Madness !!!

It was indeed madness as Chelsea took on Everton at Goodison Park yesterday, nine goals in a premier league game, that rarely happens. Goodison Park is always a tough place to visit and come out with flying colors but Chelsea started off brilliantly, in fact brilliant is an understatement. Diego Costa who was reportedly injured started the match and scored in 36 seconds from a perfectly weighted pass from Cesc Fabregas, probably the signing of the season. Within a couple of minutes Ivanovic doubled the lead, well he can surely play as a striker (pun intended) if ever we need one it seems, brilliant in the opposition box. Everyone thought it was game over at that point only but credit must be given to Everton they didn't give up and even after going two down they came out all guns blazing troubling the Chelsea defense a lot, not many teams are able to do that against the best back four in the league. And ultimately their hard work did pay off right at the stroke of half time when Kevin Mirallas headed a ball beautifully past his international teammate. Conceding a goal at the brink of the interval surely didn't do any good for Chelsea, they started the second half slowly with Everton mounting on the pressure, although the first goal scoring chance of the second half did fall to Diego Costa, one on one against Howard, who should have been sent off in the first half itself. The referring was below par to be honest, definitely far below Premier League quality. The game was at a knife edge and tempers started flaring up, Fabregas & Mirallas, Costa & Coleman, things started to heat up and then came the mad period of the match, five goals in ten minutes, Chelsea went 3-1 up courtesy a Coleman own goal and immediately Everton replied with a goal from Naismith, Chelsea again scored through Nemanja Matic and immediately the former Chelsea man Samuel Eto'o narrowed the gap for Everton with virtually his first touch of the ball and within a minute Ramires again restored the two goal lead for the Londoners. Madness, it was sheer madness for those ten minutes of the game. Ultimately it was the man who started things off who finished it as well, Diego Costa scoring after a brilliant back heel pass from Mikel, can you believe it ? Mikel provided an assist. Unthinkable. It ended 6-3 to Chelsea but have to say hats off to Everton as well, as Roberto Martinez said in his post match presser not many teams will score three against Chelsea this season. Jose Mourinho summed up Chelsea's performance perfectly saying Chelsea did make some defending errors but were simply brilliant whenever they had the ball. They played to score, they scored.
In a game of nine goals you would think that the goalkeepers had a nightmare but for me Thibaut Courtois' brilliant save from Mirallas' shot when the score was 5-3 was extremely extremely important at that point of the match where there had been five goals in ten minutes. And for everyone who thought Costa will be a failure in the Premier League, four goals in three games, time to eat up your words.
Three wins out of three, eleven goals scored. Fantastic start to the season Chelsea.

We have a striker

We finally have a striker. After a frustrating couple of seasons moaning about our strikers we finally have an awesome one in Diego Costa.
In a game where we didn't perform upto expectations in the first half the second half was completely different. What an attacking display we saw from the Blues in the final 45 minutes. Oscar started it when his shot hit the post and came back out. Leicester also had very good chances of their own but Thibaut Courtois showed why he is being selected ahead of a brilliant Petr Cech. With a couple of great saves the Belgian no. 1 kept Chelsea in the game, he was outstanding throughout the game and had a commanding presence in the Chelsea box. That's what a young goalkeeper like him needed in his first couple of games with the English giants.
As far as the goal scorers are concerned it was Diego Costa again on target getting his second in as many games in the premier league. And Hazard sealed the points a few minutes later with a brilliant run and finish beating the Leicester goalie. Chelsea had many chances in the second half the best ones falling to Oscar and Fabregas, while Oscar's effort came back of the post, Fabregas' chip was brilliantly saved. Kasper Schmeichel deserves full credit for his goalkeeping efforts today. Oh by the way Arsenal fans should know that Fabregas now has 3 assists in 2 premier league games for Chelsea, must be hurting the gooners.
The best moment of the match for me was Drogba coming on though, what an ovation he received. The "KING" is back where he belongs.
Many Chelsea players had a good game but the best player I felt was Ivanovic. His role in the first goal was extremely important and he was brilliant at both defending and attacking set pieces and was very good as a full back. Will be very interesting to see Luis, Azpilicueta and him fighting for the two full back positions throughout the season.
We got three points even after having a bad first half. Came back very strongly in the second half. That's what Champions do. And oh yes we finally have a striker who scores.

