Match review Chelsea vs Swansea

An early season top of the table clash saw Chelsea FC hosting Swansea. Both sides came into this match having won all 3 of their opening matches, the only two sides in the league with such a record. Chelsea having seen off Burnley, Leicester and Everton while the Swans surprised everyone with an opening day win at Old Trafford followed by wins against Burnley and West Brom. They also beat Rotherham in the League Cup and had conceded only 1 goal in the process, against Manchester United. There were concerns upfront for both teams. Bony returned late from international duty for Swans while for Chelsea Diego Costa had to withdraw from the Spain squad prior to their Euro qualifier against Macedonia with a hamstring injury. But the smart money would have been on Chelsea getting the job done at home especially since they have a more than able back-up striker in Loic Remy who incidentally scored against Spain in a friendly last week where Costa drew a blank.

For the second game in a row Costa cleared a late fitness test and was named in the starting XI. However, it was the Welshmen who looked hungrier for the win at the outset and their pressing style forced Chelsea on the backfoot. They looked to attack with pace when in possession and harried the Chelsea players when they didn’t have the ball. Chelsea like to build their attacks from the back with Cesc Fabregas the initiator. His distribution has been the key behind their dashing start to the season. By constantly attacking the ball the Swans achieved two things, starved of possession Fabregas was not as big a threat while up front Costa was isolated and didn’t see much of the ball. He did have one shot which, after taking a heavy deflection off a defender, was easily collected by Lucas Fabianski. Swansea were enjoying a lion’s share of possession and the pressure eventually bore fruit. Nemanja Matic broke forward following a failed Swans attack but was chased down by Wayne Routledge who eventually dispossessed him at the halfway line and Ki Sung-Yeung then opened up the Blues defense with a pass to left back Neil Taylor who played a low cross into the box. John Terry had no option but to try and hook it back but as close as it was to goal he could only manage to put it into his own net. The goal added to the Swans self belief, if at all they lacked any. More attacking play followed Bafetimbi Gomis blasted wide on two occasions while Routledge’s curling shot from the edge of the box was narrowly wide.

It took Chelsea a little over half an hour to weather the tide and gain a stronger foothold into the match. The remainder of the half was played mostly in the Swansea half. Hazard, Fabregas, Costa and Ivanovic were at the heart of most of the attacks. Hazard in particular was causing a lot of problems with his jinking runs often cutting in from the right with good effect. It was only a matter of time before the defense would yield. With Terry, Matic, Cahill, Ivanovic and Costa in the lineup Chelsea are a big unit and a threat from set pieces but freekick delivery has been a cause for low conversion rate. After Schurrle and Hazard had wasted three corner kicks Fabregas stepped up to take one at the stroke of half time and with pin point accuracy found Costa on the six yard line. There was no stopping his header.

After the break it was pretty much the same story wave after wave of Chelsea attack. Ramires replaced Schurrle and Chelsea changed to a 4-3-3, it was more like a 3-4-3 with Ivanovic playing quite high up mostly in the Swansea half, Oscar and Hazard flanking Costa. Farbregas moved to take up the no 10 position where Oscar had been a peripheral figure. The changes had the desired effect. Hazard and Fabregas played some neat passes on the left and the latter played it to Costa who stood still at the six yard line while his marker rushed on and calmly side footed it in. Swansea missed a golden opportunity to equalize as Chelsea waited for them to kick the ball out to get treatment for Amat who had stayed down in his own box following an Ivanovic thunderbolt that struck his groin. The Swans played on and the defense was caught out, Gomis received a pass behind Azpilicueta but his dink over Courtois lacked legs and direction and was cleared by Azpilicueta. Costa soon had his hat-trick at the other end. Intercepting Ramires’ scuffed shot as the defense waited for Fabianski to claim it and slotting in at the near post.

He was substituted to a thunderous applause from the home crowd soon after, Loic Remy coming on to make his Blues debut. While it took Costa 19 minutes to score his first, Remy got his on 9 minutes of coming on, Hazard creating chaos in the box down the right before cutting it back to Oscar who squared it to Remy. Remy found the far corner to make it a perfect day for the new look strike force. I cannot recall the last time Chelsea strikers scored four goals in a game. The defense was caught napping once again when Bony found Shelvy in acres of space. His pace left Terry and Cahill behind and he calmly finished past Courtois. Salah was brought on for Fabregas for the last ten minutes and he was intent on proving a point, his pace and quick feet causing the Swans defense problems. The score ended 4-2 and the blues are now the only team in the BPL with a 100% win record.

