Chelsea’s Devastating Home Defeat Revives Rivals’ Title Hopes

Today, at Stamford Bridge, we found out just how important really Petr Cech is for Chelsea. The myth that Chelsea is different than the others teams from the Big Four when it comes to the presence of more than one key players in the quad was screamingly busted.

We witnessed just how important the role of the imposing goal keeper of Chelsea is, just how much influence he has on the defense, and how different the team looks without his presence.

Mancester City played it really smart. They used counter-attacks.

In one of those, it was diminutive Carloz Tevez who scored to level the earlier opener of Frank Lampard. The first half was Chelsea’s; well, at least when it came to statistics.

Not much time passed after the second half had resumed and another illogical thing happened: Craig Bellamy took full advantage of his speed on yet another counter-attack by the Blues (light blues) and made Cech’s unfortunate substitute Henrique Hilario look bad for the second time in the match.

Petr Cech’s substitution should have done better—there was no doubt.

Seventy-six minutes of statistic-defying ended when Juliano Belletti deservedly earned a red card by tripping Gareth Barry inside the penalty box. He was the last man – a red card was mandatory. Tevez further strained the nerves of the Chelsea players by materializing the penalty—3:1 for Manchester City.

The final part of the match was basically a demonstration of frustration and inability by the Chelsea side to counter the unfavorable fate that befell them on the day.

Michael Ballack’s nerves gave way, earning him another red, after a hack on double-scorer Carlos Tevez which brought the desperation of his team-mates to a maximum. It was then absolutely logical for Manchester City to score a fourth. Bellamy was the one who did it.

In the end, Mike Dean decided that two red cards were too much and presented Chelsea with a penalty. Too little, too late though. The final result 4-2 is just what Arsenal and Manchester fans (both big clubs) have been waiting for.

In case Manchester United and Arsenal succeed in their challenges this weekend, they will be one and three points, respectively, from the currently-in-pain leaders Chelsea.

The defeat was surprising, but predictable, in a way.

The statistics were firmly in favor of Chelsea, whose Stamford Bridge was like an unconquerable fortress up until now. Other teams have managed to defeat Chelsea in front of their own fans only three times in the last 97 games—defeats at the hands of Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester City.

These are numbers that defy the events of today, but numbers that cause both pain and joy to football fans—pain to Chelsea’s fans and joy for those who may see this as an opportunity.

It was also predictable because of Petr Cech’s absence. The stability and calmness that he offers his team-mates will be hugely missed. Chelsea’s player can only hope for his speedier recover for them to keep their title-challenging chances alive.

Chelsea must now try their best to pick themselves up after this serious blow to their confidence, and Arsenal and Manchester United have all to play for, once again.

The title race is not over. It has just began.

Barcelona to Sign Francesc Fabregas in the Summer [Satire]

The headlines tell the whole story: "Francesc Fabregas is leaving for Barca", "Cesc reaches verbal agreement with Barcelona", "Fabregas will leave Arsenal for Barca", "Barcelona set for Fabregas swoop for 50 million."

The day is tedious. The office is tedious. Arsenal lost last night. Barcelona is the same old Barcelona. Francesc Fabregas was born in Barcelona. I have no ideas, but I have to come up with an article until the end of the day.

Hold on! I will write an article about Barcelona’s desire to get Fabregas. It won’t hurt anyone as they want him anyway, and my colleagues have wasted tons of paper on the story already. And it is the truth anyway.

“On Monday, Barcelona announced that they will sign Arsenal’s skipper Francesc Fabregas. The transfer is highly desired by all surrounding the club of Barcelona. The expected transfer sum is believed to be in the region of £27 million.”

Good start. Hey, I have learned my trade well. I could have revealed that Barcelona are to hold presidential elections in June and the Fabregas issue may just turn out to be the potential stimulus for a successful election of a new president.

Hm, how do I continue? Oh, yes, I remember; Xavi Hernandez said something about Cesc a couple of days ago. I can certainly squeeze that in. It will give more credibility to my article. Hey, I’m smart.

“Barcelona’s midfielder Xavi Hernandez urged the Arsenal play-maker to join Barcelona. He said , ‘We demonstrated in the final of the European Cup that it isn’t true [that they can’t play together].

