A first, albeit unconvincing, win of the season means that the Blues have now amassed exactly the same number of points (4) as they did from the same exact fixtures (Swansea home, Man City away and West Brom away) last season. It also means that Jose Mourinho has gotten his first points in his third game against a side managed by Tony Pulis (Crystal Palace and West Brom), which was reflected by his celebrations at the final whistle.
Despite the unconvincing score line, there some positives to take home, none more than the excellent performance of new signing Pedro Rodriguez (I owe him an apology for the article I wrote claiming Chelsea did not need him!). Here are my reflections on a nail-biting, nerve-racking game:
Next: Pedro the Star
Pedro Excelencia!
A goal, an assist, 3 clear-cut chances created, first win of the season… there are few better ways to begin your journey at a new club! I had earlier written an article about why Chelsea do not need Pedro, but it feels really good to admit that I may have got it all wrong (although things could still go downhill from here).
Now it would be easy to dwell on how impressive he was on the pitch, but I would leave that to others to talk about (there will definitely be a lot written about how well he performed). Instead I would prefer to touch on the key area where he was able to improve the team.
Eden Hazard has struggled to recreate his performances from last season, not due to any real fault of his, but mainly because of the attention he has been receiving from opposing players.
Unfortunately, no other player has been able to step up offensively to help take away some of the pressure he has had to deal with (Oscar has struggled with fitness issues, Willian has been all work and no end product, and Cuadrado…), that is until Pedro came into play! The first goal was pure Hazard brilliance, receiving a pass from Pedro and drawing 3 players to himself before releasing it back to Pedro to score.
The second came after Hazard drew the attention of 2 players, allowing Pedro’s low cross to go across goal to an unmarked Costa at the far post. It seems that Chelsea may have finally found a player that can help take away the pressure from Hazard.
Next: Willian and Ivanovic
Willian and Branislav Ivanovic
Pedro’s performance down the right flank also made 2 things clear: Chelsea fans have been short-changed by Willian! His industry, work rate and dribbling ability have earned him the admiration of both the fans and Jose Mourinho, but 8 goals and 5 assists in 2 seasons at Chelsea paints a clearly different picture.
Pedro scored from his only shot at goal… Willian hit the target with only one of his 3 shots (one from a clear-cut chance set up by Pedro himself). Pedro reached a Chelsea player with all his attempted crosses, an area Willian has failed to improve on. Pedro created 3 clear-cut chances… Willian created none!
Willian has seen off competition from De Bruyne, Mata, Schurrle and Cuadrado, but it will be intriguing to see if he can survive the arrival of Pedro, especially if Oscar is able to shake off his fitness issues and regain the form that convinced Mourinho to sell Juan Mata.
Ivanovic doesn’t deserve the 2-year contract he is clamouring for! He has had a torrid time since the season commenced and has clearly not shaken off the effects of the torture he was subjected to by Jefferson Montero.
While he has improved the attacking side of his game over the past 2 seasons (although he still cannot cross even if his life depended on it), the pressures of combining that with his defensive responsibilities had been too much for him as he isn’t blessed with a lot of pace.
With Pedro ahead of him, he wasn’t asked to bomb forward as often as he is prone to, yet he was still given a torrid time by Chris Brunt, and later Callum McManaman (when Pulis finally figured out that the midfielder’s pace and trickery was being wasted on Azpilicueta). Baba Rahman’s signing couldn’t have come at a better time!
Next: John Terry No More?
Captain, Leader, Legend… History?
The major talking point from Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat to Man City last weekend was Mourinho’s decision to take John Terry off at half-time (which apparently was the first time Mourinho had made such a move in the 177 matches John Terry had started under him).
Many claimed the move was just another mind-game/strategy by Jose to indicate to the board that defensive re-enforcements were needed in a bid to push the club to make proactive steps to sign his preferred target, Everton’s John Stones. Some pundits even tried to make it look like Mourinho had shown a lack of respect for Terry’s years of service to the club (like he isn’t being paid big bucks to do the job!).
