Chelsea: It's going to be an open season...
Posted by Seb in Chelsea | 4 September 2007
So, Chelsea suffer their first defeat of the season and, if you believe the press, implosion that results in us being relegated, Mourinho storming out and Abramovich getting tired of his 'toy', and packing up. While they may appeal to everyone in the footballing world apart from a contingent of blue clad people, it's safe to say we'll be around top 3 at the end of the season. But, before I ramble off on another tirade of hate against the journalists of the UK, let's get to the point.
It was just a few seasons ago that the blue soviet machine was all mighty, all conquering, swotting away the flies of Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. No one stood in the way of John Terry and company, and if they did, they were either thoroughly dealt with (Bolton, Norwich et all) or ground down and finished off by a combination of speed, power and the impenetrable fortress that was Petr Cech. One wouldn't be totally amiss to say it was almost Muhammed Ali-esque. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Or something like that. To be blunt, we were the champions of England, and noone ****** with us.
However, those days are gone, and as I sit here contemplating what would have been an almost unthinkable defeat before, I can't help but feel it's been a long time coming. Chelsea have been cheating defeat regularly for the past season or so, pulling off a win or a draw when it seemed we were finally ground to a halt.
Goals and team spirit all round from the likes of Kalou (Sp*rs, Watford) and Drogba (The Premier League) saved us time and time again from the vile thought. But as the new season gets into full swing (or should I say sudden stop, with this ridiculous break in place), it looks like we haven't been able to keep it up. This drew to my attention at the first game of the season, against Birmingham, where we looked positively average against the new boys for periods of the game. I'm not berating Chelsea, we won and we won fairly, and looking back over the years we always seem to have a tough time against Birmingham, but they scored. They scored twice. They weren't afraid.
All the foundations of oppressive government or kingdom over the centuries have relied on one thing to remain in control. Fear. Now, im not comparing our boys in blue to Nazi Germany or the USSR, or Jose Mourinho to Adolf Hitler for that matter, but when we took to the pitch against our opposition, they were afraid. Afraid of our watertight defence, lightning wingers and powerful midfield, not to mention the fortress of Stamford Bridge and our incredible spirit. In my opinion only one club went toe to toe with Chelsea and got away with it during that time (if your counting somewhat fair play, Blackburn im referring to you), and that was Barcelona.
It was a totalitarian style, but it worked. Arsenal employed a similar mentality during their unbeaten season. Fast forward to 2007 and times have changed. Like the Berlin wall (and Arsenal, come to think of it), the aura and wonder surrounding Chelsea has crumbled and died. Teams like Liverpool have set the standard, with the tubby Spaniard masterminding successive wins against Chelsea in cups and more recently in the league. At Anfield 2 seasons ago we destroyed the then European champions 4-1. This time round we were lucky to come away with a draw.
I still believe that Chelsea are a force to be reckoned with, don't get me wrong. This isn't an obituary. We still have in my opinion the best team spirit in the league, and the best manager in the world, not to mention some of the best players in Europe. We are still going to be up there, still plugging away, never giving up. Unfortunatley for us, others are going to be there too.
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