 |
| What We Learned From the Norwich City Match : 05.10.2012 |
Chelsea Football Club played Norwich City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. An interesting and open match ended in a 4 - 1 win for the Blues. What we learned :
1. Torres is almost back.
2. Defense is very vulnerable.
3. Mata is our key playmaker.
4. Lampard-Mikel partnership is shaky.
5. “Mascarzard” linkup is brilliant.
6. Holt and Hoolahan troubled us.
7. Bad luck with the referees.
1. Torres is almost back: Fernando Torres scored yet again and offered a relatively decent performance. He missed an early chance, goal a fantastic goal and missed another chance. All in all, he could of had a hat-trick. His goal was the one that put us back into the match and offered some relief to the team and fans. He did well to slide into the space and finish. He was a bit wasteful in possession, but he did have a decent performance. I think he is 80-90% back to "vintage Torres".
2. Defense is very shaky: Norwich City threw everything at us and created a handful of chances that were begging for a good finish. They got one with Grant Holt who put them ahead. We were very disorganized and the Luiz-Terry combination looks uncertain to me. This needs improvement, but its better than AVB's system and is generally good considering the amount of clean sheets and goals we have conceded this season. (Excluding Atletico Madrid)
3. Mata is our key playmaker: Juan Mata has proved himself vital since his period of rest earlier in the season. Mata was MOTM v Arsenal and certainly on of the best if not the best v Nordsjaelland and was immense v Norwich City. His passing and finishing is unbelievable. He deserves all credit and for me has to be the designated #10 for Chelsea this season. Only Juan for me.
4. Lampard-Mikel partnership is shaky: Frank and John had good games, but both failed to track back and weren't very good together. This isn't the very first time, either. Lampard-Romeu/Ramires would be a decent alternative and vice-versa. The Lampard-Mikel combination is one I buy unless Mikel sits back more and Lampard doesn't go forward too much. Tracking back main problem with them.
5. “Mascarzard” linkup is brilliant: Mata Oscar and Hazard is the best "3" option in the 4-2-3-1 formation. Hazard had a goal, Mata had 2 assists, Oscar had a brilliant game. All 3 of them have shown their quality these last few games and continue to show it week in and week out. This trio is immense and can make sure Lampard-Mikel has some hope if they keep possession and set up chances. Good call, Di Matteo.
6. Holt and Hoolahan troubled us: Wes Hoolahan and Grant Holt were absolutely the best players for Norwich, today. Their physical presence and creativity hurt us and lead to Norwich's chances that they luckily didn't take full advantage of. We must make sure that other key players of other teams don't have the ability to control the game.
7. Bad luck with the referees: Once again, Chelsea were denied a few decisions including a few stonewall penalties. Its not the first time this season and its a major concern, because when calls don't go your way when they should problems emerge and it could lead to suspensions, fines, etc. Must consult FA and complain about this because it can cost you a game.
Other points :
1. Nice debut for Cesar "Dave" Azpilicueta
2. Cahill deserves a chance alongside Terry in a PL match
3. Ivanovic "our fake #9" is in fine form
4. Top of the league!
Thanks,
Ervin
No comment. UP BLUES. KEEP D FAITH. Jeff-Ifeanyi Lagos Naija.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic observation, but;1. Do you think Torres can still discover d knack 4 goal again. 2. It is very obvious that d tactics Chelsea adopt does't suit Lampard simply bcus he lacks d required skills & creativity to succed in d position
ReplyDeleteeven during Morinho's era, Chelsea did not control d game from d midfield, it is only d front three that displayed d flair and entertain d spectator. Lampard was outstanding only when he scored a goal in a match, he has never been praised for creativity
ReplyDeletewell I like Torres like every1 else and I wont be biased in his analysis. Torres had a very poor game. Havent u noticed how he converted a difficult opportunity and missed the easier ones. Torres is in his prime so we must stop talking about a future especially since he depends on his pace. Holt was the better striker on the field.
ReplyDeleteI'm predicting 15-20 goals for Torres this season,if not more. He's going at a well enough rate. He won't be EPL's top scorer this season but definitely next season. The way people react to Torres' wasted chances sounds like they want the guy to score 5-10 goals in every game! Lol! Go watch other football matches and realise that other strikers also makes mistakes,your expectations and dreams are unrealistic.
ReplyDeleteWasted chances! You don't understand yet. There is a reason why we defeated stoke city. Ashley Cole converted at a time when there was so much pressure. That was his first real opportunity and he took it. I've watched CR7 and Messi and trust me, they would grab such opportunities with both arms. Torres is not playing as real world class striker and you are trying to be sympathetic. Even Holt would crave for such opportunities from a quality midfield like ours. Just admit that Torres is being played through on goal so there is no more excuse for not converting.
DeleteLol, his mates are scoring back to back hat tricks and he is missing back to back loads. Just imagine if we had exchanged Torres for Falcao, how our chances of winning the super cup would have increased. Has Torres scored a brace this season?