The start we needed

It was indeed the start Chelsea FC needed to the new season. The 2014-15 english football season is back and Chelsea kick started their campaign away to newly promoted side Burnley. An already strong Chelsea squad grew even stronger during the summer with signings like Filipe Luis, Diego Costa & Cesc Fabregas among many more who returned from their loan spells.
With such a strong squad all us Chelsea fans frankly didn't think Burnley will pose a big threat but we all know that these were the type of sides we struggled to get past last season and our worst nightmare came true when Burnley scored first out of nowhere. It was brilliant strike for the goal, simply not savable but the chance came about because of a defensive lapse where the Burnley goal scorer was left completely unmarked inside the penalty box. This certainly wasn't expected from the best defense of last season, but since that goal the back four looked quite solid with Matic there helping them out by continuously intercepting passes from the opposition. Matic's mantra seemed like it was intercept & pass and he carried that out brilliantly throughout the game and him being so strong defensively also helped new signing Fabregas to move further up the field and create all sort of havoc with his precise passes in the opposition box. The link up play between him and Oscar was a treat to watch along with the runs Hazard was making. Eden Hazard was simply too good accompanying Schurrle and Costa upfront.
After conceding early in the first half we saw a Chelsea that we haven't seen in quite a while. There was some sublime attacking football. Pinpoint passing, calm finishing, from getting a perfect strikers goal to equalize to taking the lead through one of the best team goals it was simply awesome football from the Blues. The run from Hazard, the pass from Fabregas, the run and finish from Schurrle, this will be up for the goal of the season competition I am sure. Pretty confident we will still be talking about that perfectly weighted first time pass from Fabregas even at the end of the season. The third goal scored by Ivanovic also came from a Fabregas corner giving him his second assist of the game and also the Man of the Match award for his commanding midfield performance, Arsenal fans must not have liked it. We didn't get any goals in the second half but Chelsea dominated possession and were pretty solid defensively. We saw one great save from Courtois in the second half, the Chelsea goalkeeping future is bright Thibaut looked unflappable throughout the game.
Overall the Chelsea machine looks well oiled and up for the season. The defense will get stronger as the season continues and the midfield & attack will command the league. It was indeed the kind of start we needed to the campaign.

Scrappy

It was probably the three most undeserving points for Chelsea this season, but at this stage we will take it. The game against Swansea at the Liberty Stadium turned out to be one of the most poor performance from Chelsea in the entire season. Even though Swansea went down to 10 men very early in the game losing one of their CB Chico Flores but Chelsea made them look like a 12-13 man team. Frankly for the entire length of the match it seemed like we were playing a man down.
The stadium with the least capacity in the Premier League created lots of noise and were probably helping the team like that very much. But that does not explain the mess Chelsea were creating for themselves. Demba Ba who finally got his just third start in the league this season ultimately turned out to be Chelsea's savior, their match winner again. Ironical but Ba has kept Chelsea's hope alive in two competitions in the span of a week. But all that was proved in this game was Chelsea are in desperate need for a striker. Mohamed Salah who started another game for Chelsea was not too bad like some people were saying. He actually was pretty good with the ball and made a few incisive runs to get into goal scoring positions but he seemed to have forgotten his striking boots somewhere. His finishing was below par yesterday. Ramires, what to say about him, he played 45 minutes, I would want to erase those 45 minutes from my memory. He was horrible, to say the least. He seriously needs to get his act together again, Chelsea need every player performing well in these last few games of the season in both the tournaments. Eto'o who came on at half time also was similar to Salah, he just doesn't want to score away from Stamford Bridge it seems, missed a couple of sitters to be honest. The defense didn't have much to do but another clean sheet will help their confidence even more. Petr Cech didn't have much to do but he was asked a couple of questions by the Swansea attack and he was up to it. Made a few very good saves and saved Chelsea from embarrassment. Nemanja Matic, for me the best player for Chelsea yesterday. He was outstanding yet again. He stood like a solid wall in front of the defense and was very good with his forward passes one of which led to the Demba Ba goal, giving Matic his fourth assist in four matches. He has been as expected a superlative signing for the Blues.

It was a pretty poor performance but over the years we have seen Champion teams getting full points from these sort of games to go on and win the title. These three points and the Liverpool victory over Manchester City at Anfield made sure we are still very much in the title race and we are not going away so easily. Win all our remaining four games and hope for Manchester City to slip up in one, that's all that's needed to win the Barclays Premier League once again.

WHAT A TEAM

What a team, what a manager, what a night, what a performance. From being on the verge of getting knocked out of this year's UEFA Champions League after coming in to the 2nd leg with a 2 goal deficit Chelsea made it's famous comeback again.
Having lost the 1st leg 3-1 at Paris they had all to do at the Bridge yesterday. Making a comeback against a star studded team like Paris Saint Germain is never easy but everyone at Chelsea believed they could do it. They believed cause they have a very good team, an out of this world home support and the best tactician in the world managing them, the Special One, Jose Mourinho. He believed in his team, he believed in his players and they didn't let him down. What makes this victory even sweeter is that Chelsea did it without their best player of the season Eden Hazard who got injured very early in the game. But his substitute Andre Schurrle stood up to the challenge and delivered when it mattered most scoring the first goal of the tie. Stamford Bridge was at it's intimidating best ever since that goal as the chant 'we have done it before' echoed round the stadium. Indeed we have done it before and we did it again. Cavani and Lavezzi who have faced this sort of a comeback at Stamford Bridge 2 years back as well must really hate the place now. Starting the second half with a one goal lead Chelsea went all out for the elusive second goal but the crossbar denied them a couple of times. Time was running out for the Blues and Jose Mourinho started making some bold changes. From having no strikers starting in Paris the Blues had three finishing the game at the Bridge. And ultimately it was our most underused striker of the season who scored a typical strikers goal in the dying moments of the match to take Chelsea through to the final four of the competition. Everyone was ecstatic after Ba scored the goal, Jose Mourinho was at his best again, he ran all the way to the corner flag where the players were celebrating and started giving instructions to the players on how to defend in the final few minutes. He of course isn't allowed to do that but he's Jose Mourinho, he does whatever he wants.
When the ref blew the final whistle it was the happiest moment for me as a Chelsea fan this season. We had made an impossible comeback again, you just can't write Chelsea off from the Champions League, we never give up. The master tactician's tactics had paid off, he is in the semis again, Jose Mourinho had vowed victory in his pre match press conference and he got victory. John Terry in his post match interview stated the fact that how well the manager had prepared the team for this match. He said they had worked on situations where they might have to play three strikers together, which they had to. He said they had prepared themselves to play in different manners taking into consideration the scoreline. Fact proven, Jose Mourinho is simply the best.
Every single Chelsea player performed superbly yesterday, all of them, but David Luiz I feel was class apart. He was here, there, everywhere. He controlled the midfield superbly and wasn't found wanting even once. Must also mention Petr Cech's save in the last minute. Many including me had criticized the way he conceded the third goal in the 1st leg but his last minute save from Marquinhos' shot was brilliant. Chelsea dominated the entire game as the match stats show. They were simply too good.

