Chelsea could of gone first in the Premier League by the end of this round, due to Arsenal’s draw yesterday. Unfortunately we were unable to capitalize on this as we drew to a West Ham side considered to be strugglers in the Premier League. Overall, our performance was lacklustre to say the least, and our lack of a killer instinct really didn’t help our cause. We had 72% possession, 38 goal attempts to West Ham’s 1 and we had 13 corners. In defence, we were fairly sound, considering West Ham only had one decent chance all match. Nonetheless, here is, in my opinion, each Chelsea player’s match rating for the game.
Petr Cech- 6.5/10
An average match by Cech, though in all fairness he wasn’t tested all that often. He made a good save in the first half off a headed free kick.
Branislav Ivanovic- 6.5/10
He offered basically nothing in attack but his defence was ok.
John Terry- 6.5/10
A solid performance, but again we wasn’t tested defensively. As Chelsea pressed so far up the pitch, his passing didn’t come into play
Cesar ‘Dave’ Azpilicueta-7/10 (Subbed off 62th minute for Lampard)
Our best defender, ‘Dave’ had a decent game but he at least helped our cause in attack. He made some attacking runs, opening space up for Hazard to run.
John Obi Mikel- 5.5/10 (Subbed off 62th minute for Matic)
Mikel basically did not help the team at all today. His slow tempo and passing meant that Chelsea couldn’t start the attacks fast enough, allowing our opposition more time to prepare. He wasn’t needed defensively either, as shown in the stats I mentioned earlier.
Ramires-8/10
One of our better performers in this match Ramires gave yet another energetic performance. He was often sloppy in attack though with the finish on either an advanced pass or a shot. Had to play right defender though, when Lampard was subbed on. I think Ramires was our Player of the Match.
Eden Hazard- 7.5/10
Eden was clearly not at his brilliant best in this match, and it showed in our attack as a whole. He still had his twinkle toes causing havoc, but when West Ham started to double-team him, space was hard to find.
Oscar- 7.5/10 (subbed off for Ba in the 79th minute)
Oscar did not do much wrong in this match. He did not have luck on his side, as his final pass or dribble was somehow cut out. Oscar often found himself searching for the ball far deeper then what he is should be, more so when Mikel was on. This lead to him being tired later in the match and was subbed off in the 79th minute.
Willian-6.5/10
This performance was far below his usual standards. He seemed to be off the pace of the game and did not create anything in attack. I felt that this was due to fatigue as his intensity started to drop as the match went on.
Samuel Eto’o- 7/10
Eto’o had another quite match against West Ham. He often drifted our to the wing and left us without a target man in the middle of the box. He was disallowed a cheeky goal though, in all fairness the West Ham keeper had not touched the ball yet, so he couldn’t score like he did.
Used Subs:
Frank Lampard- 7.5/10
Frank was on the pitch for half an hour or so, but he did make an impact on the game. He did not defend at all, but super Frank added a little bit extra in attack. He had quite a few shots on goal, but his shots were often blocked or the keeper saved them.
Nemanja Matic- 6.5/10
Matic added more speed to our play upon his substitution. His forward passing and willingness to take shots meant his, was a positive substitution. He did not play as well today as he did on the weekend though and he couldn’t change the end result of the match.
Demba Ba-6/10
Demba was thrown on in the last 10 minutes of the match, to help try and alter the match. As he was subbed on though, West Ham through on another defender so he couldn’t have as much of an affect on the game as he would of liked. He got barely any touches on the ball anyways and played poorly.
