Quick Recap: How impressive was that?
By: Jack | July 22nd, 2009The Special One’s Inter Milan was dire, no question.
But Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea? They were quite impressive during Tuesday’s decisive 2-0 win in Pasadena.
Again, Carlo broke out the 4-1-2-1-2 formation and, again, the result was a tidy attacking performance. The movement, the passing, the control, the speed of play … it was all just so fluid. In fact, it was more silky than Chelsea fan Will Ferrell’s mustache in Anchorman.
Mourinho probaly needed a whole heck of a lot of scotchy, scotch, scotch after what really was a miserable outing from Inter. Balotelli, in particular, looks appalling. The so-called next thang thang, huh? I guess the next thing is gar-bage.
Shout outs
Deco. Again the old man proved he’s not entirely useless. I’d gauge he’s got a future at Stamford Bridge following two quality displays. His passing and workrate have certainly risen to another level since last season’s close.
Di Santo. Again, the kid shows up — and doesn’t score despite looking the part. Santo exudes this calm that I just love; he looks so comfortable out there.
Drogba. Looks fitter than he did at anytime last season. About to ink a new deal. All-around good news there.
Anelka/Sturridge. Appear a lethal pairing. Anelka may have gained a step in pace — nuts at his age. Sturridge looks an amazing fit.
Dumb downs
Kalou. New position, same old Kalou. Will this guy’s touch ever get better?
Narrowness. A minor issue, due to the diamond. Malouda found himself in a central position, or entering a central position looking for the ball, a number of times. Again, this is a slight worry, one I think we may well not need to address. After all, Carlo won the CL with this formation.
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Tags: Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea Team News, Deco, Didier Drogba, Fixtures, Inter Milan, Jose Mourinho, Match ReportsSubscribe
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Comments | Add your comment
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Great post mate, a lot of your analysis was spot on. I too noticed both Essien and Malouda continually playing centrally. While this may work with the marking system of the Italian game, I’m a bit worried about the lack of width and how it will play in the Premiership. However, I think that with the likes of Ashley Cole and Bosingwa as our fullbacks, they could easily provide that width. Ashley was easily one of the best performers last night, and he provided a lot of the width we needed. Also with 2 strikers it’s always easy to allow one to roam a bit to provide width, while the other plays the centrally based target man.
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United States
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Good stuff CFCalex. I think we’ll be fine as well.
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United States -
I never normally worry about pre-season results but it was good to get one over Jose. Apparently he refused to do post match interviews including speaking to Inter TV.
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http://www.twitter.com/southernlaticPosted from
United Kingdom -
I felt more pity for Jose than anything. He seems clearly disappointed with his lot at Inter. I foresee that match will inspire Carvalho and Deco to perform at their highest caliber this season. The Champion’s League relies on too much luck to predict confidently, but the league is ours this year. Sturridge to have an exceptional second half of the season. And I don’t think we really need any more signings; the team is strong enough if everyone remains healthy. A player like Pato, however, would be always welcome.
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United States -
am impressed wit the team so far but,i think we can still do better.and i hope carlo can hold the team up all tru the season.and also work on drogba’s sometimes nonchalant attitude.
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United States -
Lol, how many times did I say “width” in that post, sorry about that.
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United States -
Good result for Chelsea, I still think we have a big signing in us this summer as well!
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Nice result, I admit, but I can’t help fearing that Carlo will run into the same mistake that Scolari did. At first sight playing fluid, attacking, attracting game, then later… But I hope not.
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The difference with Carlo, Harry, is he’s already running quality training sessions — that’s why Super Frank said at least. That was a key to Scolari’s downfall, lax sessions and subsequently lax fitness.
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I’m weary of a lack of width too, despite having good results in pre-season. The year that Shevchenko and Ballack came in and Jose started using a narrower formation instead of a 4-3-3 flying wings (having lost Arjen Robben and Damien Duff to other teams and Joe Cole to injury) is when we started seeing problems. That and we traded Gallas for A. Cole which I was convinced was a poor trade until last season when A. Cole was amazing throughout.
Someone above me mentioned having Boswingwa and A. Cole to take care of width. It’s a good point, but it’s also worth mentioning that if you rely too heavily on fullbacks for width it can really expose your back line to counter attacks. If A. Cole or Bosingwa gets caught high in an attack we’re exposed at the back – teams like Liverpool who excel at counter-attacks because of players like Gerrard and Torres can be mighty fearsome against non-set back lines. And while I trust Bosingwa and A. Cole not to get caught out of position, sometimes, its not their fault. You never know when a bad touch will let down Kalou (correction: yeah you do, all the time) and lead a huge counter-charge.
Speaking of Joe Cole…is he due back this season or what is the deal? I love that man and he hasn’t featured for the team for some time now.
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Sturridge looked lethal, might be one of the best pick ups of the transfer window. Di Santo was class as well.
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Finn, Joey had surgery on a torn meniscus. He’s out for at least a month.
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United States -
i knew there was something unsettling about Will Ferrell ..
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Canada
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