Chelsea 4-1 Cardiff City; Blues struggle to win as Mourinho is sent off

Chelsea moved to 2nd place in the Barclays Premier League table after a rather nervy 4-1 win against a bogey Cardiff side. While the scoreline may suggest otherwise, Chelsea were stretched considerably by Malky Mackay’s side over the 90 minutes and 4-1 is just blowing the Chelsea performance out of proportion. The Blues had an off day but some monumental blunders by Cardiff keeper Marshall helped the home team gain the upper hand, late in the second half.

This match had everything in it from howlers to belters, but the one which beats em’ all is the sending off of Jose Mourinho. The Chelsea manager was instructed to leave the dugout after a furious rant at the referee, by the Portuguese. The fans in that section of the stands had an unforgettable experience as they celebrated their team’s win with ‘The Special One’. Some improvisation from the Stamford Bridge crowd brought out a new chant line for their manager, ‘He sits where he wants…’.

Mourinho was confident with his team as he confessed of preparing for the game before the international break, and it was to be an easy ride for the Blues with a seemingly lowly opposition in Cardiff. Surprisingly, Chelsea struggled to weave successful string of passes into a meaningful attack in the first half. Cardiff looked dangerous at times, but statistically, it was the home team leading the way.

Oscar scored a wonderful goal to put the game to bed.

There wasn’t much life in the match in terms of tactics but there surely were plenty of talking points which bring out many deficiencies in the current Chelsea side, and some positives too. Lets first take on the negatives.

Ref Anthony Taylor and Co. get the beating

It was a disastrous day for the referee team at Stamford bridge as they got a few key decisions wrong, ones which could have had impact on the game. The first one was, spotting of the Cardiff keeper handling the ball outside the D box, which the linesman didn’t as he was way off his pace to keep up with the play. Keeper David Marshall caught the ball outside the box as the Chelsea players closed in on him, but he was told to continue with the game rather than being sent off for such a clear offense. With a man down, it would have been almost impossible for Cardiff to maintain the scoreline at 1-0, and Chelsea would have had a field day.

When Chelsea were trailing, Samuel Eto’o nicked the ball from the grasp of David Marshall as he was bouncing it. The referee ordered the play to continue and Eden Hazard scored the equalizer in that move. According to the rule book, the goalkeeper cannot be challenged while bouncing the ball as it points to him having the ball under his control. But the referee Taylor, had other ideas. Cardiff manager Mackay was critical of this decision in the post-match interview.

The third act of Taylor was to send Mourinho to the stands. The Chelsea manager was furious at the Taylor when he ordered Ivanovic to take the throw without wasting time. Mourinho was arguing about the time wasted by Cardiff till that point in the match, and was eventually sent off.

David Luiz needs to apply his head

The Brazilian might have been the most exciting defender Chelsea or even the English League had for a long time, but one cannot ignore his repeated concentration lapses on the field. The sole Cardiff goal was a gift handed on a plate by Luiz as he chose to leave the ball for an unready Petr Cech to handle and an onrushing Jordan Mutch was completely ignored. It was an example of pure carelessness on part of Luiz, an attribute which he must learn to eradicate.

Luiz might be a saint off the pitch, but he needs turn on his battle face on the pitch and play sensibly

He didn’t make amends after that incident, but put his team in more jeopardy by getting booked for a cynical foul. He was very fortunate to escape a second yellow, as Mourinho was animated on the touchline screaming at his player to calm down. Chelsea have the second best defensive record after Southampton this season, but such blunders from defenders will force Mourinho to think twice on his first team choices. With some key games against Schalke, Man City and Arsenal coming up, Luiz has to lift his game and justify his manager’s confidence in him.

Ivanovic too had a subdued game at rightback. His crossing and passing were wayward and he was not his usual self defending crosses or set pieces. Mourinho has been using the Serbian majorly for his height advantage in set pieces, but the recent spell of bad performances from Ivanovic will see him fall behind Azpilicueta in the pecking order. In Contrast, the other two defenders, John Terry and Ryan Bertrand were the strong points in defense. The string of solid displays from John Terry this season highlights the sheer persistence and character, after a tumultuous last season.

The need for a proper holding midfielder

Chelsea have Essien and Mikel in the mold of a CDM, but none of them have been used properly this season. Instead, Ramires and Lampard were the midfield duo in almost every Chelsea match till date this season. In this match, the selection of this duo made life difficult for their own team. Neither of Lampard or Ramires is a pure holding midfielder, and they lack in some attributes individually, respectively. While, such a midfield, which can be called a floating one, is useful when the opponents park the bus, it spelled doom for Chelsea here.

