Chelsea looked to retain the top spot on the Barclays Premier League table on Saturday, in a match up against Norwich City, and that's exactly what they did. If you were waiting for a match to show off all the "New" Chelsea has to offer, this was the match to watch. The midfield trio of Hazard, Mata, and Oscar were firing on all cylinders and absolutely smothered possession. Easy win for the Blues with a 4-1 scoreline, lets take a look at how each footballer performed.
GK Petr Cech: 7.5
Good performance out of Cech, came through when called upon, but let in a goal.
D Ashley Cole: 8.0
Typical Ashley Cole performance; didn't let anyone by and was great in attack. Looked likely to score throughout the whole match.
D John Terry: 7.5
With the FA controversy still looming the captain put in a pretty good performance, but didn't look 100% and it showed on Norwich's only goal.
D David Luiz: 7.5
David Luiz looked sort of disinterested in the first half but came out in the second half to show his world class defending and attacking.
D Branislav Ivanovic: 8.5
Great performance from the Serbian, was brilliant in defense. Ivanovic also scored a delicious volley in the second half adding to the assist on Fernando Torres's goal. Hard to see Azpi get any playing time with the way Ivanovic is playing.
M Frank Lampard: 8.0
Vintage Frank Lampard performance, including a vintage Frank Lampard strike from outside the penalty area. By far the Englishman's best performance of the season. Hard to see him push permanently back into a starting role though with his lack of defending.
M John Obi Mikel: 8.0
Mikel was, well Mikel today, nothing really special, but still a great performance. He quietly goes about his business and is a stonewall in defense.
M Juan Mata: 9.0
Easily in the best form of any footballer in the world, his last five performances have been close to perfect. He was strong in every attack vs Norwich and was a nightmare for defenders. Every touch and pass is put exactly where he wants it and he is doing whatever he feels like at the moment. Dictates play like no one else in the Premier League and it is an embarrassment that he is not getting called to International duty.
M Oscar: 8.0
Oscar gives a dynamic to Chelsea that Blues supporters have never seen. He is very skillful and his touch lands wherever he wants it to, a prime example of "Brazilian Football." He wove through Norwich defenders like they were just traffic cones and looked likely to score all match. The youngster is still figuring out the Premier League and it's not going to take him very long.
M Eden Hazard: 8.5
Juan Mata really is overshadowing the performance of Eden Hazard. The Belgium international showed why he is dubbed to be the "Next Messi." Hazard scored a lovely finesse shot on a ball from Juan Mata, that was struck with perfection. Agent Hazard also clearly drew two penalties, but the ref thought otherwise. It really is looking like Hazard is being marked by refs as a diver, but they all will realize their mistakes when they see the replays.
F Fernando Torres: 7.5
Fernando Torres found the back of the net with a thumping header in the first half to start the Chelsea out-pour of goals, but he should have netted 2 or 3 more. Torres still doesn't seem to be fully confident in his shots and from time to time it shows. At the moment you don't know what Torres will come out when he receives a chance at goal.
D Cesar Azpilcueta: 7.0
Came on for his first Premier League action, had a lot of first touch nerves but looked good.
M Ramires: 7.5
Came on for Frank Lampard and bolstered up the defense to end out the match.
M Oriol Romeu: 7.0
Came on for Mikel for ten minutes and got a shot off, but really didn't see much action.
Man of the Match: Juan Mata
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll take your time to read this comment, because I'd love to hear your opinion on what I'm going to say. It would be nice to know what you think.
My comment is about the enigma that is Fernando Torres. It is not easy to exchange views about him, as every time you defend him you're called a fan girl/boy, and every time you criticize him you're called a hater. Thing is, no matter what happens on the pitch, people are always talking about Torres, and that's probably because no one really understands him (hence the "enigma" I mentioned above).