With City, Arsenal and Liverpool all dropping points it was a good week for the Blues but Jose Mourinho will not be happy with the defensive lapses that have conceded six goals in the last two matches and will want to fix things quickly before the midweek Champions’ League game against Schalke and next week’s big game, away to Man City.

Premier League's Summer Transfer Window Review

As far as transfer window closing days go, Monday was a disappointment. Apart from the movement of a couple of strikers no major signing was made. That was mainly due to the fact that the usual big movers, Chelsea and Manchester City, chose to do much of their business well in advance. Other than the one in and one out at Manchester United there were hardly any surprise eleventh hour moves where private jets and helicopters are rushed into service. We’ll have to wait till January for that.

The biggest movers of this transfer window were Manchester United. Not surprising though considering last season’s debacle and a change of management. Ryan Giggs, who had been around ever since the Premier League began finally brought to an end a very glittering and trophy laden career. Vidic, Rio Ferdinand and Evra were considered past their use by date and moved on. That leaves a massive gap to fill and while Smalling and Jones have shown potential Evans hasn’t quite made the step-up to the standards a club of United’s stature demands. This year they have put down a marker with the not one but two marquee signings. Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao are dream signings for any manager and for the club supporters. Last season United were found short of quality in the midfield and too often Rooney had to drop deep and turn provider for Van Persie to finish. He had 10 assists and created 56 chances. However, when Van Persie got injured the goals dried up as neither Welbeck nor Hernandez had the quality to convert those chances. Van Gaal has sought to address the problem with by bringing in Di Maria who can do for Rooney what Rooney did for Van Persie. With Van Persie’s injury record it is important to have a quality back-up striker and they don’t come much better than Radamel Falcao. United pulled off a major coup by getting El Tigre on a one year loan from Monaco. He is a proven out-n-out striker who really comes to life inside the box. He offers little outside of it but when you have a troika of Di Maria, Rooney and Mata as a creative force behind you all that remains to be done is bang them in.

A lot has been said and written about United still being able to draw top players based on these two signings but fact is that Falcao is something of a footballing mercenary, not that I’m against any man trying to earn a better pay for unquestionable talent and only a short time at the top, but he has never shown any special desire to play Champions League. In any case his first choice was always Real Madrid. Di Maria too had preferred a move to PSG and agreed to come to United only after he PSG back out and he had already burnt his bridges at Real by then. United also paid over the top for him. But I feel it’s better to pay a premium for quality players than save the money and die wondering. These two along with the other new signings Blind, Herrera, Rojo and Shaw have the quality to bring United back into the Champions League. With the failure of the much publicized pursuit of Arturo Vidal and later De Jong failing to materialize it will remain to be seen how Van Gaal manages his 3-5-2 formation without a quality central midfielder.

Arsenal seem to have given up on winning the league. As happens every year, they were linked with a host of stars but finally ended up only signing Danny Welbeck from United. Big names like Falcao and Cavani were touted as targets while Arsenal publicly said Wenger turned down Balotelli twice. When they moved to the Emirates from Highbury they said a few years of austerity would follow in order to balance the books. Academy graduates were promoted to first team with success and they always managed to finish in the top four bringing with it the spoils of Champions League football. But in reality they were never in a position to challenge for the either the Premier League or the Champions League. There is no need to be frugal anymore yet Wenger refuses to buy a top striker. What he has at his disposal is an excellent collection of playmakers but he needs someone to provide the end result. Giroud is a decent striker but nowhere near the quality of strikers Chelsea, Liverpool and the two Manchester clubs have on their roster. Sanogo and Joel Campbell are not Premier League standard, not yet. It’s a good move for Welbeck though he will be first choice striker at least until Giroud returns. He could make a name for himself like Sturridge did at Liverpool. Arsenal are also short on defenders with only six in the first team. With any one of them injured it leaves them quite vulnerable at the back. Why was Varmalen allowed to leave so late and not suitably replaced is a mystery.

Liverpool, having qualified for Champions League, needed to add numbers to their squad. The likes of Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert, Dejan Lovren and Lazar Markovic were swiftly brought in to cover all areas but the icing on the cake was the signing of Mario Balotelli from AC Milan for a bargain £16 million. The enigmatic striker comes with a reputation of being a disruptive force in the dressing room. But if there is one team where he can settle down it is Liverpool. His spells at Inter, Man City and AC Milan have been highlighted mostly for the wrong reasons but he is older now and realizes it is probably his last chance to get his head down and be in the news for the right reasons and the fact that he took a pay cut to push through the move points in this direction. He will be entrusted with leading the line and will have no shortage of service playing alongside the very gifted duo of Sturridge and Sterling. The challenge for Brendan Rogers will be to integrate the host of new faces into the team quickly and avoid a Tottenham like situation who despite spending over £100 million on new players last year failed to achieve the minimum of a top four finish. He will also need to find a new formation since Balotelli is a very different player comparedd to Suarez.

