Author: Crazy

Rafael Benitez has ruled John Terry, Frank Lampard and Daniel Sturridge out of tomorrow’s Champions Leage game versus Nordsjaelland.

The three players are close to returning following injury and are likely to assessed again on Thursday.

Benitez’s full preview of the game to follow.

The date of our away Barclays Premier League match versus Manchester City has been moved for live TV coverage.

The match will now take place on Sunday 24 February with a 1.30pm kick-off. It will be shown on Sky Sports.

The date would change again should Chelsea make through to the Capital One Cup final.

It has also been confirmed all the final league games of the season, on Sunday 19 May, will kick-off at 4pm. Chelsea are at home to Everton that day.

Chelsea legend and columnist Pat Nevin will be at the Bridge on Wednesday night and hopes for an atmosphere to aid the quest for Champions League progress…

They often say these days that there is never a dull moment with Chelsea, actually that is not strictly true, there were a couple of less than riveting moments during the Man City 0-0 game the other week, but I take the point. Being the media front man for the club must be a full-on experience these days, so take a bow Steve Atkins for doing one of the most strenuous jobs in the game right now and then maybe take a couple of days off when you have a chance, it always helps to recharge the old batteries.

Focus however tends to be aimed at the manager and the players, especially when results are less than impressive. Certainly having won the Champions League final and then started the domestic campaign successfully and incredibly stylishly, the recent run of games has been painful in comparison.

In actual fact I always suspected there would be a dip, I was continually warning about it, as indeed many of Chelsea’s true and more realistic fans also were keen to do. It all got a bit messy with the change of managers, but in reality a few menacing clouds were already forming on the horizon even in Robbie’s last days in charge. Having said that, everything looks like a lull when your most recent work before that was joyously delivering the FA Cup and the Champions League trophy.

What we are hoping is that this is and was always going to be a short-term blip and not a season-long transitional set of difficulties for a changing squad. But while we muse into the wee small hours about that, the players cannot and will not be thinking that way. It is a bit easier for them, they can, indeed they must concentrate on the next game and there is always an important one just round the corner these days.

Tomorrow is of course FC Norsjaelland at the Bridge in a game we must win to give us even a sliver of a chance of qualifying. As every Chelsea fan knows by now, we need to win and hope that Shakhtar Donetsk do the same against Juventus over in Ukraine. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that this will happen, it is sadly just really rather unlikely. I do not know anyone who is betting on anything other than a draw in that game, which would of course send both of them through and doom Chelsea to the Europa League. I am not suggesting anything you understand, or even so much as insinuating anything either about integrity, but when two teams need a draw it is amazing how often you get a draw, I hope I am wrong.

As a player however you can’t think about that, all you can do is beat the 11 in front of you. FC Norsjaelland, though no mugs (they did get a point from Juventus after all) should be put to the sword in no uncertain terms if the players have got their heads right. In as much as it has been a less than impressive run of games, the statistics for November are not pretty at all, this is a chance to pump up the confidence whether or not it ultimately leads to the Champions or Europa League.

Purely as an exercise in positivity and not necessarily reality, I looked for any heartening statistic I could find for the last couple of weeks, just to make me feel a little better about things. Clearly there have been six halves of football since Rafa came in and in five of those Petr Cech has kept clean sheets…hurrah! Actually the first 45 minutes against West Ham were pretty darned good, so let’s hope the final 45 minutes were an aberration that the players can move on from…once again we will see in the fullness of time.

Certainly along with the obvious confidence/belief dip from one or two of the lads (and a few of the fans I suspect), the luck has also deserted the team, though to be fair we might have used our fair share of good fortune in the second half of last season and this is no more than payback time now. As the old saying goes though, you make your own luck in this game and this is as good a time as any to do that.