The only bad part about yesterday's game was Eden Hazard's injury, he is the best and most important player for us. Hopefully we will have him back soon tormenting opposition defenses. We will need him big time in the upcoming matches. As for now it's time to celebrate being in the final four of the best club football competition in the world and wait to find out who our next opponents will be. Bring on anyone, we are well on our way to Lisbon.

Ground to make up

Chelsea have some serious ground to make up if they want to go through to the semi finals of this year's UEFA Champions League. Having lost the first leg to PSG at Paris 3-1 it won't be less than a miracle if Chelsea manage to pull off to a result next week at Stamford Bridge which will help them go through. That away goal which came through a Hazard penalty can very well prove to be a pivotal goal in this tie.
As predicted these two teams went at it right from the word go and PSG took a very early lead. Chelsea took a little time to settle into the game but once they did they played some pretty good attacking football against a quality PSG side. This led to the penalty being awarded for a foul on Oscar by his international teammate Thiago Silva. Hazard as always calmly converted the spot kick to get a crucial away goal for the Blues. No team dominated the game, both had their parts to play throughout the 90 minutes and they played it really well. Even when Chelsea went behind by an own goal from David Luiz they didn't back down from playing some quality football. 1-2 away would have been a pretty good result against a strong PSG side but the sucker punch came from pretty much the last kick of the match. Javier Pastore who had come on as a substitute scored a goal from a very tight angle. Well I feel Petr Cech should have saved that shot cause he had his near post covered but somehow the ball managed to hit the back of the net.
Chelsea missed the services of Samuel Eto'o a lot and they will need him fit for the second leg at any cost. The "false 9" wasn't too effective and Fernando Torres was at his poorest best again when he came on in the second half. That guy is seriously low on confidence. Petr Cech had a seriously abysmal game, he could and should have saved both the second and third goals. But he's human, he's a quality goalie, just that sometimes mistakes happen.
Best central midfielder cup tied, best striker in the squad fighting against time to recover from his injury, Ramires suspended, Chelsea seriously have loads of things to workout if they are to manage a good result next Tuesday at the Bridge. But as Jose Mourinho said, even Paris knows it's not over yet. Lets hope we can do 2012 all over again. Lets hope we beat PSG comprehensively and go through to the semi final. And if not, we'll see you next year greatest football club competition in the world.

