Blue boys make a splash of the pikey boys!

Early Saturday evening, we went into the London derby match against West Ham, knowing that only a win would do, having already heard the result from the earlier United - Everton match, in which United had snatched a late winner, courtesy of Hernandez.  Knowing, that United had won, to stand any chance of retaining the title and to keep pressure on at the top, a win was a must for us, whereas for West Ham a win was also a must, but for different reasons.  At the time of kick off in our game on Saturday, West Ham were at the foot of the premier league table, and they find themselves in a very tough relegation battle this season. 

 The conditions on Saturday were not ideal, as despite the earlier glorious sunshine, the clouds had come over SW6 and the heavens had opened.  It had not only started to rain, but it had started to pour down and the pitch had suffered the consequences.  However, despite the conditions, both teams were determined to give a good performance.  Carlo, as he had done against Birmingham started with a 4-3-3 formation, with Kalou and Malouda alongside Drogba up front.  Torres was again placed on the bench, along with Nicolas Anelka. 

Although there were numerous efforts, with both teams pushing forwards, the first goal of the match did not come until just before half time.  Despite West Ham's efforts, Frank Lampard netted the first goal against his former club from 7 yards out and Chelsea went into the half time break with a 1-0 lead.  As the second half started, the rain had also reappeared, however, this did not stop goal scoring chanced from being created.  Chelsea had a number of chances to make it 2-0, most notably a David Luiz shot that just hit the crossbar!  However, it was not until the final 10 minutes of the match when the further goals were scored.  

Carlo Ancelloti had made some changes in the final period of the game, bringing on Torres and Anelka to replace Drogba and Kalou.  As soon as the Spaniard entered the pitch, he made a deteremined effort, and you could sense that perhaps that Saturday was finally going to be his day.....and believe it or not, in the 83rd minute Torres struck a beautifully crafted goal that led to wild celebrations at Stamford bridge.  The crowd went wild and the entire team jumped on top of him!  Everyone was delighted for Fernando, and he had deserved it. Despite his goal drought since signing in the January transfer window, we had all kept faith and his first goal had been coming, getting closer and closer in recent games.  Now that he has the first goal under his belt, I believe that it will be a huge weight of his shoulders and now the goals will just follow on from here.

After Fernando's goal the atmosphere was amazing and as there was not many minutes left in the game, the 3 points were secure for Chelsea.  However, that was not all Chelsea had to offer, as in the closing minutes Malouda struck home to make the score 3-0 to Chelsea, as the final score. West Ham find themselves in a lot of trouble at the moment, but for us it was a good win!

After the weekends matches, we find ourselves 3 points clear of Arsenal, as they lost to Bolton, and 6 points behind United, with 4 games to play.  Although it is in United's hands, we are not out of the title race just yet and if we keep on winning it is possible that we can finish the season where we started - at the top! However, United play Arsenal next week, and we need the Gunners to do us a favour by beating them after which it will be our turn to visit Old Trafford again.  So if we continue to play as we are at the moment, and if the Gunners manage to do us a small favour next week...who knows.  But one thing is for sure, although it may not be entirely in our hands, we still believe!

4 matches remain for us and we want to see 4 wins out of 4! Lets have a good finish to the season....UP THE CHELS!

Also just for those that were mocking Fernando:

 

http://hasfernandotorresscoredforchelsea.com/

Overtaking Arsenal and still believing!

After the 3-1 win at the Hawthorns, it was fittingly followed up by another 3-1 victory against Birmingham on Wednesday night, which also saw us overtake the Gunners after their 3-3 draw at WHL, albeit only on goal difference.

On Wednesday night at Stamford Bridge, Carlo Ancelotti again chose to leave Torres on the bench, and started with Drogba up front, in a 4-3-3 formation, along with Kalou and Malouda on either side.  This is something that has been tried and tested at Chelsea and has proved to be successful for the last few seasons.  It seems that Chelsea are now coming out of a 'bad moment' as Carlo would say, and  after last 2 games, we can safely say there has been some good football from the team.  Yes, Fernando Torres has been reduced to appearances from the bench, but I think at this stage of the season if our old front guard is working well, it is best to stick with it.  As the saying goes 'if it ain't broke...don't fix it'.  Fernando will get goals, but for now it is important to let him settle in the team, which I don't think will happen fully until he has pre-season under his belt.  But I am optimistic,that he can grab at least a couple of goals before the end of this season, and as he showed last weekend at West Brom, he is getting closer.  

