City Lacking Killer Edge vs. Chelsea

Chelsea Match Review: Lacking The Killer Edge

By: Alan
Soccer City FC Contributor

A 7 a.m. wakeup call and I was soon on my way to the magnificent City of Manchester Stadium to watch the home match against title-chasers Chelsea. The 6-0 humiliation still hurt even months after, the words gutless and embarrassing being the only fitting words to describe the performance. Surprisingly enough I wasn’t nervous, instead calm and collected because I knew that we weren’t expecting to gain anything despite our impressive home record. Nevertheless, I held a slight belief that perhaps we could snatch a draw, or at least put on a good show for the fans.

The match saw four changes being made to City with Corluka, Petrov, Johnson and Ball all returning and the away team came with two former favourites in Anelka and Shaun Wright-Phillips. I for one was hoping that the notion of players scoring against previous clubs was only a myth. A reminder of Chelsea’s quality was found on their bench: although Drogba was missing from the starting XI, £30m Shevchenco was on the bench along with England international Joe Cole and Germany captain Michael Ballack. City’s bench, whilst better than in previous years, lacked the same level of quality.

The first half looked like more of the City side we saw at the start of the season. The team looked spirited and feisty, knowing that Sven was watching from the sidelines with the demand of a reformed performance from last week’s mediocre defeat to Birmingham. An immediate blow was dealt though when Richard Dunne’s customary own goal gave Chelsea an instant advantage for the remainder of the game. The captain intervened in Anelka’s pass, only for him to knock the ball into the net with Hart left helpless. Dunne’s no-nonsense approach means he goes in for every challenge and makes every effort to clear the ball: an occasional own goal will be sacrificed any day for the number of times he has saved the team from conceding.

For the remainder of the half, City looked the better of the sides and had many chances to equalise. Michael Johnson got into a good position but he squandered the effort by firing over the bar. Attempts by a free-shooting Petrov were saved well by Cudicini and others by Ireland and Benjani were dealt with, although Chelsea were forced into a goal-line clearance. The game changed straight after the half-time break with Kalou rounding Hart to put Chelsea two goals ahead and well beyond the grasp of City. Sven’s team didn’t react well to the goal and were unable to put together any convincing passes to start any sort of comeback. The stern defending of Onouha and the class saves of Hart kept Anelka from poaching a goal himself and the game finished 2-0 to the visitors. The final third proved the thorn in City’s foot once again. The afternoon could not have been much worse as Nedum Onouha was all-but ruled out for the rest of the season after leaving on a stretcher with a dislocated shoulder.

The additional five minutes weren’t welcome by either side. The match had already reached its outcome and the match was dragging on, many had not waited until the final whistle and opted to leave minutes before. I felt annoyed and frustrated - not because of the score and nor the performance, but the reality of how the season was ending. With all due respect, I would of marked the games against Wigan, Bolton, Birmingham and Reading as games that I would demand wins in. 2 draws and 2 defeats spelt the end of the season, although Sven insists, “the important thing now is not to give up…As long as Europe is possible, we have to believe it and we have to fight for it.” Time to give the E word a rest.

As a young boy in my days of story writing, I was told that to create a great tale I must have a good beginning, middle and an end. The same could be said for a good football season - it doesn’t matter how exciting the beginning is, the most important part is the finish. Unfortunately our season is missing the happy ending we all craved. I could be forgiven for thinking the season ended on Sunday 10th February, the date of the second derby win of the season. Whatever the reason for our incompetence over the past couple of months, changes must happen over the summer. The deadwood and underperformers need to be shipped out and a similar, if not larger, change in players is required if we are to progress further next season - something I have the greatest confidence in Sven and the management team achieving.

So the trip to Manchester City was worthwhile despite the result. It was a performance that summed up where we are this season - a team that is firmly a work in progress with the foundations of a very decent select group of players. Any comparisons with the top four can be put to rest, as City are far too inconsistent to threaten them anytime soon and first of all we need to beat the teams below us before we can start looking up again.

I’m giving every player the chance to prove me wrong next week away to Sunderland - our performances against the sides in the relegation battle so far have been dire but there is the chance now to make up for it. If the same group of struggling players put in another inept performance next week they can pack their bags and be on the first plane out of Manchester for all I care - if they can’t outplay or even show more desire than the teams near the bottom then they just aren’t cut out for it. Sven, Thaksin and the fans expect - so deliver.

Photo Credits: Alan of Soccer City FC, All Rights Reserved