Slipperduke
The Camden Cad
Chelsea became the third English side to book their place in the Quarter-Finals of the Champions League and they did it, not by boring their opponents into submission, but by smashing them to pieces with a performance that, strange as it may sound, was as beautiful as it was efficient. Avram Grant has been telling us since he arrived that his Chelsea would play entertaining football, but this was the first time that it was in evidence. Short, quick passing was the order of the day, combined with clever movement as blue shirts zipped around the field, tormenting Olympiakos from the first whistle. Is this the start of a new era of beautiful football for Chelsea? Will Grant continue to give his players licence to express themselves in this final third of the season? Let’s hope so.
Olympiakos were simply blown away at Stamford Bridge by an emphatic, defiant display. Grant has come in for fearful criticism since his team capitulated at Wembley and it seems that Chelsea’s 4-0 victory at the weekend wasn’t quite enough of a riposte for him. He was hurt by the personal attacks in the media and he is desperate to prove his accusers wrong. On the evidence presented here, he might just do it. The simple lesson seems to be; don’t mess with the system. Chelsea are much more at home in their time-honoured 4-5-1 formation, even if Grant continues to insist that it’s 4-3-3. It gives them width, it gives them strength and, in Didier Drogba, they have a perfect lone wolf. It makes you wonder why the bought Nicolas Anelka and not a spare Drogba, like Valencia’s unsettled striker Nikola Zigic.
The Greeks couldn’t cope with Chelsea’s quick passing, though in fairness, they were probably as surprised as the rest of us. Their marking was appalling, particularly for Ballack’s opening goal when they inexplicably gave the German midfielder all the room he needed to break the deadlock. A second strike after just 25 minutes wrapped the game up and gave Chelsea a chance to relax. Unfortunately for Olympiakos, Grant had a point to prove and relaxing was off the agenda. Another soppy goal after half-time made it look embarrassing. Even Claude Makelele managed to get forward and have a crack on target. Twice!
Fernando Belluschi had the honour of notching up Olympiakos’ first shot of the night, curling a free-kick into Carlo Cudicini’s arms on the hour and it was he who crashed a long shot against the bar with seven minutes to go, but the Greeks struggled to create anything else. In fairness to them, they were once again without the services of former Newcastle frontman Lomano LuaLua, one of the few players with the ability to carve open Chelsea’s rearguard.
The only smear on Chelsea’s evening was a booking to Frank Lampard for diving, which seemed a little harsh. His standing leg was certainly touched by his opposite number, but perhaps the referee was unimpressed with the way that Lampard flew through the air, calling for a penalty even before he’d crashed to the ground. He’ll regret that if he gets booked in the Semi-Finals. Petr Cech missed the game with an ankle injury, though the word is that he’ll be back in less than two weeks.
Grant has publicly announced that his priority is the Champions League, but up until now, Chelsea didn’t seem to be a particular threat to the continent‘s big guns. This is the fourth time in five seasons that they’ve reached the last eight, but they’ve yet to make the Final. He seemed unconcerned with talk of drawing an English club in the next round though, entertainingly, he did promise that whatever happened, they would end up with Liverpool in the Semi-Finals. He’s sharp, you can’t deny that. Olympiakos’ poor showing means that you can’t read too much into this game, but, never mind the result, it was just nice to see Chelsea playing the ball around like Arsenal. Now let’s see it continue, Avram.
Olympiakos were simply blown away at Stamford Bridge by an emphatic, defiant display. Grant has come in for fearful criticism since his team capitulated at Wembley and it seems that Chelsea’s 4-0 victory at the weekend wasn’t quite enough of a riposte for him. He was hurt by the personal attacks in the media and he is desperate to prove his accusers wrong. On the evidence presented here, he might just do it. The simple lesson seems to be; don’t mess with the system. Chelsea are much more at home in their time-honoured 4-5-1 formation, even if Grant continues to insist that it’s 4-3-3. It gives them width, it gives them strength and, in Didier Drogba, they have a perfect lone wolf. It makes you wonder why the bought Nicolas Anelka and not a spare Drogba, like Valencia’s unsettled striker Nikola Zigic.
The Greeks couldn’t cope with Chelsea’s quick passing, though in fairness, they were probably as surprised as the rest of us. Their marking was appalling, particularly for Ballack’s opening goal when they inexplicably gave the German midfielder all the room he needed to break the deadlock. A second strike after just 25 minutes wrapped the game up and gave Chelsea a chance to relax. Unfortunately for Olympiakos, Grant had a point to prove and relaxing was off the agenda. Another soppy goal after half-time made it look embarrassing. Even Claude Makelele managed to get forward and have a crack on target. Twice!
Fernando Belluschi had the honour of notching up Olympiakos’ first shot of the night, curling a free-kick into Carlo Cudicini’s arms on the hour and it was he who crashed a long shot against the bar with seven minutes to go, but the Greeks struggled to create anything else. In fairness to them, they were once again without the services of former Newcastle frontman Lomano LuaLua, one of the few players with the ability to carve open Chelsea’s rearguard.
The only smear on Chelsea’s evening was a booking to Frank Lampard for diving, which seemed a little harsh. His standing leg was certainly touched by his opposite number, but perhaps the referee was unimpressed with the way that Lampard flew through the air, calling for a penalty even before he’d crashed to the ground. He’ll regret that if he gets booked in the Semi-Finals. Petr Cech missed the game with an ankle injury, though the word is that he’ll be back in less than two weeks.
Grant has publicly announced that his priority is the Champions League, but up until now, Chelsea didn’t seem to be a particular threat to the continent‘s big guns. This is the fourth time in five seasons that they’ve reached the last eight, but they’ve yet to make the Final. He seemed unconcerned with talk of drawing an English club in the next round though, entertainingly, he did promise that whatever happened, they would end up with Liverpool in the Semi-Finals. He’s sharp, you can’t deny that. Olympiakos’ poor showing means that you can’t read too much into this game, but, never mind the result, it was just nice to see Chelsea playing the ball around like Arsenal. Now let’s see it continue, Avram.
