Matchday #10
West Ham vs Chelsea
Chelsea visited the Boleyn Ground to take on giant-killers West Ham looking to build upon the three points earned last week. The Hammers came into this game in great form, unbeaten in 6 games and winning 4 of them. They have also claimed some big wins this years, especially away from home, against Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City. They most definitely would have felt confident facing this Chelsea team who are suffering from well-documented and discussed poor form.
The start of the game was incredibly bright for Chelsea and West Ham. Played at a great pace, this game was clearly going to be a great advocate for the Premier League. Chelsea had early moments from Diego Costa and Ramires. However it was going to be yet again another miserable Saturday afternoon for Chelsea as they found themselves one down from a Mauro Zarate goal in the 17th minute. After conceding a corner and failing to clear their lines, the Chelsea back four could only watch as the ball came to the Argentinian on the edge of the area. Driving the ball low and accurately to Begovic’s left, the ball rustled the back of the net to the joy of the Hammer’s fans. Make no mistake about it, Chelsea will have felt hard done by. Its not as if Mourinho’s players had been playing poorly, on the contrary, Chelsea had been playing in the West Ham half with some nice build-up play. The lack of an end product was the only thing missing. Zouma had a great chance when he met a corner with his head which looked like it was going in, only to be cleared off the line. The Chelsea players appealed wholeheartedly but goal-line technology ailed the officials with the correct decision; no goal. Chelsea were playing well but were lucky to still be in it, when Lanzini had a glorious chance to put West Ham two goals ahead, but with only Begovic to beat the attacker blazed it over the bar. Chelsea escaped further misery and continued attempting to find the equaliser. The Blues were enjoying the lion share of possession, intercepting balls well and had a glorious chance when Willian, running towards the back four with support, fed Fabregas on the right-wing for the Spanaird to take an accurate low shot. The ball ran into Adrian’s corner with Fabregas wheeling away to celebrate. However the goal was ruled offside to Chelsea disgust. The decision was a tight one, but replays suggest that Fabregas was just about onside. Chelsea felt hard done by and they were about to feel even worse.
Straight from that opportunity, West Ham countered dangerously through Diafra Sakho, tempting Nemanja Matic into making a tackle. It was an unnecessary block from the Serb as he purposefully stepped across the West Ham player and was already on a yellow card. After consultation and a little time, referee Johnathon Moss shown Matic his second yellow of the game and condemned Chelsea to ten men. This was not the response that Mourinho and Chelsea required. In fact this would only be detrimental to his side’s ability to gain anything from the game. With Chelsea feeling like once again their backs were against the wall, wrongly or rightly, tempers were running high. So much so that assistant first team coach, Silvino Louro was sent off when he ran onto the pitch following a decision. It was all getting a little out of hand here, with the half coming to an end.
The sending offs didn’t cease there however as Mourinho found himself in the stands for the return of the second half. Reports suggest that he tried to enter the Officials office at half-time with Mr. Moss, respecting the rules, punishing the Chelsea manager for his audacious and ludicrous attempt. Chelsea now faced an even more difficult task. One goal down, one man down, and two staff members in the stands, had left Chelsea looking at a yet another poor result. However this is a team of Champions and they came out spirited and determined in the second half. This spirit was effective as West Ham were slow to start and saw Chelsea draw level in the 56th minute. A Chelsea corner fell to Gary Cahill and the England centre back drove the ball past the oncoming West Ham keeper. That was the equaliser; much-deserved and well-recieved by the Chelsea team and supporters. Chelsea seemed to be on top, but Slaven Bilic decided that his team needed to be a little more direct and bought on Andy Carroll for the goalscorer Zarate. That change allowed West Ham to gain a little more control in the game, however Chelsea were far from being on the back foot. Unfortunately ten minutes after the change, Carroll found himself on the scoresheet. A cross from Aaron Cresswell towards Carroll at the far post, paired the towering attacker against Cesar Azpilicueta, leaving only one outcome. His header looped over Begovic into the far side of the goal, and West Ham found themselves back on top against the ten men.
Chelsea huffed and puffed to try and salvage a point from the game, but smart play from West Ham allowed the east Londoners to see out the game and beat yet another of last year’s top six sides. West Ham had done enough, and Chelsea were in tatters. It is very difficult to call an end to this miserable run of form for Chelsea. West Ham are playing some fantastic football right now, and whilst Chelsea looked capable of getting a result for long parts of the game, it seems that any team in the Premier League stand a chance against the Champions. The Blues had played well, created chances, had moments but things seem to be going against them. Mourinho, after being sent off, decided not to attend any post-match conferences, which will undoubtedly see him receive further attention and punishment from the FA. He had previously said that he will not be doing any running away regarding this awful start, however the Special One and his team scarpered from Boleyn Ground. This start is no longer that. Ten games into the season, Chelsea sit 15th and with our next game against Liverpool.
This Chelsea team are not finding anything easy this term. Last year, everything came naturally; defending, link up play and steely determination. This year, it is clear Chelsea are going to have to fight for every little thing, and preferably not with anything less than eleven men. Having players sent off only harms our confidence and ability on the pitch, and we cannot afford to partner our lack of tactical discipline with a poor temperament. The season is long, things can change, and Chelsea will hold faith that they can turn this around, but one thing is for sure, this week will bring more unwanted attention at Stamford Bridge, with an even larger spotlight, if there is one, aimed towards Mourinho. Although it would be highly idiotic for Chelsea to part with Mourinho, it will be interesting to see how the Portuguese manager reacts to a further flounder of a result. He is human after all and with all his egocentric behaviour and charisma, Mourinho will be feeling a light sweat on his neck as his team are seemingly putting to test Abramovich’s belief and relationship with his manager. Time will tell. KTBFFH.
The Blue Daze 
