All Things Footie | Tuesday, May 3 | Jordan
Chelsea plod to title
You won’t find any sour grapes here, Chelsea have been the best team this season by a stretch, and deserve the league without a doubt, but they categorically have not been as ‘phenomenal’ or ‘incredible’ as I’m so consistently told they have been by the hyped up Sky Sports presenters. They’ve been incredibly consistent, yes, they’ve won a large percentage of their games by grinding out results and winning the war of attrition that results when both sides play safety first, absolutely. There hasn’t been the mercurial swagger that United and (particularly) Arsenal have brought to many of their recent Premiership triumphs, which is clear in the fact that their almost unanimously accepted best player is a centre half. Where we’ve had phenomenal seasons from Henry, Pires and Ljungberg, or Giggs, Scholes and van Nistelrooij; this year we’ve had Terry, Cech and Lampard. Well, one attacking midfielder out of three aint bad. Sure, Robben, Duff and Gudjonsen have also made significant contributions, and it’s important to recognise the success of a real team-effort over an individual’s brilliance, but any fan would be hard-pressed to say that this Chelsea team is one of the greatest sides they’ve ever seen. Even if they go on to win the Champions League.
There’s no doubt that on there day Chelsea can be devastating, scoring bags of goals seemingly effortlessly (see the first 20 minutes against Barcelona at Stamford Bridge in-particular), but their game is based not on improvisation and fluidity of movement—of their attacking players only Robben has that true gliding quality and magic feet—but on careful organisation, meticulous distribution and above all else a dogged determination to keep plugging familiar routes to goal. Give it to Duff, run, cross, head. Give it to Robben, run, shoot. Hoof it to Drogba, pick up the scraps from the knockdown. And they do it over and over again. And it usually works. Which far from being a critisim, is a good tactic; it wins games, points, and leagues.
I said at the start of the year that if Chelsea won the league it would be a defeat for good, honest football, and I stand by that. While other sides have to a large extent bought success (or have tried to), it’s at least been accountable cash that’s financed them. Manchester United’s brilliant marketing strategies generating millions; lifelong Blackburn fan Jack Walker ploughing his hard earned cash into his team; steady, consistent success and frugality giving Arsenal a few bob to throw around; the loyal patronage of Newcastle’s toon army keeping the club’s coffers topped up. It’s a very different situation to the billions available to Chelsea on the whim of a Russian oligarch who wanted a new play-thing. It’s absolutely true and to their credit that the two most effective and influential Chelsea players this season have been Lampard and Terry, homegrown (of sorts) and there pre-Abramovich. But would Chelsea have achieved all they have without spending the best part of £200m on Robben, Duff, Makelele, Drogba, Tiago, Carvalho, Cech, Ferrara, Johnson, Bridge, Kezman, Crespo, Mutu (alright, scratch the last three)? The answer of course, is no way.
Regardless of all that I’ve said above, part of me is glad that the United/Arsenal stranglehold has been broken and that there’s some serious competition at the top of the table now. I do like Jose Mourinho; he’s colourful, he’s fun, he’s honest, and I’ve always admired John Terry. Chelsea may be a bit dull every now and then, but at least they play football, which is more than can be said of Manchester United circa 2005. One thing I must add; talk of Chelsea dominance by all and sundry is very short-sighted and blissfully naïve. Arsenal have been uncharacteristically poor this season, part due to Jose Reyes inability to adjust to England, part due to serious injuries to Gilberto, Sol Campbell and Patrick Vieira, and part due to some erratic goalkeeping. United too have been very poor on the whole, and Liverpool’s aims too unfocused. I expect next year to be much tighter, and I don’t expect Chelsea to romp the league. Not by a long shot.
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