DeleteI don't have sympathy for Torres. I see the reality in the way we play. Can't you see that we are using him as a false 9 most of the time? It's so obvious if you know football man,even the commentators usually talk about it. We're not playing with a sole target man upfront anymore. I wonder if your beloved Falcao will be the kind of team player Torres is. But hey I think most of you are just glory hunter sheep following the crowd. A few months ago everyone wanted Cavani but now that Falcao is in top form,you want him. Be realistic. We can't just sign every Tom Dick and Harry just because they are in top form now. The club spent 70+ million this past summer on new signings!
DeleteHope you are not getting confused by the term false 9. A false 9 is the default striker of the team. It is a system which allows the strike to participate in the swapping hence making him difficult to mark. It allows the striker to operate as an inside forward and opens up a lot of opportunity for the striker to be involved in the play as well as perform his duty. This system is giving Torres chances, end of story. Messi is the best striker in the world, doesn't lack goals and he is a false 9.
DeleteYou're contradicting yourself now. A striker is the most marked player on the pitch because he's positioned amongst the opposition's defense line. Torres in alot of moves drops deep dragging defenders out of position allowing the attacking midfielders to make a run into the box,even Ramires benefits from that. Look at Messi,he runs and dribbles infront of the defenders while Iniesta,Pedro,Sanchez and Fabregas looks to recieve a defense splitting pass. A false 9 drags out defenders.
DeleteI think we are having a misunderstanding between traditional dedicated strikers and false 9 strikers and also marking systems. I agree that strikers are the most marked and this shows that all strikers can draw players to themselves to create space for others. On the other hand, false 9's are very difficult to mark because of their positional movements and are almost impossible to mark in a very fluid system like ours connected to a dynamic trio of attacking mid fielders and then impossible to man mark in such a system. False 9's can operate in other areas of the field and in another role from striking like a winger or 10 or both which means someone else would assume the striking position temporarily, to be given back to the defaul false 9 . Simply speaking, Torres cannot be man marked and will keep getting chances. All the defenders try to do against Torres especially is to close the spaces to prevent through balls because they know he can't do without it and then they force him unto his left foot when they tackle him especially on scoring situations so that he can't cut to his right foot that is why he finds it hard to round the keepers even though he's free to round to his left, he simply remembers the Manu tragedy.
DeleteWe obviously have different views on the false 9 system.
DeleteThumbs up zane, nice comment !
ReplyDeleteWHO SAID THIS: Ivanovic "our fake #9" is in fine form, you really really observe it. You people are trying to witness all this..very good...i love that. Ramires - Mikel is working and Ramires - Lampard is working but Lampard - Mikel always lead Chelsea to lose game or surfer so much
ReplyDelete''Justice''
James emeh Aba
ReplyDeleteUp chelsea keep the blues flag up
James Eme Aba Nigeria
ReplyDeletei think ceasar "dave" should be played more often so that he will get use to the epl and Ivanovic will get some rest just as mata have done and come back smoking.thank u CFC360 you are doing a great job keep it up BLUES 4 LIFE
WHY CANT DI MATTEO PUT LAMPARD AND RAMIRES IN THE MIDDLE OR RAMIRES AND MIKEL INSTEAD OF LAMPARD AND MIKEL I GUESS SOMEONE SHOULD LET HIM NO.
ReplyDeleteTorres I̲̅į̸̸̨§ not improving, he keep on missing quality chances. Any other option cos most goals α̲̅я̩̥̊ε̲̣̣̣̥ scored by mf ɑ̤̥̈̊п̥̥̲̣̣̣D̶̲̥̅̊ df.
ReplyDeleteDear mates, you are saying there is no excuse for torres not convert his chances. the problem is: HE IS CONVERTING THEM. HE IS SCORING. MESSI MISSES CHANCES, TOO, AND SO DOES C. RONALDO. AND I HAVE TO SAY IT: YOUR SWEET LOVELY FALCAO MISSES, TOO.
ReplyDeleteI think Falcao we be a good sigh for Chelsea this January because he is the kind of player Chelsea need at this moment as a replacement for Didier Drogba. for a example, Chelsea score 4 goals against Tottenham last weekend without even a goal from our top nine which is Torres. that is to say that we dont have a striker for now. were not going to depend only on our midfielder like Oscar,Mata and Hazard besides their are not our striker. we need Falcao at all cost, so that it we enable us to defend our tittle (European King) from Oneill south
ReplyDeleteI think Falcao we be a good sigh for Chelsea this January because he is the kind of player Chelsea need at this moment as a replacement for Didier Drogba. for a example, Chelsea score 4 goals against Tottenham last weekend without even a goal from our top nine which is Torres. that is to say that we dont have a striker for now. were not going to depend only on our midfielder like Oscar,Mata and Hazard besides their are not our striker. we need Falcao at all cost, so that it will enable us to defend our tittle (European King)
ReplyDelete