Chelsea managed to get all three points against Everton in the early kickoff but have to say that the Blues left it really very late. Chelsea looked the better side for most parts of the game but the Blues failed to convert the chances they created due to poor finishing and some brilliant defending from the Everton backline. Chelsea threw everything at the Merseyside club but Chelsea had to wait till the 93rd minute to get the winner that keeps Chelsea top of the league.
What We Learned:
John Terry back in the team – Solid Defense:
John Terry’s return to the center of the defense was something that every Chelsea fan wanted, Yesterday he was declared fit by Jose and it was just the kind of boost Chelsea needed going into the match against Everton and it showed why. Chelsea were solid in defense and the Cahill – JT partnership kept its shape throughout and JT popped up with the winner in injury time.
Azpilicueta, Cahill and John Terry were the stand out performers for Chelsea today. I have said it in the past and i will say it again: It’s the defense that’ll win us the league title. The games we don’t concede, 9 times out of ten Chelsea will go on and win. It’s only the games in which we concede cause us problems.
Massive 3 Points in the Title Race:
I couldn’t emphasize more on the fact that 3 points today were massive, and with City and Arsenal playing their games later it was a perfect opportunity for Chelsea to pile on the pressure at the top of the table and that’s exactly what Mourinho’s men have done.
The mantra is simple: We’ve done what we could. Now it’s your turn.
Hazard: The Man Marked:
Teams find it hard to control Hazard’s movement so what do they do? They try to put 2-3 men on him to nullify the threat he poses. There are times the teams stop him but so much is the class in this man that he still creates chances. Today Eden Hazard created 5 chances, and that’s more than any other player on the field today.
Chelsea should be taking maximum advantage of Hazard being man marked as it leaves other players man free. The players playing alongside Hazard need to up their game and take advantage of this, it will only help Hazard and the team as the more they do the more freedom Hazard gets as the players will be forced to leave him and keep a check on his team mates.
Our Shots to Goal ratio is very poor:
Chelsea had 25 shots on goal today and had only 8 on target. It’s a massive worry for us, we need our strikers to fire and need to be more clinical in front of goal.
Chelsea need to see off games early as we surely cannot leave it late every time.
Can we do the unthinkable? Can we do it without the strikers?
Here is a very Interesting Stat: Chelsea goalscorers in the past 30 days (7 matches): Hazard (3), Ivanovic (2), Terry (now given goal vs Everton), Oscar. Zero striker goals.
It’s good that we have got other goal scoring options apart from the strikers but it is really alarming that out strikers are not scoring again. If we really need to win the League we need our strikers to bury chances we get. Chelsea create, creating is no longer an issue but converting those half chances is. Chelsea today had 25 shots on goal and only 8 were on target and this is a massive worry for us.
Glad we got the result from the game that looked like ending goalless, priceless 3 points in the race for the title and Chelsea stay top atleast till the end of February.
Another fun fact: Jose Mourinho has never lost the title race when his team has been top at the end of February. Good Omen? We’ll see.
Jose at Stamford Bridge: 74 games, (Won 58, Drew 16, Lost 0).
#TopOfTheLeague.
I still can’t believe we won the match, it was frustrating after creating many chances and at the 3rd half of the pitch they were very organised and haven’t at all given room to cross or shoot or to pass, very very tight defence and tight match! My personal feeling is schurrle should be given more playing time and ramires still must improve first touch. Oscar is not in good form and hope will improve further. Thanks to our captain,leader,legend JOHN TERRY and to our goal scoring machine LAMPARD for the important victory at crucial stage of title race……Finally CHELSEA CHELSEA is our name !
Filyanl! This is just what I was looking for.
Excellent result, but Hazard,Oscar, and Willian have all faded recently. Every game over the past couple of months have been just those three starting. It’s really started showing that Mou should rotate those three by starting the other attacking midfielders we have. He doesn’t care and will most likely continue to start Willian and Hazard on the wings, but It just feels bad seeing players reduced to being nothing more than last minute subs for months at a time. Eto’o too, he could probably do with some bench time as well.
“He doesn’t care”: yes, I don’t understand why he insists to play OSCAR, WILLIAM and tired players. We need 4-3-3 as Lampard cannot play in 4-2-3-1 formation. Also, how in earth we continue to play with same players??
I ll still repeat wot i ve been saying. David luiz needs to learn frm terry and cahill to be like them. Imagine if we had luiz at the back today. Oscar is out of form, but we may not really need him to win atimes cos we ve learnt to play not tru #10 hole. Performance? I dont care, all i care for is 3 points. Matic has developed into a kind of player any top team will ever wanted. Exactly what we need. No ball watching, fast tackling. I wish u guys luck in the next match
I don’t understand why he insists to play OSCAR, WILLIAM and tired players. We need 4-3-3 as Lampard cannot play in 4-2-3-1 formation. Also, how in earth we continue to play with same players??
I don’t want to be negative but there are still so many little things in our play that we need to see ironed out in our play. Sometimes the confidence in our players can lead them to be complacent in possession of the ball. Matic,Willian,Hazard,Oscar and Ivanovic are players who feel too comfortable in possession for my liking. Yes,they do almost everything else right as expected from them but not to have the awareness of whose around you and have the ball taken away cheaply is a frustrating sight. They run square or foward like the opponent don’t want the ball and stop them from creating chances,then what happens? The opposition knick it back either from behind or actually from the side. Awareness and communication on the pitch is a worry for me personally.
Mourinho should probably try and sit down with Oscar to find out if he doesn’t have personal issues bugging him lately. I know I’m probably typing crap to some but what else can it be? Mentally Oscar doesn’t look like he’s IN games recently.
