Chelsea aftermath

A devastating result really. It all seemed to be going so well, we played out the remaining minutes with an increasing assurance, we were minutes from a huge shock which would’ve decimated Chelsea FC and boosted us immensely. The sheer ecstacy and delight over Delap’s goal became instantly quashed with Chelsea’s equalising and winning goals. In the end, all joy built up towards that final whistle evaporated absolutely, until there was no emotion, not even anger or hatred exhibited towards Lampard.

There were certainly true heroes of that game, players who would’ve been applauded across England had we got a result. The likes of Etherington, who never seemed to give the ball away, using his technical ability to carve openings in Chelsea whilst helping us get out of our half. Sorensen, who had a faultless performance in both shot stopping and dealing with dangerous crosses. Our whole defence who were exposed yet solid, blocking and dealing with any real goalscoring threat they seemed to carry. Delap took that goal brilliantly and put a great deal of energy in, likewise Beattie, who soldiered on when he had no reserves left to call upon. All these brilliant performances however were instantly meaningless as Lampard smashed the ball into our net.

We fell apart towards the very end. Tired legs failed to pick up Belletti when he equalised, and likewise when we failed to get out quick ebough to block Lampard’s effort. Things got so bad that i personally had to mute the booming tones of Martin Tyler in anticipation of the eventual ‘LAMPAARD!’ which would’ve compounded the misery even further than was possible.

It’s so hard to recover after such a cruel defeat, especially for the team. I just hope we can pick ourselves up for our next and perhaps more ‘winnable’ game against relegation rivals (who aren’t? with the table as it is) Tottenham. I hope we can bring out more of the quality of our new recruits for that game by having more possession and stability on the ball. I can also see the definite need for a central midfielder of real class now. Someone who can influence others to perhaps use the ball better. In that Chelsea game, there was an instance where we put together a clever passing move, the architect was Matthew Etherington. I hope we can get someone who can do this in a central position, so we don’t have to watch our team coming under that much pressure again.

At least we’ve only got one more game against ‘top four’ opposition, that being against Arsenal. We have this advantage against our relegation rivals, and if we manage to put in a good run of wins which we can well be expected to do, we could climb well out of the relegation zone which we currently find ourselves in. I’m sure Pulis would’ve reassured the players with this after the game, and got them looking forward.

With us out of the FA Cup, Pulis has a while to perhaps negotiate some new signings. I really do expect one to be a central midfielder as previously discussed. Perhaps we can make Beattie feel even more at home by bringing in Andrew Surman from Southampton? you heard it here first.