To ‘Ba’ or not to ‘Ba’!

It was my husband’s birthday on Monday and I assumed that was the reason for my brother-in-law phoning from his home in France.  I went upstairs with my daughter E to research how to get hold of a large piece of wood to mount a dart board onto as a surprise for my husband’s birthday (he probably wouldn’t be too happy with holes in the wall – some of the family are less skilled with their darts)!  When I came back down (having worn down a very kind gentleman at a local timber shop to deliver an 8x4 foot sheet of OSB by lunchtime) I was surprised to be told by my husband that his brother had not only read my first few posts on my blog but had called for my advice about his Fantasy Football team.  He had Demba Ba in his team and wanted to know if he should keep him as captain. 

My immediate response was ‘no’ – Ba’s place in a starting line up under Benitez is very tenuous.  Rafa justified the very late introduction of Ba into the losing game against Swansea last Wednesday evening by saying he was suffering with ‘a slight discomfort in his knee’.  He also chose to defend Fernando’s poor performance on the evening by saying Torres had been suffering from a stomach bug (I am by no means implying I know better than any football manager, but as a mum, had my children been suffering the same ailments, I probably would have gone with the slight knee problem onto the pitch before the stomach bug, which saps a body of all energy). Rafa then went to great lengths to explain the definition of the word ‘manager’ (perhaps not the best PR move!) and that his job was to decide which players are best for any game and not to be swayed by the supporters.  Interestingly, he chose to give Demba Ba his first Premier League start in Chelsea’s next match away at Stoke, who had been unbeaten at home since February last year.

The blues ended the unbeaten record of the Potters with a convincing 4-0 win.  I couldn’t mention the score without thanking the Irish international and Stoke midfielder Jonathan Walters for his efforts!! It was possibly the worst day of his career – two own goals followed by a missed penalty.  The legend that is Frank Lampard took a penalty increasing his goal tally for Chelsea to 194 (yaaaay), one above Kerry Dixon and Hazard scored a cracking goal.  I know this is old news now but the point of it is neither Demba Ba or Torres (who was brought on at 71 minutes) scored any of the 4 goals.

Having watched the Stoke match, I imagine Rafa has his work cut out for him deciding whether to start Torres or Ba against Southampton at the bridge tonight.  Unless of course one or both oblige him with developing ‘niggling’ problems ruling them out!