QPR: Over-reaction Posted on Monday, 17th September 2012 by chidge email Digg DiggAfter all the big build up about the potential fiery derby game between Chelsea and QPR, unfortunately the media pages still focused on the completely pointless pre-match handshake between Ferdinand and Terry/Coleâ¦mainly because the game did not offer any real drama in comparison to the handshake showdown. On the whole handshake view, personally I think itâs pointless it takes place in the first place. Unfortunately now, as usual, the FA has dug itself in to a hole where if they opt to take it away it shows them as a failure and the media have a field day on sportsmanship in football compared to the Olympics againâ¦complete bollocks. People talk about Ferdinand being a big man in all of this and standing up, rightly, for allegedly being racially abusedâ¦but as usual nobody has mentioned the dignity of John Terry, offering his hand to the man accusing him of racially abusing him despite being proven in a court of law that he was innocent. Lesser men would be very petulant and refuse the handshake as well as the perceived victim. Top marks to JT. On to the footballâ¦despite the mass over-reaction from many fans Iâve heard from, in truth, the performance was a much-needed improvement from our last outing in Monaco by a long way. Iâve always been taught in courses and by many men more experienced than me that football is not only a one game at a time sport but also you can analyze games in comparison to the previous oneâ¦so comparing yesterday to Monaco, we were at least a hundred times better than the Super Cup final. This, obviously is a much-needed improvement, so why are masses moaning? The first half performance I felt we played very well. Chelsea had plenty of the ball (60% first half possession) and we generally moved it around quickly and accurately. We created a number of openings, two fantastic ones, which resulted in, Cesar making exceptional saves from Hazard and Torres. Then of course were the two stonewall penalties the referee failed to give on Terry and Hazard (just for a change). Quite embarrassing refereeing when he has a look at those decisions again, which matches with everything else he did throughout the gameâ¦**** refereeing. Letâs not forget, Luiz had a free header at goal from a corner where he should have hit the target too. If weâre clinical this game is well and truly out of sight and the score line should have been a reflection on how Chelsea played. The second half was a different story in terms of intensity and performance for the large part of it. Is this because certain players are crap and out of position? Or is it because Di Matteo doesnât have a plan B? No it isnât. Sometimes in life, even if itâs the enemy like QPR, we have to hold our hands up and say they actually played well, changed their plan and nullified usâ¦and thatâs what QPR did. They started to push higher up the pitch and stop Lampard dictating our passing by man marking him. Obviously, because of this pressure we did make some mistakes (fatigue plays its part too) and our distribution was poor in the middle of the park but thatâs fair play to the opposition and there is nothing wrong in holding your hands up and saying well played instead of throwing the blame in the direction of the ones weâre meant to be supporting. The last 15 minutes we took charge again because Di Matteo changed tactics, despite apparently not having a plan B, by switching to a 4-3-3. This enabled Moses to make a very pleasing impression on us and also unleash Ramires in his natural position where he became more influentialâ¦and we would have won the game if Hazard had hit the target and Moses strike not been deflected towards the keeper, taking the pace off it. So overallâ¦was it a bad performance? Not in my opinion it wasnât. Frustrating Iâd agree on because we failed to get the goal but not a bad performance by a stretch and if going by one of the main rules of analysis comparing to the previous (Monaco) we were much improved. Good goalkeeping, poor refereeing, bit of bad luck and Mark Hughes being tactically astute to change the game in the second half stopped us getting a much-deserved result from the game. Football is fantastic in the point where itâs a game of such diverse opinions and I really like the fact I have the access to view such different opinions and see how others see the same game. I generally respect all opinions on football and sometimes emotion can really cloud a true judgment of a game and bring about over-reaction and I think Iâve seen a great deal of that in many aspects in the last 24 hours on a number of different groups, twitter and Facebook. One of these over-reactions I feel was on Torres reaction to being subbed off as he stormed down the tunnel. Iâve seen opinions such as; âCanât warm to himâ or âMoody and not a team playerâ and even âShould have sold him in the summerâ. Iâll ask the question; what is wrong with being angry about being subbed? Iâd be fuming if one of our players walked off without a care in the world. Just because its Torres why should he be criticized for it. Yet again the bloke has had poor service all game, receiving the ball only twice in the penalty area (One which resulted in a shot or target) and everything else he received any where between 15-30 yards away from the area. He canât influence the game if he isnât getting the ball in the right positions or if he has had to drop off into our half to start an attack. Itâs exactly the same, as being at work and your doing all the work to hit the deadlines because your colleagues arenât producing â youâd go home pissed off too. Same story here I feel and alright, petulant to walk down the tunnel in a strop but we all lose our rag at times. Human nature I believe they call it. Of course he shouldnât be exempt from criticism but lets do it when it is really deserved (like if he is being lazy) not for being a human being, regardless of being a 50mil human being. Other over-reactions included Frank Lampard. Iâve read things such as âHe canât play with Mikelâ and âHe slows down all our playâ. Not sure about you readers but I didnât hear a peep when they played formidably against Barcelona and Munich. The opposition are starting to man mark him on reputation so he isnât always going to be the influence everyone expects him to be, especially from a deeper position. With this added man mark pressure itâs going to be harder to play these quicker balls. He will have to take an extra touch to get away from a marker. Would anyone else make a real difference? Not really in my opinion, well not yet anyway. Finally, Di Matteo not having a backup plansâ¦I think he showed yesterday he could. Iâll admit, that was my worry with him when he got the job on a full time basis, as thatâs what got him the sack at WBA. He has so many options at Chelsea to change the game and he obviously isnât stupid so I donât think this is the case at all. If we have got to January and there are obvious errors then maybe we can use this theoryâ¦but 4 games in to a season following on from a CL win and FA Cup win? Laughable. The truth is, I think Chelsea fans (well vast majority) possibly have too high expectations. We are not going to win every game, thatâs a fact of life so maybe we should just not assume itâs a forgone conclusion that we will and trade off unfair criticism to the guys weâre meant to be supporting and looking properly at the facts first. Few of these facts include that in a game of football another team playing Chelsea may perform well and that Chelsea are still transitioning to a new way of playing. All I know is 4 league games inâ¦.10 pointsâ¦3 clean sheetsâ¦undefeatedâ¦top the league and European Champions. Keep calm and support Chelsea.
No mention of Torres until he storms off down the tunnel - partly because he had been in Nelsen's pocket the whole game, and partly because Di Matteo finally realised it. No mention of the published stats on pass completion or tackles made which show how Lampard was the least effective midfielder on the park. Instead he wants to talk about 'dignity' regarding a man who simply deserves none, and he yet again wants to blame the referee for the fact that they couldn't, and didn't, score. The measure of how well we contained and attacked them is shown in the very grudgingly-offered praise for our second half performance. Taking off his blue-tinted specs, that translates to 'matched us completely throughout the game and in midfield, played us off the park." Oh - and they were tired as well. Onwards and upwards....
Lampard was the worst player on the pitch in my opinion Whether that was partly due to the England games or him being past his best i'm not sure
