Chelsea v Birmingham – View from the Bridge
For tonight’s game we have teamed up with Russell from the Chelsea blog Bridge Views.
His answers to our questions are below, the answers I gave him can be found here.
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How do you think we are doing this season? Why?
Without wishing to seem patronising – much better than I would have expected. The run of fifteen or so games without defeat is pretty impressive – most teams in the league would be very happy with that and I guess that has to come down to a combination of a well-balanced squad and a good manager.
Everything seems to have gelled, but I wonder if it’s any coincidence that results have really improved since Karen Brady and co. left the club. Perhaps it’s been a happier camp since they’ve gone…
Who would you see as our player(s) to watch for on Wednesday?
Overall I think it’s been team performances that have made your season so far. If I was to pick out particular players though, Bowyer seems to have been pretty immense up until now, and McFadden is pretty solid. I’ll be looking to Ballack and whoever’s playing at the base of Ancelotti’s diamond to prevent them – particularly McFadden – from linking up with your front line.
The defensive discipline Birmingham showed against us on Boxing Day was immense (although we played into your hands a little), and I suspect it’s there that Birmingham’s main strength lies. If Johnson, Dann and Joe Hart have good games we won’t be carving out too many dangerous chances.
Realistically what do you think we should aim for, and where will we finish?
The recent run means you might be aiming higher, but I still think the main aim for you this season has to be to stay in the league. The Premier League is pretty fickle – one week everything can be going to plan and the next it all goes to pieces. Stay in the league this season – anything more is a bonus – and look to build on it next year, when it looks like there will be more money to invest in the team. All that said, I reckon anywhere between 10th and 15th would be pretty realistic.
And maybe we’ll be playing you again at Wembley in May…
Have you been to St Andrews before, what was your experience?
I actually haven’t been to St. Andrews, but mates who have been say it’s ‘nothing special but ok’. They also suggested Birmingham fans aren’t as intimidating as they used to be – has the atmosphere got a bit more sedate in the last few years?
Is there a priority of the Champions League over the Premier League as some suggest?
We have never won the Champions League before so to lift the trophy in Madrid this year would be pretty special. But, despite that, I think you would be hard-pressed to find a real Chelsea fan who would prioritise it over the league. Being crowned the best team in England is where it’s at.
Who is your biggest competition for the title, United or Arsenal? Why?
Arsenal have embarked on a pretty good run since we beat them 3-0, when it looked like they wouldn’t be able to get back into the title race. They obviously play some great football at times but there are some big flaws in that team that Wenger seems unwilling to solve.
Ever since I’ve started watching football Man Utd have been winning titles – them being up there is just one of those dull, monotonous things you can rely on. People complained that we were dominating English football when we won the league in 2005 and 2006, but how often have Utd picked up the title in the last twenty years?
Without Ronaldo they’re not nearly as threatening going forward, but Rooney is finding some form, they have huge experience and, when they get their defence sorted, they will stop hemorrhaging points. They are more physically and mentally resilient than Arsenal and, if Chelsea win the title, I’d wager it will be with Utd finishing a close second.
Was the 7-2 beating of Sunderland the best Chelsea performance of the season or were Sunderland just really poor?
If you score seven goals, it’s a special performance. Saying that, Sunderland’s defence had clearly taken the day off.
If I was to pick the best performance of the season, it would have to be the three nil win at the Emirates. The media was bigging up Arsenal as potential title challengers, and it felt like most were championing the cause of Wenger’s supposed young footballing geniuses. As it was, the game was a Chelsea masterclass in power, skill and effectiveness from front to back, and Drogba was simply unplayable. A good day.
Who’s been your player of the season so far?
No question really – it would have to be Didier Drogba. He might not have had much of a game up at St. Andrews, but there’s barely been a game this season where he hasn’t been the best player on the pitch. I think in total he’s scored 19 goals and made 7 assists. Overall, before he went off to the African Cup of Nations I think he had single-handedly scored or created 49% of the team’s goals.
Most won’t believe this too, but he’s cleaned up his act a little this season. Aside from Terry and potentially Lampard, there isn’t a player in the squad who takes half as much personal responsibility for getting a result than Drogba.
Prediction for the Birmingham game?
I’d be pretty confident – if it hadn’t been for the game on Boxing Day when we never really looked like getting all three points. But most teams don’t come away from Stamford Bridge with one point, let alone three, so perhaps we’ll steal it. A closely fought one nil.
