CareFreeChronic

Thanks for sharing.

So far, 2012 has been good to Villas-Boas and Chelsea -- played two and won two. But the encounter with Sunderland, revived under Martin O'Neill, will not be an easy task. The Black Cats have now won 4 out of their last 6 league games under their new manager. During this impressive run, they have even beaten the league leaders Manchester City. In case you are wondering how they managed to do that, here are the scout notes from their 1-0 win over City. http://www.carefreec...erland-1-0.html Cheers! Click here to view the article

Yes, I think so too. We need better delivery from the right and a bit more creativity from the center channel. Maybe we are looking at two Jan or summer signings.

Our league top goal scorer Sturridge plays dominantly on the right while our league top assist providers Mata and Cole play dominantly on the left. Hmmmm... This seems to suggest a certain pattern to the way Chelsea scores goals so far in the league -- balls come in from the left for the players on the right to score. Is this true? If so how many of the league goals are scored in this manner? And how do they look like on Guardian Chalkboard? Such questions tickled the nerdy side of me and this blog post was born. http://www.carefreec...sea-scores.html Cheers! Click here to view the article

Just like many Chelsea fans around the world, I did not see this game because it was not televised. By all accounts, it was an uninspiring performance, undeserved of the 4-0 score line. Not actually seeing the game as a whole totally disqualifies me from writing a match report. However, in watching the extended highlights of the goals, I noticed how the build-ups and the goals point to what has recently worked and what has not in terms of scoring goals. For example, whipping in high crosses have not worked well for Chelsea but driving in low crosses have. Slow, careful build-up play hasn't worked as well as fast-paced counter attacks. Here is a close look at the goals. http://www.carefreec...t-hashasnt.html Cheers! Click here to view the article

Here is a collection of statistical snapshots of Chelsea (and its players') performance in the league in the month of December. http://www.carefreec...-in-review.html Cheers! Click here to view the article

Fernando Torres failed to find the back of the net (yet again!) against Wolves. But no one can deny that the Spaniard had a very good game -- not as a striker but as a striker-turned-playermaker. He only managed to get 3 goal attempts (2 of which are off target) but he crafted three good goal-scoring opportunities for his teammates. As noted in my match analysis, Torres did not play as the focal point of Chelsea's attack but rather as forward who shifted from left to right in order to keep the attack flowing. His movements off the ball and his incredible passes were integral to Chelsea's dominance over Wolves. Here is a close look at three chances created by Torres. http://www.carefreec...aker-esque.html Cheers! Click here to view the article

If you are referring to the Mata chance and Lampard chance in the first half, you are right.

After saying 'Goodbye' to 2011 with a defeat, Chelsea greets 2012 with a victory over Wolves. For the most part, this was a game that pretty much stuck to the recent script: Chelsea dominates but create little chances, Chelsea takes the lead out of nowhere, the opposition equalize late in the game and the team heads for another disappointing result. But, I imagine, to the sound of a record abruptly stopped by the DJ, the visiting team found a late winner via Frank "I-Always-Arrive-Late-Into-The-Box" Lampard. Here are some key points that I found interesting from the game. http://www.carefreec...wolves-1-2.html Cheers! Click here to view the article

After three consecutive 1-1 draws in the last three league games, Villas-Boas probably needs his side to grab all three points at Stamford Bridge against Aston Villa in order for him to welcome 2012 with a smile that we all love. The visitors, however, have drawn 2 out of every 3 away games and they are the "draw king" of the Premier League with 8 even scorelines this season. Just in case you were wondering what Chelsea can expect from the Villans come Saturday, here are my scout notes from their game against Arsenal. http://www.carefreechronicles.com/2011/12/scout-notes-from-aston-villa-1-2.html Cheers!

Sounds like we are all in agreement here that Cole has been poor, both in attack and in defense, of late and needs a rest/competition. I have wondered why AVB wanted to buy Alvaro Pereira during the summer but now I get it.