With all that is going on in the stands and in the press, the players will enjoy blanking it all out while they are on the field. Having been a player, a fan, a reporter and a club executive, the least stressful job of them all on a match day is by far and away, playing on the pitch. You can do something, you can affect the outcome more than anyone else. The fans can also affect the outcome more than they know, but obviously not as much as the players. Running around is also de-stressing compared with sitting in the stand with your stomach in knots hoping that Fernando scores with his next chance, so he can quieten the critics, for a few days at least.

Tomorrow night the boys will need some of that fan power and noise to help them and I suspect they will get plenty of it, but only if the news from Ukraine is good. Even if it is level with Shakhtar and Juve with 10 minutes to go there will still be some hope, but if Juventus are in front I think we can accept the paying public might be a bit glum in the stadium. I just hope that the atmosphere isn’t too weird, that is not what Stamford Bridge is like historically, but there are of course well-aired reasons for that.

Whatever anyone thinks of Rafa Benitez however, I do think it would be a little unfair to blame him for a Champions League exit if we get the three points but still go out. After all he wasn’t actually on board for the first five games of the campaign. If we do win, then he could argue he has a 100% record in Europe with the Blues, I think he would be delighted with that statistic, if not necessarily fooled by it.

Last week’s quiz question asked you to name a former Blues manager who had played for Aston Villa? Well it turns out there were a couple. Certainly John Neal (the man who brought me to the club) turned out for the Villa, while many of you were also quick to underline that Danny Blanchflower also managed the Blues after playing for the claret and blues.

There is only one winner allowed though, so randomly chosen on the back seat of the private jet taking the Arsenal team and me to Athens, the lucky guy is Ulugov Uma from Tajikistan. I will be back in time for the Wednesday night game at the Bridge, after enjoying the Gunners hospitality (actually I am working for the BBC and this was the only route I could take, not that I am complaining, the players and guests get very well treated on these flights, even if the quails eggs were a tad overdone) and in the meantime you could while away a few moments figuring out the answer to this week’s question.

When was the last time Chelsea played in Athens and what was the result? As usual send your answers to me at pat.nevin@chelseafc.com

The lucky winner will receive a copy of the Kings of Europe book, signed by Petr Cech.

You could win a signed Chelsea shirt in November’s Goal of the Month competition, with five more superb strikes to pick from.

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is to register with the official Chelsea website, follow this link and take your pick from the video above.

The nominees are as follows:

A. Islam Feruz v Man City (U21)

B. Oscar v Shakhtar

C. Victor Moses v Shakhtar Donetsk

D. John Terry v Liverpool

E. Nathan Ake v Fulham (U21)

You have until December 28 to enter the competition.

Last month, Luke Bonser successfully chose Gary Cahill’s volley against Tottenham, and wins hospitality tickets for our game against Aston Villa on December 23.

Summary
Our Under-21s extended their unbeaten run to five matches, coming out on top in a five-goal thriller at the Riverside against Middlesbrough, but we were made to work for it in the end having been cruising at half-time.

The Blues led 2-0 at the break courtesy of goals from Billy Clifford and Lewis Baker, and the points seemed all but secure when Alex Davey made it 3-0 soon after the break.

Middlesbrough, however, had other ideas, and they were given hope when Ryan Brobbel hit back almost from the restart, before Christian Burgess reduced the deficit further midway through the second half.

There were chances at both ends as the clock ticked down, but Dermot Drummy’s side defended resolutely and held on to earn another win, however with Wolves U21s also winning elsewhere, Chelsea finish third in our group in the first stage of the league tournament, one place above tonight’s opponents There is a chance that might be enough to make the elite group for the second stage of the competition after Christmas but it relies on a series of results in another group going the Blues’ way.   

Team news
Dermot Drummy made three changes to the side which beat Fulham 3-0 a week ago at Cobham. Andreas Christensen came in for Tika Musonda at right-back, while at left-back, Sam Bangura replaced Adam Nditi. Meanwhile, in attack, there was a start for Lucas Piazon, who came into the side at the expense of Adam Phillip.

