News for February 2006

Chelsea 2, Pompey 0

February 25, 2006 || posted by whitney

The Blues rebounded well to see off Pompey 2-0.

Lampard 45
Robben 78

Mourinho went to three at the back after 31 minutes. The Blues lacked the stuff of champions coming out of the gate. While the Blues had chances throughout the 1st half, there was no finishing. The Lampard and Robben goals were well deserved in the second half.

Robben was the man of the match, right now, he's our best player and is consistently among the top drawers for every match.

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Steve Clarke on Del Horno's Quick Run

"The Del Horno substitution was tactical and a ploy we have used before. I thought Damien Duff did very well at left back. He made a good contribution.

"When we made the double substitution it was to change the shape of the team as well.

"We took a risk, going three at the back and four up front, but when you bring on players of their quality you expect them to have an impact in the game. Thankfully for us that's what happened."

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Chelsea 1, Barcelona 2

February 22, 2006 || posted by whitney

The 10 man Blues fell to Barcelona 2-1.

Del Horno was sent off in the 37th minute. This shaped the remainder of the match. It was a poor call by the referee. Unfortunately, referee Terje Hauge may receive death threats, a la Anders Frist from last season, for his poor performance today. After this play, Hauge held his whistle the remainder of the match. One case was a foul by Puyol on Robben that deserved a booking.

Though down to 10 men, Chelsea continued to attack and generated chances throughout the match. The Blues have a clear advantage on set pieces, though both teams received own goals today.

Barca are a talented team, and we must be wary of pushing forward. Del Horno was consistently abused by Messi. Hopefully, Gallas will be fit for the 2nd leg.

Robben, Cech, and Terry were great today. Drogba played poorly. He failed to win headers, and missed two goal scoring chances. Eto'o's finishing on the back post header demonstrated the flaw in our two strikers. Crespo lacks the athletic ability to play as the lone striker, and he is often caught offsides, but has great finishing ability. Drogba has no first touch on the ball, is poor running with it, and can't finish, but he's a great athlete who's an asset in the air and on defense.

Ultimately, the 2-1 deficit can still be overcome. Health and improved finishing will go a long way in the effort.

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Chelsea 3, Colchester 1

February 19, 2006 || posted by whitney

The Blues held off a determined League 1 Colchester United team in the FA Cup 5th Round. Halftime subs Lampard and

Joe Cole saved the day, with the latter picking up a double in Chelsea's 3-1 victory.

Carvalho 28 (og)
Ferreira 37
Joe Cole 79
Joe Cole 90

Colchester stormed out of the gate earning a well deserved, albeit brief, lead.

SWP had a few stellar runs, but lacked the proper service until Lampard came on at the half.

As an aside, the poor pitch - likely a positive against Barca on Wednesday - led to Carvalho's own goal. And Joe

Cole's 90th minute goal came after Drogba hit the deck feigning injury and both Colchester and, much to his dismay,

Chelsea played on. Needless to say, he wasn't pleased.

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Joe Cole Praised Colchester, We're Ready for Barca

Cole, who scored twice, said: "They showed they were right up for it and they gave us a good game."

"I enjoyed the two goals but the main thing was that we got the job done and we have not got a replay to go to."

"This is a very important week for us - this game has put us in the last eight of the FA Cup and we have a chance on

Wednesday night to take a step towards the last eight of the Champions League."

"Now we will go into the Barcelona game full of confidence. We have got the Middlesbrough defeat out of our system

and rested some key players - we are ready for the big one."

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Chelsea 4, Everton 1

February 8, 2006 || posted by whitney

The Blues marched into the Final 16 of the FA Cup after defeating Everton 4-1 in the replay.

Robben 22
Lampard 36 (pen)
Crespo 39
Terry 71

The Blues stormed out of the gate and excellent wing play led them to a 3-0 halftime lead.

Chelsea face League One Leaders Colchester in a home 5th round tie.

As an aside, Robert Huth always seems to find trouble when he plays. A handball, which led to the penalty, is another notch in his error belt.

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Robben is the Man - Clarke

Chelsea assistant boss Steve Clarke hailed Arjen Robben after the Dutchman played a key role in tonight's FA Cup win over Everton.

Manager Jose Mourinho believes Chelsea's win over Liverpool was unfairly overshadowed by the debate over Jose Reina's red card - for pushing Robben - and Clarke backed his boss.

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez had accused Robben of `play-acting' to get Reina sent off but Clarke insisted that the criticism of the Dutchman was unreasonable.

Clarke declared: 'The stick he got was unjustified but I thought his performance tonight was great. he has been playing very very well for us in the last few weeks and he continued that against Everton.'

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Chelsea 2, Liverpool 0

February 5, 2006 || posted by whitney

The Blues bent in the first half, but failed to break, finishing off Liverpool 2-0.

Gallas 35
Crespo 68

The Reds came out strong and the game had a frantic pace for the first half. Crouch failed to convert a slew of headers. On Chelsea's first set piece, Carvalho played a contested header on frame and Gallas put it past Reina.

Up 1-0 after the half, Chelsea had greater success in controlling tempo and began to dictate play.

The running theme had been Crespo straying offside. As Derek Rae at ESPN Soccernet noted earlier, Crespo is so good at reading play he is often called offside while fractionally onside. After several calls, he finally broke through and buried a low left footed drive across goal, and on the volley. A finish that Drogba wouldn't execute. His second goal, a minute later, was incorrectly called off due to a poor offside call.

The game continued at a strong pace and Liverpool began to press. Their ineffectiveness continued, and tensions soon flared. Forced out of his box, Reina made a strong challenge on Gudjohnson near the right sideline. While he hit the ball first, he took Eidur to the ground. The ref didn't see this, and appeared bent on making a call. Reina then struck Robben in the face, sending him to the groun. He was sent off in the 82nd minute.

Crespo, Robben, and Gallas paced the Blues.

As an aside, Drogba brings a different aerial dimension to the team. He allows them to play direct, which is imoprtant when the midfield game isn't working. More importantly, he plays great defense and gets invovled in defending against aerially dangerous teams in set pieces.

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Chelsea 1, Villa 1

February 1, 2006 || posted by whitney

Only the Blues can drop points, but gain on all their rivals. The top 6 in the EPL lost or drew this weekend.

Robben 13

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