Chelsea v Norwich.
I’m as disappointed as anyone else regarding the footballearlier today. Of course I am. But in my decades of attendance to the Bridge I’ve never, ever booed my team. I can’t get my head round that – what was that booing?
My brother still mentions the Ancelotti sacking, I will admit. But Jose can do a job – his record shows that. We just need to have someone who can break down the lessor teams and get a fkn goal! They’d have to come out then.
Norwich defended like their lives depended on it. Ok, they rode their luck, we hit the woodwork 2 or 3 times, but they sat back and defended well (I’m sure Ronnie Whelen and all the other ex-scouser players will be coming out to say how Norwich are a disgrace to football and they ruined the game. Or will they be saying that Norwich defended well and tried for the odd break out? The latter me thinks, but the scousers will say it was our fault).
I correctly called both half time substitutions – Lamps off for Luiz and Salah off for Hazard. Matic & Lamps don’t fit in the same team, and Hazard was obviously dropped for his outburst after the Athletico game. But Jose knew he was needed in place of the ineffective Salah.
I was pleased with Ashley for the best part. We’ve missed him getting foward this season. He offers a bit more on the left than Cesar-Dave. Cahill had another good game.
But I won’t go pointing fingers at players who I thought could’ve done better – we had chances and on other days we may have got two or three goals. Alas, we didn’t. It was the final 3rd that we couldn’t break. Although Shurrle off the post could’ve gone in and it’d have been a different game.
Salah was poor. I repeat we don’t have a striker and daddy long legs up front was not giving anything. He is not a Chelsea striker.
The actual performnace wasn’t woeful, like it has been on a couple of occasions this season. On a different day we’d have won that 2 or 3-0. But the finishing wasn’t up to it. We can’t complain at Norwich’s game plan. Check the stats to see what we did – we did have a load of chances – we just didn’t finish them.
I am upset about 5 or 6 away games where we were lazy & complacent. A draw from just 3 of the Palace, Newcastle, Stoke, Villa, Everton, or a win at West Brom when we should’ve done, all come to mind. Ok, at Villa Chris Foy obviously had an agenda, but we should still have done more.
I don’t mind not winning anything for a while, but to lose it by just 3 points when you can look at those away games above, and then the west ham and sunderland home games, you realise that it was us that threw it away. We’ve beaten the top clubs home and away or at least got 4 points. The lot of them. But games where we just turned up for a jog around stand out.
We can’t win the league now bar a complete melt down by the other two, so we’ll save that for next year. Fingers crossed Citeh win both their games, though.
Let’s see how we get on next season. Top 3 and the ECL semi-final isn’t a failure year. Jose’s just got back.
Up the Chels’