Wigan 0-2 Chelsea - Three points, but Chelsea can do better!

I may be speaking out of turn here and I apologise to people if I am, but to me Chelsea‘s game against Wigan wasn’t great at all. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good start to the campaign with three points in the bag, but apart from a couple of glimpses of magic, Chelsea could have been better overall.

Wigan are a hard working side and caused us plenty of problems. Di Matteo needs to work hard with our defensive shape. If Wigan had taken their chances, this could have been a score draw just like last season.

If Chelsea are to put together a serious challenge for the league, they probably know that they need to play better. Yes, I am aware of the fact that at times you need to grind out results and when you aren’t playing well and you manage it, then fair enough.

At times some of our play was really good but I have to say only at times. Once again we seemed to be too slow in releasing the ball or moving it forward and played into Wigan’s hands.

Eden Hazard is making all the headlines this morning, but I have to be honest and think that apart from the two goals that he played a part in, his influence became less and less. Maybe because of the way we were playing, but I understood why RDM took him off. His job was done.

Being 2-0 up after six or seven minutes and after seeing just how well we had changed defence into attack for the opening goal, moving the ball forward at pace, I thought we could really kick on and beat Wigan by four or five but it never really happened, did it?

I am trying to calm myself down here and to remember that it’s only one game but we seriously need to get some things sorted.

I like the fact that RDM went with Ryan Bertrand in front of Ashley Cole as they both work well together and covered each other. You do have to ask whether or not this will continue, but they both had good games.

One thing I did notice was how much Juan Mata and Eden Hazard continued to rotate positions throughout the game. Hazard started on the right but would then pop up in the middle behind Torres with Mata wide right and so on.

It’s early days but you could see the potential we have in attacking areas.

Hazard’s turn and pass to Ivanovic was superb as he left the defender for dead. In beating his man and drawing the foul for the penalty showed us what he is capable of and it will be exciting to watch in the coming matches.

I was pleased to see Oscar come on and he was industrious on the field. The run onto the Torres flick showed us he has pace to burn and the finish wasn’t quite there but the signs are more than good. His late one two with Ivanovic on the edge of the box was another moment to savour as finally we have someone else who can unlock the door. It was just a shame that Ivanovic’s pull back missed out everyone including Fernando Torres.

As for Torres, he was busy as usual. Playing on his own against three at the back is difficult but he kept at it and was unlucky not to score after running onto a Bertrand header. He managed to stay on his feet and flick the ball past the keeper only to have the ball cleared off the line.

Torres will get chances in every game so I am not worried about goals at all.

It’s just our defensive shape at the moment. We have to move on from last season and get higher up the pitch. We were happy to give Wigan possession and we ended up right back to the edge of our box with Lampard and Mikel playing in deep positions.

No offence, but this is Wigan and if someone like Man City or United were allowed to do that, they could pull us apart easily.

As always in games, there are plenty of positives and negatives to take from it. The main thing is that we have the three points in the bag in a difficult trip away and at the end of the day, it’s all that matters.

However, I expect better next time out!