Chelsea came, Chelsea saw and Roger Johnson Conquered
Filed under: Articles by Dale Moon, Blues News, Match reports, Matches
Here is Dale’s thoughts post Chelsea game.
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As Roger Johnson rose above Drogba to power clear one of his 50 or more defensive headers during the second half of the game, it seemed to capture in essence how the match unveiled. Chelsea came with the Lampards, Terry’s and Drogba’s and were haulted by the most passionate, gritty and determined performance by 11 nasty little so and so’s. For all his quality, ability and unplayable traits, Drogba goes from the sublime to the ridicules more times than Benitez is flagged offside! He huffed and he puffed and apart from zipping a volley wide in the first half, there was no chance of him blowing our house down! He moaned to the ref about the Blues defenders but unfortunately for the Ivory Coast talisman, he met his nemesis.
Week after week, game after game, Roger Johnson overcomes all human capabilities to head, kick, scramble, tackle, block and clear everything within a 2 mile radius of the 18 yard box. If appearing on the 90’s game show “The Gladiators”, he would be that final man, waiting for the contestant at the end of the 5 man gauntlet. Then and again, if this became apparent, nobody would actually be able to run the gauntlet without being completely obliterated! Just when it looked like Blues were calved open by a rare piece of Chelsea’s fluid passing and movement, Roger Johnson launches himself into the oncoming Ashley Cole with the most last ditch of last ditch challenges. A volleyed clearance away from Drogba in his 6 yard box in the first half, a headed clearance near his goal line in the second, the examples are endless. As a fan, it has come to a point where you want to just grab him, shake his hand and thank him! It’s as if he is a lifelong fan of the club who has been put on the pitch to go and show the Premier league what all Blues fan’s would be like if they ever got the chance to grace the St.Andrews turf. If I was Fabio Capello watching the game and observed both Birmingham’s Roger Johnson and Chelsea’s John Terry, there would only be one winner based on their performances. Okay Johnson was the busier of the two and that was expected but even so he dwarfed the performance of Chelsea’s so called “Ironman”. Yet again, I find myself writing about Johnson’s performance, a man who is starting to steal the show at what has been for the last ten games, a very entertaining spectacle.
Another player who proved his worth against Chelsea with a string of acrobatic and rapid reaction saves was Joe Hart. Two stand out for me. Pushing Daniel Sturridge’s whipped effort past the post was unbelievable as it was destined to nestle in the bottom corner but this was outdone as he spurred Chelsea’s best chance of the game. Lampard was kept onside by Stephen Carr and was all of 10 yards out with only Joe Hart to beat. And yet, the young England keeper reacted to a vicious shot from the usually prolific Chelsea midfielder from the shortest of distances to palm the shot away. For all his troubles he even managed to look heroic after receiving the old “Terry Butcher” bandage treatment around the head as a result of getting caught by an onrushing Chelsea forward. Hart had been subject to come uncertainty amongst some Blues fans earlier in the season but based on Boxing Day’s performance he was nothing short of superb and has staked a very firm claim for a place on the plane to South Africa.
Fans left the ground yesterday, thoroughly entertained and all in all very happy with a point. Ok Benitez was onside but so was Louis Saha’s disallowed goal the previous week as McLeish correctly pointed out. The score will say a 0-0 draw, but the game was full of saves, last ditch tackles, disallowed goals and red cards. . .
Oh and it was also full to the brim with one very hard hitting Roger Johnson in top class form.
The Heavyweight Clash On Boxing Day
Here is Dale’s latest contribution. Enjoy.
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The clash of the blues this Saturday will be a dead cert away win on some naive punters accumulator up and down the country but I wouldn’t be so sure. Our 9 game unbeaten run has been a product of having one of the most resilient back lines in the league and a burning desire in the experienced lads to win, albeit ugly and scrappy at times. Chelsea will travel up the M1 in there classy chauffeur driven super-coach and will undoubtedly expect to turn us over. And for all their superstars and financial power so they should. But that’s not the way it works any more.
This season has been one of the most unpredictable so far, with Liverpool stumbling all over the place, it looked to be a two horse race between United and Chelsea. Then an inconsistent few results from both of them and Arsenal look to be back in the race. In reality the title will go to one of the current top two but they are making hard work of it. Now I need not remind anyone of the current run we are on, and entering unknown territory, in a game most would expect us to lose, it will be an interesting spectacle to observe. With a tough run of games coming up, points will be dropped and games lost but what a better way to approach the big boys like Chelsea and United than off the back of a remarkable run of form.
