Damn.
That wasn’t quite what the Doctor ordered was it?
After that crap performance in Italy, Chelsea slumped to third place in Group E with one match remaining. The fact of the matter is simple, and worst still, our fate now lies OUT of our hands. We must win against Nordsjaelland in two weeks’ time and hope Shakhtar Donetsk beat Juve, despite the Ukrainian side having qualified for the last 16 themselves.
That’s it. Even if we beat Nordsjaelland, we’re still probably out.
César Azpilicueta’s playing on the right of midfield? Not having a recognised striker on the pitch at all? I’m a big fan of RDM, but not sure I agree with him here. I understand Torres being dropped, but you need a natural striker on the pitch, in form or not. Sturridge was ruled out with a hamstring injury, but surely sometimes an out-of-form natural striker is better than none at all?
This problem was highlighted on the three occasions when Chelsea got the ball into potentially dangerous positions within Juventus’s penalty area.
On the first Hazard might have shot first time, took an extra touch and Gianluigi Buffon saved. Hazard is quality, but he is not a striker.
Then, Oscar should have shot first time, but he cut inside and found his path blocked; sometimes you just need to put your foot behind the ball and shoot. Again, Oscar is quality, but not natural at leading the front line.
On a third occasion, Mata reached Hazard’s superb cross but he appeared to want to control the ball, which bounced fairly harmlessly to Buffon. A natural striker, no matter how poor his form, might at least have had a shot from any of those three opportunities.
Despite dropping Torres, Chelsea badly needed someone to act as a focal point for our attacks and to profit from the creativity of Hazard, Oscar and Mata. Omitting Torres, with Sturridge out injured, may have been a fatal error, regardless of form.
It all went wrong in Turin and now we have to hope that Juve lose to an already-qualified Shakhtar, who may well rest a player or two.
That is assuming we beat Nordsjaelland……
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