We Ain't Got No History

VIDEO: Chelsea's amazing comeback in the FA Youth Cup against Nottingham Forest.

2012-02-22T22:25:44Z

VIDEO: Chelsea's amazing comeback in the FA Youth Cup against Nottingham Forest.

FA Youth Cup Recap: Chelsea 4 - Nottingham Forest 3

2012-02-22T22:03:01Z

The youth cup has been one of the brightest spots of the season for Chelsea fans thus far, as despite being one of the youngest (if not the youngest) side in the tournament they've been generally impressive in their march to the quarterfinal. Forest would be a real test though, as they've been the most prolific side in the tournament so far and were coming off of a demolition of Southampton (one of the top academies in the country).

Ade Viveash kept basically the same side as he played against West Ham. He played Reece Mitchell on the left wing and slid Amin Affane into the advanced midfield slot previously occupied by Anjur Osmanovic. Jamal Blackman arrived a few hours before kickoff after returning from Naples to take his place in the goal.

The game got going in a hurry, and Chelsea was immediately under heavy pressure as Forest was sprinting to close down space and challenge every pass. Chelsea didn't have any real possession early, and aside from a Lucas Piazon curler that struck the post and what should have been a penalty as Piazon was floored in the box, they offered little threat in the early going. They'd soon find themselves in a very familiar position, trailing early as a poor clearance from Adam Nditi was pounced on and David Morgan found the back of the net. This is starting to become routine for the Chelsea youth, and it really does appear to have a lot to do with the tendency of opposing clubs to play ultra high pressure against them early. That style of play has been stereotypical of the English game for an awful long time, so to see it being instilled in the youth of the smaller clubs really doesn't seem shocking. I suppose this is one of the things the FA hopes to curb by installing the EPPP this coming summer, but enough on that for the moment.

Chelsea would begin to find a foothold in the game at about 25 minutes in. David Morgan went in for a two-footed studs showing tackle on Piazon that may have deserved a card other than the yellow he received. Islam Feruz then played a perfect ball to the feet of Amin Affane only to have the shot lifted high. Reece Mitchell then just missed connecting on an awful Forest throw. Nditi did escape conceding a penalty as his handball in the box managed to escape the referee's attention. Seconds later we'd be punished though, as Adam Nditi got himself booked for a terrible tackle and the ensuing free kick resulted in a Nathaniel Ake own goal. Jamal Blackman really should have done better, but Nditi shouldn't have put him in that situation.

Chelsea were now in a tough spot, but Forest were starting to show signs of fatigue. Chelsea's attacking play resulted in three more excellent chances, with Piazon and Kane just missing wide before another penalty shout was ignored as Feruz was flattened in the box. We'd concede a third seconds later as Jordan Palmer-Samuels would flick one past Blackman at the stroke of halftime. While we had steadily been gaining traction in the game, we'd trail by 3 at the half and it looked to be an impossible task to come back.

The problem with the stereotypical English insane high pressure style is that half way through the game most players are so gassed they can barely move. Other teams from Europe used to play that to their advantage against the English, hanging around early only to dominate the game as it wore on. Luckily for Chelsea, their smart controlled early play would allow them just such an opportunity.

Viveash pulled Mitchell of to start the second half, replcing him with a big center back in Nkumu. This slid Affane to the wing, pushed Swift and Baker forward, and put Chalobah in the holding midfield role (I feel that's his best position). Chelsea would get one back almost immediately as Lucas Piazon found some space on the left and fired one into the back of the net (it took a deflection, but was going in anyway).

Forest looked to be playing on dead legs now, and Chelsea would dominate possession. They pushed and pushed and Islam Feruz would draw us within 1 at about 65 minutes. Just minutes later Feruz would strike again, this time bullying his way to a corner and heading in from just inches out. 20 minutes to play and it was all level.

Forest now looked demoralized on top of exhausted, and the only real question at this point was how soon Chelsea would add another. Just after the third goal Ade Viveash would unleash possibly the fastest U18 player on the planet in Alex Kiwomya, and his pace would immediately be a nightmare for the tired Forest defenders. Chelsea continued to barrage the Forest end, and after the keeper fumbled a Piazon blast Kimomya outran his marker to pounce on the rebound and make it 4-3. Forest would now throw everyone forward to no avail, and Chelsea would see it out to the final whistle for the 4-3 victory.

This marks the 4th semifinal appearance for the youth in the last 5 years, and we'll face the winner of next week's Charlton/United tie at Old Trafford. The semi's are a two legged tie, and Chelsea will be away for the first leg before playing at Stamford Bridge for the decider.

I hate to give out a free advertisement here, but this was quite possibly the most exciting game I've seen this season. I feel like my year's subscription to Chelsea TV was probably worth it just for this game, and any of you that haven't thought about it really should. The way these kids have been playing, it would be an absolute crime to miss a minute of the semis. FOr those of you who already subscribe, I really hope you got to see that amazing win.

