Tag Archives: chelsea

Six Memorable League Cup Matches

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Piers Barber defends the League Cup and reminds us of the competition’s best ever games…

The poor old League Cup. Everyone’s least favourite English football competition has been on the receiving end of all sorts of abuse in recent years, consistently blamed for causing pesky fixture congestion and derided for only featuring the reserve squads of the nation’s leading teams.

Yet the tournament, which was founded (for some reason or another) in 1960, has far more to offer than this conventional ‘narrative’ tends to suggest. In fact, in recent years it has arguable staged far more entertaining and attacking fixtures than much of what the FA Cup, it’s older and more respected sibling, has had to offer. It’s also repeatedly proved vital to kick-starting a manager’s tenure or getting one out of a barren spell – just ask Jose Mourinho or Sir Alex Ferguson. And, as Birmingham City and Swansea City have proved in recent years, it can bring glory to supporters normally unaccustomed to winning anything.

So in honour of this weird and wonderful trophy, here are some of the best games the competition has hosted in recent years. Warning: very bad defending features throughout. Continue reading →

Oscar – Brazil’s Prince of Stamford Bridge

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oscar_chelsea_reu_533133201SB Nation Soccer’s Graham MacAree profiles Oscar, Chelsea’s Brazilian magician…

There’s something of the child in Oscar. For most footballers, the spectre of failure compels them to take the safe route as often as possible, honing specific skills and executing them when the time is right. But children are notorious for their incredible blend of naivete and curiosity. Can I do this? Let’s find out! It’s a special kind of fearlessness, and it’s what makes Oscar so special.

There’s nobody else in this Chelsea team who can match what Oscar does. Juan Mata and Eden Hazard are magicians, of course, but there’s the feeling that they refuse to experiment on the same scale as Oscar does, favouring ruthless efficiency over flamboyance.

Which is why most of the most incredible, what-just-happened?! moments of last season came via Oscar. When Mata bends a free kick past the wall and just inside the post, there’s no feeling of surprise. Juan Mata’s is brilliant and will do brilliant things. Nor is it a shock when Hazard dashes through a cloud of befuddled defenders and slots past the keeper. That’s what Eden Hazards do.

Oscar’s trademark, on the other hand, is having the temerity to try the barely-plausible, to test the very limits of his skill at the drop of a hat. It seems as though the idea that what he’s about to attempt might not work never crosses his mind. Oscar’s moments of magic, in fact, are reminiscent of a certain Stamford Bridge legend. Continue reading →

Ramires – Chelsea’s Big-Game Brazilian

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Daily Mail journalist Rik Sharma profiles Ramires, Chelsea’s big-game Brazilian…

Ramires is a divisive midfielder. While all of us appreciate his willingness to run through walls for the shirt, others chastise him for his erratic passing and errant decision making.

For every glorious vignette – and who could forget that chip which sailed mere centimetres over the outstretched arm of Victor Valdes, before nestling sweetly in Barcelona’s net? – there is a head-in-hands moment waiting to happen.

Ramires’s entire performance against Aston Villa away last season (all 44 minutes of it before he was sent off) verged on unwatchable. Late tackles, high feet, being dispossessed too easily, it highlighted his worst traits. Indeed, for months after his arrival many Chelsea fans were unsure of him. His passing in particular stood out as weak for a centre-midfielder, and even his energy seemed dampened by the weight of trying to adjust to the English game.

The question is: Does Jose Mourinho believe Ramires’s strengths outweigh his weaknesses? Continue reading →

David Luiz – From Playstation Defender to Stamford Bridge Icon

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Once mocked for being controlled by a 10-year old on his playstation, David Luiz grew into a central part of Chelsea’s European conquerors. Ramon Isaac looks back at his three years on English soil, and what the future may hold under Jose Mourinho…

The Untouchables are long gone, Mourinho has, if anything, made that abundantly clear to the new squad. Nonetheless, in the case of David Luiz, the new (and old) Chelsea manager has highlighted the swashbuckling Brazilian as a player with exceptional ability, a judgement that anyone who has seen Luiz play won’t take him long to deduce.

Perhaps more importantly, Mourinho has highlighted what the three previous Chelsea managers have – David Luiz is a centre back and that is the position he has the potential to become one of the very best at.

Since he arrived in the January transfer window in 2010, Luiz has first and foremost, provided an exceptional amount of entertainment. His first start against Fulham was the epitome of what was to follow. A marauding defender that looked more comfortable up front than most of the Chelsea front men as he hit an overhead kick cross into the box after finding himself doubling up as a left winger. In a season of little joy, David Luiz lifted the crowd with his enthusiasm and passion on the field; a trait that no one can deny the Brazilian international. Continue reading →

Deco: Chelsea’s Mercurial Double Winning Brazilian

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Joe Tweeds of Plains of Almeria looks back at Deco’s mercurial stay at Stamford Bridge…

Deco is without question the one player who Chelsea signed too late in his career. The Brazilian-born Portuguese international had a choice between Chelsea and Barcelona after his exploits with Porto. Favouring the Catalan side, Chelsea missed out on the talents of someone who would go on to become one of Europe’s finest attacking midfielders.

Deco possessed one of the greatest first touches I have ever witnessed as a Chelsea fan. He had this ability to instantly control the ball with his studs and roll it perfectly where he wanted it to go. The move was simple, so fluid and so subtle that it barely would register as a piece of skill in the modern game. Nevertheless, it was a signature move that oozed class and hinted at his rather special talent. Continue reading →

Editor’s Column: The Premier League Season of Over-Reaction, Exaggeration and Paradox

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In his latest Editor’s Column, James Dutton surveys the top of the Premier League and tries to make sense of the six-point gap between 1st and 8th…

The third international break of the football season is upon us. This is traditionally the stage where journalists, bloggers and punters share their opinions and observations of the season so far.

In November 2013 though, to make sense of a nascent season that is knocked out of its rhythm week after week is to reckon against its perpetuation. Hindsight makes fools of us all, as those who reveled in Arsenal’s seemingly inevitable demise after their opening-day capitulation against Aston Villa and those who struggled to fathom the Moyesification of Manchester United (guilty) have found out.

That is not to say that Arsenal have both banished their demons of seasons gone by, or been found out by a resurgent Manchester United – who likewise have neither found the cure for their early-season woes or nosedived off a cliff into mediocrity.

This is the season of overreaction and exaggeration; the season of paradoxes.

Eleven games, a quarter of the season gone and six points separate the top eight. As this neat infographic from the whizzes at Sporting Intelligence show, this has been no ordinary start to a Premier League season…  Continue reading →

The Cushiest Role In Football? The Anatomy of A Third String Goalkeeper

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In his first piece for The False Nine, Lee Warner looks at the role of the third choice goalkeeper…

According to the age-old maxim, you have to be a little bit mad to be a goalkeeper. If that’s true, then by definition you have to be even madder to be a second goalkeeper.

The life of the backup keeper has often yielded great attention and fascination. They must be ready to fill in at any point, but know that their role at a club is primarily subservient to another man. Rarely will a reserve keeper depose a cemented first teamer through his own doing, instead he must wait for a slip up. It’s a muddy mentality in the game of football, and a strange position to be in.

Ask Manchester United fans what they think of former stalwart back up goalkeeper Raimond van der Gouw, and the majority will smother him with appraisal. He knew his role, performed well when called upon, and never complained. He was according to many, the model reserve goalkeeper. Continue reading →