Aguero goal secures FA Cup final berth for Mancini’s men as Rafael Benitez’s team lose for the first time in eight FA Cup matches at Wembley after being overwhelmed by their notably fresher opponents for the vast majority of the match. A match full of controversy as Chris Foy and his assistants failed to send Aguero off for the 2 footed stamp on David Luiz and didn’t give a penalty after Kompany tugged on Torres’ shirt.
Scorers :
What We Learned :
1. Torres and Ba should start together
2. Cheated (and not for the first time)
3. 4-2-2-2 should be the new formation
4. Oscar doesn’t deserve to start
5. Yaya Toure the complete midfielder
6. Mikel in a poor run of form
1. Torres and Ba should start together:
Demba Ba – Had precious little service, with City controlling much of the match. Hustled up front on his own and was rewarded with a fine goal, acrobatically firing the ball past Pantilimon. (Goal.com)
Torres – Came on in place of Mikel and had an instant impact, making a nuisance of himself to create space for Ba. Offered a good outlet and came close to scoring, while perhaps should have been awarded a penalty. (Goal.com)
Once Torres came on, the mood changed and Chelsea scored (3 seconds later) through a brilliant Ba strike. Chelsea were more of a threat with both Ba and Torres and the long balls that were useless before, were now a chance for Chelsea. We’ve been asking for this, for a while. It worked well against Brentford and now against City. One of the few positives we can take away is that Torres and Ba can work well together.
2. Cheated (and not for the first time):
Unbelievable and disgraceful refereeing from Chris Foy and his assistants. Zabaleta made 3 rugby challenges and Yaya Toure bullied the Chelsea players and wasn’t booked until late in the 2nd half. The most shocking moment is Aguero’s challenge on Luiz which everyone saw, but somehow the referee didn’t. Then a few minutes later, Torres was through on goal, but somehow didn’t a shot away. Why? Because Kompany had a handful of his shirt and wouldn’t let go. A stonewall red and penalty not given. Chris Foy hasn’t been the nicest guy to Chelsea – i.e. Chelsea v QPR last season at Loftus Road where everyone but Cech was booked for Chelsea, 2 penalties were denied and 2 reds were dished out. Should the red and penalty been given, the match would of gone in Chelsea’s favour. Poor refereeing. Very poor and disgusting.
3. 4-2-2-2 should be the new formation:
Should Ba and Torres start together, the 4-2-3-1 would be ditched for the 4-2-2-2. Here’s how it’d look (for me) :
Cech
Azpilicueta Cahill Terry Cole
Mikel Luiz
Hazard Mata
Torres Ba
or using today’s lineup (slightly altered)
Cech Azpilicueta Luiz Ivanovic Bertrand
Mikel Ramires
Hazard Mata
Torres Ba
4. Oscar doesn’t deserve to start:
Hugely ineffective and penned back in his own half for much of the match by the forward thrust of City’s right flank. Didn’t offer enough support to Bertrand and was wasteful in the attacking third. (Goal.com) He scores the odd wonder goal, but he’s been very inconsistent and had few good performances for Chelsea. Today, he was below par trying to take on Zabaleta and Clichy quite often and failing to get past them. I’d prefer Marin and Moses to him on the right flank as they can beat a man and whip the ball in better. Oscar is more of a direct playmaker, he should play where Mata plays, but Mata is Mata and you can’t sacrifice Mata’s ability to attempt to get the best out of Oscar. I don’t like Oscar starting and today and past performances should why.
5. Yaya Toure the complete midfielder:
Frequently bulldozed his way forwards, charging through gaps in Chelsea’s midfield, and it was a typically powerful run that created the opening goal. A massive threat on the break in the dying embers of the match. (Goal.com) Juan Mata called him the complete midfielder and the biggest threat and he was right. Here’s what Mata said :
‘Yaya is one of the best midfielders in the world,’ Mata said in an interview with The Sun.
‘He is the complete player. He can defend, attack, score, dribble, he has great skills and he’s so tall and powerful.
‘It is so difficult to defend against him. We have very good midfielders too and will try to deal with him but not just him, all their team because City are a very, very good side.’
6. Mikel in a poor run of form:
Let’s take the last 2 matches – City and Rubin Kazan.