London is Blue

Who would have thought the biggest London derby will be so so one sided. Well to be honest all us Chelsea fans expected Mourinho to have the upper hand on Wenger as always but beating him by such a huge margin, that was unexpected. Defeating Arsenal 6-0 and literally knocking them out of the title race, that's a dream come true for any Chelsea fan. Arsene Wenger will surely never forget his 1000th game in charge thanks to our boss, the special one, Jose Mourinho.
What a start it was to the game. Fast, positive, looking for the goal right from the word go were Chelsea and they broke through early again thanks to a superb left footed finish from Eto'o. Schurrle continuing his good form made it two for the Blues within a couple of minutes and it was 2-0 after 7 mins for Chelsea and as Jose Mourinho said in his post match press conference the game was over at that point only. Then came one of the most hilarious referring decisions I have ever seen. One player handed the ball and another one was sent off. Andre Marriner surely needs to get his eyes checked. Hazard made it three from the penalty spot and Oscar scored a much needed goal for his own confidence to make it four before half time. Jose seems to love Arsene just too much, against any other team he would have asked his team to consolidate in the second half starting it with a 4-0 lead but Hazard said that Jose asked them to go out and score more goals in the second half. He really wanted to annihilate Arsenal it seems. And Chelsea did carryout the boss' instruction successfully scoring two more goals without conceding any to make it 6-0. Oscar scored a brilliant curling goal from outside the penalty box to make it five before he was subbed. His replacement Mohamed Salah went on to score his first Chelsea goal from a beautiful long pass by Nemanja Matic to complete the drubbing. It was one of the best Chelsea performance I have seen in a while. Boring they said, scored six they never said.
Everything was positive for Chelsea in the game other than maybe the hamstring injury to Samuel Eto'o, although everyone's hoping it's not a serious one. All the players were very good, even Fernando Torres, made some good runs and passes helping his teammates in notching up the goals. Nemanja Matic, what a player, what a beast of a player, he surely is soon gonna be the best CDM in the world. Brilliant defensively and has the talent to see and execute a forward pass. His two assists played a vital role in the victory. Matic's signing in January could well be a title winning one. The best defense in the league was again at it's best, Cesar Azpilicueta was again at his best. He at the moment is simply unbeatable, no one can go past him the way he's playing. He performed brilliantly again and was rewarded with the Man of the Match award. Totally deserved it. He is turning out to be the best full back of the season in the league and one of the best in the world on current form. And we all must remember he is a RB playing as a LB. Attacking wise it was a flawless performance, what else can anyone say when the scoreline is 6-0. The best thing though about the attacking display was Eden Hazard wasn't at his menacing best, he was good but not as hazardous as he can be and yet Chelsea pumped in six against a "very good" defense, at least that's what the pundits had to say about the Gunners' defense before the match. Oscar getting two goals was the best part about it all. He probably needed it the most, will be a huge confidence booster for him. Schurrle getting goals regularly will be massively helpful for him personally and the team as well. Mourinho is making a dangerous team for the future. With this momentum gain Chelsea will hopefully go on to win most of their remaining league games and fight for the title till the very end. Jose Mourinho's "Little Horse" is giving the big ones a run for their money. Up the Chels. Keep the Blue Flag Flying High. Always remember Arsene Wenger and other London clubs. London is Blue.

England's only hope

It's Chelsea again who are left as England's only hope in Europe. As always it's the Blues saving british pride in the competition.
It was an emotional night at Stamford Bridge as it marked the return of King Drogba to his home. He got a brilliant ovation as he came out on the field from the tunnel. And after the match was over he was the last one to leave the field after soaking in the rapturous applaud from entire stadium.
The match was a pretty easy one for the Blues. It was 1-1 from the first leg. Chelsea got a brilliant start to the match, dominating possession and not letting Galatasaray settling in at all. The opening goal came as early as the 4th minute from Eto'o. It was a brilliant Chelsea build up for the goal. Hazard's ball control and turn, Oscar's run and precise pass and a calm cool finish from "the old man" Eto'o. After the goal Chelsea continued dominating the game. They were defensively rock solid as well. Cesar Azpilicueta, what a player he has become. Unbeatable, unbreakable, he has become one of the best LB's in the world at the moment. What a steal he was for the Blues at the price of only 7 million. "Super Frankie" Lampard bossed the pivot by himself. Didn't get much help from Ramires who was again pretty wasteful throughout the game. It was so good watching Lampard play so well, everything was perfect from him through the game be it passing, making crucial runs or deliveries from set pieces. It was his corner only which ultimately led to the second goal by Gary Cahill. 2-0 lead at half time at Stamford Bridge under Jose Mourinho, Chelsea were simply unbeatable from that position. In the second part of the game Chelsea didn't get any more goals but were simply flawless in their defending, the only thing which lacked a bit was the finishing. But it's getting better.
Lampard, Oscar, Azpilicueta, Hazard were all just too good last night. We saw some wonderful link up play from the front four. Eto'o is growing in confidence as the season moves on and  that's very good news for Chelsea. John Terry and Gary Cahill are soon becoming one of the best and most consistent CB pairings in the world. Oscar seemed to be peaking again after a few barren games. And as I have said in some previous posts as well I don't have any words left for Eden Hazard, he is from another planet. We should all thank Didier Drogba for winning us that Champions League else we wouldn't have got the talent named Hazard.
It was a perfect night at Stamford Bridge, a comprehensive win for Chelsea courtesy which they are now in the last eight of the most prestigious club competition in the world. Drogba got the ovation and love from the Chelsea fans he deserved before and after the game, hopefully soon we will get to see more of the King at the Bridge again. But for now it's time to wait to see who we face in the quarter final. To be the best you have to beat the best, bring on any team.