Ramires and Lampard might have had assists in their bag, but they were the most ineffective players of the Chelsea lot other than David Luiz. The tactics of Cardiff played a crucial role in this. Mackay ordered his strikers to occupy the Chelsea midfield, and not pressure the defenders much. As a result, Lampard and Ramires were man marked all the time by the Cardiff strikers. This completely wiped out the Chelsea midfield and forced the defenders to play long balls, which Cardiff were more than happy to defend. Juan Mata and Willian dropped very deep from their attacking positions to create a spare man in midfield, but this too was not much effective in terms of linking the defense and attack. Oscar might have done a better job.

The passing charts of Lampard and Ramires add to this argument as we can observe, most of their passes have been sideways or back to their defenders and the number of forward passes are very few. Another problem created by this floating mid concept is the amount of space available for the wide players and strikers of the opposition to run into. When Oscar is not on the pitch, there is no one covering for the attacking advances of Lampard and Ramires, leaving behind glaring holes to exploit. Cardiff tried to do just that, as they punted in long balls into the space just ahead of the Chelsea defenders, asking them to move out of position to challenge. Surprisingly, neither of the Chelsea center-backs came for the aerial balls and left the midfielders to deal with them. The following chart shows how often Cardiff tried to put the ball in that area. They were not fully successful, but when they managed to win the aerials, they ended up having a good scoring opportunity.

Chelsea need a player who can screen the back 4 and pick out his teammates with long balls effectively. At the moment, Mikel, who has been erratic in his long passing, offers very less in attacking transitions. So, Mourinho is using Frank Lampard in that deep role and sacrificing the ‘screening of the back 4? part. It appears as though the manager will not be changing his midfield anytime in the near future, and Chelsea will look wobbly and susceptible to counter in almost every match. Moving on to the positives.

Samuel Eto’o has his best game in Chelsea shirt till date

The Cameroonian was a completely different player from the last time he started a game for Chelsea. The international break would have helped Eto’o to settle into his rhythm and get used to the English weather. He finished off his good performance with a textbook finish low in the corner. Eto’o involved himself into play constantly as he made runs into channels and dragged the Cardiff defenders with him. He often dropped back from his striker position to link up play and was often seen lurking on the left wing of Chelsea.

Mourinho masters the substitutions again!

When Chelsea were looking drab at around 60 minute mark, Mourinho changed his team’s system to 3-5-2 by bringing on Fernando Torres for Ryan Bertrand. Straight away the Blues were exposed to a Cardiff counter, which they managed to defend. Immediately on the other end, it was Samuel Eto’o scoring his first Chelsea goal after some neat interplay between Oscar and Hazard and the Belgian put Eto’o through. While the goal might have come in the aftermath of a corner, It was evident that Cardiff were confused for a while with the sudden overloads created by Chelsea with the formation change.

After going into the lead, Mourinho immediately changed the system back to 4-2-3-1 as Cesar Azpilicueta came on for Eto’o. The Spanish defender slotted in at left back. Be it luck or pure genius, Jose’s changes have been productive this season, yielding crucial goals at crunch times. Having such a back up plan is always a must when competing on many fronts. As the new Chelsea evolves, Mourinho will be working on creating that unique image to the team’s style of play.

Man of the Match: Eden Hazard, Goal of the Match: Oscar

Eden Hazard was the best player on the pitch by a mile, Eto’o probably was the closest. Hazard managed 2 goals and an assist in a display which would convince his manager to start him on a regular basis. He didn’t start the match well, similar to his team, but grew into the match as the clock ticked. His interplay with Eto’o was the best striker-winger partnership Chelsea had this season. They complemented each other with their positioning and helped each other with the goals.

In this match, Hazard was hugging the touchline more rather than drifting inwards. This offered a passing outlet from the back for Chelsea. He took on Cardiff defenders with his mercurial dribbles and forced David Marshall into some good saves. Hazard’s defensive side of the game seemed to have improved as he tacked back to provide cover for Ryan Bertrand. Oscar, who came on for Mata, scored a beautiful goal from outside the box in the 78th minute. This goal pretty much guaranteed a Chelsea win. On a day which had some mind-blowing goals scored by Wilshere, Cavani and Ibrahimovic, Oscar’s goal stands right up there among them.