Sunday’s game against West Brom was the clearest indication that Terry’s substitution against Man City was mainly performance related! Zouma was clearly mandated to mark out West Brom’s lone striker, Salomon Rondon (I cannot express how grateful I am that Saido Berahino was not selected to play the game!), which he carried out to good effect (more on that later…). But the few times Rondon managed to isolate Terry, he set up the first goal and was later fouled by Terry when through on goal, forcing the referee to issue a red card to the Chelsea captain.
Chelsea have been criticised for their tendency to park the bus at the slightest opportunity, but it is clear from the start of this season that Mourinho is trying to get the team to play more expansively to utilise the team’s attacking strength and only use the tactics when really necessary. Playing expansively entails the Blues pushing higher up the pitch to close the distance between attack and defence.
Unfortunately, this is an area where Terry’s key weakness becomes exposed… his lack of recovery pace… and it has come to play in every game the Blues have played so far… Gomis against West Ham, Aguero against Man City and Rondon against West Brom.
Terry is a master at anticipating opposition players and his positioning helps him mop up developing chance situations before they become threatening. But he is only effective when the team backline plays closer to goal and he has adequate cover in front of him.
Since Fabregas isn’t defensively adept and Matic has become too cocky for his own good, Terry has been left exposed to the onslaught of attacking players and he has suffered a lot. The three match ban may just be the tonic to push Abramovich so sanction the signing of John Stones.
Next: Tactical Discipline
Tactical Discipline
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher claimed that Fabregas lacks tactical discipline in the aftermath of Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat to Man City, and it is hard to argue with him. He is just behind Eden Hazard in terms of creativity, but as a central midfielder, he is also expected to fulfil his defensive responsibilities by protecting Ivanovic and Cahill down the right. This is one aspect of his game he has failed to master as he keeps getting drawn to the ball, leaving his area exposed.
Nemanja Matic was probably the best defensive midfielder in the EPL last season, but he hasn’t hit the ground running this season. And he didn’t fair an better on Sunday. He was caught ball-watching twice as Morrison scored both of his goals and his rash challenge inside the 18-yard box on the excellent McManaman (who was actually moving out of the box when he was caught by Matic) earned West Brom a penalty (which, thankfully, was saved by Courtois!)
He was even fortunate not have gotten sent off after he caught Rondon in the face with his elbow when already on a booking. But on Sunday, there was one player whom both Fabregas and Matic may learn a thing or 2 from about tactical discipline… Kurt Zouma. He was clearly mandated by Mourinho to man mark Rondon and he carried it out with his typical aplomb. Zouma was all over the West Brom frontman, especially after Terry was sent off, and rarely strayed too far away from him.
Unlike the first 2 games where Gomis and Aguero had easy one-on-one chances to score, his perfect positioning, aerial ability and recovery pace made it difficult for Rondon to capitalise on the long balls West Brom tried to play to him.
Terry’s red card guarantees that Zouma will start Chelsea’s next three games (if Stones doesn’t join before the window closes), but on evidence of Sunday’s performance, he may have played himself into contention, red card or not!
Next: Thibaut Courtois
Thibaut Courtois
By saving James Morrison’s penalty on Sunday, the 23-year old Belgian may just have redeemed himself after his foul on Gomis earned him a red-card and Swansea the equalising goal on the first matchday of the season. I can only imagine how difficult things may have been for the Blues if Morrison’s straight penalty hadn’t been saved by the feet of Courtois.
The Chelsea goalkeeper, along with Victor Moses, was one of the best players in preseason, and he clearly used the experience to improve on his penalty saving skills after helping the Blues to 2 penalty shoot-out victories against PSG and Barcelona. He may have failed to keep a clean sheet in his 2 appearances this season, but anyone would be hard-pressed to find an area where he was at fault for any of the 3 goals he has conceded.
With improvements in defence expected as the season progresses (we are talking about Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea… the shambolic defending will definitely come to an end sooner rather than later!), Courtois may just be one of the key players for the Blues this season, especially with a top goalkeeper like Asmir Begovic breathing down his neck.
Next: Chelsea FC 3-2 West Brom Player Ratings