Chelsea 2, Manchester City 4.
I apologise for the late post match update here. Truth is I have been trying to get things straight in my head about that match. It's hard to know quite where to lay the blame when there were just so many areas where it went wrong!
We dominated the first 45 minutes and really, all things considered, should have been 3-0 up, but our accuracy was lacking. Another brain fade in defence from John Terry, the second in the last week, allowed Hilario to be caught out of position and City to make it 1-1 at the half. In this case I blame both keeper and defender.
A lot of people will and are looking to the handshake/non handshake between Wayne Bridge and John Terry. Personally I think Wayne Bridge handled it with the utmost discretion and it was a credit to him. Some of the Chelsea fans chose to boo him for not shaking Terry's hand. This is sad, but as well as being small minded of them, I also blame the media for their callous build up that had everyone sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to see what happened...Courtesy of the media it was more of a soap opera than a pre-match. Drogba's reaction at the end of the line was extremely sporting, shaking Bridge's hand and giving him a half hug. Sadly I am not shocked at the media surrounding Terry's alleged actions and I in no way condone them, but I do not consider myself judge and jury, or an all knowing, all seeing entity. Along these lines I think everyone should just concentrate on the football, as opposed to running their mouths!...Yes, Craig Bellamy, I am looking to you. You are a good player, but I would like to see remembered for this and not for being the mouth of Wales!
Our second was atrocious!
Manchester City outplayed us. They exploited our massively depleted defence and this brought about frustration and showed deep cracks in Chelsea at the moment. The refereeing was at times questionable, I mean technically most referees will allow minimal contact in the box from behind without calling a penalty and having watched the replay numerous times, if there was any contact it was minimal from Juliano Belletti, what there was was a perfectly executed dive from the Manchester City player. So a red card for Belletti, as we apparently have an abundance of players currently and can afford to lose a number of them. Regardless of the referees interpretation of this however, I have to wonder exactly what Belletti was doing. He had time to drop back and he can't possibly have thought he could do anything to stop that run from where he was!
Now Michael Ballack, what to say here. I think the 2 incidents here show why Ancelotti is not necessarily the right manager for us (I have been hoping for the return of Guus Hiddink for some time now). Ballack was obviously fuming after receiving his first yellow. Now anyone who knows Chelsea as a team as opposed to just a name knows Ballack is not a practitioner of Zen meditation on the pitch. Why didn't we sub him off??? The second yellow was, sadly, inevitable given his mental attitude. Bad management there!
I know we are still one point clear at the top, but frankly I think the title race is going to end up seeing us in third...YES, I did say THIRD! I wish I hadn't, but injuries, suspensions and at times very questionable management on the pitch make the next 12 weeks look tough, as do Chelsea's actions and lack of actions in previous transfer windows. Also Arsenal, even though they are wracked with injuries, have a very easy run home on paper and that is why I am predicting a 3rd place finish for us this season.
We dominated the first 45 minutes and really, all things considered, should have been 3-0 up, but our accuracy was lacking. Another brain fade in defence from John Terry, the second in the last week, allowed Hilario to be caught out of position and City to make it 1-1 at the half. In this case I blame both keeper and defender.
A lot of people will and are looking to the handshake/non handshake between Wayne Bridge and John Terry. Personally I think Wayne Bridge handled it with the utmost discretion and it was a credit to him. Some of the Chelsea fans chose to boo him for not shaking Terry's hand. This is sad, but as well as being small minded of them, I also blame the media for their callous build up that had everyone sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to see what happened...Courtesy of the media it was more of a soap opera than a pre-match. Drogba's reaction at the end of the line was extremely sporting, shaking Bridge's hand and giving him a half hug. Sadly I am not shocked at the media surrounding Terry's alleged actions and I in no way condone them, but I do not consider myself judge and jury, or an all knowing, all seeing entity. Along these lines I think everyone should just concentrate on the football, as opposed to running their mouths!...Yes, Craig Bellamy, I am looking to you. You are a good player, but I would like to see remembered for this and not for being the mouth of Wales!
Our second was atrocious!
Manchester City outplayed us. They exploited our massively depleted defence and this brought about frustration and showed deep cracks in Chelsea at the moment. The refereeing was at times questionable, I mean technically most referees will allow minimal contact in the box from behind without calling a penalty and having watched the replay numerous times, if there was any contact it was minimal from Juliano Belletti, what there was was a perfectly executed dive from the Manchester City player. So a red card for Belletti, as we apparently have an abundance of players currently and can afford to lose a number of them. Regardless of the referees interpretation of this however, I have to wonder exactly what Belletti was doing. He had time to drop back and he can't possibly have thought he could do anything to stop that run from where he was!
Now Michael Ballack, what to say here. I think the 2 incidents here show why Ancelotti is not necessarily the right manager for us (I have been hoping for the return of Guus Hiddink for some time now). Ballack was obviously fuming after receiving his first yellow. Now anyone who knows Chelsea as a team as opposed to just a name knows Ballack is not a practitioner of Zen meditation on the pitch. Why didn't we sub him off??? The second yellow was, sadly, inevitable given his mental attitude. Bad management there!
I know we are still one point clear at the top, but frankly I think the title race is going to end up seeing us in third...YES, I did say THIRD! I wish I hadn't, but injuries, suspensions and at times very questionable management on the pitch make the next 12 weeks look tough, as do Chelsea's actions and lack of actions in previous transfer windows. Also Arsenal, even though they are wracked with injuries, have a very easy run home on paper and that is why I am predicting a 3rd place finish for us this season.