An amazing night for the Blues as we pulverized Aston Villa at The Bridge and gave all Chelsea fans a great gift for the Christmas holiday. No doubt it was an electric start, and that burden just continued to pile onto Aston Villa, who will be very disappointed with their performance after their recent high-flying form.
Scorers :
Stats :
What We Learned :
1. Rafa Benitez has figured out the formula.
2. Fernando Torres looks to be back.
3. Chelsea have a bright future.
4. David Luiz in the midfield and Cahill at CB.
1. Rafa Benitez has figured out the formula : After a rocky start to his managerial career at Chelsea, Rafa has figured it out. It took him a few weeks, but this is what he is here to do. One of the greatest performances in Chelsea history as the defense was unbeatable, and the attack was lethal. He played the 4-2-3-1 formation with the following XI : Cech, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Ivanovic, Cole, David Luiz, Frank Lampard, Moses, Mata, Hazard, Torres. This isn’t the starting XI for every match, but the system the XI played under is what should be included in every XI. A quick, ferocious start and then a steady performance that gave a clean-sheet and 8 goals for the first time since Wigan in 09-10. This was Ancelotti and Mourinho Chelsea combined into 1 brilliant Rafa led Chelsea. This is what Rafa can do and calling for his sacking is foolish as he is miles ahead of Di Matteo in terms of tactics and managerial success.
2. Fernando Torres looks to be back : Torres – the most inconsistent player The Bridge has maybe ever seen. He’s been firing on and off for the past month where all Chelsea fans were either excited or disappointed with his performances. Well, it looks like Torres has finally broken the inconsistency and gone towards his old form that Chelsea expected when they paid 50 million for him. Torres led the line superbly after two fairly anonymous performances against Corinthians and Leeds, bursting into life with a bullet header just three minutes in and torturing his youthful opponents. There will be tougher tests than this to pass, however, but this is a step forward for Fernando and Chelsea. He looks like to be full of confidence as he continues to get into the right positions and create chances for others.
3. Chelsea have a bright future : Juan Mata, Victor Moses, Oscar, Lucas Piazon, Marko Marin, Oriol Romeu, Cesar Azpilicueta, Eden Hazard and Ryan Bertrand are some of Chelsea’s most prosperous youngsters who are under the age of 23. All of these players have put in fabulous performances for us in recent weeks/times and certainly are part of the new Chelsea as John Terry, Lampard, Cole, etc. look to be on their way out. Mata, Moses, Oscar, Hazard continue to impress as the amounts of money spent on them is showing, and their class is, as well. Rafa Benitez has continued to put confidence in the youth at Chelsea and continues to show why Chelsea are producing and harvesting some of the best youth talent in the World. This match perfectly exemplified what Chelsea Football Club will be in the next coming years.
4. David Luiz in the midfield and Cahill at CB : Luiz passed his first real test in the Chelsea midfield with flying colours, showing skill, tenacity and an impressive range of passing. Capped a fine display with a Didier Drogba-esque free kick on the half-hour mark.Cahill was often the free man while Ivanovic took on Benteke, and for the most part enjoyed a trouble-free afternoon. Produced one fantastic sliding clearance to deny Benteke a simple tap-in after the break, though. Luiz was so calm and composed on the ball as he continued to show his brilliance and his Brazilian-ness. A world class freekick and a few brilliant balls from David show that he belongs in the midfield. Gary Cahill continues to impress at the back as him and Ivanovic worked well together to make Cech’s life easier.
Other Points :
1. Our title chances are still on.
2. Rafa is a master at squad rotation.
3. Frank Lampard – brilliant performance, but his time has come.
Check out Andre Saad’s review of the game on YouTube!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awdhk3CK9Ug&w=560&h=315]
Irokotola mike
Hope we buid on this win. A nice christmas gift for us
What a wonderful by the boys. I felt really sorry for Piazon when he missed his earned penalty but other than that,what a pass from him to set up Ramires’ first goal. Absolutely beautiful and should go down as one of the passes of the season. Lampard and Luiz looked disciplined in their roles although Luiz gave me quite a few scares giving it away for Villa to break. Last but not least,what a header by El Nino! That was further than the bloody penalty spot!!! He definitely looks on course to bag a potential 25+ goal tally if he keeps this up. Credit to Benitez,7 goals in 6 games. Craig Burley should scratch his balls man! He has nothing good to say about Torres and Chelsea…for an ex blue!
Chelsea made my day. Not been this happy for a while, especially when the media predicted a competition, this match didn’t look like one. Besides, Luiz did give a few scares, and I know Zane, that you were gonna point that out. I can’t wait for consistency. Zane, what’s your opinion about Lukaku and about what the papers report? He doesn’t seem to wanna come back. Should we forget him? Are we ever gonna get the best out of him if he’s back?
Last time also i saw the contents being copied from goal.com . if i have to read the same as goal.com i would stop visiting this page. Please bring some orginality in ur articles.
Hi Chyke Bob. I feel the club has to allow him to stay where he is. A striker develops greatly by getting regular starts and game time. As long as Torres (experience) is in the side and scoring consistantly,Lukaku will always be second choice. It will be better for him to develop away from Chelsea for about two or three seasons. Strikers become average players when they don’t get regular time and we both know he is a potential world beater. Regarding Luiz,he hasn’t played the midfield role alot so the mistakes can be ironed out with time. I wasn’t keen to play him in the midfield but I must admit that he has impressed me.