In this edition of Pointing Fingers, we will look at two of Fulham's chances. The first is Orlando Sa's off-target header from inside the box. The second is the Clint Dempsey goal in the second half. Let's figure out where Chelsea's defense came short in these two scenarios. http://www.carefreechronicles.com/2011/12/pointing-fingers-two-defensive-errors.html Cheers!

Indeed.

Here is my match analysis of the disappointing draw against Fulham. http://www.carefreechronicles.com/2011/12/chelsea-1-1-fulham-cutting-edge-missing.html Cheers!

Tottenham took advantage of their early pressure and took the lead through Adebayor tap in. The goal was handcrafted by Gareth Bale who beat Bosingwa with speed and put in a curving low cross that escaped Cech's attempted save. Adebayor tapped in from close range. As always, this goal is conceded because of a series of mistakes. Here's how I see it happened. http://www.carefreechronicles.com/2011/12/pointing-fingers-analyzing-adebayor.html Cheers!

The game lived up to its expectation and offered plenty of excitements. There were chances at both ends, some sorely missed and some cleanly taken. All in all, a draw was a fair result although Chelsea were the better team for most of the game. Here's how it all went down. http://www.carefreechronicles.com/2011/12/tottenham-1-1-chelsea-dominant-display.html Cheers!

What Spurs have done so far, how they beat Sunderland last time out, who might start against Chelsea and where their weaknesses lie. All in this scout report. http://www.carefreechronicles.com/2011/12/chelsea-opposition-scout-report_20.html Cheers!

My match analysis of the Wigan 1 - 1 Chelsea game. http://www.carefreechronicles.com/2011/12/wigan-1-1-chelsea-win-slips-away.html Cheers!

Recent back-to-back 2-1 away victories over Sunderland and West Brom have relieved some of the pressure on Wigan and its manager Roberto Martinez, but Wigan are still very much in a relegation battle. I don't know what Martinez has asked from Santa this Christmas but I'm sure he didn't want this holiday fixture list: Chelsea (H), Liverpool (H) and Manchester United (A). They have a good attacking left side, led by tricky Moses, but silly defensive mistakes have been they down fall. Chelsea has ditched the high line and the possession game in recent matches but this might be the one to return to the "old" formula. Here's my scout report. http://carefreechronicles.blogspot.com/2011/12/chelsea-opposition-scout-report-wigan.html Cheers!

A lot have been said about our victory over Manchester City. But here are a few things that I will like to add to the discussions. I thought Terry had another solid game defensively (once we switched to a deeper defensive line) and his long balls were crucial in attacking Manchester City's weak point -- left side of their defense where Clichy resided. Drogba's hold up play in this game was also another highlight of this game. Those are the points we will ponder in this post. http://carefreechronicles.blogspot.com/2011/12/few-extra-points-to-ponder-chelsea-2-1.html Cheers!

Thanks.

Given all the crap that tends to happen to us lately, I think our fears were justified.

I think one of the most interesting aspect about the win against City was that we were very patient in our build up when we had the man advantage and it paid off nicely. Case in point, the build up that lead to the penalty, when Sturridge's shot hit Lescott's hand. It was an attacking phase made up of 15 passes and it took almost a whole minute of continuous possession. Here's the second by second break down. http://carefreechronicles.blogspot.com/2011/12/patience-pays-off-51-second-build-up.html Cheers!

Having been just kicked out of the Champions League, this game at Stamford Bridge becomes a must win game for Manchester City to put a grip on the domestic trophy. They have been on terrific form this season with strong defense and ruthless offense. Chelsea, on the other hand, are high in confidence after their European victory and have one extra day of rest going into this match. Villas-Boas seems to have found a winning formula -- defending deep and breaking fast -- of late and this tactics would probably give Chelsea the best chance of beating City. Here's my scout report. http://carefreechronicles.blogspot.com/2011/12/chelsea-opposition-scout-report.html Cheers!

Statistical snapshots of Chelsea's performance in the league in November complete with Scoring Pie, Assisting Doughnut and Shooting Pyramid. http://carefreechronicles.blogspot.com/2011/12/raw-numbers-november-in-review.html Cheers!