On Wednesday night, the team proved that they have still got it, and many doubters of players such as Malouda and Kalou will have perhaps changed their opinions after their fantastic efforts.  Furthermore, Drogba was also in fine form on Wednesday, and although he didn't score, he is getting back to his best, and playing at the same level he was before suffering from malaria earlier in the season.  Just as he had done against West Brom, Didier gave the Birmingham defenders a tough time.  

Malouda, who had been struggling to form lately, scored an early first goal, which was followed by a fantastic second goal from Solomon Kalou.  Chelsea took a 2-0 lead into half time, and in second half continued to press Birmingham, and it was not long before Malouda added a third goal, his second of the night, to make it 3-0 on the hour mark.  It was pretty much game over and 3 point in the bag at this point.  The only negative aspect to take from this game was when Luiz gave away a penalty with a rash challenge.  Larsson stepped up and scored for Birmingham, but it did not matter as the point were secure.  

Kalou celebrates after his goal

With the Gunners faltering that night at Tottenham, we have now managed to overtake them into second place.  We are now level on points with Arsenal, with a superior goal difference and only 6 point adrift of the leaders Man United.  Although we should take it one game at a time and just concentrate on winning our remaining games, with United still to play us and the Gunners, the title race may not be over after all.  Our aim is to finish as high as we can and end the season on a positive note.  Where we finish at the end.....we will see. 


Whether we can mount a late challenge to retain our Premier League title or not, one thing is for sure there is still life in us yet and WE BELIEVE!


Win, Lose or draw up the chels, and bring on the Hammers on Saturday!


KTBFFH

Bouncing back at Hawthorns!

After the dismal exit from the champions league last Tuesday at Old Trafford, Chelsea went into the weekend game against West Brom needing nothing but a win to restore some pride.  At the Hawthorns on Saturday, Chelsea were back in business and showed that all is not lost with this season and we will continue to fight even if there is no trophy waiting for us at the end!  

The match had a slow start and it seemed that the team was still nursing a hangover from the champions league exit and it was to no surprise that West Brom took the lead on 17 minutes courtesy of Odemwingie.  The defence was sloppy and West Brom deservedly took the lead.  However, this was not to deter the traveling Chelsea faithful, who were in fine voice all afternoon and they were to be rewarded shortly after when Drogba, neatly finished to equalise for Chelsea, again showing that he has still got it in him! 

 

 The goal from Drogba proved to be exactly what was needed to reignite the spirits and it was not long before a second goal for Chelsea came, from Didier's fellow countryman Soloman Kalou.  Chelsea were no 2-1 up, playing some good football and it makes you wonder why Carlo Ancelloti did not start with Drogba in the champions league encounter!   

A third goal was then scored for Chelsea by super Frankie Lampard and it was safe to say at this stage that the game was Chelsea's and you could sense a smile back on the face of Carlo's team.  Although Ancelloti had decided to stick with Torres as opposed to Drogba for the CL match, against West Brom he was merely just a bench warmer for the majority of the match.  It was only late on, in the last 8 minutes of normal time that Fernando came onto the field of play.  He even came close to scoring believe it or not...infact he did get the ball into the back of the net! Finally, the £50m investment in the January transfer window had produced what he had been bought for - scoring goals!.......But oh no...it wasn't to be....it was ruled offside unfortunately! But a good effort regardless, from Fernando.

The win was exactly what the boys had needed after the crushing defeat and at the end of the weekend's premier league football, we are now positioned in 3rd place, 2 points behind Arsenal, who missed the chance to close the gap on United, and 8 points behind united. While it is too far fetched to say we can catch up on United, all we can do is keep winning and aim for the best possible finish to the season.  On Wednesday night we host Birmingham and we could possibly go into 2nd place, depending on Arsenal's result at WHL on the same night.  

After some disappointing times this season, we can only look up from here, and as always keep the blue flag flying high!

UP THE CHELS!

Post mortem from the Champions League - where do we go from here?

So we sit here today, after last night's defeat at Old Trafford, finding ourselves now out of the Uefa champions league in a season where we have already been knocked of the FA cup and ruled out of the premiership title race....so where where exactly do we go from here? In many ways this season will be considered by many as a disastrous season which had promised so much with a more than satisfying start to the season that seemed to be a perfect follow up from the achievements of the previous season.  However, what we had not expected was our free fall in form that effectively ended any hopes of retaining the title half way through this season.

There are many that believe that Carlo Ancelloti's days at Chelsea are now numbered and he is effectively a dead man walking.  I have to agree somewhat with this as I do not see Carlo here next season. However, do not get me wrong I do not by any means agree that this is the right way to proceed forward, but given Roman's track record in patience with managers, it is almost inevitable that come the start of next season there will be a new man in charge at Stamford Bridge.  

