Clayton Beerman bemoans poor performances by Chelsea and Chidge’s cars! But like Chidge’s car it can be fixed!
I wasn’t doing an article this week. I was due to spout my wisdom on the Chelsea Football Fancast and looking forward to it but poor old Chidge had car trouble (twice)! So the show was cancelled and so here I am.
The game went like many recent clashes against City, they dominated the early parts of the game and we weathered the storm and hung on in there. However badly we played its ironic they scored their first and second goals when we were arguably in the ascendancy. I have heard many times over the last 24 hours how many teams will not be able to live with City at Eastlands this season but to be fair they were playing against a Chelsea team who were nowhere near their best and let’s see how they get on when they are under a bit of pressure.
I do not propose to talk about Citeh that much but suffice to say their recent habit of breaking up play was in full mode. I understand that David Silva committed a game high 5 fouls. He’s not exactly Chopper Harris or Norman Hunter (one for the kids) which means all his fouls were cynical and made to break up play. Was he booked, you can bet your Atkinson he wasn’t. The same applied to Fernandhino – 3
All that aside it is not as if we are not grown up enough to be able to deal with that but let’s just say at our level of performance we needed all the breaks we could get and we got none. Including an offside goal from the Ray Mears that wasn’t. Has there been a Brazilian footballer with a worst first touch, OK Fred but apart from him?
It’s fair to say he was not alone. Too many of our players are way off their game and the press were quick to jump on the “are they past it” questions on JT and Branna. Let’s talk about Branna first. He has had a horrible start to the season. First Montero and then Stirling, not good for a full back who is not the most mobile. He’s looked horribly exposed and has had little help. In addition he has not been able to cross the ball. Also when overlapping, how many times has he been closed down and his crosses consequently hitting the opposing full backs. This was highlighted even more with our lack of width yesterday. Basically opposing managers have worked him out, so our manager needs to try something new.
Is it the fault of our defence though? The midfield for me is a bigger worry. The solid shield that was there last year appears to have disappeared. After 2 games we have conceded more on target shots than any other team in the Premier League. Let that sink in. Yesterday we were blown apart in the first 20 minutes or so. There is no point in having Mikel at the club if you are not going to play him. Personally I would have played him behind Matic and Fabregas and not bothered with Ray Mears. I thought that Cesc was poor in the first half but improved in the second but what has happened with his free kicks and corners. It was not as if Joe Hart needed catching practice but that’s what he got. We had several free kicks from dangerous positions and produced nothing.
So what is the answer? Probably Paul Pogba but that is not going to happen but there needs to be a shake up and a bit of life injected. Not sure Oscar would have played even if he was fit but hopefully he can play the number 10 that Eden was trying to do yesterday and maybe the introduction of RLC in certain games. What we do not need is any more game time for Juan. I keep hearing how great he was in Italy and in the World Cup but for £27 million, it is as bad a bit of business as Nando but at least he looked like a footballer albeit not often enough. This guy has has offered nothing from his first calamitous appearance and yes I want him to succeed but sometimes things do not work out so let’s cut our losses.
We have stopped creating chances and our shots on target count is not impressive. When Eden missed his golden chance yesterday it was the first chance from open play we had created since he missed his golden chance against Arsenal in the Community Shield. He is looking off his game. Is it fitness or something else? He seems to be getting little or no help on the creativity front. As I have said before Willian is the engine but as much as I like him he creates very little. It would be good to give our forwards something to go with, Diego had one chance and hit the post.
If truth be told we are really missing Frank’s goals. Not the player himself but a player who powers through for midfield to create goals for himself or arrive from nowhere to finish. Yes a player like Frank is hard to replace but goals from midfield are sadly lacking
So two games one point and it looks like we’ll be lucky to stay up reading some of the dross on social media. We are a good team with a
We have not become a bad team with a bad manager overnight. There are problems but nothing extra fitness and a couple of signings will not sort out. A bit of luck would be good as well and remember whatever happens we are not THem from North London.
Clayton Beerman
Follow Clayton on Twitter: @goalie59