News for December 2005

Chelsea 1, Man City 0

December 28, 2005 || posted by whitney

The Blues put in another quality performance to push past a strong City team. Stuart Pierce has developed a quality defensive scheme that stifles our attack. Unlike most teams, they don't focus on exclusively on shutting down Maka/Essien. Pierce's boys also pushed the fullbacks up to challenge our wings. This was largely effective. Chelsea still sit on top of the EPL, nine points up on Man Utd, 15 points ahead of Liverpool.

Cole 79

SWP was left out of the squad. He definitely failed to impress in his 1st 11 run. Geremi has played well at full back.

I've been a strong supporter of Drogba, but I think we need to give Crespo more 1st 11 opportunities. Simply put, Crespo is a goal scorer. If the ball can find the back of the net, Crespo can put it there. Drogba doesn't have those qualities. The upcoming Africa Nation's Cup will test this theory.

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JM: "I knew the goal would come"

"I tell my players if you don't concede goals, don't make defensive mistakes, with the quality we have, we can score a goal and we can win."

"A point would have been a positive result but I think we deserved a win because the defence was amazing," he said. "The answer in midfield without Frank Lampard was fantastic. In attack, we used five players and we always looked like we could score."

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Chelsea 3, Fulham 2

December 26, 2005 || posted by whitney

The Blues put in a strong performance to push past the feisty Fulham team. Chelsea still sit on top of the EPL, nine points up on Man Utd, 15 points ahead of Liverpool

Gallas 3
Lampard 24
Crespo 74

Lamps, Cole, and Robben all paced the Blues, helping them overcome a goaltending gaffe by Cech. SWP failed to impress after starting the match. All of his runs are at full speed, he seems helter-skelter with the ball. In contrast, Duff/Robben/Cole are more skilled at varying their pace

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Chelsea 2, Arsenal 0

December 18, 2005 || posted by whitney

The Blues put in a stellar performance to shatter any Gunner dreams of EPL glory. Chelsea sit on top of the EPL, nine points up on Man Utd, 15 points ahead of Liverpool, and a shocking 20 points on Arsenal.

Robben 39
J Cole 73

With Duff injured, Robben and Cole didn't disappoint. Robben made numerous electrifying runs, and it is clear that his health has returned. Cole first got invovled on the defensive side, and his hardwork was later rewarded with a goal.

Shutting down the Arsenal offense was a major statement after the Barca draw.

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Misc. Thoughts

JM needs his own TV show. With NBC's primetime troubles, creating a sitcom on the cocksure manager would be pure genius.

Abs Enuha, a good friend of mine and diehard Arsenal fan, thought that the Gunners were poised for glory this season. Roughly one month ago, when Arsenal was in 4th place, we made a simple wager. I bet him $10 that Arsenal wouldn't qualify for the Champions League. Of course, I asked for odds - we Chelsea fans are the smartest around. Abs believed that it was an absolute certainty that Arsenal would qualify. We proceeded to agree on 5000:1 odds.

My bet is looking very good at the moment.

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Chelsea 1, Wigan 0

December 10, 2005 || posted by whitney

Skipper John Terry scored the winner for the second successive week as Chelsea tightened their vice-like grip on the Barclays Premiership by increasing their lead at the top to 12 points with a 1-0 victory over Wigan.

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Gamesmanship Row

After Wigan gave up possession as one of their players lay on the pitch, JM ordered Gallas not to return the ball. He thought that the Wigan player was feigning injury.

'When a player is cheating, we are not stupid. So because the player was cheating and seconds later stood up and was running again, I told William Gallas not to give them the ball back. It is my responsibility and I will do it again.

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Essien Charged

December 8, 2005 || posted by whitney

Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has been charged by UEFA with gross sporting misconduct following his tackle on Liverpool's Dietmar Hamann on Tuesday. The penalty will be determined at a December 15 hearing.


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UEFA await report into Essien horror tackle

December 7, 2005 || posted by whitney

UEFA are hanging fire on whether to take action following Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien's controversial challenge on Dietmar Hamann during last night's draw against Liverpool in the Champions League game at Stamford Bridge.

The use of video replay to retroactively examine, and penalize, challenges is a major point of contention for me. If you acknowledge that officiating errors are made during the match, and that there is technology out there that can correct them, why isn't there a move to do the same during the game? You can't have it both ways. There is either the NFL model, where there is a system in place that allows for the right call to be made in contentious moments. Or there is the MLB model, where everything is decided on the field of play.


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Chelsea 0, Liverpool 0

December 6, 2005 || posted by whitney

Familiarity between Chelsea and Liverpool may not exactly breed contempt, but tensions between the two teams were heightened as Michael Essien escaped punishment for a dangerous tackle amid a Champions League stalemate.

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Carragher happy to secure 'slight advantage'

Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher felt the holders had secured an advantage for the Champions League knock-out stages after holding Chelsea to a goalless draw on Tuesday night.

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Robben Row

December 5, 2005 || posted by whitney

Robben is a skilled player, but his performance this year hasn't been up to snuff. Last year, he was one of the most electrifying players around. This season, when not playing for Holland, he has been more more pedestrian. It is unclear whether this is due to politics, or injury. Either way, I prefer Joe Cole in the squad.


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Chelsea 1, Boro 0

December 3, 2005 || posted by whitney

John Terry inspired Chelsea to a 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough at Stamford Bridge.

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