Slipperduke
The Camden Cad
Hi all, apologies for the lack of these recently. Not been too well, so just been filing and then retiring back to my sick-sofa. Back now though with more ill thought-out, poorly constructed critiques of the rich and famous. And so without Freddy Adu....
If Manchester United's victory in Denmark was costly, what price can you put on Chelsea's solitary point in Cluj? Sir Alex Ferguson faces 10 weeks without Paul Scholes as well as an undisclosed lay-off to Wayne Rooney, but Luiz Felipe Scolari could only watch in horror as Didier Drogba was carried off with what is now thought to be a broken ankle. Drogba had already tumbled to the ground twice in apparent agony only to get back up again unscathed, but when he fell again in the 55th minute it was clear that, this time, he wouldn't be making such a miraculous recovery.
The loss of Drogba was bad, but it could have been even worse for Chelsea who struggled to make any impact at all on the Romanian champions. Cluj may have passed the ball with all the frugality of a lottery winner with a bag of dollar bills, but they were gutsy and tenacious and managed to restrict Chelsea to just a handful of half-chances. Granted, at times they defended so deep that they were almost in the stands behind their goal, but they played a clever game and very nearly snatched all three points at the end.
Chelsea have played some splendid football this season, but this was a return to the bad old days of Avram Grant. A solid defence secured safety, but in front of that everything was unbalanced and incohrent. John Obi Mikel, who usually stops other teams from playing, was lost at sea, Frank Lampard kept pumping balls straight to Eduard Stancioiu in the Cluj goal and Saloman Kalou was so poor that he was withdrawn at half-time. Chelsea really miss the string-pulling of Deco, as well as the impish creativity of Joe Cole, both out injured.
If you think that Roman Abramovich, with his four managers in five years, has a patience deficiency, try working for Iuliu Paul Muresan. The Romanian bankrolled Cluj all the way from the third division, but sacked the coach responsible for last season's league and cup double, Ioan Andone, after a slightly disappointing start to this campaign. His replacement, the very brave Maurizio Trombetta, has already masterminded victory over Roma and now requires just two victories from his four remaining group games to secure a place in the second stage. Bordeaux, abject at Stamford Bridge and soundly beaten last night at home to Roma, are up next in back-to-back fixtures.
Cluj, as you will almost certainly have read in the last 24 hours, is in Translyvania, a land that Bram Stoker immortalised in his classic novel 'Dracula'. It was an appropriate venue for a horror show like this. Chelsea were howled at by the locals, pursued relentlessly by their opponents and then grievously wounded by the loss of Drogba. With just Nicolas Anelka and young Franco di Santo left up front, Scolari will be having nightmares about this for weeks.
MATCH STATS
Cluj
Eduard Stancioiu 7, Alvaro Pereira 7, Gabriel Muresan 7, Tony 7, Cadu 6, Andre Galiassi 6, Eugen Trica 7 (Didi 6), Emmanuel Culio 8, Dani 6, Sebastien Dubarbier 6, Yssouf Kone 6
Chelsea
Petr Cech 7, Jose Bosingwa 7, John Terry 7, Alex 7, Wayne Bridge 7, John Obi-Mikel 5, Frank Lampard 6, Michael Ballack 5, Saloman Kalou 5 (Nicolas Anelka 5), Florent Malouda 5 (Di Santo 6), Didier Drogba 5 (Juliano Belletti 6)
Yellow Cards - Alex, Anelka (Chelsea), Pereira, Dani (Cluj)
Red Cards - None
Attendance - 22,000
If Manchester United's victory in Denmark was costly, what price can you put on Chelsea's solitary point in Cluj? Sir Alex Ferguson faces 10 weeks without Paul Scholes as well as an undisclosed lay-off to Wayne Rooney, but Luiz Felipe Scolari could only watch in horror as Didier Drogba was carried off with what is now thought to be a broken ankle. Drogba had already tumbled to the ground twice in apparent agony only to get back up again unscathed, but when he fell again in the 55th minute it was clear that, this time, he wouldn't be making such a miraculous recovery.
The loss of Drogba was bad, but it could have been even worse for Chelsea who struggled to make any impact at all on the Romanian champions. Cluj may have passed the ball with all the frugality of a lottery winner with a bag of dollar bills, but they were gutsy and tenacious and managed to restrict Chelsea to just a handful of half-chances. Granted, at times they defended so deep that they were almost in the stands behind their goal, but they played a clever game and very nearly snatched all three points at the end.
Chelsea have played some splendid football this season, but this was a return to the bad old days of Avram Grant. A solid defence secured safety, but in front of that everything was unbalanced and incohrent. John Obi Mikel, who usually stops other teams from playing, was lost at sea, Frank Lampard kept pumping balls straight to Eduard Stancioiu in the Cluj goal and Saloman Kalou was so poor that he was withdrawn at half-time. Chelsea really miss the string-pulling of Deco, as well as the impish creativity of Joe Cole, both out injured.
If you think that Roman Abramovich, with his four managers in five years, has a patience deficiency, try working for Iuliu Paul Muresan. The Romanian bankrolled Cluj all the way from the third division, but sacked the coach responsible for last season's league and cup double, Ioan Andone, after a slightly disappointing start to this campaign. His replacement, the very brave Maurizio Trombetta, has already masterminded victory over Roma and now requires just two victories from his four remaining group games to secure a place in the second stage. Bordeaux, abject at Stamford Bridge and soundly beaten last night at home to Roma, are up next in back-to-back fixtures.
Cluj, as you will almost certainly have read in the last 24 hours, is in Translyvania, a land that Bram Stoker immortalised in his classic novel 'Dracula'. It was an appropriate venue for a horror show like this. Chelsea were howled at by the locals, pursued relentlessly by their opponents and then grievously wounded by the loss of Drogba. With just Nicolas Anelka and young Franco di Santo left up front, Scolari will be having nightmares about this for weeks.
MATCH STATS
Cluj
Eduard Stancioiu 7, Alvaro Pereira 7, Gabriel Muresan 7, Tony 7, Cadu 6, Andre Galiassi 6, Eugen Trica 7 (Didi 6), Emmanuel Culio 8, Dani 6, Sebastien Dubarbier 6, Yssouf Kone 6
Chelsea
Petr Cech 7, Jose Bosingwa 7, John Terry 7, Alex 7, Wayne Bridge 7, John Obi-Mikel 5, Frank Lampard 6, Michael Ballack 5, Saloman Kalou 5 (Nicolas Anelka 5), Florent Malouda 5 (Di Santo 6), Didier Drogba 5 (Juliano Belletti 6)
Yellow Cards - Alex, Anelka (Chelsea), Pereira, Dani (Cluj)
Red Cards - None
Attendance - 22,000
