Post Match Rant Box: Reading 2, Chelsea 2
By: Jack | August 1st, 2009
Sorry for the lack of posts this week; it has been an extremely hectic last five or so days. Anyway.
Chelsea netted twice in the final five minutes to salvage a 2-2 draw with Reading at the Madjeski on Saturday afternoon. Kalou bagged the first — I know, shocking — with an own goal, set up by the towering Alex, providing the late-game theatrics in added time.
I did not get to see the match but, from what I’ve read, it was far from an ideal display — though we seemed to improve somewhat during the second half.
Lineups
Chelsea (4-4-2 diamond): Cech (Turnbull 76); Ivanovic (Bosingwa h-t), Carvalho (Alex h-t), Terry (c), A Cole; Mikel, Essien (Belletti 63), Deco (Malouda h-t), Lampard; Anelka (Sturridge 63), Drogba (Kalou 63).
Reading(4-3-3): Federici; Rosenior, Pearce (c), Cisse, Bertrand; Gunnarsson (Bikey h-t), Tabb (Harper 55), Davies (Mooney 63); Robson-Kanu (N Hunt h-t), Long (Church 55), Kebe (Henry 78).
As always, discuss the match right here. If you were there or saw it on the tele, let me know what you thought. Is the 4-4-2 the future — or should it already be the past? Let me know, people.
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I’ve seen the match, and the thing Chelsea lacked was finishing. Plenty of pressure in the final third, some good shots, but overall it all seemed too easy for Reading keeper. Despite all the efforts from the Blues, it was the home side that converted most of their chances into goals. That first half whistle, being two goals down felt like a “back to reality” slap. Even if Chelsea controlled the possession for most of the 90 minutes, Reading made sure that their fans have something to talk about after the game. You know, that “if we didn’t break in those last five minutes” talk.
Today’s display will certainly inspire Reading, and they’ll head for their next fixture all guns blazing. As for Carlo’s boys, well, how can I say it, we didn’t deserve to draw, let alone to win. Let’s face it, the back four was having just one of those days, and Mikel, the closest to them, made me laugh with his antics, holding the ball for too long, then falling down at one moment, shaking and twisting. He restored my faith by assisting Kalou with his late goal, which came just at the right time, and, with a few minutes to go, Chelsea played their usual self, pulling the equaliser. Well, actually they didn’t, it was Reading’s Alex Pearce, (god bless the man :> ), who helped us out with an own goal. 2-2 reads the scoreline, and so be it.
Today our pre-season came to an end, and Carlo (who looked a bit grim during the match) has a lot to look forward to. Five games unbeaten, no big injury concerns in the squad, and his second piece of silverware only a week and a few goals away. He will, I guess, enjoy his tenure more than Scolari did back in his day, thanks to his improving English. Another good thing is that he knows the squad he inherited, having seen most of them in action. The youth, the veterans and the new signings all had their chance to impress, and I’m especially happy for Sturridge and Di Santo, with the latter celebrating his goal as if it was his first for the club :> Deco and Carvalho are back in action and after all this Inter-bound speculation, they both managed to put in decent performances throughout the pre-season. The only setback is Joe Cole’s injury, and I hope he gets fit sooner rather than later. With all the talk of the new signings, having Joe back will certainly make an impact, Essien being the example.
The reports suggest that Galliani is in London (Pirlo?), so there might be a new guy in town, should Chelsea match Milan’s valuation. I’m not sure what to make of this, let’s wait a few days and see what happens. Now to the real thing – having seen what a certain Russian can make at Anfield, makes me wonder if Zhirkov can live up to the expectation, and produce the same amount of class as Arshavin. This one-man band puts Arsenal back on map, having scored two against Atletico Madrid today. And while Arshavin seems more of a Gooner than most of their squad (laughing hysterically) and has a 100 percent chance of staring every game, Yuri has yet to stamp his authority on the left wing.
Going back to Jack’s question – in 4-4-2 I trust. The more I see, the more excited it makes me, and hell, if both Anelka and Drogba are saying they’re happy with it – let’s stick to it. Sometimes Didier just looked too lonely up front, and having a fellow French-speaker right by his side would only suit them both.
I’m done, bring on United, and I hope we beat them 3-0 :>Posted from
United States
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Well said Charlie…Am I the only one who is against the signing of Pirlo? I mean he was class a couple of years ago, but he just looks like another Deco to me.
Posted from
United States -
You’re not the only one ph0bolus. No Pirlo — and, really, no Deco. We need a pair of young central mids to go with an impact right-sided player. Hopefully we can solve the later before the end of the window.
Posted from
United States -
Say “No!” to Pirlo. Chelsea are forgetting their first transfer target, David Villa. And now that Barcelona and Madrid are out of the race (after acquiring Ibrahimovic and Benzema respectfully) it is open for the Blues to bid as much (or as little [without offending the club and lad]) as they want. Also as Jack said, we need a right sided player as soon as possible! I am not ready to see Anelka play there again if Joe Cole gets another injury. Finally a young midfielder. Although we do have an amazing midfield in my opinion, they are all aging really quickly. Snap up Fabian Delph from Leeds for a cool 10 million pounds and he is yours. Take a look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyFfb9JhWHM
Posted from
United States -
Lol…Fabian Delph!!! Well, he scored some amazingly nice goals against those seemingly very weak opponents who gave him so much space to run, dribble and even time to shoot freely. But I am not impressed with the fact that in his 44 appearances at Leeds,since 2006, he has only scored 6 goals.
He is young though but I doubt any immediate impact now.
We don’t need Pirlo, Chelsea needs an excellent STRIKER.
Drogba missed so many easy goals in the Champions League against Barca. Charlie has also pointed out that we missed countless opportunies and could not convert. We need a clinical striker! If we can’t get any big names strikers, then I would love Huntelaar from Real Madrid, instead and he will be very cheap.Posted from
United States -
@ Chelsea:
I know those teams he played against are really weak but here are just some reasons I think he would be a good signing.
1. He is a midfielder and is not required to score many goals… unless you’re Lampard of course! (So 6 goals isn’t that bad)
2. He is only 19
3. Dubbed as one of England’s hottest prospects
4. On the Radar of both Wenger and Ferguson, and I think [although we hate to admit it] the Scott and the Wenger have always been good at signing young players and prospects.
5. Leeds already have rejected an offer from Arsenal that was about 6 million pounds.
Anyways, we do need a striker like we have all been yearning for since the beginning of the transfer season, but what I am saying is that if we get that striker and a right sided midfielder then I think this guy would be an added value!Posted from
United States
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