Chelsea FC: Sacrificing efficiency at the altar of elegance

LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 19: John Obi Mikel of Chelsea is tackled by Claudio Marchisio of Juventus during the UEFA Champions League Group E match between Chelsea and Juventus at Stamford Bridge on September 19, 2012 in London, England.

Hello Readers, This is my first ever club-oriented article, please do pardon any hints of insult, for they are nothing but honest opinions of an unbiased Chelsea fan.

I’m not sure how I should start this, so I’ll just cut to the chase, Chelsea are less efficient. Period. Gone are the days when they could knock the stuffing out of Barcelona and Bayern Munich, which incidentally isn’t a long lost tale, but rather one which took place in May, hardly five months ago, and over 80 million pounds have been spent since then, making them much better on paper. Eden Hazard showed promising skills, and still looks to be the next ‘Big Thing’ in the English Premier League. Oscar showed his class in our match against Juventus last night, netting two goals in as many minutes. Yet, they tied against a lowly QPR, a Juventus, which although impressive, wasn’t unassailable, lost to a Manchester City, which could be excused, and got absolutely pummeled to within inches of their lives by an extremely un- fancied Atletico Madrid (at least on the European Scene).

Warning signs of some sort? Hardly, their warning signs arrived in their disastrous pre-season friendlies, after which they had time for improvisation. Did they improvise? They may have tried out some new stuff, but their report card does not lie.

Clearly, something is very wrong with the current Chelsea team. There is no dearth of talent (or money), yet, they aren’t able to deliver what has come to be expected of the reigning ‘Kings of Europe’. It could be my paranoia showing, since my expectations from Chelsea are the same as those of a five-year-old from his FIFA 13 team, but it could just as easily be a very real scenario. Their defense isn’t leaking goals (not counting the Falcao incident), it’s their offense that is unable to ‘Stand and Deliver’.

LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 19: Fabio Quagliarella of Juventus has a shot at goal during the UEFA Champions League Group E match between Chelsea and Juventus at Stamford Bridge on September 19, 2012 in London, England.

Chelsea’s Champions League winning tactics were simple, not one inducing an utter bamboozle-ment in a football fan unaware of tactics and formations. Stay at the back, draw the others to yourself, Tango with them and run like the wind if you get the ball. Yes, I’m talking about the [in]famous ‘Bus’. One of the most hated and result oriented tactics, it simply bored the socks off of people who wanted to see Chelsea strikers in action, barring the 30 seconds of glory each one had when they found the back of the net. My point is, why is it that Chelsea and Abramovic are after ‘beautiful football’? Are a Multi- billionaire businessman and a Champions league winning coach immature enough to have their better judgments clouded by public opinion? They shouldn’t be, but it seems comments like the ones from Johan Cruyff (“I’d rather not win the Champions league, than win it the way Chelsea have”) have, unfortunately for the Chelsea faithful.

I’m neither promoting nor condoning the ‘Bus’, all I know is that it worked. What I want is my team to succeed, just like any other fan. And if we are to follow the ‘Hook’ if not the ‘Crook’, we must go back to our bus days. Our attacking line-up simply isn’t firing like it should. Call it bad luck, or lack of form, Torres still isn’t playing as well as he did with a Red jersey on. Hazard impressed everyone, but choked in crucial matches. Oscar isn’t being given much priority, while the rest aren’t anywhere near the score sheet. Our tactics seem to have reversed completely from the ‘Bus’ days. Instead of a team sitting at the back and making runs, we now have defenders scoring goals and strikers punching the ground in frustration.

LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 19: Fabio Quagliarella of Juventus has a shot at goal during the UEFA Champions League Group E match between Chelsea and Juventus at Stamford Bridge on September 19, 2012 in London, England.

Since when did playing to one’s strengths become a crime? And as for the ‘boring’ bit, no, I found the bus equally exciting (we ALL scream and jump when someone takes a promising shot on goal, regardless of the team). If you like watching football, you must have yelled in delight every single time Barcelona or Bayern attempted to find the back of the net, so where’s the boring bit? Our attacking lineup has incredible speed in the likes of Hazard, Torres and Ramires, so why are we not utilizing our resources? It is indeed time they did what Barcelona did, not giving two hoots to the jealous rivals condemning their own style, going forth and giving it their best possible shot.

KTBFFH!!