Match Recap: Chelsea 2-1 Wigan, FA Cup

With this win, Cup holders Chelsea are through to the final to play either Sheffield Utd or Manchester City.

Today's Chelsea was a decent side and the result was always to be, but due to the injury crisis and ACN absences it is now painfully evident where Chelsea's weaknesses are and a good possession side will be able to exploit them with ease. A matchup in the final with Man City could prove be one of the most thrilling of the season.

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Chelsea ratings (out of 10):

Cech - 7
Stopped all but the most spectacular of chances. Looks like his dependable old self again.

Bridge - 4
Got upfield well but wasn't communicating well with either Cole or Carvalho. Ivanovic might be making his debut quickly.

Alex - 6
He's no Terry but he'll do. Did his level best to organize the back line and showed good anticipation by stepping up and quelling some potentially dangerous buildups around midfield.

Carvalho - 6
Between him and Alex I feel confident in our center defense. They can be relied upon.

Belletti - 4
Guilty of slow thinking and too many touches. Nearly the victim of his own mistakes on more than one occasion. Not an inspiring performance.

J. Cole - 7
Very troublesome on the wing. His bursts of flair and creativity are very encouraging. Cole's performances on the pitch might prove to be decisive throughout the coming weeks.

Makelele - 5
I can't tell whether he's off form or just slowly losing his game as time goes on, but either way, a below-average Makelele is still a crucial presence for Chelsea on the pitch. He could work a bit better with Carvalho and Alex.

Sidwell - 4
I'm not comfortable with any midfield lineup involving Sidwell. He just doesn't have the vision and awareness you'd like to see out of a player in his role. Damningly, he failed to pressure the service which led to Sibierski's wondergoal.

Wright-Philips - 6
You definitely want him on the pitch, but I feel he's underperforming. Scored the winning goal but could have made the Chelsea bench a bit more comfortable earlier on if he wasn't so wasteful with his touches in the final third.

Malouda - 5
Anelka's immense presence up top effectively forced Malouda out of the game. He wanted to relegate himself to the wings but found Cole and SWP there already. Isn't a true winger and therefore couldn't find his place in the game. I wonder how he'd do in a central position, either as a Ballack-type a-mid or a Jaime Moreno-type withdrawn forward. I also wonder how J. Cole would do in those roles, for that matter.

Anelka - 8 (MotM)
Grabbed his first goal and first assist in only his second appearance for the club. Consistently broke Wigan's back four and was a constant threat the entire game. Anelka looks well to me, playing with a style and presence very similar to Drogba's. In that sense I can't help but feel I'm witnessing the work of Drogba's replacement. If he preserves this kind of form throughout the coming weeks, he might just become Chelsea's #1.

Subs:
Ferreira - 4
Didn't have much time to make a positive impact but committed several poor touches which almost cost us.

Pizzaro - NA

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Notes:

- Wigan's pitch looks awful, though I do seem to recall a certain pitch at a certain Bridge against Barcelona in the 05-06 Champion's league which looked awfully similar.

- As far as I can tell, Anelka has been onside every time they've called him off. He has sublime timing.

- Wigan's real chances have all come from the wings just outside the final third-- Wright-Philips and Cole aren't connecting well enough with Belletti and Bridge. Fortunately Wigan hasn't had good service and Heskey doesn't have the physical presence to deal with Alex.

- Malouda is useless. I wonder what a young, hungry gun like Sinclair wouldn't do to open up Wigan's back line for Anelka.

- Chelsea seems to have no intention of working through the center of the pitch. Makelele is busy at the back and Sidwell seems incapable of being the two-way conduit. So then who? I can't help but imagine what Michael Bradley would be doing that Sidwell isn't.

Enjoy. =)

Injured Terry Scores Again: Chelsea FC 1-0 LAG

Florent Malouda took a corner kick, Galaxy cleared it poorly, Joe Cole slaps one into the box, the ball smacks Kalou's knee right at Terry's feet and he snaps one lefty onto the far post. Joe Cannon never stood a chance.

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Other notes:

- Beckham's made his debut. Can things start dying down now?

- Florent Malouda brings a whole different dynamic than Arjen Robben. No more the fancy dribbling onto a defender's foot, no more the sprawling and complaining. I was seeing a lot of creative service from the left side (Malouda, Ben-Haim) and a lot of hopeful shots from the right side (Joe Cole)

- Who still wants to let Andriy Shevchenko go? Keep that guy around, he's class. We've already spent the money-- now let's let him play for what he's worth.

- I'm surprised Drogba didn't get on the scoreline -- should've, except for the offsides call.

- Ben-Haim wears his uniform like it's 1995. Untuck your jersey and pull your shorts down a bit, son.
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And just in case you missed it, Bryant Gumbel's won himself some admirers for being spot on about American-brand soccer:

Chelsea To Play 'Creatively' In The Coming Season

I've just been informed that Mourinho is going to flout the critics this coming season by playing some creative football. The evidence to qualify his words? Check out this truthiness:




Club America 1 - 2 Chelsea - SSN
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Malouda notches a goal and an assist in his first match wearing blue.

I'll chalk this up to his skill as an individual, but what really stood out to me, watching those goals, was some excellent team chemistry. And that's why the rest of the Premiership still regards Chelsea as the team to beat in spite of their pointed lack of summer spending. For a player such as Malouda to come into a team and gel so quickly is nothing short of transfer genius from Jose Mourinho. I'll say this: when world-class stars convene on a pitch, it is not always an attractive thing; what makes or breaks the team is how they cooperate. And it would appear that Chelsea FC is cooperating supremely well.

(And let me just say, it really does me some good to see Chelsea celebrating as a team, as a whole team, Malouda included. CFC is a real, total, complete goddam team and I love it. Well, that, and it's just damn funny to see John Terry try something remotely like samba.)

Mourinho's promised that he wants to play some creative (read: attractive) football in the coming season. And, get this, he's issued it as a warning to Michael Ballack. Apparently the style of football Mourinho wants to play, and specifically the formation he wants to play it with, doesn't suit Ballack's imposing physicality and technical prowess.

Rofl.

But really, with world-class wingers like Florent Malouda and Joe Cole and Solomon Kalou, playing a style of play which favors the wings makes plenty of sense.

Can't wait to see it once the season starts.