Milan Lalkovic Injures Hamstring, Out 4 Weeks

2012-02-22T18:37:09Z

Bad news for the Milan Lalkovic fans out there (and thanks to his amusing, often surreal Twitter account, there are lots). The Slovakian forward, currently on loan with ADO den Haag, has suffered a hamstring injury that will see him miss the next four weeks of the Eredivisie season:

Feb 22 via Mobile Web Favorite Retweet Reply

@LalkovicMilan17
Milan Lalkovic Bad news ;( went to hospital and they told me am gona be out for 4 weeks wit hamstring injury #thiscanhappenonlytome great :(

He first picked up the problem two days ago and tried to work through it, but (obviously) couldn't. Of course, this is really annoying to me on a personal level, because I'm going to the Hague for most of March and was hoping to see Lalkovic in person. Now I won't. Argh. Anyway, get well soon, Milan.

Wednesday afternoon open thread: Youth Cup quarterfinal and some European stuff

2012-02-22T18:20:58Z

I'm sure most of us would like to move on from the Napoli game as quickly as possible, and luckily for us the always exciting Youth Cup is back in action today. Today will feature a trip to Nottingham Forrest in a tie that would send us through to our fourth semi-final in five years. The lineup will likely be largely unchanged from last week's tie with West Ham if the weekend's youth team and Monday's reserve team were any indicator. Forrest have been one of the most dynamic attacking teams in the tournament scoring 14 goals, although 9 of those goals were scored by deadline day purchase Patrick Bamford.

Chelsea will likely continue in their 4-3-3 formation that they've been using throughout the season. With Danny Pappoe still out injured I wouldn't be surprised at all to see us run the exact same starting 11 out against Forrest. Jamal Blackman may not be available though, as he traveled to Naples with the first team this week. With that in mind, I'd expect something along the lines of the following:

Beeney, Kane, Chalobah, Ake, Nditi, Baker, Swift, Osmanovic, Affane, Feruz, Piazon.

Blackman for Beeney is certainly possible, but I'd be fairly surprised by that move. I've also yet to hear anything about the injury to Ruben Loftus-Cheek, but his return would likely mean Osmanovic starts on the bench. The game will be live on Chelsea TV with coverage beginning at 1:30 EST (and the game kicking off around 2). Have at it, and if you're watching the Inter/Marseille or Bayern/~~United~~ Basel ties feel free to use this thread as well.

A few quick thoughts on AVB and a potential change

2012-02-22T16:15:45Z

Chelsea fans are frustrated. I think it's pretty obvious. There are many in the media and around the internet that are seemingly hoping to see AVB sacked, and I can't say that would be totally without cause at this point. I'd personally be against the move though, and I'm going to go to bullet point form to point out the reasons why.

The obvious question first...who replaces him? There isn't much available in the way of quality managers at the moment, and frankly anyone that is available now will likely still be available in the summer along with ridiculous amounts of other options. I don't want Fabio Capello anywhere near this squad as he'd almost certainly trot Frank, FloMo, and company out there every single match. Rafa Benitez is, well, Rafa Benitez. Other than that we really don't have much to choose from at this point. If Guus hadn't signed on at Anzhi it may be a bit different, but he did and it's not.
Financial Fair Play needs to be considered here as well. We spent a lot to bring AVB in. It will cost us an awful lot to replace him. While we should certainly consider the move, we should also make sure we're best utilizing the available funds. Changing managers every 6 months is going to hurt our ability to buy players under the new rule. Who would you rather see replaced...AVB or Fernando Torres? Frank Lampard? Florent Malouda?
He clearly sees that this team has issues so far as it's makeup goes. The full blown attempts to add Modric and Pastore this past summer should tell us that he saw this midfield issue very early in his tenure here. While we questioned his judgement in looking at Perreira and Coentrao, the need for someone of that type seems fairly obvious now. He's also pretty clearly been looking for a more natural winger. It seems to me like he's correctly identified our three biggest areas of need regardless of out failure to actually add to those positions.

Regardless of what you feel about AVB, it's pretty clear that a clearout of quite a few of our players does need to occur. AVB is here. He's already unpopular with the media and reportedly unpopular with the older players. If there was ever a guy to allow to stay on simply to expedite that process, AVB is that guy.

I like the fact that he's shown no hesitation putting our 50 million pound turd sandwich on the bench. I don't think too many managers would have had the gumption to do that in the fall, especially with Drogba being a shell of his former self.

For the most part, AVB is targeting all the right guys on the transfer front. We're going to have a lot of turnover this summer, and I'd much rather have a manger in charge who'll target guys like Moura and Hazard than one who targets guys like Scott Parker and Stuart Downing. From a personnel standpoint, this summer is going to be as important a window as we've ever had. From that aspect, AVB and Emenalo have been doing basically everything right in my eyes.

He's worked very well with Romeu, Ramires, Luiz, and Mata. He's seemingly worked fairly well with Danny Sturridge, although with the general douchebaggery of the elder Sturridge it's a bit hard to tell what to make of Danny's mood. Frankly, those 5 players are the only senior guys we have that should be viewing as future regulars.

Warren Barton doesn't like him. Warren Barton is a moron. That doesn't necessarily mean that AVB is doing everything right, but it certainly doesn't hurt him in my eyes.

