Though I would have loved a Chelsea win today I was comfortable with a 2-3 loss. With Oscar, Moses, Azpi, and a striker still to arrive we had to play with the defensive team that won against Bayern with the important subtraction of Drogba and important addition of Hazard. To stand any chance of a win against the EPL champions was going take a similar ‘park the bus’ strategy, and that’s what RDM employed. We could have pulled it off if we had not been reduced to 10 men. But 2-3 against the champions of the world’s best league with a new team in the wings isn’t bad going. What gave me the most confidence was RDM’s strategies. The defensive first half gave us a goal, and the long ball up, played back to an attacking midfield at the beginning of the 2nd half was working really well. It put 10 men on the front foot, and if it were not for a defensive blunder that brought City back into the game we looked good to maintain that momentum. Cities goal in the light of 10 men had a psychological impact that was not over come until 10 min from the end, which gave us an extra goal but was too late for a draw. I think Chelsea can take some confidence from this game, but we definitely need to ‘go for broke’ in getting a right back and an extra world class striker. It’s not worth squabbling over 2M. We will need the best to take on United and City next time around.
Though I would have loved a Chelsea win today I was comfortable with a 2-3 loss. With Oscar, Moses, Azpi, and a striker still to arrive we had to play with the defensive team that won against Bayern with the important subtraction of Drogba and important addition of Hazard. To stand any chance of a win against the EPL champions was going take a similar ‘park the bus’ strategy, and that’s what RDM employed. We could have pulled it off if we had not been reduced to 10 men. But 2-3 against the champions of the world’s best league with a new team in the wings isn’t bad going. What gave me the most confidence was RDM’s strategies. The defensive first half gave us a goal, and the long ball up, played back to an attacking midfield at the beginning of the 2nd half was working really well. It put 10 men on the front foot, and if it were not for a defensive blunder that brought City back into the game we looked good to maintain that momentum. Cities goal in the light of 10 men had a psychological impact that was not over come until 10 min from the end, which gave us an extra goal but was too late for a draw. I think Chelsea can take some confidence from this game, but we definitely need to ‘go for broke’ in getting a right back and an extra world class striker. It’s not worth squabbling over 2M. We will need the best to take on United and City next time around.