So after a truly devastating 2-1 loss against Bayer Leverkusen (Champions League) on Tuesday, the general public really stepped up the speculation over the future of André Villas-Boas' job. It's true, Chelsea is definitely not where they were expected to be this season. Their title hopes are extremely low (Manchester City has pretty much locked it up after only 12 games, providing their incredible run of form holds); they require a win against Valencia to qualify for the Champions League; and Chelsea are currently sitting at 5th in the Premier League table. Past managers have been in better positions than Villas-Boas is currently, and were still sacked by Roman Abramovitch (think Carlo Ancelotti, Avram Grant, etc). The Russian multi-billionaire is quite impatient with his managers, expecting almost immediate results. Since José Mourinho, he's gone through 6 managers in 5 years. The conjecture among the general population is that if Chelsea do not advance to the next round of the Champions League, it will not be long before Abramovitch hands Villas-Boas his marching orders (and AVB has acknowledged this).
(my friend Daniel showed me this website)
http://hasandrevillasboasbeensackedyet.com/
Personally, I hope this doesn't happen. I actually think he's quite a good manager, and that he needs more time than just 20 or so games. Even if we don't manage a Champions League win, the main goal should be to finish in the top 4 in the Premier League (which will get us a CL spot next year), and use the break to try and fix up the team. Transfers need to be made. It's definitely an aging team: the average age of the team is 27.5, 8th highest in the league. When compared to top teams such as Manchester City (26.4), Manchester United (26.1), Arsenal (25.3), Liverpool (26.7), etc... it's obvious that Chelsea needs some younger players. John Terry is 30, Frank Lampard is 33, Didier Drogba is 33, Petr Cech is 29, Ashley Cole is 30, Florent Malouda is 31, Nicolas Anelka is 32. With the occasional exception of Anelka, these are all regular first-team players. The average age of Chelsea's usual starting 11 (I'm going to say Cech, Cole, Terry, Luiz, Ivanovic, Meireles, Lampard, Ramires, Malouda, Torres, Mata, just for argument's sake) is 27.8. In a few years, the majority of these players will be gone, and Chelsea need to have a contingency plan. Purchases such as Romelu Lukaku (who plays in a very similar style to Drogba), Oriol Romeu, and Thibaut Courtois (who will be ready to step in as the new goalkeeper by the time Petr Cech retires) are excellent. Chelsea need to continue to invest in developing footballers and supplement the current squad with young, creative players who can strengthen the team.
André Villas-Boas: the perpetually squatting manager of Chelsea (and we love him for it).
Chelsea had a Champions League match stolen from their grasp on Tuesday, when Bayer Leverkusen scored in the 92nd minute to win the game 2-1 at the BayArena. Chelsea had gone up 1-0 after a Drogba goal in the 48th minute (on a Daniel Sturridge assist). After bookings to Ivanovic and Meireles, Erin Derdiyok came on for Leverkusen and scored after only 2 minutes. The game looked to be a draw when 90 minutes passed; however, it was at that moment when Manuel Friedrich headed in a Gonzalo Castro corner to win the game 2-1. With this unlikely loss, Chelsea moved to 3rd place in Group E with 8 points and a +6 GD, and now need a win against Valencia (8 points and a +8 GD) in order to advance to the next round of the Champions League. Chelsea are in an extremely tough position now, with André Villas-Boas' job on the line as well. They desperately need a win against Valencia. In their last game against them (in Valencia), the two teams drew 1-1. The next match will be at Stamford Bridge. Hopefully the support of the fans can drive Chelsea to a victory and a place in the next round.
This was depressing: the winning goal at the BayArena on Wednesday.
This morning, Chelsea emerged victorious with an important 3-0 victory over Wolverhampton that saw them put a bit of distance between themselves and Arsenal (2 points), as well as close the gap slightly between themselves and the likes of Newcastle (1 point), Tottenham (3 points), and Manchester United (5 points). With Newcastle up against Chelsea next Saturday, I'm definitely hoping that next weekend we'll all see a shift in the Premier League standings (with Chelsea overtaking Newcastle and reaching 4th spot). In today's match at the Bridge, goals from John Terry, Daniel Sturridge, and Juan Mata (with Mata assisting the first two goals) put Chelsea up 3-0 at the end of the first half.
Here was the lineup for today's match (4-3-3):
Subs: Turnbull, Mikel, , Malouda, Kalou, Lampard (Meireles 70'), Bosingwa (Ivanovic 77'), Torres (Drogba 78')
NOTABLE CHELSEA PLAYERS:
- Juan Mata: Man of the Match performance. Assisted the first two goals, and scored the third. Showed great composure and vision with his crosses. Provided Sturridge with the easiest of tap-ins and Terry with a lovely corner ball. Overall, he had an excellent game.
- Daniel Sturridge: Positioned himself well to tap home Mata's cross for the 2nd goal of the game. At times seemed a bit needlessly selfish with the ball (went for goal, even though passing it off would have been a perfect option), but nonetheless played a great game. Created a beautiful run for himself down the length of the pitch in the 2nd half, but couldn't finish.
- John Terry: Positioned himself well and got up to a good height to score the first of the game off a Mata corner. Defended well during the game.
- Oriol Romeu: In his first Premier League start for Chelsea, he looked extremely comfortable in the holding midfield role. Linked up well with the attack, and defended well when needed.
- Ramires: Played excellently in midfield. His incredible pace gave Chelsea a number of opportunities. Showed his great value to the team when he dispossessed a Wolves player at the centre of the pitch and made a brilliant run down the middle, unleashing a blistering shot which was saved by Hennessey.
Juan Mata celebrates his goal.
MATCH OVERVIEW:
Chelsea did very well to dominate the game from early on, with John Terry scoring off a Mata corner in the 7th minute. According to the commentators, the goal could have easily been cleared at the far post if Wolves had defenders marking the posts. However, both were left wide open and Chelsea went up 1-0. A fluid passing play in the 29th minute between Cole, Romeu, and Mata led to Sturridge tapping in the brilliant cross by Juan Mata. In the 45th minute, Drogba passed it off to Cole, who crossed it to Mata in the box. Mata, from 10 yards out, volleyed the ball into the top netting to make the score 3-0 for Chelsea. Chelsea dominated the entire 2nd half, only allowing Wolves 2 shots on target during the entire game (as opposed to Chelsea's 12). In the 90th minute, John Terry got himself booked for time-wasting (what he was doing, I have no idea – he pretty much just held on to the ball during a throw in for a minute, when it seemed that he had plenty of options. There was no real need for any time-wasting, since Chelsea were up 3-0 and the game was about a minute away from being over).
Final score: Chelsea 3-0 Wolverhampton.
MATCH STATISTICS:
Chelsea Wolves
Ball Possession (%) 53 47
Shots (on target) 21(12) 8(2)
Corners 8 2
Crosses 20 11
Fouls Committed 10 11
Yellow Cards 1 2
Red Cards 0 0
Offsides 1 0
No highlight reel on Youtube, sorry, but here's a good link with the video at the bottom:
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