Is changing manager the right way to go about things....?  

Personally, I think we should keep Carlo till the end of his contract at least.  Stability is one thing that Chelsea have never really had and by having frequent changes we cannot build for long term success.  Take a look at Sir Alex Ferguson for example.  No one can deny the amount of consistent success he has had at Man-Ure, but had they not kept faith in him initially when he first became their manager it would never have happened.  Yes, Carlo has made mistakes this season and along with the team he has also, at times under performed.  However, we have to remember that this is the same man that got us the double last season for the first time in our history, and surely that must count for something!   

At Old Trafford last night we were all disappointed, but it had a feeling that it had been coming. Over the two legs, we can't argue that united were the better team. despite our penalty claim in the first leg, we still did not put on performances that would have seen us through.  At Old Trafford last night, I was worried with what Carlo had up his sleeve and was suspecting that it could be a mistake to leave Drogba on the bench and instead favour Torres.  If Carlo wanted to start with Torres, he should have perhaps played him together with Benayoun on the pitch, as the pair of them seem to have an understanding and on Saturday against Wigan they put on a good performance, albeit without any goals.  Indeed Carlo did make changes for the second half and Drogba did score a goal, which gave us a glimmer of hope for a minute, but for this one Carlo did make a mistake in leaving Drogba, a proven goalscorer with us.....on the bench.  

Carlo's mistakes aside, we have been performing under par this season and it may be time to rebuild the team for next season.  What is important now is to finish the season on a high and keep our chins up, and to potentially look into how to rebuild for next season.  If we are to achieve success again next season, both Carlo and the team will need to step up a gear and not be afraid to make drastic changes.  Torres, although costing Mr Abramovich a large sum of money to prise him away from the scousers, he has not been the hit man up front that we would have hoped as yet.  However, the key difference here at Chelsea with his role at Liverpool is that at Anfield he was the main man, where as here he has come in where Drogba has already been the main man for the last few years.  Torres will probably need a good pre-season to fully settle into the team, but if he is to fit in and become a hit up front,  changes will need to be made to the team, otherwise he could end up like another Shevchenco, which we all don't want.

In order to rebuild, I think some major changes will need to be made.  We are currently struggling to find goals up front, whereas Sturridge, on loan at Bolton has been scoring left, right and centre! I think he has a big part to play at Chelsea and should become one of the main men up front.  However is it possible for people like Sturridge and Torres to be prominent goal scoring features in the first team when we already have people like Drogba, Anelka, Kalou and Malouda in the pecking order?? 

I think not. Thatis why I believe that it might be the right time to say goodbye to some of our more experienced players such as Kalou or Malouda in order to perhaps give the others a chance to succeed as a successful team.  Even the most reliable members of the team such as Essien, have been below par this season, and Carlo should really consider what role they have in the team next season, and he should not be afraid to change things for the better!  There are those that think Drogba will be first through the exit door this summer, especially with Torres now in the pecking order.  However, I believe that while we should give people like Strurridge and Torres the chance to form into a rebuilt team for next season, Drogba is and has been a proven goal scorer, as he showed on Tuesday night, and it is in my view that we should keep him around for atleast one more season to ease the transition of the team into a new era.  Drogba and Anelka have found us many goals up front, and I believe that they can continue this next season, even if it is only a bit part in the squad.  Torres, on the other hand, I believe will get the goals once he is settled, and we should judge him by how he does in his first full season, which would be next season.  If by the end of next season Torres, is still not finding his feet, then only would it be time to cut our losses on the £50m man.  However, lets stay optimistic that he will come good, and prove doubters wrong, that is isn't just another Shevchenco. 


Next season, I can see a Brazilian theme to the team, with the boys from Brazil; Alex, Luiz and Ramires playing crucial roles, which could be very exciting.  Also I believe that the younger players such as Kakuta, Mceachran etc should have a larger role in the first team.  Players such as Kakuta, Sturridge, Mceachran have all shown promising sign this season, whether it be at Chelsea or out on loan, and if Carlo can build a successful team around such players along with some experience it could provide the perfect mix for success, and Carlo could leave behind a real legacy at Chelsea, if he does not stay beyond his contract in 2012.  

So for now lets just support the team with loyalty and pride, and lets have a good end to the season!


Whether Carlo stays or goes and whether the team will see a major overhaul in the summer, remains to be seen but one thing is for sure:

We are Chelsea- Don't worry about a thing, coz everything is gonna to be alright!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LanCLS_hIo4