There seemed to be a bit of an air of panic amongst some supporters after yesterday’s game although what the big deal is two games in when the players clearly haven’t got into their stride yet (yes Alex, I’m thinking of you here) is beyond me.
Turning it on its head, last season we got off to a screaming start and tailed off badly, this season we’ve come in with a whimper but at least that gives AVB plenty of scope for improvement – and I’m sure he’ll address it. Clearly we have the odd player with fitness issues, maybe one or two more who lack clarity about where there season lies, not to mention players still to come in – why the panic?
Ok, we were bloody woeful in the first half, the absence of Petr Cech always gives our defence the jitters and without his usual match-fitness, Alex would probably have preferred not to come up against Shane Long 20 yards from goal (he certainly looked like he didn’t fancy more than a jog anyway) but at least the Chelsea manager was paying attention.
With our midfield offering nothing and any attacks we put together about as clinical as a rubber scalpel, AVB hauled off Salomon Kalou – to a chorus of embarrassing boos unfortunately but then some of our supporters have never been known for their benevolence. The boos continued as the players came off for a much welcomed half-time break, well done Chelsea, as patient as ever!
The Chelsea manager must have been a bit more constructive with his half-time feedback though because there was a definite improvement in the second half. No, we weren’t suddenly transformed into Barcelona, more Bolton if I’m honest, but we dug in and played with a bit more urgency. Nicolas Anelka, who for me was one of our better players on the day, put us level on 53 minutes with a tidy goal from a tight angle and from there, a second goal always looked to be coming.
Torres, again without the sort of service to turn a lively enough perfomance into a goal scoring one came off for Drogba just short of an hour in although to be fair, the Ivorian then put in no more than an understudy’s shift. Ivanovic replaced the sluggish Alex on 66 and Florent Malouda took away 83 minutes of agony with a tap in to win it.
So, not exactly a game to remember but in spite of the questions asked, like any decent manager Andre Villas-Boas got a win out of us when we’re far from at our best and with more options available to him in the coming weeks, a bit more patience from the boo-boys is probably called for.
TEAMS
CHELSEA: Hilario, Cole, Bosingwa, Terry, Alex (Ivanovic, 66), Ramires, Lampard, Mikel, Torres (Drogba, 59), Kalou (Malouda, 35), Anelka.
Unused Subs: Turnball, Ferreira, Benayoun, McEachran
WEST BROM: Foster, Olsson, Shorey, Tamas, Tchoyi (Odemwingie, 75), Morrison, Brunt, Reid, Mulumbu (Dorrans, 87), Scharner, Long
Unused subs: Fulop, Cech, Jara, McAuley, Cox
Blue is the colour
