Newcastle played quite well in the first half but were still 1-0 down at the interval. Newcastle must now attack to try to get result at Stamford Bridge this afternoon.
It looked like Cacapa and Taylor were the two in central defense with both Faye and Butt playing up front of the back four and Duff and Milner were out on the wings. Martins was the only forward up front with Smith playing a central midfield role as Newcastle packed their central midfield to try to get more of the ball.
Newcastle had an excellent chance after 15 minutes when Martins was played through the center but he was too slow to hit the ball and Chelsea cleared the danger. If Oba had hit the ball with his left foot first time it was a great chance to score.
Given has made some good saves in the first half especially after 21 minutes when he brilliantly saved a deflection of Nicky Butt’s shoulder with his lightning fast reflexes. Shay looks in good form today.
Just before the break Wright-Phillips had a great chance to put Chelsea two ahead, but put the chance wide of Given’s right hand post when he should have scored. Alex also should have done better with a good chance for Chelsea from a corner, but he put his bullet header straight at Given who took the ball well.
The first 20 minutes was all square but in the final 20 minutes of the half Chelsea started to gradually take hold of central midfield, and the game.
On 28 minutes Chelsea went ahead and the ball really should have been cleared by Steven Taylor but the ball eluded him and Essien scored with an open goal at his mercy.
In the second half Newcastle will need to up their pace and attack more if they are going to take anything from this game. Martins, Smith Duff and Milner have to push up – we cannot score without attacking and defensing when you are 1-0 down against Chelsea is not what’s needed.
Newcastle need to attack and become more adventurous in the last 45 minutes oif they are to take anything from this game. It’s not over yet.
Teams:
Chelsea: Hilario, Michael Essien, Joe Cole, John Obi Mikel, Michael Ballack, Wayne Bridge, Salomon Kalou, Tal Ben-Haim, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Alex, Juliano Belletti
Subs: Steve Sidwell, Claudio Pizzaro, Scott Sinclair, Paulo Ferreira, tbc
Newcastle United: Shay Given, Claudio Cacapa, Habib Beye, Charles N’Zogbia, Steven Taylor, Abdoulaye Faye, Nicky Butt, James Milner, Damien Duff, Alan Smith (c), Oba Martins
Subs: Steve Harper, David Rozehnal, Emre, Michael Owen, Mark Viduka
Referee: Mike Riley
Attendance: tbc
56 comments so far
Rob Kirton
Dec 29, 2007 at 5:00 PM
Comment #41geordie_jordan: to be fair N’Zogbia was having an poor game at LB, for whatever reason Enrique not on the bench. So Rozy at LB and Zog as CM makes a lot of sense. You are right though when saying why so late for Viduka?
At the end of the day playing for a draw and getting caught out.
Given the balance of play maybe Chelsea desrved to shade it, however having their 2nd goal stand does stick in the throat
Aussie Dave
Dec 29, 2007 at 5:05 PM
Comment #42that was a disgrace, i am watching it live in aust and Kalou was 3 metres offside, he was offside on the original pass, the deflection then made him even more offside.
You useless prick!!!
JoshI
Dec 29, 2007 at 5:07 PM
Comment #43Better performance, not great by anyones standards, but okay. We really should have gone for the win today, ok we probably would have lost anyway but we should have just pressed and pressed and we could have got a couple of goals…. In the end we have lost again, no matter how well we played. Still grim in the toon camp.
valle
Dec 29, 2007 at 5:07 PM
Comment #44some of u guys astonish me at times… How on earth can u sit there and point fingers at Sam after such a good performance… at chelsea i might add. Sometimes its like u guys WANT it to be Sams fault, so u can dream about another sacking and who our world class manager might be… thats till all the world class managers rule themselves out and we get stuck with Laurie Sanchez.
Aussie Dave
Dec 29, 2007 at 5:12 PM
Comment #45fair enough Valle, I dont belive a manager change will do us much good either We need to show confidence like we did in the 2nd half today and pass the ball, maybe add a quality attacking midfielder for that little bit extra.
Saying That I am stilled pissed that goal was given, we really could have won that game.
Obafan
Dec 29, 2007 at 5:15 PM
Comment #46We were unlucky with the 2nd Chelski goal, but isn’t it SA fault. I’m sorry but every time he needs to be so negative. After 1-1 we completely dominated the game untill SA thinks oh no, we are too attacking this can’t be true. Why not make a few changes so we will not go forward too often. I’m scared that we make a 2nd one.
Lets first get my “captain” off for a CD who I today will play at LB. Why not, I’ve given the most of my players another position but he is one of them who always played at his natural position.
Martins, oh no he is threatening the Chelski defence too much, that is why we are attacking too much. I will get him off and put Owen on for him, because Owen is not 100% fit and he will not be able to hold the ball so long that my other players can come forward. Martins his non verbal communication said it all, he was disappointed to leave the pitch and he was 500% right.
Oh no, my defensive plan is knocked by an offside goal (!!!). I will put Vid on so they can’t blame me that I am too defensive.
I’m really bored with this tactical rubbish of a manager who needs to be kicked in the *ss.
