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| Green eyes! |
I had got tickets to watch the match at the bridge because,
firstly, why wouldn’t you want to spend a January evening at Stamford Bridge,
secondly, I get more loyalty points going to Capital One matches and thirdly, I
wanted to see this season’s Swan’s in action – Michu, Rangel, Chico Flores,
Pablo Hernandez (feels like I am writing about a La Liga side, not Swansea
City!) and can’t leave out Routledge (not just for his green eyes but for his
speedy charges up and down the wing).
And as I have mentioned before I rate their new manager, Michael
Laudrup.
My oldest daughter, who I shall refer to as E, accompanied
me – she has got the football bug recently.
Though she does seem genuinely interested, she also thinks it gets her a
lot of attention from young men. What
she doesn’t realise is that her long blonde hair, beautiful face and endless
legs, which I should mention are 44” from hip to toe (well maybe not quite that
long but can never resist a quote from one of our favourite movies, ‘Pretty
Woman’) are much more likely to be attracting the male attention!! It feels like I am advertising my daughter,
guess it is hard to get away from being a proud mum.
Anyway, getting back to the football, it was a cold night in
West London and as the crowds settled in their seats there was a sense of
excitement mingling with the inevitable anxiety which goes with being a Chelsea
supporter at the moment – I have even stopped making predictions of the score line
on the Chelsea FC Score Predictor (I was doing quite well on it, especially
after predicting Willian would score for Shaktar Donetsk when we still had a
place in the Champion’s League ;() – Who could predict beating Aston Villa 8-0
and losing to QPR who have been holding up the bottom of the Premiership.
Torres was in the starting line up, as were the three amigos
– Rafa had put out a strong team – although Petr Cech was still missing in goal
nursing a groin injury. Chelsea had many
chances in the first half an hour but couldn’t capitalise on any and it was a
horrible moment with seven minutes to half time when Branislav Ivanovic was
sloppy receiving the ball from Turnball.
The loose ball found its way into the path of Michu and the goal was inevitable. I have to be honest at this point and say I
actually missed seeing the goal and had to watch the game back when I got
home. The reason for my distraction was
Frank! He had just stepped off the bench
and had started to warm up on the side lines and the loyal fans had spotted him
and started chanting his name. I found
myself caught up in the familiar silent debate in my head about how a club
could be letting go of a player who is not only a legend but in my eyes the
heart of Chelsea FC.
The second half was even more frustrating than the first,
knowing we had conceded and needed to bridge the gap. Chance after chance was squandered – the Chelsea
fans were showing their impatience by calling out for Demba Ba, as well as
hurling unrepeatable abuse at Benitez and the rather annoying looking and
acting referee, whose decisions were erratic to say the least… The Swansea fans in contrast were singing
their hearts out, and we found ourselves chuckling at their references to
Cheryl Cole and “the Champions of Europe, you’re ‘aving a laugh” in a pathetic
attempt to lighten the mood.
I didn’t want to resort to Torres bashing and have to say I
have not questioned his work rate, especially since Drogba’s departure. What I do question (along with a host of
other critics) is his decision making and positioning on the pitch. His passing when he should keep the ball, his
keeping the ball when he should pass and somehow not having his toe in the
right place to tap in the perfect pass across the box time after time. There is no doubt this season there have been
glimpses of some brilliance (fantastic header in third minute of match against
Aston Villa back in December) but they are few and far between. His goal tally for the season is not a true
reflection of his performance as a striker – his tally makes him look so much
better than I think he has been – but in reality his goals are rarely match
winners or deciders, they tend to come after the match is won (and maybe when
he starts to relax). I have been torn in
my support of him, wishing him to return to his previous glory (for his and
Chelsea’s sake), but also hoping someone had the guts to cut their losses and
let him go to another club where his fortunes may change. Brendan Rodgers may have been slow in his
resurrection of Liverpool but he was quick to recognise the poisoned chalice
that was the £35 million under-performing Andy Carroll and he immediately put
him out on loan to West Ham, where he seemed to be making more of a difference
before he got injured.
My favourite recent example of a player changing his
fortunes with his club is the South African Steven Pienaar, who having
transferred from Everton to Tottenham found himself making little impact and
not featuring in many games (admittedly he had some injuries to contend with
too). He was then loaned back to Everton
and became a significant enough force in the side to justify his permanent transfer.
I am not suggesting if Torres returns to Liverpool or even
his previous club Atletico Madrid that things will definitely change for him
but is it not worth a try? I just saw in the news rumours of Atletico Madrid
taking him back on loan this summer for a season. If it was up to me I would sanction the
move.
Got distracted again, anyway we lost the game to Swansea 2-0,
last minute second goal as a result of second Ivanovic mistake, sloppy ball
back to Turnball which was pounced on by the fresh legs of the newly
substituted Danny Graham. Rafa brought
Ba on for Torres with 9 minutes to go – if he was managing Manchester United
there could be some justification for such a late change as they are the team
than can turn their fortunes round with minutes to play – but with such an
erratic Chelsea side one could argue such a late change was motivated by
putting the need of one player (namely Torres and his need to score) above the ten
other players on the pitch, the rest of the squad, back room staff, and
millions of supporters.
For me it is a no brainer.
Mr A, it is time to admit your £50 million investment was a bad one –
let it go.... and by the way please keep Frank instead!
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