Tottenham and Manchester City saw few changes and were content with plugging the gaps. While Ben Davies, Federico Fazio, Michel Vorm and Eric Dier were Tottenham’s pick Man City’s main signings were highly rate Porto duo Eliaquim Mangala and Fernando. Getting Frank Lampard on loan till the end of the year will give them the added experience in midfield.

The winners of the transfer window in my eyes were Chelsea and Everton. Chelsea identified their weaknesses and moved quickly to bring in quality players to fill those gaps. A dependable striker was priority and Diego Costa has taken to the PL like a fish to water scoring 4 in his first 3 matches. Another Mourinho masterstroke was the signing of Cesc Fabregas. He is a proven entity in the PL and has provided the creative vision behind strike force notching up 4 assists already. The biggest success, however, was getting Fernando Torres off the books and swiftly replacing him with Loic Remy. Remy is, at £8.5 million, a steal and although he failed a medical at Liverpool it was surprising that Arsenal and Tottenham did not pursue their initial interest in him. I suspect he is a short term signing and will probably be replaced by Mattia Destro next season. Everton not only managed to keep hold of all their star players they also made permanent the loan signings of Lukaku and Gareth Barry. Getting Eto’o on a one year deal is a great deal for Roberto Martinez apart from giving a different dimension to the attack he will also play the role of a mentor to the youthful team, Lukaku in particular.

On the basis of the existing squads and the signings made over the summer its quite safe to say that Chelsea and Manchester City will be front runners for the league winner’s trophy at the end of the season while there will be tough competition for the remaining two Champions League places. But football is not played on paper and if Falcao, Di Maria, Balotelli and the usual suspects produce the goods as only they can this could be the closest finish to the league for positions one to seven.

Goodbye and good luck El Nino

The news of Fernando Torres leaving Chelsea for AC Milan was polarizing news for the Chelsea fans. Some rejoiced while others were sad, no one could stay indifferent. The much maligned striker could never replicate the form he showed at Liverpool and was demoted to third choice this season. To be fair he was the best striker in the league (possibly the world) when Chelsea bought him and it wasn’t his fault they agreed to pay Liverpool £50 million for his services. The Chelsea faithful stood by him through the bad times. They sang his name and were generally supportive but that was severely tested by the end of last year as the season ended trophy-less mainly due to lack of goals upfront. However, during his stay at the club he did provide the odd moment of brilliance. Most notably his goal at the Camp Nou will forever be etched in the minds of the supporters. His biggest contribution was that he never gave up trying and was a team player and although he won’t be missed everyone at Chelsea will wish him luck and hope he turns it around at Milan. Goodbye and good luck El Nino.

Chelsea’s Juggernaut rolls on

“Fabregas to Costa… and Costa scores” will be repeated many times over this season. The vision of Fabregas combined with the lethal finishing of Costa gave Chelsea the lead only 35 seconds in at Goodison Park. Everton at home last season was one of the toughest fixtures for any team and last week Arsenal only just escaped with a point thanks to two late goals. This was to be the first true test of Chelsea’s title credentials. Two goals in the opening three minutes seemed to have killed off the game but you cannot write of Roberto Martinez’s men and as Chelsea eased off they pressed forward, Mirallas scoring leaping highest to head past Courtois at the stroke of half time. The second half started where the first ended with more pressure from Everton. But what happened in a space of ten breathtaking minutes justifies football’s claim to being the beautiful game. Chelsea scored against the run of play, Hazard forcing an unfortunate own goal from Coleman. Everton closed the gap through a goal by Naismith. Chelsea again scored off a counter attack, Matic scoring his first league goal for Chelsea. Everton replying within seconds, Eto’o scoring with almost his first touch for his new club. The frantic ten minutes ended with Ramires taking advantage of some poor defending from Baines to restore the two goal lead. Everton kept up the pressure but the game was effectively killed when Costa finished off a fast break making the final score 6-3.

The result takes Chelsea to the top of the table but the signs are there, that come May, Chelsea will be in the mix for the top position. Costa has already scored four goals, three of them away from home and looks a good bet for the golden boot. His goals upfront have changed the way Chelsea play, gone are the days of shutting shop and silenced are the chants of “boring boring Chelsea”. At 25 he is just about hitting his peak and who knows he may even go on to be one of the best the EPL has ever had.

