ESPN Soccernet - Correspondents - Chelsea- Magic of the cup could start revival

Posted by David Kyle on 01/10/2011

The heading of this piece shows how hard times have become in the past two odd months as a Chelsea fan.

Firstly nobody is sure now that we are capable of reviving our previous form - I'm pretty hopeful we can, and secondly I have resorted to one of the most overused cliches of FA Cup history to try and imply that the FA Cup will see us through our woes.

He's back! ©Reuters Pictures

Well just to use a couple more.

The magic of the cup yesterday as a great cup tie saw Chelsea avoid cup upset against minnows Ipswich, with a 7-0 cup drubbing.

Is this our defibrillator? Will this be the pick us up that we need? Will the magic of the cup spur us on to greater things.

Well in a word, no!

But it's a damn good start, goals were in free flow once more and Frank Lampard once again showed why we have missed him so much with his creativity and eye for the goal.

I'm by no means belittling the FA Cup, I'm not still entirely sure that anything will beat the 1997 Cup Final versus Middlesboro seen through the eyes of a twelve year old scamp.

The one problem with the cup, and such an inspired victory is that there are certain players who grab attention and are held in high esteem when perhaps it needs to be noted who the opposition were.

Kalou came in for plaudits. As frequent readers of this blog will know, I am not Kalou's biggest fan.

I feel that often his better performances are against clubs of a lower stature, goals in these games can sometimes blur the fact that previous performances may have been terrible - as they have been.

Sturridge for me is a far better choice, he is a more reliable Kalou. He has the pace but he can also produce something at the end of his runs, Kalou normally runs down the wing and is at a loss what to do with the ball whereas Sturridge seems to be far more intuitive in possession.

Lots of fans are now also calling for the midfield installation of McEachran. This is absurd for many reasons, he is a player of great potential and obvious ability and skill.

However Essien, Ramires, Mikel and Lampard are all much more experienced and less of a risk in that position (Ramires not all the time of course!).

I cannot wait for McEachran to make the starting line up, but when you are sitting 5th in the league and need to qualify for the Champions' League it isn't the time to start blooding the youngsters.

His time will come, and it will be deserved as he has shown a lot to the fans at such a young age and next season will surely be pushing for a starting slot in a hopefully refreshed line up.

This performance was much needed, and for the first time in recent months we can feel happy once more, but it isn't a sure sign of better to come.

It would be a great disappointment not to add a new face to the team, I think we need to dig deep and get our money out to add one or two much needed players.

Man City have just signed Dzeko to bolster there already ridiculous strike force, and we need to keep up with them. Fourth is not an option, mainly for morale.

And the fact that we haven't been fourth in aeons!

Keep The Blue Flag Flying High!!!

Follow ESPNsoccernet's Football Correspondents on Twitter and Facebook

Comments

Posted by will shamanena on 01/10/2011

we have exorcised the spell. No doubt i feel it we are back to winning ways. True blue thru n thru..

Posted by Clinton on 01/11/2011

At d end of every tunnel,there must b light.chelsea's turnaroundt is here.

Posted by Clive on 01/11/2011

When I first started to support Chelsea there was a host of very good young players. Osgood,Hudson etc.
We were reliant on them then and they nearly always produced the goods.
The current crop of supposedly experienced players have lost their appetite to fight and win - they are overpaid and under self-motivated.
I say bring on the younger, hungrier players - ok we may lose a few games but at least they will show some fight.
I also think that Chelsea would greatly benefit from bringing Zola back into the club in some capacity with a view to taking over from Ancelotti. We will certainly be missing a trick if we dont do this now while he is still available.

Posted by rahul saraf on 01/11/2011

i totally agree with this article... bt what i dnt agree is sturridge is a more reliable kalou.. thats an insult of sturridge's talent.. he is far(and i mean it) better than kalou.. the only prob he has is he goes not have experience.. and i blame CA for this for not giving him enuf chances... CA brings him on 78-80th min and expects him to make a mark.. i feel its ridiculous... given more games sturridge will prove his worth and i m sure of this..
and yes i do feel this result is a turning point of our season.. and we can close the gap if not atleast win the title and give Man Utd a scare..
Keep The Blue Flag Flying High!!!

Posted by Hristo Ivanov on 01/11/2011

Bla, bla, bla,

same all David. The tacitic is the same, Carlo is the same, the players are the same.

Posted by Peter on 01/11/2011

Agreed. Kalou is crap. Abromovich needs to start spending or we are in DEEP trouble. As you mentioned, this is not the time to be grooming the youngsters. MacEchran, Bruma, Sturridge, Kakuta may become premier players one day but they aren't today and we need to stop wasting time and missed opportunites on these youngsters. Our back line is decimated and our players are aging. If we want a shot at any silverware this season, we need to be active in this transfer window!!!

