View From the South – Chelsea vs Birmingham City

Sorry it’s a bit late, but here is Bazza’s take on Wednesday’s game.

A few weeks ago a mate of mine Colin had called up and asked me if I was going to go to the Chelsea game and the result was I had asked him to get a couple of tickets for my son Jonny and me. Will and Chris were watching the pennies and decided to give the game a miss especially given the price of the tickets which many of us feel are steep at £50, champions or not.

Still it is the way of the world and until we as fans vote with our feet this situation is not going to change. Colin contacted me a few days before the game and confirmed he’d got the tickets but also that he had a spare place in the Champion’s Lounge courtesy of his mate Jim who is a Bluenose. I gratefully accepted this invitation and this meant I had a spare ticket for the game which I offered to my mate, Will which after initial protests as to generosity I finally persuaded him to come on the promise that he bought the beer. This seemed fair all round so we met at Guildford Station. I had told Jonny that if he was wearing colours to make sure he had something to cover them up with as he and Will were in the East Stand. Jonny duly turns up in the shirt of the faithful and Will in his Moseley Rugby shirt clutching his Blues away top to put on later. 

As the realisation dawned that Will and Jonny’s seats were in the Home section and not with the away fans two light bulbs went on above two stupid looking heads!

“Yow never told me that we wuz in with the natives Baz!” I said that I had told them both that the seats were in the East Stand and not the Matthew Harding Stand. “We’re gunna get killed!” ”No you’re not,” said I. “All you both have to do in keep a low profile” (difficult for Will) “and Jonny just needs to put his hoody over his shirt and you Will don’t put your away shirt on and everything will be fine. If I see you hanging from the top of the East Stand, I’ll know that the plan hasn’t worked!”  😀 “Typical!” exclaimed Will. “Well yow know who yower mates are don’t ya? Fancy not tellin’ us that we’re gunna be killed!” “Don’t be so melodramatic,” I said. “Do as I suggest and no one will be any the wiser.”

I had this all the way to Wimbledon on the train whilst we consumed the cold beer that Will had brought with him for the journey. When we got off and swapped to the District Line for the Tube to Fulham Broadway, Will was still chuntering away with Jonny joining in as to how warm it was going to be having to wear a hoodie over his shirt. Well he should have thought about that before coming. I was dressed smartly as I was going to the Champion’s Lounge and not in with the hoi-polloi and had no such problems to face because of clear planning. 😛

Will’s mood was not improved by the Stewards who were sceptical about their entry to the East Stand regardless of whether their colours were covered or not but in the end they were allowed in given that they weren’t permitted to swap the tickets for the away end at the ticket office.

I had got in to the Champion’s Lounge and enjoyed a starter of salmon with a lovely fresh salad and coleslaw followed by a beautiful slab of roast beef with roast potatoes, mixed vegetables and gravy. I passed on the deserts and decided to leave room for a splendid chocolate torte at half-time. I did enquire as to whether the greasy burger on offer in the East Stand was to the liking of my companions but answer there came none for reasons that are not entirely clear 😉 I was sent a message from them both of undying hatred which was a bit ungrateful I thought after all I’d said and done for them but there you go; moan, moan, moan, moan, moan!

Now none of us was expecting anything out of this game but I thought if we could keep it tight across midfield, frustrate Chelsea by making it difficult and perhaps sneak a goal we might just snatch an unexpected result out of the evening. We had set up 4-5-1 against their 4-3-3 to do just that. Jerome was up front with Alexsandr Hleb just behind him with Larsson and Fahey on the flanks and Gardner and Fergusson occupying the central positions.  The back four was once again Carr, Johnson, Ridgewell and Parnaby with Foster in goal. Well the game plan worked for all of 2 minutes 45 seconds as a superb diagonal pass to Ferreira which the full back promptly miscontrolled was eventually rescued because Parnaby was yards away from the Chelsea player. Ferreira had time to look up, make a cup of tea, drink it and deliver an excellent near post cross which was flicked on my Didier Drogba into the six-yard box where Malouda was sharp beating Carr to the ball to net from three yards; a dreadful start and one that was to mean that Blues realistically were never likely to recover.

However, Birmingham did make a decent fist of it and played themselves back into the game with good passing and movement. Blues had their moments when an excellent ball from Fergusson was seized on by Jerome who skinned Luiz for pace before bringing out a good save from Cech at the near post. Hleb should have done better when having created a clear opening he failed to get the shot off and by dithering allowed John Terry to get the vital block. The best chance was when the ball fell to Jerome 12 yards out. He had his back to goal but Craig Gardner was standing on the edge of the area and needed a simple pass rolled to him. He would surely have scored as there was nobody within five yards of the midfielder. Jerome opted to swivel and shoot. His shot was charged down and after a scramble the chance was gone; wrong option Cammy! This was a sentiment clearly shared by the exasperated Gardner.

