Chelsea vs MŠK Žilina

[kallan 0]

I'm suprised by the starts of some youths. I'm impressed and pleased with this victory; hope it'l give us some confidence in our next game.

[warnie_666 1,081]

Josh gave the ball away too much for me. Patrick was the best out of the academy youngsters and Sturridge was the best player on the pitch. I think Ramires is starting to grow as a Chelsea fc player now. Ramires is having more of a say in the last third of the pitch a bit like Essien.

This was in Europe. The next match against Newcastle he would be back to his old self as he would have tackles flying in the moment he gets the ball.

[toddandrewblue 19]

To all those who hated to see Kakuta go off for Anelka - his touch made that winning goal happen. Kakuta wouldn't have made that pass. No one else in the squad makes that pass the way Nico does. I was glad he came on when he did , and even happier when he set up that goal.

[Peace. 4,352]

To all those who hated to see Kakuta go off for Anelka - his touch made that winning goal happen. Kakuta wouldn't have made that pass. No one else in the squad makes that pass the way Nico does. I was glad he came on when he did , and even happier when he set up that goal.

Actually, it's Sturridge who has been replaced by Anelka, and Kalou has replaced Kakuta. lol.

[toddandrewblue 19]

Actually, it's Sturridge who has been replaced by Anelka, and Kalou has replaced Kakuta. lol.

My mistake - thanks for correcting me. Either way, so many moans when Nico was announced, but he, in essence, was the key to winning the game. If he doesn't make that sublime pinpoint pass to Drogs, there's no goal there. His touch is fantastic on balls like that.

[Peace. 4,352]

Well, it's good to win in this time. I just hope we won't be in the same situation that two week ago, ie we win against Fulham and we think we're back... I don't know if it will be enough to win against Newcastle, but we have to avoid the defeat, a draw against them wouldn't be as bad as that, i guess...

The first half was average/quite bad. We were lacking of pace and creativity. The second half was far better, i don't know if it's because of Kalou or the Carlo's speech at the half time. Maybe the two. I got to admit, Kalou impressed me a lot. He can do better, but compared to our other games so far, he performed very well.

I was disapointed a bit by Kakuta... But actually, we can't compare his performance to the other youngsters' performances. Indeed, he has played only 45 minutes while the other have play almost the whole game. Futhermore, he has played only when our whole team was average, so I think if Josh/Danny/PvA/Bruma would have only played the first half, we would also have been disapointed by him/them.

McEachran had a good game, even if he has passed away few passes. But in an other hand, he was our player who have the most passed the ball, so, somehow, it equilibrates...

PvA and Sturridge were the best of our youngsters on the pitch, in my opinion. The first one really remind me Ash, offensively he was really good, he was a good support for our strikers and he provided few good center. But defensively he is not yet at top, i guess against a stronger side he would have had more problems. I think (and i hope) we have found a good substitute for Ash for the futur. Sturridge should definitively get more minutes !!

It's hard to judge Bruma on this game because the Zlina's strikers were quite quiet...

Turnbull has worried me several times lol...

Ramires also had a good game, i just hope he will play like this for our next fixtures...

Here few statistics...:

% of successful passes :

McEachran : 101 out to 117 <=> 86,3%

Malouda : 71 out to 76 <=> 93,4%

PvA : 64 out to 70 <=> 91,4%

Ramires : 58 out to 67 <=> 86,6%

Ferreira : 54 out to 55 <=> 98,2%

Ivanovic : 50 out to 53 <=> 94,3%

Bruma : 42 out to 48 <=> 87,5%

Sturridge : 27 out to 32 <=> 84,4%

Kakuta : 28 out to 31 <=> 90,3%

Kalou : 24 out to 28 <=> 85,7%

Drogba : 9 out to 21 <=> 42,9

Anelka : 11 out to 12 <=> 91,7

33 shots, 10 on target, 2 goal

=> So, we really need to improve our finishing plus to take back the luck. Three months ago, we would have scored at least four goal, so we're able to score... We've just need to clear up our ideas.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Josh gave the ball away too much for me. Patrick was the best out of the academy youngsters and Sturridge was the best player on the pitch. I think Ramires is starting to grow as a Chelsea fc player now. Ramires is having more of a say in the last third of the pitch a bit like Essien.

