Chelsea 3 – 0 Schalke

Wednesday 6^th November from Stamford Bridge:

Chelsea 3 – 0 Schalke

The pressure was off after that comfortable win in Germany and another win today would recover what was a horrendous start in the competition versus Basel. Sadly less pressure means less of an atmosphere and I think that’s why we like making it hard for ourselves. The lack of atmosphere may also have something to do with the limited alcohol offering inside the stadium due to European regulation. It’s a simple enough equation – less drunk’s equals less noise.

Unfortunately Fernando Torres, who bagged a brace in the away tie, was out through injury. Another notable absentee was Eden Hazard. The Belgian hadn’t made it into the squad and there was no news of injury. It turns out that I’m not the only one who struggles to get into work on time Monday morning - Mourinho had punished Hazard for being late to training. He claimed he lost his passport whilst visiting friends abroad. Lost passport? I hope she was worth it Eden.

Any Chelsea fan will tell you slow starts are not uncommon at the Bridge. But this was the worst I’ve seen. We should have been 2 down after 5 minutes had Schalke’s strike force been more clinical. We were dire in the first half and again we lacked ideas in the opposing half. Then we received the third early Xmas present in as many games. If Eden Hazard thought he was having a bad night, the Schalke keeper Hildebrand was about to have a worse one. He dwelt too long and Eto’o, who’s rapidly gaining a poaching reputation, charged down his clearance to ricochet the ball in. How we went in 1-0 up at half time is still a mystery to me.

Second half wasn’t a great deal better from an attacking point of view, although we did have a tighter grip on the game and controlled the play well. Ivanovic, our burly Serbian right back, was our biggest attacking threat. Willian had another great game and his good work slipped Eto’o in who neatly slotted his and Chelsea’s second of the night. Super-subs Lampard and Demba Ba came on and linked up beautifully to put the game beyond the German visitors. It wasn’t a great game to watch but it’s always nice when you play dreadful and still win 3-0. We should win the group now but we’ll need to improve drastically if we hope to go far in the Champions League this season.

I never usually get the Chelsea magazine but this month they ran a personal article on Ramires. I love Ramires and I’m delighted he recently played down any link to Real Madrid. He would be a huge loss. He came across pretty much how I expected, he’s a family man and a complete professional with a disciplined attitude towards the game. Rambo also agreed with my thought that Oscar will win the Ballon D’or one day – I hope he’s still with Chelsea when he does it. After watching Oscar for 2 years I believe he has the ability to be the worlds best. Oscar’s an enigma. His best friends are the two biggest Brazilian jokers in London – Sandro and David Luiz. They don’t have a serious bone in their body. Yet Oscar, despite only being 22 years old, has a very sensible head on his shoulders. On the pitch he is as intelligent as he is hardworking. Off the pitch he’s happily married and spends his spare time playing computer games.

Arsenal 0 – 2 Chelsea

Tuesday 29^th October from The Emirates:

Arsenal 0 – 2 Chelsea

I said to myself I would start going to more away games this season. First stop was the Emirates; which is much closer to my office than Stamford Bridge but an away game nevertheless. Arriving there I wasn’t sure we’d get in. The tickets looked like they were for a raffle, not a football match. But they were real and as we entered the Emirates the singing began. It didn’t stop the whole night.

I think the Emirates is a fantastic ground. I’d be proud if Chelsea had something similar, but larger size does mean less of an atmosphere. The modern architecture is plastered in history. I especially like how their trophies are etched around the stadium’s interior. It allows us the chance to double check our math before we remind every last fan how long it’s been since they last saw silverware…and confirm that Ashley Cole has indeed won the European Cup.

I love when Chelsea shut Arsenal fans up. I don’t necessarily hate all Arsenal fans, but they seem to have more annoying followers than any other team. To prove my point; take the three most famous followers of the North London club. They are Fidel Castro, Piers Morgan and Osama Bin Laden – and I’m not sure who’s the worst person in that trio.

Chelsea’s squad was exactly as I predicted. Arsenal’s however was much stronger with Ramsey and Wilshere in the centre. We established ourselves well, controlling possession like the home team and winning all our individual battles. That being said; the game was flat and it looked like only a mistake or stroke of genius would break the deadlock. We received both. We broke from an Arsenal corner and received another gift (2 in 3 days) as Jenkinson messed up his header to allow us to poke home. We broke so quickly I couldn’t tell who scored. It looks like Dave, but it couldn’t be. It surely wasn’t Dave. No, who else is on? Who scored? Dave? DAVE!! Fantastic to see that hunger to get so far up the pitch and get his first goal. Azpilicueta – we’ll just call you Dave. 1-0 at the break.

The second half was as one-sided as the first. Bertrand and Luiz were exceptional at the back and Willian was my man of the match. We’ve definitely got the depth to win this competition, something Arsenal have not. Bendtner might as well have been sitting with me all game and Ryo didn’t get past Bertrand in several attempts. Then entered potential game-changer Mesut Ozil and the home crowd could finally be heard. This was to be brief. 

3 minutes after the German’s arrival mustered what appeared to be a fight back, Juan Mata controlled Willian’s header with that golden touch of his and unleashed a curler into the corner of the goal. 2-0 and the singing got louder. Giroud came on after and did more in 5 minutes than Bendtner had done all game but it was too little too late. Schwarzer had a quiet evening but superbly answered every late question he was asked to ensure we kept a clean sheet and control of the game. The match ended 2-0 and now we move on with Wembley and hopefully more silverware beckoning.