Clayton Beerman vents his frustration following Chelsea’s abysmal defeat to Manchester City.
I haven’t been writing as much this season; it would, however, be remiss of me not to comment on what went on or didn’t at the Etihad.
After last week’s capitulation at Old Trafford, I was not optimistic. It was more than that; we haven’t won a single one-off game we have needed to this season. To be fair we didn’t need to win, a draw would have been good which is obviously what our manager thought but there are ways of achieving that, and this wasn’t one. So where to start?
We were not helped by the absence of Kante whose energy and drive make the team tick. Instead, we had Drinkwater and Fabregas flanked by Moses and Alonso. We also had the famous false number 9, something which had a renaissance against Barca but ultimately does something the opposition cannot usually do, nullify Eden.
So after a morning of shopping for light fittings, more misery awaited but there is no way I was expecting the 90 plus minutes that followed. The performance was nothing short of a disgrace. Yes, Courtois had very little to do, but Emerson could have easily played rush goalie or basically not been there. Everton Wolves Southampton West Ham and Bristol City all showed more than we did.
How many times have I sat watching teams come to Stamford Bridge with no ambition? I have made excuses for some. Those whose budgets made playing in that way excusable but even those teams chased and harried for al they were worth. At a conservative guess, we had at least half a billion pounds worth of talent on the pitch and bench. Yes our squad is nowhere near that of City’s, but they made have been slightly fatigued having won their first but of silverware and played way again on Thursday night. No way we were going to find out as we looked like we had been playing every day for a month.
It is easy to get on the managers back, but those players were doing what they were told. He has told them all season they are not good enough because he has said to everyone and anyone who will listen that the squad is inadequate, in other words, you guys are no good. He gave up on the league months ago so naturally so did the players. The one thing I cannot fault him for is the complete and utter inability of so-called professional footballers being able to pass to team members. Yes, City press but so many aimless balls were shunted forward. Without wishing to pick on anyone, in particular, Pedro was a rare ray of sunshine breaking through but from my memory did not complete one pass to another royal blue shirt. When we did break from the stranglehold, one superb piece of football led to a brilliant chance for Moses. The end product was woeful – which on a day when many opportunities were created can be tolerated – but yesterday it was utterly unforgivable.
For me, our midfield has been our biggest problem this season. We miss what Bakayoko should be. He Kante and a flair player should be fine but we have no strength in depth in that area and while Drinkwater did his best Cesc shouldn’t have been anywhere near that team yesterday playing in that formation. Who however could the manager pick, that cupboard is bare, and the board must take some responsibility for his lack of options.
The defence played well but for the third game in a row poor old Andreas made a mistake which led to a goal. A prodigious talent and so fans are forgiving, but he needs a rest. Where is David Luiz? Special mention for Rudiger. A real fighter in a team devoid of leaders. He gets stuck in, he is still relatively young, and I like what I see. None of the defence were meek. They all put a good shift in. The goal, however, was a shambles ending in Thibault falling over at the crucial moment. Yes, Citeh had to work hard for their goal but even so the irony of losing to that shank should not be lost.
So, the question asked by many managers this season has been how do you stop Eden Hazard. It seems the answer is simple; you isolate him as a false number 9. For all the plaudits for our performance against Barca, I for one hated his isolation. Every time we ran at them they panicked, but once again in that game, Eden got very little of the ball, against City he didn’t even get scraps. So not only is Antonio needling the board he is doing his best to ensure we also lose Eden. When you have so few weapons why waste the only really world-class forward we have.
So where do we go from here? I cannot think for one moment that Roman would have accepted that dross yesterday. As we all know Conte has been writing the longest resignation letter of all time. The club have reigned it back in sackings recently but is there any other way of saving our season? Would a fresh coach release the team and give the top four and FA Cup a go? It is hard to know who could do such a job. Our current manager would be capable of such a thing. We have a good squad of players nine league games left and two against direct top four opponents. We will, however, do nothing in our current stupor. It is not a question of the players not believing; they followed the manager’s instructions to the letter against Citeh however they may not have enjoyed doing so.
Can we make the top four? Yes. Will we make top four, probably not? Something radical has to change, and you suspect that Conte will be around until at least Barca. The next game at home is Palace who we have managed to lose to in our last two home games. You want a reaction from the players but what sort of team will be out there?
Oh, the title of the piece, the premier league record for the number of passes in a game. Another record for us. One we should be ashamed of.
Written by Clayton Beerman – @goalie59