I'm certainly not all that thrilled by what has transpired this season, but I think I may have had lower expectations than most when the season got underway. That said, firing a talented young manager for struggling with the transition of the roster and traditional expectation midway through his first season just makes very little sense to me. I feel that a managerial change at this moment will only slow down the rate at which this roster gets turned over, and that should be avoided at all costs. It's not really going to be fair to bring in any manager with the roster in it's current state, if AVB is not the future let's allow him to help push out the dead wood at the very least.

Poll

Replace AVB mid-season?

Napoli Vs. Chelsea: Match Reaction

2012-02-21T21:50:10Z

Chelsea opened the scoring at the Stadio San Paolo but a trio of defensive errors cost the Blues dearly as Napoli came back to win 3-1. The story after the loss is going to be that Chelsea were blown out, which is probably unfair - the Blues did enough to earn something much closer to a draw and Napoli got some lucky breaks. So things go. It's also not an insurmountable deficit. The team is down by two and has an away goal, and Chelsea should be very capable of beating the Partenopei at Stamford Bridge in three weeks.

Some quick thoughts on what happened today...

Andre Villas-Boas starting Raul Meireles in this match is a fireable offence for me. Napoli play incredibly well on the transition, whereas Meireles can't defend and gives the ball away in stupid areas. A lot of the pressure (and the first goal) could have been avoided had Meireles been stuck on the bench where he belongs. Fortunately, Raul will be suspended for the next match.
Speaking of the midfield, Ramires played incredibly poorly. I don't want to pick on him because he's been superb this season, but that was some pants defending (and attacking play).
It took way too long to get Michael Essien and Frank Lampard on. We looked far better with an actual midfield rather than having clown car and an off-colour Ramires in the centre. Another mark against Villas-Boas, probably, but he was put in a bind by the early injury to Jose Bosingwa.
The goals were not the result of being unprepared to deal with Napoli's attacks. We had an individual error from Meireles for Lavezzi's first, Branislav Ivanovic reacting slowly to Edinson Cavani's run for the second, and a moment of madness in what was otherwise another strong game by David Luiz for Lavezzi's third. That said, Napoli did generate chances when the fullbacks were both pushed too high up the pitch, which was an obvious weakness for Chelsea.
Ashley Cole wasn't 'dropped'. He was recovering from an injury. This isn't that hard to grasp. He did play reasonably well, however.
We're still having issues with patience. There were stretches where Chelsea dominated the game but simply pushed Napoli too hard. The hosts weren't defending well and were opening themselves up by making rash challenges, but the passes Chelsea were playing didn't really take advantage of the spaces and actually pushed Napoli back into a more compact block. They were also far too risky - you absolutely cannot play blind flicks etc. when you're against a team as capable on the counterattack as this one.
I think we're in for a legitimate shout of winning this tie over two legs. Napoli didn't show they were much better than us and for me the margin of victory didn't really reflect the performance. 2-1 would have been fair, but there's no reason Chelsea can't come back to win at home. Let's hope they can.
Seriously what the heck Raul Meireles.

Napoli Vs. Chelsea: Lineups & Match Thread

2012-02-21T18:57:17Z

Napoli starting lineup (3-4-2-1): Morgan de Sanctis; Salvatore Aronica, Paolo Cannavaro, Hugo Campagnaro; Juan Zuniga, Walter Gargano, Gokhan Inler, Christian Maggio; Ezequiel Lavezzi, Marek Hamsik; Edinson Cavani.

Substitutes from: Antonio Rosati, Gianluca Grava, Andrea Dossena, Federico Fernandez, Blerim Dzemaili, Miguel Britos, Goran Pandev.

Chelsea starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Petr Cech; Jose Bosingwa, David Luiz, Gary Cahill, Branislav Ivanovic; Ramires, Raul Meireles; Florent Malouda, Juan Mata, Daniel Sturridge; Didier Drogba.

Substitutes from: Ross Turnbull, Ashley Cole, Fernando Torres, Salomon Kalou, Frank Lampard, John Obi Mikel, Michael Essien.

Big game. Come on Chelsea! (That lineup might be a 4-3-3 in which case... death.)

John Terry To Have Knee Operation

2012-02-21T16:09:16Z

Bad news everyone. While we weren't expecting John Terry to be back from his knee injury for Chelsea's match against Napoli or anything, nobody was expecting a long-term absence. Well, we may very well be getting one:

@SamWallaceIndy
Sam Wallace John Terry out tonight's #CFC game. Knee operation this week
Feb 21 via Twitter for BlackBerry® Favorite Retweet Reply

Well that's not good at all. Although Terry takes a lot of flank for being 'past it' and 'slow', those descriptions don't do his defending any real justice. He's been very good for the past two years, and there's a real downgrade between him and Gary Cahill, who will presumably partner David Luiz in his absence.

For a while, we thought that Chelsea might be missing Terry for an extended period because of the racial abuse claims from October, but even though that trial got pushed to the summer we're getting a longish term absence anyway. When it rains, it pours, I suppose. We'll get the details as they come - hopefully this is minor. Early guesstimates seem to be between one and two months out.