It was with these words that my father stopped the drip feed of 'fish' I had come to rely on to bail me out of my irresponsible spending habits. At the time it was a shock but a lesson I am grateful he taught me - as I write this my palms are sweating in the knowledge that I still haven't plucked up the courage to teach my own daughters the 'fishing' lesson. Girls if you are reading this please try to keep this thought close to your consciousness and don't leave it by the Nile.No you haven't gone to a fishing blog by mistake - it is still football mad me here! It was Jose Mourinho's post match press conference after our (eventually) emphatic win at Craven Cottage on Saturday that reminded me of my father's words. The Portuguese manager claimed that he had not said a single word to the players at half time about his obvious disappointment in their lackadaisical first half performance against a struggling team that has been dredging the bottom of the League table for a few weeks now. He said he needed at least 20 minutes to say what he wanted to say and as there was not enough time he decided to say nothing at all. I imagine the fact that he deprived the team of their half time 'fish' is what enabled the players to 'bait their own hooks' and 'cast their own lines' into the sea of ' how to get your s*** together'!!
Andre Schurrle, caught the biggest fish of the day by scoring his first Chelsea hat-trick, all three goals inside 17 minutes. Credit should be given to the whole team for upping their game, but especially to Eden Hazard, whose genius presented the goal scoring opportunities for Schurrle.
When asked about Schurrle's performance, Mourinho had this to say:
"He is this kind of player, he can score goals, he is very cold in-front of goal............in-front of the goal he is really cold, he is cold blood in-front of the goal and keeper and normally he is clinical, he is the kind of guy that makes the right choice, he can finish with a right or the left foot, so he did OK."It has come to me recently while reading other Chelsea fan's blogs that perhaps my take on things is a touch on the negative side... I am going to endeavour to find a positive angle to view things. So here is a great opportunity to practice this:
The 'old' negative me at this point would be criticising Mourinho for not playing Andre Schurrle more often, especially as in his post-match interview the Portuguese manager seems to give the impression that the German is one of the few players in the team who seems to be able to find the back of the net with ease - also this moan would tie in with my ongoing moan about Mourinho not rotating the team enough.
The 'new' positive me however can see now that Mourinho's tactic of leaving Andre Schurrle out in the cold for so many games was a very clever one - as a result now Jose can comfortably say that "in-front of goal he (Schurrle) is very cold"!
Well I tried!
There is so much to talk about this week other than 'fishing' in Fulham, I really don't know where to start.
I guess 'Hell' is as good as anywhere to start with!!
Chelsea's mid week Champion's League tie at Galatasaray saw Didier Drogba reunited with his old Chelsea team mates for the first time since his departure in 2012. Mourinho's men started well, going one nil up in the ninth minute with a Fernando Torres goal. The Spaniard has a good scoring record in European games (13 goals in 17 appearances). Thanks to Mancini's interesting first half tactics, playing a very high defensive line and leaving huge spaces in midfield, The Blues had plenty of chances to kill off the game but were unable to capitalise on them. They seemed pretty impervious to the hostile surroundings they found themselves in - I personally found the noise levels in 'Hell' extremely distracting and frustrating - especially as I couldn't hear the referee's whistle over the din of the fanatical home fans. (Mourinho did say if Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge could muster even 10% of the energy with which Galatasaray fans support their team he would be happy - I have to agree with him - the East and West stands at the Bridge in particular need to work harder for their team. They can't rely on the Shed end and Matthew Harding stands to 'catch all the fish' - maybe I'll get my dad to have a word with them!!)After half an hour Mancini realised the error of his ways and made a tactical substitution replacing the newly signed young Bosnian right winger Hajrovic with a holding midfielder. The substitution had the desired effect and led to a more even playing field. Chedjou's 65th minute equaliser inspired Drogba and his team mates (who were appropriately dressed in flame coloured shirts) to run for the finish line. Mourinho brought on Mikel to shore up the defence and the last half hour was quite nerve wracking to watch. The game ended 1-1 and Chelsea headed home with the advantage of an away goal and in the knowledge that they had at least neutralised the threat of their old friend and number eleven.
The team landed back in the UK at 6 am on Thursday morning and had two days of training before their Premiership clash with neighbouring Fulham who are trying to claw their way out from the bottom of the league, under the guidance of newly appointed German manager Felix Magath.
Oh wow I've gone full circle!!! That is the problem with playing every three days - the players can't keep up and nor can I...!!
I seem to have been going on and on but can't finish without mentioning a few significant events from the last week:
Manchester United lost their first leg last 16 Champions League tie with Olympiakos 2-0 with a rather pedestrian or should it be called a 'Moyes' performance. Chelsea is the only premiership side not to have lost their first leg game in Champions League and to have scored a goal - luckily for us it was an away goal - wow this whole seeing the positive side of things is really starting to happen spontaneously!
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew lost his head or should I say 'used his head' against a Hull City player on the touch line. Pardew was angered when David Meyler shoved past him in order to retrieve the ball. The hot headed manager has previous and should know better - I am saddened by his actions as I am a big fan of his and wish he could keep his temper under control. Going back to trying to see the positive in things: at least I know the Newcastle owner is not ready to sack him yet as this would have been the perfect opportunity and excuse for the Sports Direct magnate to give Pardew the chop.
Atletico Madrid's assistant coach, Mono Burgos, also lost his head during this weekend's Madrid Derby. Diego Simeone's number two, who is obviously fond of his food, had to be restrained by what seemed to be the entire Atletico bench (at least eight men) as he went for the referee who was having a howler of a game. The game ended a 2-2 draw with Simeone's side establishing themsleves as a definite contender to win La Liga - ending a decade of Barcelona and Real Madrid's dominating the Spanish League. Mourinho may be comforted to know there is another 'little horse' trying to establish itself over in Spain.Arsenal lost to Stoke City - thanks to a Jonathan Walters penalty - I recall him him missing a penalty against us just over a year ago (after he had scored an own goal for us as well) - so thank you Jon Walters for having such a good day against Arsenal and helping us increase our lead to four points ahead of the gunners. Wow I am really feeling the positive vibe now!
Lastly, I almost forgot, well done Pellegrini and Manchester City for winning the Capital One Cup. No sorry can't muster more enthusiasm than one sentence - yes positive vibe slipping away - must run and try and get it back....