City – A passive figure in central midfield, he was ill-equipped to deal with the pace and movement of City’s interchanging offence. Routinely bypassed in midfield, and was conservative in possession. Replaced as Chelsea attempted a fight back. (Goal.com)
Rubin Kazan – Came on for Ramires during the second-half and held things well in midfield after Rubin’s third. Not his best display in Europe, however. (Goal.com)
While I do see him as our best available holding midfielder, he hasn’t been at his best as of late. He’s been very poor and it’s cost us. Mikel is supposed to cement the midfield and hold it down while stopping many of City’s threat along with Ramires’ attacking and defensive mobility. Mikel was bullied by Barry and Yaya Toure throughout the match and when Chelsea needed him to stop Yaya Toure, he couldn’t. I love John Obi Mikel, but he’s been very poor as of late and there’s no arguing against that.
Other Points :
1. Where is Marko Marin?
2. Why didn’t Terry/Lampard start or at least 1 of them?
mikel is shit stop supporting him
Cheats
Oscar and Azpilicueta played badly today (especially Azpi).
IMO Lamps should come in for Oscar and JT should replace Cesar in second half.
Mikel off–Torres on is a good option because Mikel also not playing decently today.
And another poor refereeing for us…
Now our last hope for a title is the Europa League.
I can only hope and pray that the luck is in our side in this tournament so we can at least secure one trophy for a bit consolation in this season full of disappointments.
Cut Oscar some slack, he wasn’t bad today..I dont know where u guys got all these from..as for lamps n terry starting, their time has past. is time to move forward and give younger players more playing time..you guys should stop being sentimental, terry n lamps would not have done anything extra ordinary in today’s game.
totally agree
we have just 2 strikers while we have a huge amount of matches to play, so if we use 4-2-2-2 formation, then none gets rest, both may be fatigued.
Apart from Ba’s wonder goal,hes not chelsea’s class.I think he can just serve as a make-shift option for us ds session and move him on.His close control was zero and he lacks quickness on the ball.Hes far away from being a world class goal poacher chelsea need.Bring on Lewandoski.
Mikel should not have been playing for team like chelsea.I think he belong to teams like Newcattle and the like.It’ll even be a difficult task for him to break into starting 11 there.He can’t pass forward,break down play,tackle,shoot accurately from distance which Tiote does regularly with Newcattle.He is just a below average player fortunate to don chelsea blue.Tiote is better of mikel.
Chelsea have a problem. Slow starters. I’ve noticed that the manager has to give the players a ticking off at half times and then we see some urgency.
Players can’t have such mindsets during knockout games and at a club that’s constantly looking to win trophies. I understand that the squad is still immature (transition) but it’s unacceptable to only really start playing to their full potential when the warning signs are there to get back into a game.
Stop blaming Mikel like he killed some1.. it really sad to see the way ppl talk abt him when he has a bad game.. and these same ppl will never praise him when he is gr8.. anyways that part apart… The whole team was poor in the first half.. and I dont know y the manger did not use his 3 subs.. Oscar was below par but did well in the end.. but I wld have made a double and both Torres and Lamps on for Mikel and Oscar/Ramires.. We lacked creativity in midfield and lamps would have made a huge difference to us.. and I would also have got Moses in… he would have been able to get past clichy with his pace..
Nationality aside you shouldnt support mediocrity. Name a midfielder in the world who plays 7 years for a club and never scored a goal.. His odd good game is below par if we think about the job defensive mids do for top clubs. Every defender in Chelsea even the new ones have scored goal and made assists. Mikel cannot defend all he does he stands off players who have ball in front of him. Look at most goals Chelsea concedes when he’s in the pitch he has been bypassed and is never there in the thick of things because is the slowest player in the premier league and ends up be the wrong side of the play. Please rewind other games against city for example and see how easy mikel is put in wrong side of play and just watchs the goals being scored against us.
Just wait for next season then..we will have a “good and new” manager…Rafa won’t see this blog and change his mind…I agree though to start Torres and Ba…so here’s my preffered lineup
Cech
Azpilicueta – Ivanovic – G.Cahill – A.Cole
Mata – D.Luiz – Ramires – Hazard
Ba – Torres
Terry and Lampard’s time is over….D.Luiz in a more pivotal role…4-2-2-2 can change to 4-4-2 in the mid of a game…that’s my opinion
Follow me on twitter @Ronald10_J for latest thought about Chelsea,news etc..thx..
Oscar is more of a direct playmaker i agree of that, chelsea need kevin de bruyne or moses
Oscar wasn’t half as bad as you make it out to be. Sure , it wasn’t his best performance but he was doing decent in the box playing 1-2 with Hazard and mata. And, indeed he can’t stand up to Clichy or Zabaletta , have you looked at their physique compared to him? If anything, it was a poor performance on part of Azpilicueta more than oscar.