Seriously? I think that's a little extreme considering how many good passes he made!

[zolayes 14,489]

Seriously? I think that's a little extreme considering how many good passes he made!

I am thinking of starting a thread on our fans criticisms

[LDN Blue 7,903]

I am thinking of starting a thread on our fans criticisms

Seriously? I think that's a little extreme considering how many good passes he made!

didn't someone say a while back "once Josh has an off game, everyone will doubt him" much like Kakuta.

[Badboy 1,526]

See im not doubting josh i know he is class and he will be a brilliant player in the future. Fact is he gave the ball away too much in the game.

[Kostas 1,468]

Ditto, we're either expecting too much from Kakuta or we're being lenient with Josh cause he's young,homegrown et al.

In my opinion Josh was just as "bad" as Kakuta was in the first half.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

See im not doubting josh i know he is class and he will be a brilliant player in the future. Fact is he gave the ball away too much in the game.

I'm not arguing that, I'm arguing your final point. You say he gave the ball away too much... his passing statistics are excellent! On the occasions he gave the ball away, I counted four were forced clearances and at least three were because of a lack of options. The rest were interceptions. Can't really complain about that, his overall game was excellent. People need to appreciate he was playing in a completely new position last night, yet he looked assured, confident and composed - plus the fact he is only a month older than me! Fantastic.

Ditto, we're either expecting too much from Kakuta or we're being lenient with Josh cause he's young,homegrown et al.

Absolutely agree, I think we're all keen to show Josh patience because he is English; much the same as Sturridge.

[Kostas 1,468]

A very good write-up on Josh's influence on the game yesterday.

http://dkdickson.wordpress.com/2010/11/24/josh-mceachran-observations-on-a-first-start/

Did anyone else notice how during the 2nd half he played further up the pitch as a CM instead of DM. You could see how he was alongside Ramires instead of behind him, that clearly helped both.

[NattyBlue 44]

Yep. 1st half tactics weren't all that right. Didn't help anyone and because Kakuta got subbed off, all of it must've been down to him....

[Tommy10 478]

FC CHELSEA LONDON VS MSK ZILINA 2:1

goalkeeper: turnbull

defense: ferreira - ivanovic - bruma - van aanholt

midfield: mceachran (mellis 90min.) - ramires - malouda

attack: sturridge (anelka 74min.) - Drogba - kakuta (kalou half time)

cool.. our youngsters show quality&we von vs zilina another champions league game home at the stamford bridge!!

cool.. my african florent malouda scored after 1 year again in the champions league!!

cool.. my africans florent malouda & daniel sturridge scored!!

cool.. our youngsters jeffrey van homoet bruma & jacob mellis played theire 1st champions league games ever!!

[Steve 10,227]

FC CHELSEA LONDON VS MSK ZILINA 2:1

goalkeeper: turnbull

defense: ferreira - ivanovic - bruma - van aanholt

midfield: mceachran (mellis 90min.) - ramires - malouda

attack: sturridge (anelka 74min.) - Drogba - kakuta (kalou half time)

cool.. our youngsters show quality&we von vs zilina another champions league game home at the stamford bridge!!

cool.. my african florent malouda scored after 1 year again in the champions league!!

cool.. my africans florent malouda & daniel sturridge scored!!

cool.. our youngsters jeffrey van homoet bruma & jacob mellis played theire 1st champions league games ever!!

Quality report as usual mate!

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Think I might hang up my boots and let Tommy write the match reports...

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Think I might hang up my boots and let Tommy write the match reports...

LOL I second that!