Chelsea vs Spurs – Pre game talk

I spoke with the wonderful Jack McInroy, known to many as @Yids (The best Tottenham fan to follow on twitter) who owns the Spurs blog You’ll Win Nothing With Yids.

Jack McInroy: Hello, Ramon. Sunday’s win against the Manchester United players who needed a few more appearances to get a medal makes it highly unlikely Chelsea’s dreadful season will end on a bum note. 

How do you think Chelsea v Spurs will go on Wednesday and would you agree that regardless of the result Chelsea will qualify for the Champions League?

How has it happened that Chelsea are battling with Tottenham and Arsenal, two clubs with relatively meagre budgets, rather than challenging the other super rich clubs for the title?

Ramon Isaac: Hi Jack. I owe a debt of gratitude to Sir Alex for allowing us to play against a weaker United side.

10 Things to hate about Liverpool vs Chelsea

There haven’t been more than a handful of games that have infuriated me more than today’s fixture against Liverpool at Anfield. From our own players, manager, to the referee and the opposition’s mind numbing stupidity. So here’s the top 10 things that pissed me off:

1 – Starting with the Chelsea players themselves once again conveniently forgetting to show up on the pitch for the first ten minutes in the second half.

2 – Rafael Benitez’s “Coaching Manual” #70 – Taking off star player Eden Hazard for Yossi Benayoun. Yossi Benayoun. He’s beyond shit. He offered nothing, couldn’t keep hold of the ball and will no doubt be shown the door come the summer.

3 – Daniel Sturridge refusing to celebrate, you weren’t a crowd favourite, so please, just celebrate.

Luiz 2.0

Having arrived in the same January window that Fernando Torres was bought, his signing was overshadowed, yet he has unquestionably outshone and outperformed the Spaniard in almost every way. It was around this time a year ago, I wrote a piece on David Luiz potentially becoming the epitome of a modern day centre back. Twelve months since, he has done nothing to change that thought and developed a more well rounded game and even added traits of a typical English centre back during a time frame in which I strongly believe he has been the best centre back at the club by some distance. 

Petr Cech – 138 and counting

Over the weekend, Petr Cech quietly eased himself into the record books having made his 138th league clean sheet against West Brom. That puts him at the top for clean sheets amassed at one club, a fantastic achievement and a representation of what a great servant he has been to Chelsea Football Club ever since his arrival. He, arguably has been the best signing the club has made during the Abramovich Era.

Bring back the “Three Amigos”

In Benitez’s duration as “Interim Manager” and the 27 games he has overseen, the trio of Mata, Hazard and Oscar have started games together on a mere 6 occasions. A frustrating stat as it was becoming apparent that their relationship on the field was beginning to blossom before Di Matteo’s departure. They were the Chelsea version of the “Holy Trinity” that led Barcelona to success or the “Three Tenors” that came to London last season with Napoli.

Feeling Blue

It hasn’t been ten months yet since the glorious memory of Munich but those feelings are a distant dream now, only Chelsea could turn what was meant to be a year of celebration into nothing short of a catastrophe. Before I’m accused of being a spoilt little brat, I understand there have been worse situations in the history of this club.

When Roberto Di Matteo was relieved of his duties as manager of Chelsea Football Club, it wasn’t necessarily the wrong decision, timing aside. The club were on the verge of Champions League elimination and would become the first holders of the tournament not to pass through the Group Stages. Chelsea’s form in the league was on a downward spiral but still found themselves only 4 points adrift of Manchester United but such is the expectation and pressure at the club under the Abramovich Era that it was to no one’s surprise the sacking occurred. What followed was indeed a shock to the system of many, ask the majority of Chelsea fans and you won’t have found a manager perhaps more despised than Rafael Benitez, even fewer would have wanted him in charge or anywhere near the club but that is, who Chelsea decided to hire. A move from the board that showed either blatant disregard for the feelings harboured by the fans or an astronomical distance in what they believed would be acceptable.

It wasn’t Benitez who approached the club but that isn’t an argument in defence of him for what has followed, he knew he wasn’t a popular figure at Stamford Bridge, he had his war of words with Jose Mourinho (the man who most fans attribute Chelsea’s initial success too, the “Special One”), he insulted one of the greatest players ever at the Club in Didier Drogba and he had a swipe publicly at the fans… He knew what he was getting himself into and for that I have no sympathy for the man.

From day one the animosity was clear and the so called ‘poison’ atmosphere has followed the team up and down the country, over land and sea (and Leicester) in voicing a complete opposition to Benitez’s reign. Following the recent 2-0 victory against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup in a post-match press conference, Benitez finally cracked,

“On the outside looking in” Views from opposition fans on RDM sacking part II

So, what do fans of football outside of Chelsea think about the sacking of Roberto Di Matteo? I asked a number of them and here are their thoughts:

Scott, @R_o_M creator of the Manchester United blog Republik of Mancunia

“As for Di Matteo, he’s been screwed over here… He deserved until the end of the season.”

Whilst it was clear that Roberto Di Matteo was never Abramovich’s first choice, he certainly deserved the job on a permanent basis after the success that he brought last season. Were Chelsea the best side in Europe? No.