Man Utd’s season yet to take off

The inclusion of Di Maria in the starting lineup at Turf Moor did not have the desired effect on the score line for Manchester United. A team boasting of Rooney, Van Persie, Mata and Di Maria in its attack needs to do better than produce a goalless draw. Though he looked short of match fit Di Maria did produce some moments that showed why United paid a British record fee for his transfer. Van Persie should have done better than fire straight at the Burnley keeper when put through on goal by Di Maria’s lob. His contributions will be more telling as he gains match sharpness but he will also have to bulk up a bit to adjust to the physical nature of the Premier League. He will be a great asset not just to United but to the league as a whole in the days to come.

United look disjointed and lacking in self belief at the moment that needs to change and quickly. The imminent arrival of the versatile Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo and return of Luke Shaw would add the required defensive solidity. The concern remains over the wing back positions in the 3-5-2 system Van Gaal employs. Valencia and Young are not able to provide the assistance in attack and look susceptible in defense. Hopefully by the close of the transfer window LVG will have the personnel to plug these gaps. Their season would actually begin against QPR next week.

Fortress Etihad breached

Like any team vying for the title, Manchester City take great pride in their home record. They only lost once (vs Chelsea) and drew once (vs Sunderland) at home in the league last season. After a “6 point” result against Liverpool last week they came unstuck against Stoke City and a spectacular solo goal by Mame Diouf consigned them to a first defeat of the season. The goal, reminiscent of Amalfitano’s goal at Old Trafford, was a beauty. Receiving the ball just outside his own box he ran three quarters of the length of the pitch, past a static Fernandinho and scored through the legs of Joe Hart. Both Fernandinho and Hart could have done better to prevent the goal. That combined with Stoke’s no nonsense defense ensured three points for Mark Hughes. These results, Chelsea will testify to it, can be the difference between the title and finishing third.

Yaya Toure has played a big role in City’s triumphs over the last three seasons but has been off colour so far. Maybe the cake is still playing on his mind. If City are to defend their title he has to be their main driving force.

Liverpool have a picnic at the Lane

Last season Liverpool beat Tottenham by a combined 9-0 margin home and away. This year, however, with the departure of Luis Suarez and the loss to City last week the result wasn’t supposed to be a foregone conclusion. Tottenham had won both their opening matches and had kept two clean sheets to boot. The focus was more on how new signing Mario Balotelli would gel with Sturridge and Sterling. Liverpool cleared all doubts with a convincing 3-0 win. Balotelli missed a few good chances but Sterling added to his growing reputation by scoring the opener after some fine work from the born again Jordan Henderson. Liverpool should have added a couple more in the opening minutes and were almost left to rue those misses as Spurs asserted themselves. Adebayor missed the target while Chadli’s shot was blocked. However, it all came undone as the hero of their opening match Eric Dier brought down Joe Allen in the box and Gerrard mad no mistake from the spot. But the highlight of the match was the goal scored by full back Moreno. A driving run finishing off with a fine strike into the far corner.

Spurs have ambitions of a top four finish but based on today’s performance, they need to pull up their socks. Worryingly for them this was just a routine performance by Liverpool. For Liverpool, Sturridge had a fantastic 2013-14 while playing off Luis Suarez who had a hand in a large number of his 21 league goals. Suarez had created 87 chances and had 12 assists last year Balotelli numbers were 32 and 6, Sturridge managing only 29 and 7. Both will have to modify their game in order to forge a successful partnership.

Arsenal’s lack of strikers worrying

Despite the injury to Olivier Giroud whose broken leg will keep him out till end of the year, Arsene Wenger has refused to sign a proven striker and has put his trust in Yaya Sanogo and Joel Campbell. Both are unproven at Premier League level and the decision may come back to haunt Wenger and Arsenal as the fight for a top four finish looks more intense than ever. Last week, at Chelsea, Leicester City showed they are not going to park the bus but are here to look to win. Against Arsenal at home they could have had all three points but had to settle for a draw. Sanogo missed an easy chance when put through by a Cazorla lob but fortunately Alexis Sanchez was at hand to tap in his first league goal for Arsenal past Kasper Scmeichel who couldn’t recover in time after saving Sanogo’s shot. Leicester responded almost immediately with their record signing Leonardo Ulloa’s powerful header drew them level. The rest of the match was regular Arsenal stuff, lots of passing around with little end result.

