Nick Stroudley is a happy man after two decent performances from Chelsea this week…
Well, that’s much more like it. A week is a long time in the world of Chelsea Football Club…
the last two performances have gone some way to restore a little faith and pride (Kepa-Gate
aside).
Has Sarri got the fans back on side? Probably not, but let’s just say it felt like I was in a
completely different stadium to last Monday’s FA Cup defeat to United. The Spurs match
had everything Chelsea fans love; heart, desire, a bit of argy-bargy and a calamitous
Tottenham Hotspur own goal. I left the Bridge smiling from ear to ear, and that hasn’t
happened a great deal this season.
Much of this was thanks to the work-rate of the players off the ball, the relentless pressing
(Pedro looked like a whippet chasing a tennis ball for large portions of the game) and that
man Ngolo Kante, who is looking superb in recent weeks.
For all of the frustrations of the last few weeks, I think it’s worth remembering what the
majority of us had been hoping for this season.
A top four finish was a hope, rather than expectation. This is by no means out of reach.
We’ve lost on penalties in a cup final to one of the best teams in Europe.
And we’re still going well in the Europa League. (let’s not talk about the FA Cup).
In short, don’t panic, it’s really not that bad.
And on ‘Sarriball’… I’ll be honest, I’m not tactically astute enough to really understand what
it is, but I enjoyed last night and if that’s it, then I’m a happy man.
In my opinion, Sarri has handled the last week pretty well, making some big calls (under
massive pressure), pulling off two big performance against the odds, when everyone had
written off any hope of victory.
That, for me, is proper Chels.
KTBFFH
