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The Man in The Shed



28th September – Time for a league win


Having thoroughly enjoyed our first home win of the season it was now time to deliver a home league win. After completing some impressive away performances it was time to redress the balance.

Warmed by the glow of positivity surrounding the club right now I had tried to imagine how this “New Chelsea” was being received by the wider football community. I suspect nobody who classed us as the team who “bought” the league in 2005 and then splashed Roman’s cash at every opportunity could quite believe that :
  •       We had appointed an unproven manager
  •       Had given an Englishman a chance
  •        We were using several youth team players
  •       Most of the youth team players were English

Of course the $64,000 question that can never be answered is “What would have happened without the transfer ban ?”. Well who cares now ?

There was also a certain irony that Manchester United and Arsenal had also blooded youngsters recently (although in this case after seemingly giving up on some big signings). Despite our opening day loss it seems we were better placed than United now.

After an embarrassing flag reveal at the last league game they managed to find the correct one this time.

Well the game delivered a decent first half performance. We managed to hit the post in the first 15 but chances were hard to come by. It took the Brighton fans over 20 minutes to find their voices. Probably because their team failed to deliver a decent attempt.

And Alzate will not want to watch the terrible dive which earned him a booking.

So my half time musing was really around what the team could do to change things in the second 45. Pedro and Willian had not even swapped wings to try to liven up the attack.

It didn’t take us long to break the deadlock. Mount brought down after chasing down an apparent lost cause. Jorginho scored in his now customary style. It was nice to hear the fans singing his name. Something of a change in 12 months !

Brighton finally created a chance – hitting the bar with a header from a corner – but the majority of play was still in our opponent’s half. Hudson-Odoi, a replacement for Pedro was soon into the action, breaking out and laying on an assist as Willian’s shot was deflected into the bottom corner. Game over !

So that home league win had finally appeared. And a clean sheet ! We were starting to look like a real team now. And Tomori was becoming a really classy defender.

Next up – away to Lille in the Champions League.

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