t the kind of player who can provide that
final killer pass is a worry for Chelsea.
Verdict? Swansea 0-0
Chelsea.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Match Report : Norwich 0-0 Chelsea
Chelsea squandered their chances, Norwich didn’t create
any as a resilient Norwich held Chelsea to a 0-0 draw at Carrow road. Norwich
kept their first clean sheet of the season while Chelsea failed to score a goal
for just the 3rd time in the league this season.
Chelsea’s high line and as a result, a sloppy defence,
and Norwich’s brilliant counter attacks made most people think of this game to
be a high scoring one, but it wasn’t to be.
The first 10 minutes of the game saw very little action
with neither side being able to control proceedings. Chelsea’s attack lacked
creativity in the final 3rd and Norwich’s counter attacks were quite
easily dealt with by Chelsea.
Chelsea’s first chance came as a result of Torres’ shot from the outside of his foot in the 27th minute which was saved well by City’s goalkeeper Ruddy.
In the 34th minute, Lampard was forced off the
field after sustaining a calf injury only to be replaced by Florent Malouda 3
minutes later. Chelsea’s playing style didn’t change as they maintained their
4-3-2-1 formation with Malouda and Mata switching positions occasionally.
Norwich created their first half chance in the 36th
minute when Surman’s pass found Johnson who’s resulting shot was saved by Cech.
Chelsea’s best bit of attack came in the 40th
minute as Malouda cut inside brilliantly from the left and his resulting pass
found Mata who’s shot was saved well by Ruddy.
Neither manager made changes after a goalless, yet
interesting first half as Chelsea failed to score any goals after creating a
few decent chances and immediately after the 2nd half got underway, Bosingwa’s
lethargy almost cost Chelsea a goal.
Chelsea continued piling misery on themselves with sloppy passes inside their own half. Luckily for them, Norwich didn’t capitalize on any.
Things didn’t change much after the break, but Chelsea wasted
their best chance in the game at the hour mark when Bosingwa’s low cross found
Torres in a dangerous position who shot the ball wide of the post. Torres, who
had a bright game, should have converted the golden opportunity awarded to him.
A minute later,
Ruddy made a brilliant save when Sturridge found Mata who shot at the near
post.
Chelsea kept piling on pressure but none yielded any
results. Two changes from Andre Villas Boas saw Torres and Meireles make way
for young Lukaku and Michael Essien.
Lukaku’s powerful Drogba esque run into the Norwich
penalty area in the 80th minute was fruitless as the Norwich
defenders cleared the ball well at the crucial moment.
With time running out, Chelsea missed their last real
chance of the game as Mata spun inside the box and his resulting low shot led
to a good save from Ruddy whose deflection hit the post and went out.
Soon the final whistle blew, and the Norwich supporters,
with their anti Terry chants (which was of course countered well with ‘1
England Captain’ by the travelling Chelsea supporters) celebrated as though
they had won the match.
A point earned for the Canaries and surely, two points dropped by Chelsea.
A point earned for the Canaries and surely, two points dropped by Chelsea.
- Abhishek
Easwaran
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Match Report : India 3-2 Malaysia.
Am I being sarcastic if I tell that Chhetri is a better player than Torres at the moment? Probably not, as a double strike from him and 1 from Jeje ensured a 3-2 friendly win for India against Malaysia at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
It wasn’t a Barcelona vs Man United game where everyone knew the eventuality; it was a close game with many chances being created by both the teams.
While the Cricket game might have drawn the crowds to the Eden Gardens, there was still a reasonable crowd of about 5000 who were cheering(I hope, audio couldn’t be heard thanks to DD’s amazing broadcast) the men in Blue.
Physicality was not a problem for India, but the attacking third was where India were struggling in the entire game.
The first 10 minutes saw both the teams happily keeping possession and not trying anything fancy. The defensive mentality didn’t yield a single decent chance for either side in the first 30 minutes of the game.
India’s forwards Jeje and Chhetri had some excellent(Indian Standards) 1 to 1 passing but neither led to the creation of any decent chance.
India finally struck a goal in the 39th minute when a long ball was neatly intercepted by Chhetri who coolly converted the chance.
And when it was almost half time, the Indian defence was caught sleeping and Malaysia equalised through a simple goal.
Half time and it was 1 goal a piece, with the home team definitely looking more dangerous of the two sides.
It appeared that Savio Medeira did a Jose Mourinho as a rejuvenated Indian side scored with 2 minutes of the restart courtesy a brilliant through ball from Balgit to Chhetri who’s pass to Jeje resulted in the Indian team getting back their lead. The crowd erupted(again, I’m assuming as that’s what the commentator said) with joy.
In the 52nd minute, Jeje missed a 1 on 1 with the keeper which resulted in a corner that was neatly intercepted by the keeper again.
A minute later, Chhetri doubled his tally with a cool finish to give India a formidable 3-1 lead.
Just when the game looked like it was heading India’s way(A rarity), Malaysia pulled one goal back as the Indian defence was caught dosing again. A brilliant through ball from ... to ... resulted in a cool finish from the latter.
A nervy final few minutes ensued but India held onto their lead and finally came out 3-2 winners in a classic(DD’s broadcast made it look like a 70’s game, with colour of course) encounter.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Pre match. Chelsea vs L'Arse.
Drogba suspension has solved our striker dilemma and his red card is, according to me, a blessing in disguise for us as Chelsea take on Arsenal in the London derby on Saturday.
While people may argue that Drogba is Arsenal’s nemesis, we all are aware of his poor form in recent times and Torres’ brilliant form likewise. If Drogba can score against Arsenal, there’s no reason why Torres cannot considering his form.
Coming to the lineup and formation, I think it will be something like this :
-------------------Cech------------------
Bosingwa---Terry---Ivanovic---Cole
-----Ramires----Meireles----Lampard
-----Sturridge-----------------Mata-------
-------------------Torres-------------------
The usual back 4, Ivanovic and Terry have to keep Van Persie at bay tomorrow. Can they? I'm not too sure. I don’t think the full backs will be troubled too much tomorrow.
Also, the rotating midfield trio of Lampard, Meireles and Ramires will prove to be a real asset for Chelsea as the passing has been quick and precise with them around.
The forward line consisting of Sturridge and Mata bombarding through the wings and Torres as our lone striker surely looks juicy and will prove to be more than a handful against Arsenal.
Prediction : 2-0 win for the Blues, expecting Torres to score one.
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