Oscar mata and Hazard created those 1-2 trying to go through the middle where the strength of any defence is. A fresh Victor Moses for the physically weak Oscar in Last 20 mins would have help Azpilacueta to perform and both would had better chance getting through the wing then anyone else through the bulk of City players in Middle. But unfortunately I have to watch mediocrity happening every week when foot is a simple game
The problem wasn’t with Mikel or any of the defenders although Azpilicueta was tired, it was in the attacking third where we lacked the necessary direct play. Often, Mata was far away from Ba which means he knocked down the ball for Mancity and Hazard was the only direct player with little support from the full backs. Oscar was the loophole in the attacking third and he wasn’t that solid in the middle either.
i dont agree with you in the case of Oscar, he had a good game yesterday and yes the wings need someone with a lot of pace and its the fault of the coach because he is usually put in the wings, he always does better when in the middle as it was evident after Mikel went off,he played well yesterday and any other midfielder will struggle against the brutal strength of YAYA,he is so big and powerful…
Without mikel we defended better as City and Co didn’t get encourage by the dead weight in front of them and on the way to his team mates who can actually tackle and run faster. WE WOULD HAVE SCORED THE SECOND AND THIRD GOAL IF I WAS THE MANAGER YESTERDAY. WHY? who has been with Torres and Ba our best scorer in last few games? Who’s creating avoc in wings? Didn’t Oscar looked weak specially towards the end and him and Azpilacueata could create nothing on the Right.. THE ANSWER IS : A FRESH MOSES IN THE LAST 20MIN ON THE RIGHT CORREDOR! CITY WOULDN’T HAVE COPPED AND MORE LIKELY WOULD HAVE HAD TEN TIMES MORE CHANCE OF SCORING HIMSELF THAN OSCAR. but I am not the manager, we offered a cup. Chris Foy he can see very well. Remember he saw from a distance Hazard no kicking the ball, but the ball boy. Ramirez quick yellow card. He made sure we didn’t win any of the cups
Mikel is supposed to be helping the defense as he is the only midfielder in the world that doesnt attack at all and never scored a goal. The Irony he can’t defend either he’s too slow and many times he looks lost. Check both man city goals he’s outside the box when everyone is inside try to stop them. The poor Ramirez who runs forward a lot still has to run back past him to defend. What is this guy actually doing in the team run at slow pace regardless the situation. I will guarantee that all he cares is about his wages.
our midfield doesnt hav wat it takes to stop Yaya man.lampard didnt start because las tym we played city Yaya made a joke out of him. in the summer we need to look & buy a midfielder who can control games for us.a cleaver midfielder who can deal wit Yaya. as for Oscar ,I thnk its ridiculous to expect him to set the world alight considering its his 1st season in Europe.Oscar has class he jus needs time.
WE LEARNED ALSO THAT APART OF RAMIREZ NONE OF CHELSEA PLAYERS CAN DEFEND! WATCH AGAIN CITY SECOND GOAL THAT BASICALLY WON THEM THE GAME, NOT A SINGLE CHELSEA PLAYER ATTEMPTED TO MAKE A TACKLE OR TRYED TO WIN THE BALL AS IF SAYING THE BEST PLACE TO CHALLENGE IS WHEN THEY PUT IT IN A 6YARD BOX. MY QUESTION IS WHY IS THE BEST TEAM OF ALL TIME BARCELONA CHASES THE BALL IN TWOS AND THREES WHEREVER IN THE PITCH THE OPPOSITION HAS IT? IS THAT DOWN TO SKILL OR INTELLIGENCE AND COMMON SENSE. IF A THIRTY YEAR OLD XAVI DOES IT ANYONE CAN DO IT ANYONE CAN. BARCELONA WORK HARDER TO GET THE BALL AND RELAX I POSSESSION. THIS WAY THEY GIVE LITTLE CHANCE OF ANY ONE TO COME UNCHALLENGED ON THE REACHES OF THEIR BOX. IN MY OPINION WHAT CHELSEA DID THERE FOR CITY SECOND SHOWS THAT MAJORITY OF THEM HAVE NO IDEA THAT’S WHY WE LOSE AGAINST THE LIKES OF SWANSEAS AND SOUTHAMPTONS. WOULD ANY TEAM COME ALL THE WAY TO THE EDGES OF MADRID BOX AND PUT A CROSS IN UNCHALLENGED? CAN ANYONE SEE THAT? CAN ANYONE SEE BARCA AND MADRID PLAYER JUST STANDING OFF ANY TOM DICK AND HARRY WHO GOT POSSESSION OF THE BALL? WHEN I WAS A KID THE ONLY ONE WHO WHERE AFRAID TO TACKLE AND NEVER WON THE BALL WAS THE GUYS WHO COULDN’T PLAY…
