The Man in The Shed
7th May – Goodbye Cahill
Where did that season go ? It was time for the last home
league game of a very inconsistent season.
Well true to form, Tottenham had done us (yet another)
favour by deciding to play half of their league game with 9 men and letting in
a winning goal in injury time !
My hope was that Watford, mindful of an impending cup final,
would roll over and let us grab what could be a significant three points. Our
team selection showed no great surprises with Hazard and Higuain back in the
starting line-up.
The kit for the 19-20 season was debuting today. There was a
time not so long ago that a kit lasted more than one season. Recent
developments now mean that Chelsea players switch kits before a season is over.
How long before we get two new kits per season (we kind of get three already if
you include second and third strips but you know what I mean). The social media
feedback on the new kit would be summarised politely as “lukewarm”.
The first half of this game won’t live long in the
memory. Safe to say that Watford were
fully focussed on this game (perhaps playing for their cup final places ?) and
we were decidedly second best. We were slow and predictable, Watford had the better
chances and but for a great Kepa save in the first ten minutes we would and should
have been behind. To make matters worse
we’d also lost Kanté early on although Loftus-Cheek replaced him and continued
to look sharp.
It was no surprise when the vast majority of our fans were
booing at the half time whistle.
In trying to assess what I’d just witnessed it was clear
that Chelsea players seemed unable to deal with the tough (not nasty)
physicality of Watford. Deeney was bullying our back line and winning
everything in the air.
The second half showed immediate improvement. An early corner,
Hazard gets the ball and crosses for Loftus-Cheek to outmuscle Chalobah and
head in. We’d barely stopped celebrating before another corner is headed in by
Luiz. After the previous 45 minutes this was one big surprise.
Cue the rousing chorus of “Tottenham Hotspur, it’s happened
again”.
We continued to push forward. Higuain was not having his
best game and the natives were getting restless. I was now starting to wonder
if the Chelsea number nine shirt was actually jinxed. Who was the last person
to be successful whilst wearing this number (Drogba of course wore 11) ? I was
still trying to answer this question when Higuain makes a trademark run, picks
up a Pedro pass and dinks the ball over Foster and in for goal number three !
Fifteen minutes to go and Gary Cahill, back on the bench
today, appears for a warm up. Soon spotted, the crowd serenade - “There’s only
one Gary Cahill”. Nice touch.
Watford finally score – except they don’t. Any one of three
players could have put the ball into the goal but comically managed to obstruct
each other and get called for offside. Taking his cue from this, Giroud (on for
Higuain) manages to miss a couple of chances at the other end. This was getting
silly.
Cahill came on for Luiz for the final few minutes. Dave hands over the armband and the crowd are
now singing “He’s won it all”. Class !
Just time for Cahill to make a defensive header and the game
is over.
For once our second half performance was far better than the
first. Kepa’s early save has probably decided the outcome of the game. With two
more assists Hazard has now reached the top of the assists chart. We’re gonna
miss him next season.
Next up – Frankfurt at home at the Bridge on Thursday.
Another win and we’re in the final.
POSTSCRIPT. Failure by both United and Arsenal to win their
Sunday games meant that we were now guaranteed a top four place. Back where we
belong.
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