Another game this week and another convincing win with a perfect clean sheet as we didn’t concede a goal in both games against Fulham and Swindon. And as the title points out, Jose Mourinho fielded in what is supposed to be a ‘reserve’ line up that included the likes of Juan Mata, David Luiz and Fernando Torres seal the passage of the Blues to the next round of the capital one cup.
But, the victory wasn’t as sweat as we hoped it would be since our Dutch youngster Marko Van Ginkel suffered a season ending injury right in the 7th minute has he tore is crucial ligament. The 20 year old midfielder then made way to Ramires who went on to score our 2nd following Fernando Torres’ opener. Now, the hope and desire of making it to the World Cup with the Netherlands this summer seems doomed with this big injury that could alter his future as a top player. Let’s see the main talking points from the match…..
1. Squad depth crucial for competing on all fronts for trophies..
What the line up of this game showed is squad depth is key for survival for any top team in any league. Last season, Roberto Di Matteo and Rafael Benitez managed to ignore this big issue facing the club and paid the price for it with difficult reigns at the club coming to an end and with the club winning just 1 trophy out of 8 possible at the beginning of the season. Jose Mourinho though improved the existing strong and talented team of players yet to reach their pick by adding an experience through Schwarzer and Samuel Eto’o in addition bringing in fresh young blood in form of Schurrle, Van Ginkel and Willian. Also Mourinho called back some players that were plying their trade on loan and further increased the competition and depth. This will immensely help us this season and we are seeing the fruition from this early stages. WELL DONE JOSE!
2. Juan Mata, David Luiz and Fernando Torres proved they’re team player…
This three senior and regular starters from the previous season didn’t feature much regularly as they were used to last year but, when called upon to deliver against Swindon in the capital one cup, they didn’t disappoint a bit by displaying pure courage for our blue shirt and showing passion. We had no illusion of their professionalism before towards this players despite some issues with Torres’ moral and confidence when he is not playing and scoring regularly. But, after all the media talk of Mata or Luiz leaving our club, Jose showed a strong leadership and courage to hold on to them and keep them motivated to fight for their roles. Competition will help the team win titles and compete and we will see a further positive fruition later on in the season when we see this 3 performing like they did against Swindon against top teams.
3. Fernando Torres or Samuel Eto’o? Big selection head ache awaiting Jose against Spurs…
After the man of the match performance by Fernando Torres against Swindon, we come to the question of who should start against Tottenham Hotspur in the weekend. Fernando Torres who has two goals so far this season or Samuel Eto’o who is yet to find his scoring boots for the Blues’ in 3 consecutive starts last week? Jose Mourinho will surely make the best judgement when it comes to this as he watches the players in training all week long to decide what’s best for the team to wrap up the 3 points against our rivals from North London managed by Andre Villas-Boas.
4. Let’s hope Van Ginkel recovers well and gets back to top fitness….
In a news that cast a huge dark shadow on this great victory, Youngster Marko Van Ginkel is out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL as it was feared in first place. The result of the injury was confirmed by many reports today that the Dutch midfielder will have a surgery on his knee and won’t be able to play through out the season. Let’s wish him a well recovery and that he comes back with much determination to improve. We might see him feature in some games right at the end of the season. GET WELL SOON MvG!!
5. Ramires is proving he should one of the untouchables in the Chelsea team…
The Brazilian midfielder is proving game by game that he is one of the top players at the club and that he should be in a starting 11 against any top team we play against unquestionably. Jose Mourinho is a huge admirer of his tire-less work ethic and Rambo did a brilliant job by scoring our 2nd goal against Swindon after a beautiful assist by Fernando Torres. He surely has a lot more to give to this side if he watches his reckless tackling at times and his discipline which isn’t too bad at all.
Here are the main points we learned from The Swindon game and let us know if there were things missing and you can follow me on twitter (@FahmiCFC). KTBFFH!!!