Even if Oscar was the poorest of them all, IMHO, the entire midfield, apart from maybe Ramires were utter shite. Through balls werent just getting into City’s box. Mikel was too passive, Mata was passing mostly sideways, Hazard, though he woke up towards the end was not close to his best. That said, Mata has been a fantastic servant for us, but I have to say that lately, he has shown reluctance to pass through balls, which is disappointing as it seems he’s afraid to take risks, a no-no for a main playmaker. Look at Toure yesterday and how many through balls he attempted. All we need is a deep playmaker who can quickly play the ball into dangerous territory, cos methinks Mata cant do the job, he’s now just an attacking midfielder. Either we buy, or we make Luiz or Oscar play there permanently. And what’s the idea playing Oscar wide? Its stupid! Oscar is poor outwide. Moses would have been better. MaZaCar worked under RDM cos his system thrived on a narrow system where the full backs provided the width and a very fluid set-up where the trio switched positions, making them devastatingly effective. Rafa’s system is wide and rigid. He needs wingers outwide, not playmakers.
Its all over, we are out lets agree, we should not find out who to blem, we did our best, Oscar Mikel and Azlp did the best we should not espect them to be in form through out the season, luck wasnt on our side as we deseved penalty
I thnk we lack stronger players like Hulk,city has both stronger players in defence & attack,we nided moses not oscar,Terry was suposd 2play in such a game,we have lost more than 5cups this season wat a shame now our players hav a problem aswel they were below par we cnt alwys blaim Benites.
Well spotted, we needed Moses to do what he has being doing last times he played. Specially when we went 2-0 down. Even Torres came late. I was swearing at rafa for making that exact substitution mikel for Torres as soon as they scored the second. Benitez and Foy costs us the game. I happen to be supportive of Rafa many times
Hazzard was very poor by his standards!
Mikel should be shift back to the CB defence not midfield, it time to remember Mario marko Marin
Yes we play well and deserve the winning if not for the officiating, He could’ve award a penalty for challenge on Torres even Aguaro should’ve been red carded. Poor poor officiating!!
1. I must be honest,when I saw Chris Foy as the Ref,I know Chelsea must have a Big Problem.
2. Rafa can never be a good coach,expecially for a Team like Chelsea. A good coach have to study,before making his sellection. Rafa would have played Ramires and David Luiz at the midfield,because City are extremely physical and got pace too. Terry and Ivanovich to hold our defence.
3. There is no way Mata and Oscar will start such a match and we expect to win. Because Mata is not strong,likewise Oscar and they play almost the same type of football. We need MOSES,to help give us that fire-power upfront. So,is either Mata start while Oscar on the bench,or Oscar start.
4. Torres is gradually coming back to his Old Ways.
5. Bertrand would be a Super Star in the near future.
6. It’s high time we bring back our young keeper at A. Madrid,because I do not understand Cech anymore. We extremely need that BOY before its too late.
7. When will English Refs and FA stop being Evil? Its gradually killing football in England and thats why England will NEVER do well in International Tornament.
Good analyses, agree with you all along
Oscar did very well,when he was moved to the midfield…
Mikel and Mata were the worst player.
Azpilicueta,Ivan, Terry, Bertrand.
Ramires,Luiz(pivot)
Moses, Mata, Hazard
ba.
OSCAR PLAYED decent football Goal.com judgement of his performance was poor. oscar actually muscled passed clichy a few times and he was doing the defending … azpi on the other hand was sloppy all round remember this is oscar’s 68 game of the season so keep that in mind..
thats true oscar wasn’t that poor he was better than hazard to be honest but when we moved him to midfield and torres on the wing it completekly changed the game come on rafa try this against Basel
Cech
Azpi(i know he was poor but ivan is a hopeless rb) Cahill if he is back Ivanovic Bertrand
Ramires Luiz
Moses Mata Hazard
Torres
In Leugue mathces it should
cehc
Same defence
Oscar, Luiz(ramires
Hazard Mata Torres
Ba
Whenever we have played ba nd torres together we have played well Brentford, City and thast all i can think off conme on rafa
osacr had the most succeful tackles in the match of 10
What we learnt is that we are no longer a force that is feared among the clubs above and around us. We have the players there capable of winning big matches with flying colours but fail to do so. So therefore the the stand out conclusion that should be done is bring Mourinho back!
