We started our FA Cup defense in an away draw against Brentford at Griffin Park, requiring a replay between the two teams at Stamford Bridge. Although Brentford had the lead two times, Chelsea responded well with two marvelous equalizing goals from Oscar and Fernando Torres. This should have been an easy match for chelsea to advance to the fifth round quickly, But lets look at 5 things we learned from the 90 minutes of our FA Cup draw.
Scorers: Oscar 55, Torres 83
1. Chelsea aren’t the same when Juan Mata is not on the pitch:
Chelsea conceded a goal just 4 minutes from the 1st half stoppage and it was looking like we were being knocked out of the cup yet again like the League Cup semi-final last Wednesday. But, at half-time, Chelsea’s MVP so far this season, Juan Mata replaced Marko Marin. Then, we looked like a different team, with Mata pulling the strings from the middle of the front three behind Torres, Oscar moved the right wing. And just 10 minutes from the start, Oscar equalized with a brilliant solo-effort. All the attacking performance from Juan Mata just proved like many other games so far this season, that Juan Mata is the “IT factor” of the chelsea attacking machine.
2. Demba Ba’s work rate is simply too brilliant:
Demba Ba played last 10 minutes only, but you can see the impact he had after he did very well to get the ball back and interchange passes with Torres, allowing the Spaniard to get as level with a delicious curly finish to the side near post. Ba has looked very dangerous for opposition defenses when he comes on late like against Swansea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. And maybe, he is in a good position to start against Reading for the premier league match on Wednesday. Or……
3. Fernando Torres & Demba Ba partnership might work:
Fernando Torres and Demba Ba were on the same pitch at the same time only for the last 10 minutes of the match. And the understanding between the two and the selflessness of Ba was in display clearly as we saw Torres’ equalizer just 7 minutes from time. And i think Rafa should try to use both in attack against Reading with the formation 4-4-2 diamond, with Juan Mata playing behind them.(4-4-2: Cech, Azplicueta, Cahill, Ivanovic, Cole, Lampard, Ramires, Oscar, Mata: Demba Ba & Torres in attack)
4. The Defense needs to tighten up & stop giving opportunities away:
Ross Turnbull was exposed to dangerous attacks against Brentford and they capitalized on the chances to take the lead two times. If we look back at three years ago, when Petr Cech is unavailable through injury, it was the two defenders(Carvalho & Terry) that were protecting our goal, but now the goal keeper is being found one-on-one against the opposing teams strikers, which shouldn’t be the case. If, Turnbull had been sent off for the challenge that got Brentford a penalty, we would have been in big danger to be eliminated from The FA Cup by fighting back with 10 players. The defenders available at our club are very good center backs, but they should form a good link to prevent as from conceding goals.
5. Marko Marin needs to be loaned out:
Marko Marin hasn’t been given many chances to start at Stamford Bridge, but we can say that he isn’t that good enough to start ahead of Mata, Hazard, Oscar and Victor Moses. That’s the reason in so many games that he have played in, he didn’t make any impact for as to get scoring opportunities. So, the solution might be to loan him out until the summer to the bundesliga and if he does not impress, give him as part of a deal to Bayer Liverkusen to sign fellow Germany striker/winger Andre Schrulle.