ROBBED

Robbed of the game, robbed of three very crucial points and maybe just maybe robbed of the title. Indeed it was Chris Foy vs Chelsea again and the ref came out on top. One or two decisions going against a team can be considered a mistake by the officials but so many, right from the beginning to the very end, no, Foy surely hates Chelsea.
7 red card in 8 matches to Chelsea players and none against that surely can't be a coincidence. He sends Chelsea players off even if they shoulder barge into an opposing player whereas last season he didn't send Aguero off when he stomped with both feets on David Luiz. Yesterday's game was similar, Foy and his assistants were pathetic continually giving offside decisions when the Chelsea players were clearly onside. Cancelling out Matic's goal after giving it. I mean how can the linesman who only had a view of Matic's back have an influence on that decision. To not giving a red card to a Villa player for a last man tackle to penalizing Chelsea players for nothing, that was the story of the first half in which Chelsea weren't at their fluent best either. Not creative enough, looking tired and with a striker in Fernando Torres who can't do anything correct, that was the Chelsea eleven.
Chelsea though started the second half really well. Aggressively, creating lots of pressure on the Villa goal and seeing loads of possession. But then Mr Foy struck again with the moment of the match, probably a title defining one. Sending Willian off with a second yellow card for not much of a tackle. Reducing Chelsea to 10 men by sending off one of their most creative players Foy literally won Villa won the match. At least he made sure they can't lose. Then with the man advantage came immense pressure from Villa which led to the match winning goal from Delph. Credit must be given where it's due it was a brilliantly worked goal from Villa and a pretty awesome finish the Villa man. From that there was no coming back for the 10 men Chelsea. They tried to put some pressure on the Villa goal by throwing players up the field but to no use. Then finally as time drew near came another blow for Chelsea as Ramires was sent off with a straight red. Now with that decision the Chelsea fans can't complain that one deserved red. And with the very poor kind of form Ramires has been in Chelsea will do better without him for a few games. Oh let's not forget Mr Foy also sent Mourinho off to the stands cause he wanted to talk to him. Well done ref, you're a disgrace to the league.
All that being said some of the Chelsea players seriously need a reality check. Ramires and "the best striker" we have Fernando Torres. Haven't seen any players from the top sides performing so so badly. They simply can't do any right. Absolutely nothing.
Cesar Azpilicueta and Nemanja Matic were again the best two Chelsea players on the field. Although Matic faded off a bit in the second half of the game. These are the kind of games where Chelsea fans hope a Hazard or Oscar will turn it up and win it on their own. But sadly as of now they  haven't done it. Hopefully we will see those performances really soon as well. I have faith in those players. They are world class, they are the best.
Six points the gap and Manchester City having three games in hand Jose's comments are actually coming true, this is now most definitely City's title to lose, they are now the favorites to win the Barclays Premier League.
Two very important home games coming up in the week. One which will mark the return of the King to Stamford Bridge and the other a visit from Arsene Wenger. These two games will be season defining for the Blues. Positive results hopefully without anymore "Foy" moments.

VICTORY, that's what matters

Yet another London derby, yet another poor first half performance, yet another attacking display in the second half, yet another victory for the Blues to extend their lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League table. Seven points gap between the top two teams, that's all that matters to us Chelsea fans right now, even though our opponents have games in hand but we have points in the bank and that's always a  good thing. The pressure is now on the other title contenders to not slip up.
A London derby against Spurs is always one of the most anticipated games of any season for Chelsea. Stamford Bridge is an absolute fortress which is proved by the fact that Spurs haven't been able to win a game here in the premier league era and this fact didn't change after this Saturday as well as Chelsea routed Tottenham 4-0. Chelsea started off the game very brightly creating a couple of clear goal scoring opportunities but not being able to convert them. After the initial burst Spurs settled into the game and it turned out to be what I can say a pretty boring first 45 minutes of football. Neither team had any clear chance to score a goal. Chelsea were pretty wasteful again whenever they had possession and weren't too good on the ball. The creative midfield of Schurrle-Hazard-Ramires was just not working. It was a poor first half from the Blues attacking wise but defensively they were rock solid. The four man defense of Ivanovic-Cahill-Terry-Azpilicueta guarded by Nemanja Matic seemed unperturbed by any Spurs attack. The best defense in the Premier League seemed to be working really well again.
At the start of the second half the immediate introduction of Oscar had a good positive effect in the game and with him in the hole Chelsea started creating a few chances. Ultimately the opening goal came courtesy a defensive error from Spurs. The "OLD MAN" Eto'o was quick to latch on to the mistake and calmly finished to give Chelsea the lead. After a couple of minutes the Blues were awarded a penalty for a foul on Eto'o by Kaboul for which he was sent off. Well many people said it shouldn't have been a red card, maybe true but what's also true then is that Sandro committed so many fouls that he should have been sent off in the first half itself. So, stop complaining rival fans. Anyway, Hazard as coolly as ever converted the penalty to give Chelsea a comfortable lead. And after that it was basically impossible for 10 men Spurs to break down Chelsea. Willian's introduction to the game was fantastic as Stamford Bridge started chanting 'He Hates Tottenham'. Banter at it's best. What added insult to injury for Tottenham was two more defensive errors in the end moments of the game which led to two Demba Ba goals and finally it ended 4-0 with Mourinho extending his unbeaten Premier League streak at Stamford Bridge to 75 games. Freaky.
Overall it was a very good performance from the Blues against a pretty good Tottenham side. Cech along with his four defenders kept a clean sheet again. Matic as usual was outstanding, it's hard to imagine a Chelsea pivot without him now. Eden Hazard is from another planet, I don't have any words left for him. Three of the four goals came from the strikers. It was a close to perfect game which resulted in a victory, that's what matters.

