Seven Cup Finals!

One week we’re down and out; the next, straight back in the mix. I’m not sure my heart is going to be able to take this for the next 5 weeks!

What a week it has been for Chelsea Football Club as we reach the Champions League semi-final yet again and force ourselves back into touching distance of the premier league.

The Champions League midweek, in a way, was classic Chelsea and certainly classic Mourinho. We had a mammoth task ahead after the poor result in the first leg and the whole world had written us off. Surely everyone knows by now that is just the way we like it?

Having seen the first leg against PSG, my initial thoughts on them were that they weren’t as good as what media outlets had made them out to be. Undoubtedly, PSG possess some fantastic individual talents across the pitch. Lets face it, if your starting eleven boasts Cavani, Ibramhimovich, Lavezzi and Thiago Silva (to name a few) it’s going to look pretty good on paper. Individual talents can win you games time and time again…but when you’re playing against topsides in top competitions, collectively you need to come together and I felt PSG lacked that. For example, the first leg Lavezzi was the key man as an individual and caused us problems. Other individuals failed to turn up and collectively they suffered.

While we weren’t at our best on the first leg (individually or as a team) we were undone by individual displays vs. our own individual mistakes.

The second leg, we knew what we needed to do and ultimately that was score the 2 goals and defend better than  we did 6 days prior.

Having looked at PSG, I felt the best method to get at them was to target the full back Jallet. He was very weak in the tackle and a lot of the time caused Silva to cover behind him when he lost the ball further up the pitch. It was going to be a matter of moving the ball quickly from our midfield to isolate and target him.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen straight away. We had a similar problem to the first leg where PSG’s midfield 3 outnumbered our deeper 2. Luiz and Lampard in the first 30 minutes was just non-existent because they were passed around with the lesser man in that area.

Once we got the breakthrough, I think that gave the whole stadium (players included) the extra lift needed. It struck belief into everyone as before that, it appeared a little flat.

The second half, Oscar played much deeper and that gave Lampard and Luiz the helping hand to get on the ball and retain possession. Luiz was also imperious in that half. He read the game impeccably and remained a calm figure in a difficult situation where we needed to attack but watch out for the counter attack.

Now that we had the ball more within the midfield, we could start to probe PSG weaknesses, which were the full backs. Willian and Schurrle constantly switching sides and they couldn’t handle the movement. Obviously, we hit the bar on 2 occasions but we were waiting for that one golden chance.

Despite the success we had on the ball, we still don’t create enough open chances…thankfully, one fell to a much criticized man and incredibly he took it.

All in all, it was a perfect night. Tactically we were spot on and that’s the advantage of Mourinho. We always appear to have the upper hand in the big games. Importantly, we were disciplined and patient. We didn’t panic and it showed the maturity and experience of our group. I myself have questioned the mentality of players when the going got tough (Palace and Villa) but it showed that we do have it.

After the result an hour prior to the Swansea game, we knew that a win against Swansea would really give us a huge hope in the hunt for the league.
Of course, any Liverpool win in the quest for the title is not something to be celebrated but it did help us in the sense that City, who have 2 games in hand, need to drop just 2 points and the title is within our grasp.

After 17 minutes, the worse thing, in my opinion, happened to Chelsea…Swansea was reduced to 10 men. Usually, that’s a handy advantage to have but it just gave Swansea the option to chuck everyone behind the ball, which has been our nemesis this season.

So why can’t we break down teams parking the bus? We certainly have the individual talent to do the damage…but we miss that cold collective killer in front of goal to convert the half chances we create.

Thankfully and incredibly Demba Ba came to rescue us and scored the crucial goal we needed. It certainly wasn’t the routine and glamorous win we would have liked but at this stage of the season, winning is all that matters.

Though we lack someone to kill teams off, the promising thing is that we are creating enough chances so it purely then comes down to conversion all over the pitch and not just one man.

Salah again was very impressive, as was Willian. Both of these players if they improve their end product will be massive for us next season…if they can do it for the next 5 weeks, even better.

So where does this leave our season?

The Champions League is now a massive opportunity. The draw, in my opinion, is probably the toughest one we could have got. Athletico Madrid are one of the best well drilled teams in Europe and will provide a tough test over the two legs. Thankfully, it’s in our hands and we have home advantage in the second leg. Providing we get at least a score draw in the first leg we can pack our bags to Portugal.

As for the league…technically, it’s still out of our hands. What is in our control is that we can stop Liverpool winning the title by winning the last 4 games. To make that better, if City drop any points, those 4 wins will give us the title. It’s absolutely mental.

We have 7-cup finals that will define how successful our season will be. In my opinion, even if we walk away with no silverware, this season has been a success. In many senses we’ve overachieved, especially in Europe.

In 7 one off games, we’re the best equipped and I fancy us to take out one of those competitions. If it’s not going to be the league then the very least we can hope for the world of football is to stop Liverpool winning it!

UTC

By Liam Hawkes
(@LiamHawkes2)