Just got back in from the match and listening to Sky interviews etc. I thought the pace of the first half was breath-taking from both teams and when Bardiniho rifled in another 20 yard screamer on 4 Min's, I thought hello, we were in for a cracker. I wasnt disappointed. It flowed and ebbed and bobbed around and poor Sess must have thought he was in a different world never mind league such was the pace of that first 45 mins. All square bit you knew they were going to chuck the kitchen sink 2nd half and it was a case of could we hang on? Alas it wasnt to be and to be fair, Chelsea looked back to their very best at times and just out passed us all over the place. They are very slick and have some top, top quality players to be fair and it showed with their bench compared to ours. They took Kalou off and brought Malouda on. We took Steed off and brought Colbeck (a 20year old) on. Chelsea in all fairness could have and should have scored 3 or 4 more and only poor finishing prevented that. Torres in that line up will be an awesome sight. They were the better team no question. Good points for us; Bardsley is just becoming an absolute diamond. Many of you who were 606 posters know I have him down as my Player of the Season by a country mile and he is a top lad IMO. FTM and still 6th. Steed - 31 year old chain smoker who embarrassed his younger team mates with another all action display. Is he class or what? Sessegnon - started slowly but soon showed a few touches of magic and another 5 or 6 games for him and I reckon we will see a little diamond emerge. Against the 'lesser' teams, his pace and trickery will be a vital weapon for us and those last 7 games will see his worth. Gordon - another set of incredible shot stopping although I still don't know what the friggin hell he was doing for their 2nd goal. Madness. Biggest disappointment - Jordan Henderson. A very poor show from our lad tonight and proving why he isn't a natural central midfielder IMO. Play him on the right of that formation Brucie and we will see a far better return form him. Biggest moan - why didn't Mark Halsey just come out wearing a blue shirt instead of pretending to be a Chelsea player all night. He had a twatful night and didn't give us a sniff. He had the piss ripped out of him by the Chelsea time wasting tactics all night and I would struggle to give him 2 out of 10 for finding the stadium. Bring in women refs I say However, bring on Stoke on Saturday and an all day session watching the game. Muntari to make his debut, with Henderson on the right and Al back to the bench.
Fair assessment Cest, but see my article on Halsey!!! That man did his best to ruin a great game for me. But no complaints about the result.
He was ****e of the highest order. Both him and that linesman who seemed to be operating in a separate time zone to the rest of us all night Chelsea fully deserved their win - no question but Halsey was still a huge pile of excrement IMO
I've been saying this all along, he doesn't put in any tackles!! And in CM, that's exactly what you need to do!
well i for one thoroughly enjoyed the first half, the secon was tempered by some pretty poor decisions, if muntari proves himself over the next couple of months, dare i say we could manage without hendo if it meant getting welbeck?
Very good article cest, saved me a lot of typing but dont worry, I will think of something? I came away dissoponted but far from downhearted, we all know we are not the finished article by a long way but by god are we getting there. What cheers me more than anything is the fact that you can sense that the players know we are getting there.
dare i say we could manage without hendo if it meant getting welbeck? I've been of that opinion for a couple of weks now
To me its all about our development now. At a Man U Henderson would not play every game and would learn and develope, its what he needs. I would love to be in the position to do the same but IMO we are a team that is developing so need players up to speed now. If we could, and its a big if, get Welbeck and cash for Hendo I think it would be doing Hendo a favour and moving us on. When you look at our midfield options we can do without him.last night showed to me we need a Welbeck and Campbell back.
Top article cest, The pace of the game was really something first half and was pure box office. It says alot about how far we have come on this season to be disappointed with not getting something from last night. Had we a full strength squad to choose from I feel the result may have been different. With the new midfield signings the likes of Henderson & Elmo have to raise they game to stay in the side.
Welbeck was a far bigger miss than I certainly gave him credit for. Welbeck and some cash and its a done deal for Jordan IMO. I think there is a bit of the Bent/Torres scenario here and despite what the club and player seem to be saying, Henderson isn't playing with the same freedom and passion he was before the Man Utd/City etc speculation. He isn't a central midfielder in the Gerrard/Scholes mould but could be effective on the right side of midfield, in a kind of Milner style. We are still quite a bit short when it comes to the top clubs strengths but I think we are building a side that could take points from the clubs below us and Sessegnon's pace and trickery will be a major factor on our run in.
Biggest disappointment - Jordan Henderson. A very poor show from our lad tonight and proving why he isn't a natural central midfielder IMO. Play him on the right of that formation Brucie and we will see a far better return form him. Agree with most of what you've said Cest but would you mreally drop Elmo for Henderson based on last night's performance? don't think i would. Yes, Elmo gifted them a penalty which was stupid to say the least as Cole was never going to get that ball anyway but he covered some ground up and down the right side last night and our second goal came as a result of one of his runs. I think a spell on the bench would do Henderson some good, let him recharge his batteries and give us a chance to see what Muntari can do.
cest one thing why did mark halsey let drogbar walk away and turn his back while he was giving him a yellow card