‘I especially hope that Cesc comes. He is a football player with Barca DNA and he is showing at Arsenal that he is on another level."

Good. Oh, here is that new guy.

“Good morning, John...Nothing, writing an article. You know how it is...What are you writing about today? The train crash in Belgium? Oh, good luck with that then, John. Have a nice one.”

Rookie fool. Writing about the truth is an oldie. That’s not where the honey is. He will learn when he gets a couple of knocks on his thick head. Anyway, back to work. Where was I? Yes, Fabregas and Barcelona.

“Fabregas reaffirmed his love for Barcelona, making the possibility of the move highly probable.

"I have never hidden the fact that I want to return to Barcelona. Since I was nine months old, my grandfather would take me to the Barca stadium and all my life I have worn the Blaugrna colors.”

This tiny bit that I excluded about him coming back after he retires may come back at me, but hey, I guess no one will ever notice. And I quoted him in the accepted way. That’s what matters.

“Barcelona’s aspirations for Cesc started when the Spanish U-16 national, at that time, fit the shoes of injured midfield general Patrick Vieira, managing to impress everyone with stable, quality work.

“On top of that, he set a record as the youngest player ever to play first-team football for Arsenal at the age of 16 and 177 days.

“The deal is expected to materialize in the summer.”

Job done. Print this, Mr. Editor and give me my money. I have squash at five. Hell, yeah.

Will Arsene Wenger’s Avowal Lead to Changes in Arsenal’s Team for Sunday?

What a wonderful thing the truth is. It favors change for the better. What better basis to build on than the truth?

Arsene Wenger has taken a step towards building on the truth after frankly admitting he carried a significant part of the fault for the defeat at the hands of title-challenge rivals Manchester United.

The Gunners were defeated 3-1 in front of domestic crowd, but that was not the worst part for them. The worst part was they were tactically outplayed by a team that consists of, more or less, players of similar mould when it comes to talent.
Wenger stated on the club’s official website:

“I cannot say I got it right when you lose 3-0 [against Chelsea] and 3-1 [against Man United], I have to say I got it wrong,” he said. “But in terms of team selection, I’m not sure.

“We lost the games and I am responsible for the results of the team. When you lose a game, you feel responsible. Of course, I want our fans to go home and be triumphant. When they go home and cry you feel responsible.

“I don’t feel we have been overrun, I feel we have put ourselves in the position where we are open to counter-attacks.

“We lacked a little bit of patience as well. Even when we came out at 2-0 at half-time, we were in a rush to go forwards. Let’s get back to 2-1 and then we see. Even at 3-1, we could have equalized in the last ten minutes”

It must have come as a shock to many football fans to see such a statement coming out Wenger’s mouth. The man has been known as being stubborn to a fault, apart from being optimistic to a fault.

Wenger’s admittance of past mistakes, gives the Arsenal fans some hope that he will probably tweak the team’s approach for Sunday’s game against current table leaders Chelsea.

Hope is also partially boosted by the fact Abou Diaby, whom is having a fitness test today, is likely to return to provide wider options in the midfield for Wenger. He can inject variety in both attack and defense with his box-to-box runs, strength, and size.

However, not Diaby but a more defensive style of play with the wise usage of counter-attacks, similarly to what United did in their Emirates conquest, could turn out to have bigger influence on a positive outcome for Arsenal.

Chelsea is a dangerous team which has a hefty number of potential match-deciding players—Frank Lampard, Diddier Drogba, Joe Cole and others— but a strong, organized defensive display rather than the usual of style of play may prove to be the more adequate approach to the game.

Potential problems might stem from individual errors of some of the Arsenal players – errors, however, which can be compensated by a strong team-work effort.
If Arsene Wenger goes into the game with the sword pointed at the right direction, the edge might as well sink into Chelsea’s heart in the end.

Otherwise, Arsenal will find themselves trailing by nine points and in a very difficult—and once again disappointing—position.

Come Sunday, Wenger will have his chance to redeem himself against another tactical mastermind—this time Carlo Ancelotti. He would certainly hope to postpone similarly baring acknowledgments of inferiority, which go inseparably with football, for other less-fortunate times.