The feel good factor is still very much alive; players are fighting for each other and their places as the January transfer window is around the corner. We must intimidate Chelsea, let them know they are in our backyard, our house and we take no prisoners. Respect them but do not fear them. They are vulnerable at the moment, there for the taking, we have the players to match them with desire and with a touch of class we may just send them back to their luxury homes in Kensington battered and bruised and without a point to show for it.
Boxing Day’s game at home to the league leaders will be nothing short of scintillating. The majors against the minnows. Lampard hampered by the ankle biting Ferguson, Jerome and Benitez against the cart horses of Terry and Carvalho and the most mouth watering prospect of our very own colossus in Roger Johnson (If declared fit) against the Chelsea warrior, Didier Drogba. And yes, they will say, they have too much quality for us, they yes they will say our run must come to an end but anyone expecting a Birmingham side to roll over and die will be in for a shock. The pre-madona’s from the capital will be faced with a packed out St.Andrews on a bitterly cold day against a team with a hard hitting, never say die attitude. And if we take our chances, the boys from the second city will have to draw a nice little diagonal line against their tally chart of 9, but surely this would be the most prized scalp so far!
Now, any Predictions?
Penny For Your Thoughts?
Filed under: Articles by akvbcfc, Blog News, General Football
Here is akvbcfc’s latest article.
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Not all Blue
Pundits and fans alike have been quick to accredit Carlo Ancelotti and his side for their brilliant start to the season – and they are right to. They have been solid at the back, only conceding 1 goal at Stamford Bridge in the league this term. At the other end, the diamond midfield formation has worked a treat, freeing up the likes of Deco and Lampard, while also giving a new lease of life to Drogba and Anelka. The front 2 can be absolutely awesome sometimes, but they are only one game away from the ridiculous. Talking of Drogba…The man that everybody loves to hate. However, he claims that he has turned over a new leaf, especially since his 8 year old son embarrassed him after his on field antics in recent times. He says that he sees officials and the term ‘respect’ in a new light while learning how to act on a football pitch. In the long-term, that may be debatable, but what’s for sure, is that Didier Drogba has been on top form this season.
The return of Joe Cole has, and will add a whole new dimension to the side who seem to be rampant. They are efficient and ruthless, grinding out results against top rivals while hammering middle-of-the-road sides.
Blah blah blah…oh, hold on…what’s that? Arsenal in second? Playing sublime, sensational football? A goal difference better than the all conquering Blues? well, why haven’t they been given the credit they deserve then?
Wenger’s side have been simply phenomenal this season. Blues fans can testify to this, given the efficient way that Wenger’s side brushed McLeish’s men to one side. Arsenal scored 3, they could have scored 10. The defence, while not perfect, has come on leaps and bounds. Thomas Vermaelen looks an absolute star and Cesc Fabregas has continued to do what Cesc Fabregas does; he runs games single handedly, pushing the side forward, spreading the play and creating countless chances for the other forwards. However, the real improvement has come in the squad overall. Players have now played together for 2-3 years, maturing together, and growing up together. Robin Van Persie has come out as more Van Basten than Bergkamp, showing a ruthless eye for goal and great strength in leading the line alone. Abou Diaby and Alex Song have started to show their true quality in midfield, freeing up the likes of Fabregas and Arshavin to go on and support Van Persie. Oh, and Arshavin? He’s a genius. Simple. His movement is top notch and with the ball at his feet, anything is possible.
That sounds impressive, but there’s more! Nasri, Ramsey, Rosicky and Walcott. All top class midfielders who have been injured or just not selected so far this season, yet all 4 would find a place in nearly every side in the Premier League with ease. Things are looking good for Wenger and his side.
The pressure will now be on Wenger to make sure that the side keeps its nerve, while rotating the side whenever possible. Two years ago, the side lost their nerve after that game at St Andrews, but Arsenal fans need to pray that this season is different. Thomas Vermaelen has given the side a real threat while also providing stability to a back 4 that has learnt how to grow and develop together.
Let the games begin.
Cheat
Liverpool fans protested that since they were denied points at Sunderland due to a stray beach ball, Blues fans should not complain about David N’Gog’s dive to win a penalty at Anfield.
One problem. N’Gog didn’t have to dive. He didn’t have to cheat. But he did. Well done David, there’s a great example to young fans of the game. Cheating shouldn’t pay. Disgraceful.
By akvbcfc
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