First half
The Blues were quick out of the blocks, and would have been in front within the opening five minutes but for an impressive save by Connor Ripley who turned a stinging Islam Feruz strike around the post.

There were early chances at both ends, however, as Cameron Park curled an effort inches past Jamal Blackman’s post shortly after Piazon had gone close.

The Brazilian had started the game strongly, and while his work on the ball certainly caught the eye, equally impressive was the manner in which he closed down spaces and looked to win back possession.

Bangura was the first player to be cautioned following a poor tackle on Park and, in truth, the defender was fortunate to only see yellow.

A minute later, though, we took a well-deserved lead with a strike fit to grace any game.

The Blues were awarded a free-kick 25 yards from goal, and it was Clifford who took responsibility, striding forward and curling a delightful effort over the wall and beyond the despairing dive of Ripley.

Unbeaten in four matches, the confidence was clearly flooding through Drummy’s side, and George Saville forced another good save out of Ripley after pouncing on a loose ball and evading two markers with some neat footwork.

The hosts, who had won 3-1 in the corresponding fixture back in September, were struggling to live with our quick movement and clever interchanges, and it came as no surprise when we doubled our lead seven minutes before the break.

Piazon, who had been a constant thorn in Middlesbrough’s side, picked the ball up wide on the left, and set off on a dazzling run which left two defenders in his wake, before cutting inside and pulling the ball back to an unmarked Baker who made no mistake.

Second half
Chelsea started the second half in a similar manner to the way in which we’d finished the first, and we were 3-0 up within a couple of minutes of the restart as Davey prodded home from close-range after the home side had failed to clear a free-kick.

Having fought back ourselves from 3-0 down at Liverpool only a few weeks ago, we were quickly reminded that the three points were far from secure when Middlesbrough hit back instantly.

Brobbel tried his luck with a speculative effort from outside the penalty area, and though Blackman was able to get a hand to the ball, it spun away from him and nestled in the bottom corner, giving the hosts a glimmer of hope.

The goal appeared to galvanise Middlesbrough, and shortly after the hour mark they were well and truly back in the game when defender Burgess bundled the ball home from inside the six-yard box as we failed to deal with a corner.

The tide had certainly turned, and it was now the home side who were first to every loose ball and looking the more threatening in the final third.

Luke Williams, who has featured for their first team this season, almost equalised a minute later when he was put clean through on goal, but the young striker, under pressure from Rohan Ince, crashed his strike well wide.

With Middlesbrough pushing for a leveller, and the Blues looking to restore our two-goal advantage, the game was opening up, and while Clifford was unfortunate not to double his tally for the evening at one end, a well-hit Matthew Dolan volley gave Blackman cause for concern at the other.

Adam Phillip had earlier been introduced for Islam Feruz, and James Ashton was brought on at the expense of Bangura, with the substitute slotting into the centre of midfield and Nathan Ake switching to left-back.

Eight minutes from time we should have put the game to bed on the break, Ake bursting forward at pace before teeing up Piazon, whose side-footed effort rebounded back off Ripley and away to safety.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Jamal Blackman; Andreas Christensen, Alex Davey, Rohan Ince, Sam Bangura (James Ashton 75); Nathan Ake, Billy Clifford, George Saville (c); Lewis Baker, Isam Feruz (Adam Phillip 62), Lucas Piazon (Daniel Pappoe 89).
Unused substitutes: Mitchell Beeney, Lamisha Musonda.

Middlesbrough (4-1-4-1): Connor Ripley; Andre Bennett, Christian Burgess, Kyle Oliver, Lewis Sirrell (Wilson Kneeshaw 79); Matthew Dolan (c) (Jordan Jones 75); Ryan Brobell, Cameron Park, Adam Reach, Matthew Waters; Luke Williams.
Unused substitutes: Shane Bland, Curtis Edwards, Wilson Kneeshaw, Jake Fowler.