The Man in The Shed
19th October –
Whilst the primary concern of most fans in the Premier League
is the same return of their players it was a proud moment to see a reward for
our young stars. With Tomori and Abraham joining Mount in the England squad it
was one shining light amongst a torrent of negativity following the sad scenes
in Bulgaria. With much credit given to
the actions of the England manager, his staff and all of the players it was
still horrid to watch. The best possible response was of course to win the game
(which we did well) but I fully expect to see a paltry punishment to a country
already in the dock for racism. It reminded me that whilst far from perfect in
this country, we are streets ahead of most other countries when it comes to our
attitudes towards all types of diversity.
Returning to football, there were several casualties of the
Internationals with Christensen and Kanté injured. Giroud must be incredibly
frustrated as a starter (and scorer) for France but unable to get minutes for
Chelsea. An interesting public interaction between Lampard and Deschamps with
Lampard appearing to ask the French manager not to play Kanté whilst Deschamps
suggesting Giroud should play more !
So could Chelsea pick up where they left off and continue
the winning run ?
The team sheet showed 5 Englishmen in the starting 11
including Ross Barkley (back in the fold after “chipgate”). His twin brother***
had another good game for England in Bulgaria (*** an ironic social media
suggestion on the basis that performances in a blue shirt are substantially
less than those in white). I know football at a high level is as much about
mental as physical attributes but young Ross seems to be a real Jekyll &
Hyde. Unlike some I really want him to do well but he seems constrained playing
for us.
Well his match started badly. A last ditch tackle by a
Newcastle defender clearly injured his ankle. Unsurprisingly, having made it
back into the starting 11 he wasn’t keen to come off and continued to run
around in an effort to run it off. We were really playing for half an hour with
a man short.
Alonso (the former Sunderland man) was today’s pantomime villain
as the Newcastle fans booed his every touch. There was little to excite in the
first half. Newcastle had a plan with everyone behind the ball and hoping to
grab something on the counter. Chelsea pressed but with little end product
other than a short range Mount shot right at the keeper and an Abraham one-on-one
which was saved.
Barkley departed just before half time.
So what could we do to change things in the second half ?
Clearly the bus had been parked and we were struggling to get past it. The
crowd were quiet as a result.
Abraham seemed to be bullied by the Newcastle defence and
was unable to hold up the ball.
Kovacic, on for Barkley just before half time spent the
break out on the pitch practicing.
Crowd involvement picked up in the second half Jorginho’s
name being sung again. The players were playing at a faster pace and the
periods of sustained pressure began to increase.
Mount (generally peripheral today) made way for Pulisic who
helped increase the pressure. Within ten minutes the breakthrough came – Alonso
silenced the boos with a strike from a Pulisic assist.
A couple of further Chelsea chances went begging but the
failure to increase the lead would not be punished.
My biggest surprise was that Carroll arrived as a sub. before
Newcastle fell behind (and managed to avoid getting booked).
The game played out with little defensive concern despite
the inevitable aerial bombardment from Newcastle. Kepa had not needed to make a
save of note.
Another home win. The team had faced another new challenge
and overcome it and another clean sheet had been registered.
So up to five wins on the bounce. A rather bigger challenge
awaits as we travel to group leaders Ajax in the Champions League next.
Another great away win. Sadly our momentum had been halted
by another International break.
Comments
Post a Comment