: Wed Apr 08, 2009 9:33 pm
Just got back now, thought I'd share a few of my thoughts from the game, these won't be
that accurate as I didn't get replays and the option of seeing it from the better TV angles and so on.
First thing, I thought the most obvious was no Mascherano, he protects the defence so well and he's usually one of our best players when defending against the counter attack, Lucas I thought done OK and will probably come in for some unfair criticism, he worked hard but I don't think anybody expected him to win a midfield battle against so much experience and quality.
Second thing, I thought we were very slow tonight, the amount of second balls Chelsea won was ridiculous, we were letting them play and not winning the 50/50's enough.
Last thing, and I thought these positions made the difference for Chelsea, and it's a position I feel we've lacked in for a while; the wings. Chelsea's wingers carried the ball very well, they ran with it and they weren't afraid to hold it up, beat a man then give it off to the likes of Ballack, Lampard and Drogba around the box. I thought Kuyt and Riera were very sloppy tonight, taking too many touches when getting the ball, not carrying it well enough and lacking quality in terms of service.
Overall, I thought at 2-1 the result didn't tell the true story of the game, but when they went 3-1 up, and from then on afterwards, I can't have any arguments. It's extremely disappointing to see us concede two goals like that from set pieces, though.