Chelsea 0 Norwich 0
( I'm not going to waste my time ( or yours) describing this one!
Another toothless performance from Chelsea
At least Jose is restarting his undefeated home record :P
Mourinho said at the end, with a shrug, "It will be a long summer for us." IT HAD BETTER BE!!
Not even going to waste time on this one
Chelsea was ponderous in the first half, that suited Norwich, who lacked ambition and sat back, well
Here's the only stat you need: 23 shots, 4 on target. Story of the season! :-(
There were at least 2 penalty shouts in this: 1 for Chelsea ( Ryan Bennett appear to have sent Hazard tumbling in the box) and 1 for Norwich ( John Terry returning the favour on Martin Olsson)
Ref Neil Swarbrick ignored both
André Schürrle and Nemanja Matic each struck the woodwork for the home side, the latter having been introduced at the interval along with Eden Hazard in a desperate attempt to enliven proceedings
Once Torres was introduced for Matic with about 20 mins left, there was a deficiency for the home team in central midfield, and ironically the attack became weaker. The game just petered out with not so much as a whimper thereafter
What a bummer!
Thoughts
It has been the footballing version of Groundhog day this season.
( Groundhog Day-a situation in which a series of unwelcome or tedious events appear to be recurring in exactly the same way. You might also want to see the hit 1993 comedy flick starring Bill Murray. You'd love it http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tSVeDx9fk60 )
Game after game where Chelsea play against poor teams and exactly the same thing happens; they don’t make enough genuine chances, they don’t get enough shots on target. They don’t score enough goals. That costed them the league despite the stellar record against their major rivals
It has happened too many times for them to write it off as one of those things you get in football. It is as if Chelsea have given a template of how to play against them to every team in the bottom half, and they then spend 90 minutes playing to that template perfectly. I don’t think Norwich ever really felt threatened during that game!
As frustrating as it was to watch, you simply have to see the irony in it. Mourinho sets up his team to play exactly like this against teams that attack.....and it works!
However, 21 pts from possible 33pts vs. bottom 6 teams is just unacceptable.. Mourinho need to fix this next season while maintaining the solid edge in head to head over direct rivals..
Dropping points at home to West Ham, Sunderland and Norwich in the back half of the season is completely unacceptable
Ba didn’t do much right all day. Lampard was an absolute ghost, infact I possibly had more touches than he did!
The back 4 were strong but we just lack that final ball. William was like Torres… lot of hustle and bustle and not much else.
Football is defence and attack. Last season Chelsea had a decent attack but the defending caused them issues. Mourinho has reverted that to the degree that the defence is solid but the attack is now bad.
Read: The attack (not just the strikers) is bad.
We've talked about the gaffe all season so I'm not going to rehash it again. Mourinho should take the blame in this regard
Chelsea’s attacks frequently breaks down in the final third? Everyone just stops, converges in the middle and do clever one-two flicks and random dribbling?
There's a lack of width and competent crossers in this team
Did Ivanovic make a single good decision today? No!
He is a CB not a FB- I'm saying this for the umpteenth time!
His attempts at shots and entry passes were pathetic. Next to a striker that’s the biggest need to address this summer ( get an effing Left FB who contributes intelligently to attack! ..one in the Zabaletta, Leighton Baines mode. Let Azpilicueta do the same at RB. You need width to break down a packed bus! I should know, I support Chelsea! :-) I hope Mourinho does too! )
Incompetent movement in the box compounds those problems as well
Torres is a tree!
Ba is a falling tree!!
Eto'o is an old tree!!!
So, changes are needed in the summer. The main one being getting a striker who actually makes the opposing defence feel like he is a threat, which should open up more space for the AMs.
Chelsea lacked creativity, pace, better combination in front of the box and better final pass.
Chelsea aren't direct enough on the counter attack either . The players stop running and think too long what to do next and then opponent players are back in their places for defending. Willian and Hazard have this problem with decision making in the final third.
Positives:
things will surely get better next season. They have to. "Remember: "judge me in my second season? "
It already feels weird going one season without a Trophy. Spare a thought for the fans of that club in North London-who've gone 8 seasons without one! Now, that's long-suffering :-) . The irony: they may break the hoodoo this season...or No?
I leave you with some of the cute Legend & family pixs at the Bridge today. This should improve your mood a bit, if you're a Blues fan
Warning: if Chelsea's dog died today and you invite Liverpool fans to the funeral. They might attend, but they won't be sitting in front row. ( I hope you saw what I did there?)
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