In what was a disappointing afternoon at St. James Park like last season’s fixture, The blues gifted Newcastle with two great chances to capitalize and win the game. Coming off an incredible week after beating Man City and Arsenal, it was a disappointing fixture from the Blues and one that we should look to put behind us for the game against Schalke in midweek.
Let’s see how all of it went wrong starting from team selection…
Starting 11s:
Chelsea FC (4-2-3-1) 1 Petr Cech; 2 Branislav Ivanovic, 4 David Luiz, 26 John Terry (c), 3 Ashley Cole; 7 Ramires, 8 Frank Lampard; 10 Juan Mata, 11 Oscar, 17 Eden Hazard; 9 Fernando Torres.
Newcastle United (4-4-2) T Krul; M Debuchy, M Williamson, M Yanga-Mbiwa, D Santon; M Sissoko, C Tiote (c), Y Cabaye; Y Gouffran, Shola Ameobi, L Remy.
Summary:
The game started with Chelsea having a lot of the possession and trying out different routes to break through the Newcastle defense but, didn’t work out. The Magpies were playing a defensive, rigid system waiting to hit in the break through the fast, powerful players like Gouffran, Ameobi and Remy. Through out the first period of the game, our back line was not threatened thanks to a solid defending from John Terry and David Luiz.
But, we never created much chances to score on-goal and Fernando Torres didn’t get the chances he needed especially from the wings. Eden Hazard was trying to cut in from the left too much and Juan Mata was playing as the 2nd no. 10 next two Oscar which really didn’t work at all.
Only, a couple of strong headers from John Terry (the only magnificent performer for Chelsea through the 90 mins) tested Tom Krul’s goal and even hit the crossbar to deny us a goal we needed. The first half ended with not much chances taken well and we desperately lacked width through Juan Mata, who is uncomfortable on the wings opposed to his favored No. 10 position.
Eden Hazard also should have done better on the left wing to create few aerial opportunities for in-form Fernando Torres. The first half ended in a stalemate with out a goal and not even a satisfying display by the Blues in a way we tortured Man City and Arsenal’s defense in the previous two games.
2nd half: Jose Mourinho stuck to the same line-up he started with, withholding any changes needed for little later on. Newcastle united though came out like a wounded animal, attacking and trying to score. They had this confidence coming from the realization, Chelsea weren’t at their best and taking chances to score that is expected of them.
66th minute arrived and it was a free-kick to Newcastle. Yohan Cabaye crossed a swinging free-kick and the unmarked Gouffran headed comfortably into the back of the net for Newcastle. Disappointed by the score, the blues started to attack and create dangers. Mourinho shifted to a seemingly attacking 4-3-3 with only Ramires holding the anchor of midfield after Lampard was withdrawn for Andre Schurrle.
The German winger should have started in one of the wings ahead of Oscar or Mata and he came in late. Also another substitutions came from Chelsea as Eto’o and Willian came on for Mata and Torres to turn the game around. Even though the substitutes did well, we couldn’t break the deadlock against them.
Even later chances for the magpies created scoring opportunities but, didn’t go in to the back of the net by John Terry’s resolute defense to deny them a chance. The captain was magnificent through out the game and he stopped opportunities coming from Luiz and Ramires’ reckless defending in front of Remy and Ameobi.
In the late stages of the game, a defensive blunder created a chance for Remy who doubled Newcastle’s lead to 2 goals and wrap up a deserved 3 points for the home team. Chelsea played poor and Jose will surely have a word for the player responsible for allowing the Gouffran header and also Ramires and at times, Luiz’s reckless challenges to allow players go past them.
Now, let’s look forward to the game against Schalke at Stamford Bridge in November and next weekend’s premier league match at Stamford Bridge to win and get back us on track. Keep your heads up blues, it’s not near over yet. KTBFFH!!! What we learned to come soon, stay tuned, follow (@FahmiCFC)
Is time mou made up his mind on his starting eleven..we can’t to be rotating player….ain’t no november hoodoo we’re not just good today..and lamp shouldnt be starting every game.
Some part of bad luck, some defensive errors etc..has let down today, nothing much to worry about this game its just not our day, i want next match to come as fast as possible so that we can get back to winning ways!
We should learn to stand by our team,what is important is our position come may.up blues.
Dnt knw wat hapend 2 us today.is hazard ,oscar,mata is jealous of torres form.i even didnt c da bal passd frm wings 2 torres.so painful game playd by us.#chelsea for life#
WTF jealous u mean? Your comment is pure stupid one.
Emile 10 dont insult the guy for making his point.
Maraneros@ I don’t think They are jealous of Torres, but I get your point. The AMs had games to forget. They did absolutely nothing right. Mata passed poorly all day, Oscar was not evn in the game. Hazard played crap. They aren’t jealous, they just didn’t put enough effort.
@Vaakmeisster I didn’t meant it. I was surprised with that kind of comment. I mean it’s a team not individuals, and I think they are many fans who support Torres more than Chelsea sand I think Maramores@ is one of them. To be honest Mazacar doesn’t work anymore. So I think it’s time to try others options. So saying that some players are jalous for Torres it sounds….let support Chelsea as a team first and favorite players come after. Chelsea until I die.
i have said it many times & wil never stop until jose does the right thing.there is no way luiz & lamp should be selected ahead of cahil & mikel.u win epl with your best not with sentiments.rami is a box 2 box & u can only grant him freedom 2 roam the pitch when you play him with a cdm like mikel not lamp.al hope is not lost.blues 4 life.
I think the boys didn’t put up a gud fight even though I expected mou to play mikel. No prob winner or looser we still stand by u boys one more I think should do is let lapard have some rest his age is telling him
We had lot of chances to win the game,but over confidence in our players ruined our chance of utilizing our possessions..just av to focus on the games ahead.
JM don’t use DM in his tactic. So, there are no player can support the back 4, hold the opponent and dominate the midfield very well. Chelsea must use Mikel & Essien.
Firework showrooms are not ummnocon, actually – well, not in our part of London, anyway – we live in a predominantly Asian community and there are a lot of places selling fireworks, particularly (obviously) around Diwali, and they\’re all on display in glass cabinets. It\’s slightly bizarre, but it makes for a gorgeous festival! (I am slightly overexcited by fireworks. I am a four-year-old.)Although, I am now thinking of fireworks being sold like cars. I\’m convinced a mega-rocket would last longer than my dad\’s Astra did…
Lampard should not be started ahead of MIKEL
First substitution should have been Lampard out Willian or Eto’o in, Lamps simply wasn’t in the game. The entire starting eleven are reponsible for the loss, beacuse they didn’t show aggressiveness to win balls.
this game makes me think of RDM’s stint where we had a good start then the boyz got burned out I hope its not the same thing.. times like this, i appreciate our very critically fans that win or loose they analyze our game as it is and point out our flaws which in this case Lamps again falls to this category of flaws and a win couldn’t hide his bad performance..
I wrote here we shouldn’t get carried away with the win and I would also say we shouldn’t get carried away with a loss too..
Everyone agrees that Lamoard should never start ahead of Mikel. So am not gonna state that again. Our midfielders need to take risks. Beating deep defending teams isn’t that difficult of you attempt lobbed through balls. But our AMs dont do this. It sickening.