Schurrle should start more because Willian look a bit indecisive like Oscar on the ball now. Cahill in my opinion have been one of our more consistant performers and looks more and more like Carvalho in my opinion. His use of the ball in tight spaces is very good for a centre half. Other than that,I feel the intensity from our boys have taken a dip recently but could just be Mourinho and the staff’s way of keeping them sharp for every match to come in the final stretch. No need to be running yourself to death when more important and vital games need that extra intensity. With that I don’t mean this game didn’t mean anything,I mean the final battle around April to May.
Games like this can be scrappy but the three points might just edge it for us in the end. City have that game in hand but the pressure is on them. They have the most complete squad in the league so naturally their board expect them to win this league and run away with it. This final stretch is where a winning mentality push you successfully over the line and we have the best manager in the business to ensure that happens in May. I’m not too upbeat and I am realistic but with Mourinho as the boss,realism can fly out of the window.
Cheers.
Oscar is tired, everybody knows that. U can’t honestly blame mou for starting oscar. He played just 45 mins against city and had a whole week to rest. Most of us wanted oscar to start if we are being honest with ourselves. U will see that oscar won’t start against gala cos it is clear that he needs a long break. Schurrle’s directness will help us a lot this period. Azpi was sensational today. As well cahill. @ least until oscar returns to normal, schurrle has a big role to play. I felt he looked impressive when he came on.
I learnt Oscar is injuired and was still playing with injuiry. I guess he needs rest as well. Besides we should make use of the other players in the squad. It was good to see Schurrle on the field today quite a long time. I knew this match was going to be very difficult for us because Everton has always been a difficult team to overcome and play against. Important three points, Mourinho use Schurrle more.
Good to have Terry back with the defensive stability.
It wasnt a good game but all de same 3points is wat we want, Willian needs to warm the bench a little and com back latter, Matic is my man as always, that guy is a real dm.woow I love u matic.
We clearly need a striker this summer.
if u want to know that torres is in e pitch its his offsides…. He brought nothing into that game more that helpin us get more shots off target… Torres need to show e drive and will to go forward with the team…. Az long as he have poor showings like that etoo wil start… Seems etoo and hazard compliment each other better… Hazard even grew confidance to pass etoo coz he know he can get e ball back than torres…. Torres and oscar loze position so so easy…. Rotation iz needed….. Azp iz e future of chelsea no doudt……
But torres knows that thanks to abromavich he doesn’t has to do more because Chelsea will not buy aserious striker next summer: since torres is at Chelsea, no serious stricker has been bought, that is why he doesn’t care.
Torres has bad game. A player substitute to win z game kicking z ball out of target is very disappointing. He wastes z hard work of players behind him. He lost his position, z ball is around z gole but is standing around flag. His poor finishing, out of position and wastage of chance makes AM play so selfsh not to create chance instead they shot and waste good chance. Oscar has worest game he didn’t pass and create a single chance in 45 min. He forgetten #10 role and out of position in z whole 1st half, he deserved substitution earier. William played well but his last touch is ineffective. Plz give chance to Schurrle. Eto not be blamed as no one create chance to him & no #10 players. The others hv good game. Oscars out of game plus Lampard slowness contribute for their midfield dominance looks like CFC 10 men win z game!! Up blue
The only chance Torres got @ scoring was when he took a snapshot that hit Eden, who shd v done better after he raised the ball over an everton defender but rather than shoot he started chesting.
Eto’o or Torres shdnt b blamed, they get no service from their midfield. Any half chance they get was probably something they tried to create on their own.
The way Oscar plays recently looks like something is off mentally, he is tired just like Willian and Eden but he is so absent from games recently.
Chelsea would benefit from the usage of all squad players. When would Salah start a game? Andre , Torres brought more pace to the game yesterday but Ramires was undoubtedly the dude with the biggest impact, his pace was raw. When we have Lampard on the pitch 4-3-3 suits us better, the King cud easily get forward with his late runs.
JT and FL won us the game- Legendary stuff. Jose pls use all players to avoid burnout. Just imagining starting a game without Eden den u unleash an obviously fresher Eden on the opponent in the 2nd half, that would be Hazardous.
Go and watch d match again. U said only one scoring chance for torres. What about those two way too far to the post by him. Y u guys dont like saying d truth. Torres is better? Against tired distin and co. Am done
” When we have Lampard on the pitch 4-3-3 suits us better”: Mou has to understand that!
i learnt that our midfielders wer non existence b4 the introduction of ramires.
matic was average,oscar was a big flop,willian cant shoot,but his work rate is good.we were outplayd & out muscled out of play,tanks 2 our defenders who fought the chelsea way & kept us in the match.2 me rami’s introduction turnd d match 4 us.he brought the physicality & drive that was needed in our purposles midfield.cech,jt,cahil,azpi,iva,lamp,hazard,rami u guys did it 4 us tanks.ktbffh.
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Hazard, Oscar and William needs break at least one week break especially Oscar.
Good game and thank God for 3pts.But the likes of Hazard,Willian and Oscar were very tired and this is very obvious in their work rate while Mou needs to give Salah and Schurrle a chance in the team!
che wl win t lge and top 4 wl b as follows; Che 86pts, Man city 85pts, Ars 85pts and Liv 82pts
Did any of you who commented about Oscar bothered to check JM’s post match comment? Oscar was carrying an injury?
if oscar was injured as jose claimed,why play him when we have schurle.i think dat de only thing dat can cost us the epl title will be jose’s sentiments in team selection.is height of disrespect 2 play a half fit oscar wen schurle & salah are fuly fit.jose must learn 2 be fair & be supportiv 2 all our players.