Chelsea's New Year disaster

Marko Marin of Chelsea

After an unbeatable run of 7 matches in all competition at the end of 2012, the Blues’ start to 2013 was quite bad. In their first match of the new year, Chelsea suffered a loss to Queens Park Rangers at Stamford Bridge, which almost ended their Premier League title hopes. It was must-win game to put pressure on the two Manchester clubs. Interim manager Rafael Benitez gave Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Ashley Cole a break so that Marko Marin, Oscar and Ryan Bertrand got a chance to play in the first team. Since number 1 Petr Cech got injured in the Everton game, Ross Turnbull was in the Blues’ goal.

Chelsea were at their worst right from kick off. They lacked pace and possession throughout the first half. An early 4th minute challenge by Marko Marin on Mbia was really enough to make Chelsea a ten-man army, but the referee took only a yellow card from his pocket. The Blues however failed to take advantage of that, and as usual, Torres was terrible up front. He was really out-of-position when Marin cleverly won the ball from midfield and sprinted forward. Ryan Bertrand was not as clever in his play as left-back regular Ashley Cole, which limited the left wing crosses to a minimum. He made some errors, but they were corrected smartly by central defender Ivanovic. Like previous matches, Ivanovic and Cahill again proved that they are the perfect combination available in the Blues’ defending department. Their solid performance limited the shots that Chelsea faced, but Ivanovic also tried a number of poor shots up front and wasted chances.

Chelsea started the 2nd half quite brilliantly. They won some corner kicks, with Ivanovic getting 2 free headers, but he failed to convert them to goals. On the other end, a brilliant shot from Granero was well saved by Turnbull. But it was slightly his mistake that led to the winning goal from QPR. When Wright-Philips got to the ball, our No. 22 was quite out-of-position. Substitutions of Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Ramires for Marko Marin, Victor Moses and captain Frank Lampard were made in the 2nd half, but didn’t change the result.

Points to be note after match:

1. Chelsea cannot afford to lose Ashley Cole as long as they buy another proven left back.

2. Chelsea need a goal-scoring striker to cope with Manchester clubs.

3. Marko Marin should be placed in first team by replacing Oscar (Since the Brazilian is sometimes selfish in his play).

4. Cech is a very important Chelsea player.

5. Ryan Bertrand can’t combine attacking and defending at the same time.

6. Thibaut Courtois should be there with the team from the next season.