Reaction: Work To Do

Robbie Still Has Work To Do... 

A Radamel Falcao hat-trick ensured that Chelsea were defeated 4-1 by an Atletico Madrid side that looked the better team all night.

Atletico started the game strongly, & were rewarded only 6 minutes into the game when Falcao chipped a shot beyond Cech. 13 minutes later, he curled one into the top corner with his left foot. Chelsea were 2-0 down in 20 minutes. He completed his hat-trick on the stroke of half-time, & we went into the break 3-0 down & pretty much out.

Chelsea didn't begin the 2nd half much better, & our defeat was sealed in the 60th minute when Miranda scored a fourth after some poor defending from a free-kick. While Gary Cahill did manage to pull one back in the 74th minute, the result was never really in doubt & Atletico Madrid ran out 4-1 winners.

Roberto Di Matteo admitted that we never really settled in, & were going to struggle after our poor start. "We had a slow start and conceded two in 20 minutes, so after that it was very difficult. They started very well, we conceded too much space and you can't allow a player like Falcao too much space.

We were never in the game, they scored the first goal after six minutes and within 20 we found ourselves 2-0 down. We never got into the game and that's the most disappointing aspect. We had some possession in the first half but we lacked penetration. They retreated after the goals into a low block and made it difficult for us to find space."

He also stated that he was quite happy with his current squad, that included Sturridge. "He's our player, he came on, there is nothing to report, we have two strikers and he will be with us, there's a lot of speculation but not everything is true.

I'm very happy with the squad, we have a good core of players and we've signed some young, exciting, talented players, it may take a while to integrate them all but I'm happy with what we have."

360 Reaction 

Not a single thing went right for Chelsea last night. Atletico were the better team from the get go, & when they went 2-0 up in 20 minutes, most Chelsea fans knew it was all but over. In those 20 minutes, the defence looked shaky, the midfield looked average & Torres was stranded up front unable to conjure up anything at all. We had most of the possession, but did nothing with it. If our 2 matches against Barcelona in last season's Champions League taught us anything at all, it's that possession isn't important. What's important is what you do with possession. We seemed to have forgotten that last night, & Atletico Madrid did exactly what we did against Barcelona (except they created more chances & were a lot more clinical). There wasn't a single player that actually put in a decent performance (Mikel had his moments, but he too made many mistakes). The only consolation is that we now have the opportunity to put things right, as it's still early in the season. Better make these mistakes now than later on when it will hurt us even more. But last night made it clear that there is still work to do in terms of improving our overall game.

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