Ozil’s sharp decline in form has been a major worrying point. After a bright start he has dropped off alarmingly and could end up as Arsenal’s Torres. The transfer window closes in about 24 hours from now and news is filtering in that Wenger may bid for Sevilla’s Carlos Bacca who scored 14 league goals in 2013-14. Arsenal fans might feel dejected after being linked with the likes of Falcao and Cavani all summer and still without a signing in the striker department.

A Rollicking Start for ChelseaFC

Two weeks into the season and some of the pre season ambiguity is clearing up while some is being added. Manchester United despite a great pre season tour of the US where they beat the likes of Liverpool and Real Madrid, have yet to win a game or even look like title contenders. Liverpool are looking to avoid a Tottenham like situation after selling Luis Suarez and buying the likes of Lambert, Markovic and Balotelli to fill the gap. Arsenal look defensively frail and yet again try to convert a winger, Alexis Sanchez, into a world class striker as Wenger did with Henry. Tottenham, under new boss Pochettino, struggled a little against West Ham in the opener but easily dismantled QPR in round two and all signs suggest the signings made last season might come good after all. Manchester City ground out a win against Newcastle without being too flashy. City and Liverpool’s credentials will be tested a little more severely when they meet tonight, although I suspect it’ll be a cagey affair with both sides not wanting to lose so early in the season.

Chelsea have however got everyone talking with two performances of note, albeit against promoted teams who are widely regarded weaker. The first game against Burnley at Turf Moor had threatened to turn into an exhibition match at half time before Chelsea eased up in the second half and were content with the three goals scored before the break. Burnley did take the lead unexpectedly but the gulf quality was soon evident and Diego Costa opening his CFC account with a poacher’s finish leveled scores. The goal of the night and an early entry for goal of the season, however, was scored by Schurrle but was created by a fantastic through ball by another CFC debutant Cesc Fabregas. Fabregas actually had a hand in all three goals and had two assists. The second match, at home to Leicester City, was a little more closely fought than expected. Leicester came to play and had their moments. They could have even snatched the lead but Courtois came off his line to block David Nugent when the striker was through on goal. After a sedate (and seemingly lethargic) first half, Chelsea came out with much more purpose and Costa again showed his physical presence to control the ball in the box and stab home under pressure and Hazard produced a fine jinking run to fire into the far corner with some help from Fabregas.

Despite doing the double over City and Liverpool and getting 4 points off United, Arsenal and Tottenham Chelsea’s season came unstuck against Palace, Sunderland, Stoke and Aston Villa, teams that were ready to defend resolutely. In Fabregas and Costa Chelsea seem to have found the answer to this problem. Costa gives them the big presence in the box who can bully defenders, score and can hold up the ball for others to join in attack. Something Torres was sorely lacking and was often playing more as a false number 9. It is sad to see him relegated to the third choice striker behind Costa and Drogba but more disheartening is to see him give up without a fight and stay on just for the money. Costa has scored two in two and has been given the thumbs up by team mates including Hazard who said it would be easier for him to concentrate on creating goals now. The biggest problem has been taken care of.

With the addition of Fabregas in the midfield there is a lot more fluidity. He can play as the number 8 or the number 10 and so can Oscar. With them playing together and exchanging positions it is easier to keep possession and bring the wide players into the game to unlock teams that sit deep in defense. Possession was also a concern over the last season where the creative players, although quick, could not keep the ball for long putting John Terry and co under pressure. The passing game, though not exactly tiki taka, has been pleasing to the eye. The calm presence of Matic as the defensive midfielder adds to the solidity. When you consider the fact that Ramires, Van Ginkel, Willian and Salah are waiting on the bench no opposition manager will sit easy. It has also ensured that though Frank Lampard will be missed, it will only be emotionally and not on the pitch.

Last but not the least it seems Petr Cech’s time at Chelsea FC has finally come to an end. Cech and Courtois can comfortably be counted as two of the three best goalkeepers, along with Neuer, at present. To keep one of them away from the game would be criminal. Cech has been one of the Premier Leagues finest goalkeepers with the second highest ever number of clean sheets (would be the highest if not for that terrible head injury). But as Jose has reiterated, the club is bigger than any individual and Courtois is the future.

The season is still in an infant stage and there is still a week to go before the transfer window shuts. Man Utd will be looking to sign some more players and have already stated that money will not be a hindrance. Angel di Maria has reportedly been signed for £64 million while Arturo Vidal and Daley Blind have been heavily linked with Utd. Liverpool and Arsenal are in the market for a marquee striker, namely Falcao and Cavani, who can give them the edge. A very promising season is in the offering for the neutral where the fight for a top four will be more intense than ever.