Blue4Life

Posted by vincent colman on 01/12/2011

i need chelsea to step up

Posted by AKUJOBI WISDOM on 01/12/2011

I THINK WHAT WE NEED IS A CREATIVE MIDFIELDER WHO WILL DISTRIBUTE THE BALL....JOHN OBI MIKEL,LAMPARD,MCEACHRAN,ESSIEN ARE ALL WONDERFUL AND GOOD PLAYERS BUT WE NEED A CREATIVE MIDFIELDER. WE ALSO NEED A SHARP,QUIK AND FAST STRIKER AS A SUPPORTING STRIKER WHO WILL ASSIST DROGBA IN OUR FORWARD LINE. ANCELLOTI HAS TO WAKE UP FROM HIS SLUMBER BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE FOR THE CLUB TO QUALIFY FOR CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. IT WOULD BE A THING OF SHAME IF WE DID NOT QUALIFY**BLUES FOR LIFE**

Posted by Jordan Batson on 01/12/2011

While it doesn't hurt to win big in a cup game like this, I agree that we still have considerable work to do...

I know we shouldn't look too far ahead, but I can't help but notice our matchup with United on the 1st of March (keep in mind we still have another game with them on 5/7). Between now and then, we play the likes of rovers, bolton, sund., L-pool, fulham, and b-city...WE SHOULD WIN THOSE GAMES! United on the other hand have trips to spurs, b-pool, wolves, and a huge tie with m-city. If they drop a few points in that span and we take care of our business, we could be right back in the hunt for the title with a win over United at the bridge on 3-1.

Midfield play will decide eveything...with a healthy Lamps, and Essien/Mikel/Ramires filling the other two spots we should be in good enough shape. Let's also add a center-back and get ivanovic back at RB!

Last word...do away with Ferreira, Kalou, and Zhirkov! Sure they may be 'professionals' but they make us worse!

Posted by Dotun on 01/12/2011

Amen

Posted by joe on 01/13/2011

I belive we need up to five new signings, to add squad depth, challenge the established first XI and have them young enough to start phasing out the older guard.

Defence - 1 rb have heard rumors of Van der Wiel from Ajax and centre half have heard rumors of neven subotic - have been saying for ages to get him so hope this is true

mids - we need a creative goal scoring threat i like marek hamsik and javier pastore

forwards - we need a right winger as anelka is looking disinterested not sure maybe the two mids suggested can opperate here also and a striker to motivate drogba am thinking with his current form Andy Carroll but he is still unproven to a certain extent.

in the summer i hope we can secure Romelu Lukaku and i think Jack Rodwell would be a good buy english for the squad quota and can cover dm and centre half - i believe with these additions we can still give the youth a chance also i.e. bruma, van an holt, mcearhan, kukuta and sturridge

Posted by Senoh on 01/13/2011

I really think that game was what the boys needed to build their confidence and mend their badly bruised ego's. It was good to see that they have found their shooting boots and hopefully it would be all we need to jump start our season. I expect a convincing win against Blackburn on Saturday and hope we buy one central defender and possibly a striker , winger or attacking midfield player maker. KTBFFH

Posted by kc on 01/13/2011

well i think the only solution to chelsea lack of form is to make some signings,the lyks of andy carrol,kum aguero,tym has come CA start playin mc echran even if it means coming in from the bench is ok, the boy is very creative in the mildfild.the lyks of drogba, anelka, malouda should no longer be starting games for chelsea they are 30"s. we need young and fresh attackers,drogba partern of football is wel known to al all the defenders, sturridge lacks experience but i belive by next season he will be ok, in a moment lyk this u try fabio borini his another futur striker for the club but when u dont give him any chance he kip losing his form,i remember last season against portsmouth when we are losing i-o arond 65 minuts the boy was introdused into the game,he has pace,speed,and experiece off cause,he mounted pressure on the defenders and with that chelsea were able to equlise and he gave the team a wining goal. so we realy need to turn things around at stamford in other to regain form.

Posted by chelsea4eva on 01/13/2011

to play kalou together with ramires is a surely lose business. we need, i mean chelsea need to revamp their squad. sell ferreira, anelka and kalou. buy one centre back and one striker.

Posted by Antony Joseph on 01/15/2011

I think we are a good team and we just had a slump. The bigger problem is that we have too many aging stars and with age, they are prone to more injuries. However, this cannot be solved by simply going out into the market and throwing money at big names. We need to give the young players a chance. Anyway, most of our transfers have not produced the goods they promised to.
I think what is needed is a real creative player. I really miss the likes of Zola or Robben who could produce footballing magic and come up with a moment which leaves everybody stunned. We are a physically strong team. What we need is a person with brains.
Anyway.. i think we can come back and we have some really important games which is what would make or break the race for the cup.
I really want to win CL.

Posted by FlyingBlues on 01/17/2011

I think amidst the venture of Abramovic firing Managers after managers we lost all the track of good players and who to sign and who not to.The greatest example being signing of DECO when Lamps and Ballack were there. Also last year we had 4 RBs in Brani, Bosingwa, ferreira and Belletti.Same is with strike force, we have Drogba and Anelka of the same age. also Anelka being more unreliable this season.
I wont say Zhirkov should go cause he is fill in player and can play as LB/LM/LW. But I seriously want ferreira, bosingwa, benayoun and anelka out and then probably go for Luiz/cahill in defence and pastore in midfield, and gignac or may be even ADEBAYOR!!!!
We should have a good combination team of above 28 and between 22-27 and below 21 which will give us an experinced, todays and tommorrows team..
I personally believe AC must stay as he is a good manager with a proven record. I think we should give him some chance esp remember his time with MILAN & it took him 3 years to bring UCL..

Post your comment

Name:

Email Address:

Comments:

characters left