The first time I saw him play, he was wearing a red shirt, and his name was chanted on and on in the stadium. Liverpool were playing a match in my country for the CL, and they won the match thanks to a fantastic goal by Torres himself. I remember him as a player who caught your attention with every single movement he made: he was a real menace, always running for the ball, always creating space... I wasn't surprised when he scored the winner, to be honest. I went back home and I started looking for some videos of his goals. Man, I was amazed.
There is a kind of players who cannot be ignored, those who make every single finish look easy, but at the same time, you recognize that something special is going on every time they run to the goal. I had the same impression when Ronaldinho came to play in my country, he was a joy to watch and I still watch some of his matches when I can. I had a similar reaction watching Torres play. He had the pace, acceleration, an instinct that made him score (right foot, left foot, headers...), and damn, he looked so young you couldn't even believe that kid could be able to scare defenses in a league like the PL. Yet he did, and he was brilliant. I was never a Liverpool fan (nor I am a Chelsea fan, to be honest) but I like to watch my favourite players on the pitch, no matter which team they play in, so I've been following the PL since 2008.
During last season, I couldn't even recognize Fernando Torres. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere but on the pitch, he missed chances, he tried to hide, to become invisible... I couldn't believe my eyes. "What happened to that kid that I used to admire so much?", I used to wonder. My friends who watched every game with me, sitting on a couch with beers, always told me "He doesn't really fit in Chelsea, can't you see? That's not the right team for him. He needs Gerrard to score". Yet, I couldn't make sense of it. I mean, I saw what the guy can do, and a striker doesn't forget how to score, he just doesn't.
Things are going better lately, he's been scoring more. Yet, in every single match, there is at least one moment in which he is in front of the goal and he "misteriously" falls, or he overthinks it and loses the ball, or he passes the ball to someone else instead of trying to shoot. It's frustrating because he could have scored more, and yet he didn't. Chelsea is winning, so it's not a huge deal, I know. But it's still something that makes me frustrated, because, in my opinion, if he had the confidence he used to have when he played for Liverpool, he would enjoy this post-Drogba season so much..
Talking about confidence: does anyone have an idea of what could have destroyed the kid's confidence? What happened to make him look so afraid to shoot?
(continues...)
pt.2
DeleteI can't find any real cause, I just think that Ancelotti shouldn't have made him play against Liverpool as his first match. That must have been difficult (and painful). Apart from that, I can only think of all the jokes at his expense, of all the criticism he had to endure... I have this idea that Torres is the kind of player that needs to be coddled, to feel wanted, like he was at Liverpool. He's not like those who find in challenges and hard times a reason more to fight and do their best to win. On the contrary, those things probably bring him down. That's why he's playing better since RDM is being assigned, he gave him a chance and tried to make him come out of his shell.
To be fair, I think Torres is doing better and that he is going to "heal" the more he plays. Goal after goal, he'll get confident enough to shoot more. Fortunately, Chelsea is full of amazing players, so you don't rely solely on him.
A mistake would be, in my opinion, bringing Falcao in. He is an amazing player, but is he really needed? Chelsea needs another striker, but it doesn't really need such a big name. Just look at the midfield, there are some real gems who can score, and they've been playing so well (Mata is just an example), that I feel there is no need for a big signing. A good striker would work just fine.
I also think that Falcao's arrival would halt Torres' "healing process". Having to compete for a place in the starting 11 is not going to help him regain his confidence, in my opinion. One of the reasons why he's getting better, is that he starts matches, he has his own place finally.
Now, if Torres were Chelsea's only source of goals, I wouldn't talk like this. I would just say "Sell Torres, buy Falcao". That would be easy.
But as he is scoring and many other players are too, Falcao in my opinion is not needed.
So, I guess I ended up writing so much more than I intended. Sorry about that, and also I'm sorry for the errors: I'm not English, so it's not easy to explain well what I mean. I'd be glad to know your thoughts on this. Thanks
Great read, and you're right about it all. The day Torres will return to form is the day he forgets about everything and just plays football. The little kid attitude who just plays because he loves it, the way David Luiz plays.
ReplyDelete