Slipperduke
The Camden Cad
If you had any plans for this Saturday evening, I'd start cancelling them now because this title race is going all the way to the wire. Manchester United's struggles against Brad Friedel Rovers, sorry, Blackburn Rovers brought back memories of their 1995 visit to Upton Park when Ludek Miklosko's heroics in the West Ham goal cost them the title. Chelsea supporters must have loved the American's apparent Matrix-like ability to slow down time and keep United at bay because it's put them right back in with a shout. I'm sure I'm not alone when I ask the question; how on earth does this keep happening?
The New Paper received a letter this week from a very angry Chelsea fan upset at what he perceived to be a constant stream of negative reporting on his club. It's quite understandable, we all fight like lions to protect the honour of our team. Sadly though, as journalists, we can only report on what we see and speculate on what we hear and, in recent weeks, there haven't been a lot of positives at Stamford Bridge to comment on. The British tabloids went crazy this weekend reporting on the future of Grant (he doesn't have one), the row between Steve Clarke and Henk Ten Cate (they can't work together, apparently), Didier Drogba (he's off), Frank Lampard (him too), and the general feelings of the players towards their manager (they all hate him). Now, some of this might not be true, but all of it? If there's no fire, then where is all this smoke coming from? And yet Chelsea keep winning.
Their football is uninventive, but relentless. There's so much quality lying dormant in the side that it occasionally bubbles to the surface of its own accord. Michael Essien,. after 40 minutes of absolutely nothing happening at Goodison Park last week, suddenly picked up the ball on the halfway line and surged in on goal like a fugitive bull. Yes, he got a bit of luck with a deflection off Phil Jagielka, but he deserved it just for the endeavour. Joe Cole had a similar spell when he came off the bench at Wigan, tearing his opponents apart in a glorious 20 minute spell. Sometimes it's like they are winning in spite of the manager that we're told they hate. But they are winning.
Chelsea's greatest strength has been their ability to put inferior teams to the sword. As Arsenal showed, you can play gorgeous football, you can win at the San Siro, but if you can't beat Birmingham and Middlesbrough, you're not going to win any trophies. Chelsea are ruthless and composed. They rarely make mistakes, which is why there was so much surprise when they dropped points against Wigan. Whether it's some kind of Mourinho-conditioning left over or the apparent zen-like qualities of Grant, that's where they perform best. It's where they win.
I've spoken to Chelsea fans this week who are actually scared that they might win the title in case it means the retention of Grant. There was a similar syndrome for England fans under Steve McClaren. An innate knowledge that, despite the results, something, somewhere has gone very wrong. The next week will decide everything. Despite his victory over Arsenal, there is still a suspicion that Grant can't cut it against the big teams. But Grant wasn't supposed to be able to cut it against anyone. And yet he kept winning. Saturday will be very interesting indeed.
The New Paper received a letter this week from a very angry Chelsea fan upset at what he perceived to be a constant stream of negative reporting on his club. It's quite understandable, we all fight like lions to protect the honour of our team. Sadly though, as journalists, we can only report on what we see and speculate on what we hear and, in recent weeks, there haven't been a lot of positives at Stamford Bridge to comment on. The British tabloids went crazy this weekend reporting on the future of Grant (he doesn't have one), the row between Steve Clarke and Henk Ten Cate (they can't work together, apparently), Didier Drogba (he's off), Frank Lampard (him too), and the general feelings of the players towards their manager (they all hate him). Now, some of this might not be true, but all of it? If there's no fire, then where is all this smoke coming from? And yet Chelsea keep winning.
Their football is uninventive, but relentless. There's so much quality lying dormant in the side that it occasionally bubbles to the surface of its own accord. Michael Essien,. after 40 minutes of absolutely nothing happening at Goodison Park last week, suddenly picked up the ball on the halfway line and surged in on goal like a fugitive bull. Yes, he got a bit of luck with a deflection off Phil Jagielka, but he deserved it just for the endeavour. Joe Cole had a similar spell when he came off the bench at Wigan, tearing his opponents apart in a glorious 20 minute spell. Sometimes it's like they are winning in spite of the manager that we're told they hate. But they are winning.
Chelsea's greatest strength has been their ability to put inferior teams to the sword. As Arsenal showed, you can play gorgeous football, you can win at the San Siro, but if you can't beat Birmingham and Middlesbrough, you're not going to win any trophies. Chelsea are ruthless and composed. They rarely make mistakes, which is why there was so much surprise when they dropped points against Wigan. Whether it's some kind of Mourinho-conditioning left over or the apparent zen-like qualities of Grant, that's where they perform best. It's where they win.
I've spoken to Chelsea fans this week who are actually scared that they might win the title in case it means the retention of Grant. There was a similar syndrome for England fans under Steve McClaren. An innate knowledge that, despite the results, something, somewhere has gone very wrong. The next week will decide everything. Despite his victory over Arsenal, there is still a suspicion that Grant can't cut it against the big teams. But Grant wasn't supposed to be able to cut it against anyone. And yet he kept winning. Saturday will be very interesting indeed.
