What went wrong for Chelsea against Newcastle?

Has some thinking to do.

A routine win for Chelsea is what most pundits and everyone expected but Newcastle managed to pull off one of the most surprising results in the league this week. Jose still hasn’t beaten Newcastle at St James’ Park in his time in the premier league.

The first half was lacklustre with the only exciting part being Terry’s header that hit the post. Chelsea just switched off in the second half and were duly punished by a clinical performance by the Magpies.

Here are five reasons why I think Newcastle won it, more like five reasons why Chelsea lost it.

1. Chelsea’s supply to Torres in the first half was poor. Maybe the Magpies defended well but with the quality Chelsea have on display, they should have managed to get something through. It was poor from the trio behind Torres.
2. The Chelsea pivot, Lampard and Ramires had a poor game. Lampard’s distribution was abysmal and should have been replaced sooner by Jose. Ramirez had an uncharacteristic bad game and also was booked for dissent to round it off.
3. Chelsea’s reluctance to cross was simply surprising. With all the talk about the resurgence of Torres and all, you really expect more of those hopeful crosses hooked in for the Spaniard to give it a shot. He is decent in the air but in this game he wasn’t even given a chance to prove that.
4. The defence. Luiz had a typical game, trying ambitious balls and trying too hard really. To his credit he did get a few right but being the last line of defence you have to be more reliable. The first goal was a free header at a comfortable height for Gouffran and he managed to sneak behind Terry which is simply unacceptable.
5. This one is on Mourinho. On the back of a hat trick for his country and a goal against Manchester City Andre Schurrle should have played. Mata did play well but he doesn’t have the same versatility the German offers. Mata lacks pace and whenever the trio behind the striker switched and Mata played in the wings he looked out of place. And Oscar too isn’t really the fastest and had a hard time on the wings.

Well it doesn’t seem all that complicated does it ? Terry and Cahill are the two best center backs the club has and should play more often together. Lampard is being overused, he isn’t very young anymore. Luiz or Mikel should play more often instead in midfield or he should try Oscar who does have the ability to play deep. With Schurrle in the squad and Mourinho’s style of play it makes sense to play two quick wingers and a number ten in the pocket in between. Mata does not qualify as a quick winger, yes he did play as a winger in la Liga for Valencia but after Silva left he flourished in the number ten role.

It is an early setback. The season is long and Chelsea are still in the running for the title but they won’t be if they keep dropping points against teams that are not in the top six in the table. The current Chelsea lot are a strong unit but I feel Mourinho is undone by his problem of plenty. Once he sorts it out Chelsea will be a well oiled machine running over anything in their path.