A game of two halves

Indeed the latest west london derby was a game of two halves. Chelsea showed that how in one game they can provide a pathetic, probably the worst performance of the season in one half and a solid aggressive attacking performance in the other half.
In the first half of the game at Craven Cottage Chelsea looked completely out of sorts. The team looked tired, uninterested and clueless. They didn't create any sort of chances whatsoever proven by the fact that they had zero shots on target and were extremely slow whenever they had possession. The likes of Ramires, Oscar and Schurrle were worse than bad. Even Eden Hazard wasn't at his very best but it was worse cause whenever he had the ball with him he didn't get any sort of support from his teammates. The performance in the first half left Jose Mourinho so furious that he didn't speak to the team during the break and reportedly spent the half time outside the dressing rooms gathering information about the results of the other ongoing matches. Though Schurrle denied Jose's claim of not speaking at all at half time and said jokingly that at half time Jose uttered 10 seconds of unrepeatable words and left. This funny statement shows how angry Mourinho was.
But in the second half it all changed for Chelsea, they started the half really well and were on the attack straightaway. An Eden Hazard through ball to Schurrle who finished calmly led to the opening goal at 52 minute mark and in the next 18 minutes Schurrle went in to score two more goals and get his first Chelsea hat-trick and with that also more than redeemed his very poor first half performance. Players like Ramires and Oscar were still not at their best but they improved a bit for sure. Eden Hazard was different class in the second half, the way he ran past defenders, controlled the ball, provided crucial passes and two assists, he was outstanding. Fernando Torres seemed to be trying a lot and honestly he wasn't that bad either but he couldn't get his goal yesterday, I personally feel he is the best option at that position from the current lot in the Chelsea squad. Chelsea wouldn't have been too pleased after conceding a cheap goal though, those sort of defensive lapses can prove costly in other matches. Pretty sure Terry & co. will work on that aspect of the game. Matic again was fantastic in the work he was allotted. The Chelsea team looks secure with him in front of the back four guarding them.
Overall it was a pretty decent performance from Chelsea if we take both halves into consideration and now they are 4 points clear at the top of the league. Was really good seeing Schurrle get his first Chelsea hat-trick, this will surely help his confidence and it will be important for Chelsea as in the end stages of the league squad depth will come into play and these players will play a pivotal role.

Leaving it late

Indeed Chelsea left it really late to grab the 3 points against Everton at Stamford Bridge this weekend. A high intensity game which was ultimately decided by a solitary goal. By the way they played specially in the latter half of the game Chelsea deserved to win this but the defeat was a little tough on Roberto Martinez and his men. They gave it their all and pushed Chelsea to the limit. It's tough for any team against Jose Mourinho's side at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League and it is proven by the fact that now his unbeaten streak as BPL manager at the Bridge is 74 games. That is one hell of a ridiculous record. But Everton did go for the goals in the first half only to be denied by the Chelsea defense.
This was the sort of game where experience mattered more than talent for both sides. Players like Terry, Lampard & Distin played a crucial crucial role in keeping their team in the game. And it was ultimately Lampard & Terry who combined to get 3 very important points for the Blues. The Chelsea defense was again at it's very best with Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry & Azpilicueta. Cesar Azpilicueta is turning out to be one of the best LB's of the season, performing exceptionally well and doing all that a great left back needs to do. Matic played the role of a CM perfectly yet again and he is growing from strength to strength. The problem was with Chelsea's strike force yet again. Even the creative midfielders weren't at their best in the game. Oscar getting a knock didn't help the cause. This is the time of the season where squad depth will come into play and players like Schurrle and Salah will have important roles to play.
Getting a result out of somewhere that's what champion teams do and that's what Chelsea did yesterday, they somehow managed a late goal and got the 3 points to secure the pole position in the league and that's all that matters ultimately.

Champions League - Round of 16

The greatest club football competition in the world is back again with 8 mouth watering clashes to look forward to in the Round of 16.
MANCHESTER CITY vs BARCELONA
BAYER LEVERKUSEN vs PARIS SAINT GERMAIN
AC MILAN vs ATLETICO MADRID
ARSENAL vs BAYERN MUNICH
ZENIT PETERSBURG vs BORUSSIA DORTMUND
OLYMPIAKOS vs MANCHESTER UNITED
GALATASARAY vs CHELSEA
SCHALKE 04 vs REAL MADRID
Frankly some of these matches are worthy of being a final.

Man City vs Barca, the best in England vs the best in Spain, this is all set to be the clash of the titans as both the teams are filled with superstars, even though City will be missing their key man Sergio Aguero in the 1st leg but I am pretty sure they will put up a brilliant fight against the Spanish champions at the Etihad. Yaya Toure will look forward to beating his old team and progressing in this tournament and he will surely have to play a major role if City are to go ahead.

Leverkusen vs PSG, this in all likelihood will be a one sided match as the Paris side look too strong on paper compared to the Germans. With Ibrahimovic leading the line it won't be too much of a surprise if the french take a big lead with them into the 2nd leg.

Milan vs Atletico, another game which looking at the current form of the two teams looks set to be a one sided affair, but with Milan you never know what might happen. Two good teams with 22 capable footballers, this will be a good match if Milan are able to take the lead first up by breaching the best defense in Spain this year.