We could have been the 1ste tem in a long time to win at Stamford Bridge, but no our manager wanted us to show that he is scared to attack. SACK HIM!!!!
We neede someone like Emre to open up the “weak” Chelski defence, but no that is something which can not be done by SA. Go back to Bolton or any other team, but please go as far as possible away from Newcastle.
Andy H
Dec 29, 2007 at 5:15 PM
Comment #47With Sunderland and Boro winning, Spurs quickly catching up and West Ham pulling away in the table it’d be easy to feel it’s been another bad day.
But the players today were fantastic and really put in a spirited and determined performance for Big Sam and the fans. They deserve a lot of credit for coming back like that today and deserved more from the match clearly. Kalou’s goal was a joke. Just an unbelievable decision. He’s 2 or 3 yards off and all the hard work goes out the window. But hopefully we will give Sam and the players a break because we were just robbed.
After the goal we looked the more likely to go on and win and although Rozehnal for Smith seemed defensive we got to see the best from Zog and he really showed what he can do in the attacking third. Milner, even on the right took way too long to get the ball in and it enevitably always went to the keeper. He works hard but if we are looking to bring in quality – a top right midfielder is needed to be honest.
Faye was impressive in midfield and generally we can have few complaints and Given pulled off a couple of amazing save. The best from Butt?!?
We need to play a bit more attacking against Man City but the players looked to have more confidence on the ball today and we should be able to pull off a win.
Edd Case
Dec 29, 2007 at 5:20 PM
Comment #48Valle – shut the hell up man.
Sam is the manager, currently, and is defintely to blame for this loss.
We were really begining to take the game to Chelsea and what does he do, drag off Smith and put on a centre back?
The leaves it until the 88th minute AFTER we’d gone 2-1 down to put Viduka on…
Look, I’m no genius but we could have won that game, if only Sam had decided to put on Viduka earlier, or even kept Oba on but WITH Owen.
Sam cocked it up by being too negative.
Can’t you see that this is the game Sam always plays?
He tries to STOP the opposition each game and adapts a formation to that.
That’s not how you should go about it. We should be a 442 every time.
The players today showed that when they want to, they can play. We must play to their strengths, Sam doesn’t allow this.
Zogg was shite at the back today – SWP owned him. Going forward though, he looked great – take a hint Sam.
Look, I’m not arsed if Sam stays or goes, I personally really dislike the man and his schools of thought, but if he for once allows the team to play an attacking 442 – he’ll see what we can do and then, maybe, he’ll stick with that – I’ll support him then.
valle
Dec 29, 2007 at 5:22 PM
Comment #49Aussie Dave… Agree mate, we really need that bit of flair in midfield… Imo players such as Milner, Taylor and Oba simply aint good enough too. We could also use a good left back and move Zog up the field
Southern_Magpie
Dec 29, 2007 at 5:27 PM
Comment #50I fear we may be back to our normal self on Wednesday. Our ‘best’ performances have been on the road this season, and we seem to freeze in front of our own fans. Man city have been stuttering a bit of late. Hopefully we can wipe the smiles off their faces.
There were positive signs today but we need to build on this. I remember a promising performance at Blackburn where we lost yet deserved so much more, and that was only followed by inept performances against Fulham, Derby and Wigan.
valle
Dec 29, 2007 at 5:28 PM
Comment #51Edd Case… I dont watch that much Chelsea, but i cant see how u can be so much out of touch with reality… Even the commentators said they hadnt seen Chelsea so much under pressure for years. We absolutly stormed them in the 2nd half, all they had was contra (Which they did great, being chelsea ofc). The subs had nothing to do with the outcome, and Oba had another stinker, so he deserved to come off… We played well, and only lost because of inept refs
Southern_Magpie
Dec 29, 2007 at 5:32 PM
Comment #52Sam made a mistake today, and we looked so much more shaky after his subs than prior to them. However, for 80 minutes before he had a game plan that frustrated Chelsea. It may have not been pretty but we more than matched them for most of the match. Unfortunately positive parts of Sam’s performance will always be overlooked by the negative ones
Aussie Dave
Dec 29, 2007 at 5:53 PM
Comment #53By the way, why was Joey Barton doing out on the piss in Liverpool, when he was meant to be fit and just being rested.
Aussie hDave
Dec 29, 2007 at 5:56 PM
Comment #54excuse the poor english on the last post, it is 5am and im pretty hammered.
offside, offside
Southern_Magpie
Dec 29, 2007 at 6:22 PM
Comment #55Apparently he had a bust up with Allardyce before the Wigan game because he was left out of the squad. He then went to Merseyside instead of going back to Newcastle with the rest of the squad. Whether Sam instructed him to go and see his family or he just stormed off in a huff, I’m not sure. He must have been pretty angry at something to cause the trouble he did.
joe
Dec 30, 2007 at 12:46 AM
Comment #56It DOES make sense for sam to take smith off for rozenhal. For some of you who dont understand that substitution, Id really like to see u become manager instead, go for the win and see the flak you take for not dealing with SWP when he dribbles past zog and sets up the winner. It did free up zog to roam up and the reason why they dominated towards the end wasnt because we stopped attacking, but instead it was their change of formation.