Birmingham City 1-0 Chelsea – Newspaper Reaction, Goal Video, Royal Report
Matt The Blue |
Newspaper reports
The Observer, Stuart James: “A day that started with Ray Wilkins questioning his dismissal as assistant manager set the tone for another miserable afternoon for Chelsea, as Carlo Ancelotti’s side slipped to a third league defeat in four matches. “Keep calm” has been the mantra at Chelsea in recent weeks but preaching that message is becoming more and more difficult amid a dreadful run of form that is threatening seriously to undermine their hopes of holding on to the title.”
Sunday Telegraph, Jonathan Liew: “At times Michael Emanalo, Chelsea’s new assistant manager, scarcely looked like he belonged in the dugout, such was the look of bewilderment on his face. He had better get used to it. He has a lot of work to do. If Chelsea’s surrender against Sunderland last weekend was a seismic event, this fraught, maddening defeat at St Andrew’s was the aftershock.”
Independent on Sunday, Phil Shaw: “Chelsea’s blip is in danger of becoming a full-blown slump. The champions’ standard still flutters on the Premier League summit, but it is looking increasingly ragged after Birmingham, third from bottom at kick-off, emulated Sunderland’s win over them. Lee Bowyer converted their only scoring chance early on before they mounted a rearguard action in which Ben Foster answered critics of his performance forEngland in midweek.”
Official Chelsea FC Website: “Chelsea have suffered successive league defeats for the first time since 2006, despite dominating for all but a few minutes of Saturday’s game at St. Andrew’s.”
The goal
The preamble
It’s not easy being a member of the Royal family. Sure you’ve got loads of money, plenty of glamour and flunkies taking care of your every need but you’ve got to live your life in a straight-jacket, observe protocol and have your partners chosen by the head of the family. When Charles was asked if he was in love with Diana he answered “yes, whatever love means”.
It’s not easy being manager of the Chelsea family. Sure you’ve got loads of money, plenty of glamour and flunkies taking care of your every need but you’ve got to live your life in a straight-jacket, observe protocol and have your partners chosen by the head of the family. When Carlo was asked if he thought Michael was a good coach he answered “yes, whatever coaching means”.
Positive spin
- You’ve never had it so good. Ok so we’re going through a minor recession but we’re winning trophies, are top of the league, regular Champions League contenders and already qualified for this year’s knock-out phase.
- We’re top of the league. Unbelievable but true. We won the league in 1955 with a record low number of points. With everyone else around us losing we might well set a new record.
- We’ve had our sticky patch and we’re still top.
- All our injured players will be fit for the knock-out phase of the Champions League.
Last week against Sunderland we deserved to lose, probably by more than 3-0 if Cech hadn’t made several top saves.
This week against Birmingham we didn’t deserve to lose. The following stats have been copied verbatim from a post by GrocerJack.
Possession
Birmingham 39% Chelsea 61%
Attempts on target
Birmingham 1 Chelsea 10
Attempts off target
Birmingham 0 Chelsea 15
Corners
Birmingham 4 Chelsea 16
Fouls
Birmingham 9 Chelsea 2
Drogba had three good chances, one shot, a header that brought a great save and another header against the bar. In the second half Cech was doing a Peta Borota, camped on the half way line ready to pass the ball forward to the final third where the game was played.
However despite the stats and second half domination I never felt convinced we’d equalise and we never recovered from a piece of sloppy defending that allowed Bowyer to score from a one on one against Cech in the 17th minute.
The players
Collectively they just weren’t good enough. It’s not acceptable to flounder against Birmingham, from the bottom three, following two defeats in the last three games.
The only player I’d like to highlight is Kalou, who looks as close to being a top striker as Ann Widdecombe does a ballroom dancer.
Reasons for our current demise
- John Terry injured.
- Ivanovic forced away from right-back to cover other positions.
- Drogba’s malaria.
- Drogba’s infected the rest of the squad.
- Wilkinsgate.
- Loss of Lampard / Essien in the engine room.
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