Arsenal vs Munich, a game worthy of being a Champions League Final, the defending champions taking on an in-form Arsenal team. On paper Bayern is by far the best team in Europe at the moment with the entire squad let alone the playing 11 filled with stars. On the other hand this season Arsenal have worked really well as a team and have been very good defensively if we exclude a couple of games. Bayern will be missing some of their key members and Arsenal should look to capitalize on that in the first leg. This along with the City-Barca game are the top clashes in this year's Round of 16.

Zenit vs Dortmund, battle of the underdogs of the competition, all set to be a riveting clash. The first leg being at home for Zenit can turn out to be a big advantage for them if they can manage to take a lead with them to Germany. The two forwards for their respective teams will have to deliver when it matters most. The germans will be a little worried because of their defense but hopefully will be able to win the battle in the midfield against a team like Zenit.

Olympiakos vs United, any other season I would rate this as a very very easy fixture for United but considering their form this season and Moyes' woes you never know what might happen. They will be missing their assist man Juan Mata as he is cup tied for the competition hence Moyes will have to look at someone else to get the balls into the box. But all said even with United's form this season they still look too much for Olympiakos to handle who are now without their star striker from the group stages Mitroglou.

Galatasaray vs Chelsea, Didier Drogba against the club he loves most. Drogba & Sneijder against their 'footballing father' as Sneijder said in a recent interview. The first leg in Turkey will be really crucial, if Galatasaray manage to bring a lead to Stamford Bridge then we will be in for a tremendous clash, but if Chelsea manage to get a result in the first leg then I feel it will be too tough for the turkish side to make a comeback at the Bridge. The second leg though will be important for a different reason altogether. The King returning to Stamford Bridge. I am pretty sure there's a rousing ovation awaiting Drogba at the Bridge. We still love him, we always will. But it would be an irony if he's the one knocking Chelsea out of the competition.

Schalke vs Madrid, the Germans have shown lots of grit this year to qualify for the Round of 16 but now it will be really tough for them against a star studded Real Madrid who's attack will be led by the costliest player in the world (Bale) and the ballon d'or winner (Ronaldo). It is next to impossible for the germans I feel to beat this Madrid side but they will have high hopes and with nothing to lose they will go all out for it which might just work in their favour and catch Madrid off guard.

All in all this will be a brilliant Round of 16 like always. The Champions League nights are back. Fun times.......

Disappointment at the Etihad

It was indeed a disappointing game at the Etihad stadium from Chelsea. One of those games where all eleven players had a bad day. It was as if they didn't turn up at all. The players looked tired and exhausted. On the other hand the City players looked fresh and more agile, which was obvious cause of them having no games during the week.
Chelsea failed to create anything whatsoever. They were too wasteful in the final third and also kept having defensive lapses time and again. Even Petr Cech looked out of form from the start of the game. Ramires & David Luiz seemed to be in a world of their own, below par would be too good a term to rate their performance yesterday. Even the likes of Hazard and Willian looked completely uninfluential during the entire game. That was proven by the fact that Chelsea managed zero shots on target in the entire match. Although Chelsea had a poor game but I don't understand why some fans have already started gunning for Salah calling him a misfit in this team. He should be given some time to settle in these playing conditions and I am pretty sure he will come good.
Few things that became pretty obvious from yesterday's game was that Chelsea need John Terry at the back leading the defence. David Luiz has become a complete misfit as a CB, he is at his best when he plays as a CDM. Mikel and Matic shouldn't start together. And lastly, Chelsea desperately need a world class striker in the summer.
It was a very poor performance from Chelsea but as Jose Mourinho put it in his post match conference 'football is at peace because the better team won', and at the start of the season if anybody had given Chelsea 6 points in the league against Manchester City and a bad defeat in the FA Cup I am pretty sure everyone at Chelsea would have taken that happily.

The New KKR Part-II

So finally the new KKR is ready. The squad comprising of 21 players. Led by Gautam Gambhir the squad comprises of Chris Lynn, Debabrata Das, Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Manvinder Bisla, Robin Uthappa, Andre Russel, Jacques Kallis, Ryan Ten Doeschate, Shakib Al Hasan, Sayan Mandal, Yusuf Pathan, Morne Morkel, Pat Cummins, Piyush Chawla, Sunil Narine, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Veer Pratap Singh, Kuldeep Singh Yadav.
The squad seems to have a perfect mix of experience and youth. Gautam Gambhir will be hungry for success and will want to make a point to the national selectors. The non-Indian players will add solidity in the middle order and bowling department specially with Sunil Narine. The team has some pretty good all rounders in Jaq Kallis, Ryan Ten Doeschate, Shakib, Russel and Yusuf Pathan. Of course all of them wont play together in the XI but it adds to some solid squad depth at KKR. A lot will be expected from the Indian players, they are the ones who will have to perform really well for the team to go the distance in the tournament. And if the tournament is partly or fully shifted to South Africa then also the team seems to have the players to cope with the conditions there.
Gambhir, Uthappa, Kallis, Pathan, Narine and Shakib/Morne will be the key to Kolkata Knight Riders' success this season. Hopefully we will have a great season ahead. Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo re.