In contrast to this profligacy, Chelsea scored a second goal on 26 minutes that was a thing of sheer brilliance and beauty and in fairness there was little that Blues could have done about it. Salomon Kalou took a pass from Drogba who was looking back to his mercurial best and danced round Roger Johnson leaving Parnaby in his wake. He then curved a breathtaking shot from the edge of the penalty area that started out wide but clipped the inside of the post before entering the net with Foster rooted to the spot. A fabulous finish and worth the admission fee to see; it was clinical in its execution and represented above all other incidents in the game the difference between the two sides.

It was after this that Birmingham’s chances described came and went so Blues went in 2-0 down despite playing well. I only wished that we did not crumple completely and take a dent in our goal difference but in the 62nd minute after keeping things fairly quiet Chelsea opened us up again. Substitute Ryan Bertrand crossed from the left and Malouda, was allowed to drift in far too easily between Roger Johnson and Liam Ridgewell, headed past Foster from eight yards as easy as you like. Whilst the first two goals were top class finishes this was a very poor concession that should have been prevented. Both defenders were ball watching and Malouda was not properly tracked.

Fernando Torres and Nicolas Anelka were then sent on by Chelsea ; how luxurious it must be to be able to send on world class players from your bench!  Blues made changes with Matt Derbyshire and David Bentley replacing Jerome who had once again worked hard but with no end product and Hleb who was disappointing frankly as he was guilty of giving the ball away cheaply on a number of occasions.

Derbyshire made an early impact and won Blues the penalty that Larsson smashed in to reduce the arrears. Derbyshire cleverly turned David Luiz and as he looked to go past the central defender, Luiz made a clumsy challenge that felled the Blues’ forward. There was little doubt about the award as Mike Jones pointed to the spot. There were no protests from the Chelsea players. Then an unseemly argument took place between Gardner and Larsson as to who should take the kick. I said to Jim who was sitting next to me that we were bound to miss it now. Gardner walked away bemused arms open towards the dugout but Larsson at least did not create a big taking point by confidently smacking the ball into the top corner for a goal that Birmingham deserved for their performance on the night. Gardner and Larsson did appear to make up on the way back to the restart but this is something that the manager has to sort out before the next game as heaven forbid we might even get another spot kick in a future fixture this season!

It could have been 3-2 a couple of minutes later which would have made a very interesting finale for Chelsea had the chance been taken. Gardner dispossessed Anelka in his own half with a strong tackle and put Derbyshire through in the 82nd minute. Reminiscent of last Saturday when in a similar position he elected to take the shot on early instead of taking it on another couple of yards to draw Cech out of position. He scuffed the low attempt and dragged the ball well wide of the target. This was to be Blues’ last hope of salvaging an unlikely point. Chelsea produced another golden opportunity of their own when Drogba incredibly hoisted the ball well over from eight yards as Blues clustered on their goal line to defend a free-kick awarded for a back pass by Larsson to Foster. 4-1 would have been very harsh on Birmingham and thankfully the damage was limited.

The Good: The hospitality of Jim and Colin. Thank you both for a great evening. The food was excellent and it was a thoroughly entertaining game despite Blues being on the wrong end of the score line. The looks on the faces of Jonny and Will when they came in for a drink afterwards; they survived despite Will’s premonitions and were boiling hot with the extra clothing they had to wear to cover their colours. 😀

The Bad: Blues’ finishing; more composure and this game could have been a high scoring draw. We had good chances and failed to put them away whereas Chelsea were ruthless. Otherwise, Birmingham played well.
The Ugly: The spat between Gardner and Larsson over the penalty. It is just as well Larsson scored! This must be clarified before the next game.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech 7, Ferreira 7, Cole 6 (Bertrand 57, 7), Essien 7, Luiz 6, Terry 7, Lampard 7, Mikel 7, Drogba 9, Malouda 8 (Anelka 67, 6), Kalou 8 (Torres 67, 6). Not used: Turnbull, Ivanovic, Benayoun, Zhirkov

Blues (4-5-1): Foster 6. Carr 7 Parnaby 5 (Davies 79). Ridgewell 6  Johnson 6  Larsson 6 Gardner 6 Ferguson 6 Hleb 5 (Bentley 70 6). Jerome 6 (Derbyshire 70, 5). Fahey 6 Not used: Doyle, Bowyer, Phillips, Beausejour.

Referee: M Jones 8: Mike Jones had a calm authoritative game and got the key decisions correct especially the penalty kick. Apparently we had a case for one in the first half for a push in the box but I confess I didn’t see it so can’t comment.

Attendance: 40,828

Bazza

KRO SOTV