Chelsea were back to winning ways in the Barclays Premier League as we beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 at Stamford Bridge. We go to 3rd (temporarily) and could stay there depending on the Spurs-Arsenal result on Sunday. Nonetheless, Chelsea were dominate throughout most of the match, but were certainly wasteful. The scoreline flatters West Brom, who came into action in the final 10 minutes. Chelsea could of easily won 3-0, but it was a deserved win that cools the hostile situation at Chelsea. Also, I would like to apologise for the lack of WWL after many matches – I’ve been very busy, but WWL is now back.
Scorers :
Stats :
What We Learned :
1. Demba Ba > Torres
2. Chelsea are wasteful in front of goal
3. Lampard-Ramires in the double pivot doesn’t work
4. Mazascar is very efficient in chance making
1. Demba Ba > Torres :
Demba Ba was in the right place in the right time for the Chelsea goal and it was a decent performance from Demba Ba who wasn’t involved as much has he would have liked in the first quarter of the game but stayed alert and took his one chance of the game. Didn’t have much joy in the second period. However, Ba’s efficiency/shot accuracy is something Chelsea fans are willing to take over Torres’ inconsistency and poor finishing that has marked his Chelsea career as a flop. Nonetheless, Demba Ba is the better option for Chelsea.
2. Chelsea are wasteful in front of goal :
Chelsea created 24 chances and only 9 were on target and only 1 of those 9 found the back of the net. Oscar had 3 glorious chances and should of finished all 3 of them, Lampard has blasted a few over the bar and wasted many freekicks. The lack of finishing is a real concern and it’s been our weak link under Rafael Benitez. The inability for our players to beat the keeper has been a huge flaw and it’s something that has led to our decline in recent weeks. If our finishing was better, we could of possibly beaten Corinthians in the CWC Final and seen more league success (and COC as well). This problem continues even when we win and if not fixed soon, we could miss out on European Football.
3. Lampard-Ramires in the double pivot doesn’t work :
Lampard was kept very busy in central midfield and was neat and tidy with most of his work in the first half, had a fairly uneventful afternoon by his recent standards. Wasted a chance to grab another goal to add to his tally late on while Ramires played a magnificent pass forward to Mata late in the first half but was unlucky to see the Spaniard flagged offside. Wasted a chance with a poor decision to shot when Chelsea had a opportunity to break late on. However, they were either sitting back too much or going forward too much and most of the time they did it together. That is a big no-no. We can’t afford to see our “holding midfielders” do this, because bigger teams will take advantage of it (Manchester City, for example). It isn’t as noticeable and detrimental against lower opposition, but we can’t have this problem going on against bigger sides.
4. Mazascar is very efficient in chance making :
Like I said, we created 24 chances. Even though we wasted many of them, it’s still a bright sign. And the fact that it was Mata, Hazard and Oscar starting together (simply known as Mazascar) was even more promising. I’m sure all Chelsea fans are with me that chance creation is key to our success and I’d rather see us create many chances than create none. However, I would like to see us take advantage of chances more. As I mentioned above, it will cost us and that problem combined with the Lampard-Ramires problem is 2 problems too many. We must eliminate one problem and as long as Mazascar as creating the chances, Ba should have no problem finishing them (as he did today). It’s not Ba that’s wasting them as much as it is everyone else, but it seems that starting Mata, Hazard and Oscar together helps us create the chances needed to win that we’ve lacked so much in recent weeks.
Other Points :
1. More hatred/resentment shown towards Rafa
2. Marko Marin no where to be found
3. Defensive solidarity is key to victory no matter who plays in the back
Thanks for reading! Once again, I’m sorry for the lack of “What We Learned” articles, but I’m happy that they’re back. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Up the Chels!
