No Room For Nearly Men At The Bridge?
Posted by Zeno in Chelsea, Jose Mourinho, Shaun Wright-Phillips | 3 October 2006
Despite playing better than at Fulham or Sofia, Chelsea couldn’t break down Martin O’Neill’s obdurate Villa at the Bridge on Saturday. We’re so used to watching Mourinho’s substitutes have the desired effect… just as the esoteric art of the sub seemed to elude the hapless Eriksson, so José is accustomed to bringing on a player that can alter the tempo of a match and carve his team a winner.
Despite playing better than at Fulham or Sofia, Chelsea couldn’t break down Martin O’Neill’s obdurate Villa at the Bridge on Saturday. We’re so used to watching Mourinho’s substitutes have the desired effect… just as the esoteric art of the sub seemed to elude the hapless Eriksson, so José is accustomed to bringing on a player that can alter the tempo of a match and carve his team a winner.
Last season players of the caliber of Hernan Crespo, Joe Cole, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Arjen Robben were all used from the bench. Eidur made several important contributions… most memorably a goal in the tough Colchester cup tie. It was one of the few areas in which Chelsea were genuinely head and shoulders above their rivals: true class on the bench.
With half an hour to go, José withdrew Geremi, who had been admirable at right-back, and went to a three-man defence with Salomon Kalou joining Drogba and Shevchenko. Wright-Phillips was also to join the fray for Robben.
Kalou and Wright-Phillips are both extremely quick players, decent with the ball at their feet and capable of the quick turns and momentum shifts that characterise Robben’s game. So why aren’t we doing more damage in the closing stages of games, when these two are given the chance to run at tired legs? The same pair were on the pitch in the latter stages of the Fulham game, when again we failed to turn dominance into a more comfortable scoreline. Against Fulham, we’d done enough already. But these two points dropped have, however briefly, offered the initiative back to our rivals. And, no matter what adversity culture Ferguson likes to engender in Salford, we all know where Chelsea and José prefer to be: at the top of the table watching the others stumble as they try to catch up.
I’m not criticizing Kalou here. He arrives with a good reputation but a blank slate of Premiership form, and will surely grow in confidence and influence. And SWP, despite still having plenty to prove, has the talent. But he’s going to need to discover how to make it happen on a consistent basis. Joe Cole is the gold standard here, and his return from injury will once again limit Shaun’s opportunities. There’s plenty of goodwill for the diminutive winger at Stamford Bridge. But Shaun himself must be aware of the chance that Joe’s injury has given him. He’s once again being restricted to cameo appearances, but even these – his impressive spank off the bar on Saturday notwithstanding – have shown us nothing new. Plenty of eagerness, plenty of darting runs, but very little to actually show for it. He threw in one or two outstanding crosses for Crespo last year – a particularly memorable one against Betis where the Argentinean had only to nod to place the ball past the despairing keeper – and I hope that this sort of service, on which Shevchenko would doubtless thrive, can make a return. Until then, SWP is still very much a nearly man at Stamford Bridge. And I doubt that this slimline squad has room for those.
Comments
hold on, didn't kalou make the run that directly end up in the penalty v. fulham? I thought he looked good on saturday. he's new to the prem so i think it's a bit early to expect him to be as good as eidur, joey, arjen etc...
Zeno: He did... his jink that caused Rosenior to inexplicably handle the ball. I'm sure he's a sound player. I did say, I think, that he needs more time.
ashley cole isn't giving 100%, or if he is, then he is seriously overrated. is joe cole still injured or is he not being played because mourinho has decided against wingers this season?
Zeno: Cole is still injured, as far as I know. If the manager isn't playing wingers this season, it seems a bit unfair to let Cole, Robben and SWP know about it now. Ashley Cole's obviously struggling to fit into the system. He needs to provide width, especially when we end up with 4 central midfielders on the pitch. Lamps and Ballack clearly can't do it. Essien can, but it's a waste.