The New KKR Part-I

Yet another IPL Auction, yet again so many players up for grabs. 8 teams fighting/bidding it out to get the players of their choice. After the end of day 1 in the auction process there were certain players for whom teams fought it out in auction wars. But at the end of the day this is how our team Kolkata Knight Riders look like.
GAUTAM GAMBHIR, retained by the team before the auction as their captain. Though a little poor as far as current form is concerned but his leadership and hopefully his batting in Indian conditions will help the team perform well.
SUNIL NARINE, another star player retained by KKR before the auction. The most deadly weapon in KKR's armory. He has the capability to run through batting line ups all by himself. And even on days when he doesn't pick wickets it is extremely difficult to score of him, specially in Indian conditions, more so at the Eden Gardens. He will again this year need to be KKR's star if they have to do well in this competition.
JACQUES KALLIS, KKR's first buy in this auction, they used the joker card to get him back, of course it was mostly certain that they will do so. He is called King Kallis for a reason. Still one of the best all rounders around in world cricket. He will provide the stability in the batting order and his expertise and experience in medium pace bowling will be helpful for KKR.
ROBIN UTHAPPA, a new Knight Rider, has proved himself time and again in this format of the game. Will solve KKR's opening and wicket keeping (most likely) problems. On his good days he can win matches for his team single handedly. But the biggest concern with him, lack of consistency.
YUSUF PATHAN, another one bought back by KKR using the joker card. He can be the trump card for KKR this season. But have been saying that for quite a few seasons now but he has failed to deliver for the team so far. Like Uthappa this guy can also win matches for you single handedly on his day. But that "on this day" comes very rarely these days. Albeit his power hitting in the middle overs and spin bowling can be really crucial for the team.
SHAKIB AL HASAN, I still feel he is the best all rounder when it comes to sub continent conditions. The improvisation he can bring in his batting and his left arm spin bowling is a perfect combination for a limited overs game. With the bat he can provide stability when needed as well as get cheeky and become a hitter. And a wicket taker with the ball in his hand. Will play an important role in turning wickets, specially in the home games.
UMESH YADAV, a real fast bowler, that's what he is. Will be wayward at times, will be inaccurate, will go for runs, but will also pick wickets, and that's pretty important in a T20 game. One of the very real quicks that India have, so KKR have done a very good job landing him in the team.
VINAY KUMAR, over the years one of the most successful bowlers in IPL. A national player, available for the whole tournament, wicket taker. That's pretty much what every team needs. I personally feel this will be a very important and good buy for the Knight Riders.
MORNE MORKEL, one of the best fast bowlers in the international circuit currently, I am not sure how much purchase he will get from the Eden surface but having him in the team automatically has an intimidating effect on the opposition. A brilliant buy considering the price he was bought for.
PIYUSH CHAWLA, the Indian spinner who will partner Sunil Narine. Again another one who can be very good on his day. But on his off days he can be really costly. Gambhir will need to use him really well to get the best out of him. And also hopefully in some close run matches his lower order batting will come to the aid of the Knights.
10 player so far, another day of auction beckons, it's not an excellent team but so far pretty happy with the buys and the amount of money left for the second day. More purchases tomorrow, more clear how this team will do in this upcoming season of the Indian Premier League.

Top of the League

After yet another fantastic weekend of the football it's us the Chelsea fans who're smiling the most. An awesome game against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge to back up our victory against Manchester City at the Ethiad.
This game was very important for Chelsea specially considering the result last game week and boy did they give a performance and a half. The Blues played a brilliant game of football stamping their authority over Newcastle. Three goals, a clean sheet, most of the players performing exceptionally well. The manager couldn't have asked for more this weekend.
EDEN HAZARD, what can you write about that guy, he is slowly becoming one of the best midfielders in the world game let alone in the Barclays Premier League. Not only his goals and assists but the way he has been defending for his team is brilliant. Him getting his first hat trick for the Blues was the icing on the cake.
Chelsea's luxury buy WILLIAN is proving day in day out that he is worth every penny that the club spent on him. Exceptional work rate. Runs his heart out for the team. Right from winning the ball back to running at defenders and providing exceptional through balls, this guy is doing it all.
NEMANJA MATIC, what a beast he is. Interceptions, tackles, pin point passes. Always at the face of the opposition players. He is proving that he actually is one of the best holding midfielders in the modern game.
GARY CAHILL, he was yet again a rock in the back four for Chelsea. Without John Terry this week he marshaled the defence brilliantly with Ivanovic, Luiz and Azpilicueta.
The only hitch which i felt was David Luiz as a CB. Was a tad bit too aggressive and vulnerable at that position providing Newcastle a few shots at goal.
This weekend MOHAMED SALAH also made his Chelsea debut coming on as a substitute. Everyone seems to have been talking about his poor finishing but nobody is talking about the runs he made to get into such brilliant goal scoring positions. Over time his finishing will improve and he'll become a very important player in this Chelsea squad.
Overall it was a brilliant performance this weekend under the captaincy of Frank Lampard. Plus the other results involving Arsenal and Manchester City going our way brought about added happiness.
All in all a brilliant weekend of football. Next up West Brom......