I think we learned a lot of work is necessary next summer. Mikel is incapable, we need more options going forward, Oscar was better when dropped back and we don’t need Terry or Lamps anymore. My team for next season would be:
GK: Cech
RB: Azpilicueta
CB: Cahill
CB: Luiz
LB: Cole
CDM: Oscar
CDM: Luiz
RM: Hazard
CAM: Mata
LM: Willian
ST: Lukaku
Bench:
GK: Turnbull
CB: Terry
CB: Okore
CM: Ramires
CAM: De Bruyne
LM: Moses
ST: Ba
For me, with Oscar and Luiz in front of back 4, u have them making alternate runs forward to support attacks and they can both tackle!
Willian not going to happen sign in Jan for 35mill (not worth it) for Anzki Ma.
For me, John Obi Mikel has been undermined by Chelsea. A very creative midfielder has @ WYC 2006, who was only second best to Lionel Messi in that competition was turned into a rigid holding midfielder who isn’t afforded the chance to move forward. Mikel has a long range of passes in his arsenal as evident in his title winning performance for Nigeria @ the just concluded AYC 2013. He played the holding midfield role but he was allowed the chance to be a deep lying play maker. He nudged assists in the process with defense splitting through balls. Have you all forgotten his performance against Bayern Munich, He has a good balance of attack and defense, unfortunately, @ the bridge we don’t encourage his attacking instinct. Mikel is arguably the best long range passer in our current squad, and he has d ability to dictate the tempo of a game. Give him a chance to be a deep role playing midfielder just like Yaya, Pirlo, Vidal and likes and see him blossom. Don’t forget his assists to Drogba, Kalou, Anelka etc. Think before you let someone down. John Obi Mikel, Chelsea Legend.
David Luiz can pass a ball from a distance better than Mikel, JT with his wrong foot oases a ball at long distance more accurately than Mikel. I have seen Mikel pass a long ball before with accuracy but you count how many times is brain tell him to do that in 7 years. If JT has over 60 goals playing for Chelsea playing behind mikel, David Luis, Cahill Ashley Bertrand, Ivanovic all also have more goals playing behind Mikel than don’t make excuses for this guy. We all know he’s got talent, but while others use it and go on and score 250 goals in their career from a midfield which is more than striker ahead of him score, than Mikel should score goals too. If in seven years you remember 1game, this guy shouldn’t be there. He had the odd good game personally but over all he CANNOT DEFEND( just think of Ramirez tackling and constantly robbing ball of people to understand…) HE CAN BUT DOESN’T ATTACK OR LOOK AND PASS FORWARD HE’S always the last midfielder recovering position in a fast counter attack if he adventure a bit forward. You talking about his assists? LAMPARD HAS NEARLY UNDRED. HOW MANY MIKEL HAS IN 7 YEARS? has he reached 10? think about best teams in world, their midfielders and which one of this teams has such dead weight or a fith defender who can’t defend?
@ Carlos- Sergio Busquet is a dead weight. He sacrifices himself for the team anyway. Gattuso (weight dead), Makalele, Nigel De Jong and many others.
which one of these players you have mentioned is slower than mikel?
which one of these players are not better tacklers of the ball than mikel?
which one of this players are scared to adventure forward and assist or scored the odd goal?
which one of them has less goals for their clubs than mikel?
apart of makalele none of them has less goals. every single one of the them can tackle better than mikel.
Maka hardly scored but was a milion times better defensively than all of them together. he always played the pass that was required and not always to the nearest player like mikel does.
Remember franks goal in munich in the quarter finals years ago when he chested the ball span and volley into oliver khan net? that was makalele dink over the top of defense from close of EDGE of the bayerns box. maka used to follow the play and not seat in front of defense regardless,. like David Duiz JT and every one else does, because if you read the game you can always go forward when you got enough cover. try to tell that to mikel!
In a team that 99% of the time is forced to attack and beat opposition, Chelse is forced to play with “5 defenders” because of mikels inability to see a run forward. in saying all this mikel tecnicament is more equiped tecnically than all the players mentioned but something stoppes him to run or pass forward. He has wasted his career in the bench as a result even young romeo was being chosen in front of him. why? whats the highlight of mikel career at chelsea? one or two assists! He shouldnt be mentioned on the same bracket of the players mentioned, sorry
John Obi Mikel might be under appreciated but he is never underwhelmed