I have continually said that this Chelsea team need the 13th man.
No team that wants to win the league will continually play the same starting team 5 games in a row, especially in 14 days!!
Hazard looked tired, Oscar showed signs of fatigue and even though William was running around, he
looked like a man who was on oxygen mask. Costa? He resembled a jaded fighter who just escaped a cage fight and was having an afternoon stroll……
So why didn’t Drogba start?
Why didn’t Loic Remy start at his debut stadium?
Why not start with two strikers?
Fact is Chelsea dropped 5 points from a possible 9 this week.
Fact is Man City picked 9 points out of a possible 9 this week.
Fact is that Man City are not playing exceptionally well, but are efficient, consistent and assuring against every team they play; you always know they’ll score and go on to win.
Fact is that Chelsea have started to struggle against teams who play with 6 at the back and in a low block.
Jose must pull out another ace from his sleeves, and very fast indeed.
Cahill has looked out of sorts recently, making errors that went unpunished: at the stadium of light against Sunderland, against Harry Kane on Wednesday which went
unpunished, but his luck has finally run out at the Newcastle stadium.
The 1st goal had all the fingerprints of erroneous defending and I’ll be surprised if Jose does not give Zouma a run in the side after this.
The signs were there at the Stadium of light last Saturday against Sunderland, and even against Tottenham, the possession statistics against a passing Tottenham side showed that the unbeaten run was about to come to an end.
Chelsea need 13 world class players and not 11, and until he gets Marco Reus, the boss has to still trust a couple of other players in the squad to be the 12th and 13th players otherwise this team will burn out, first physically and them mentally….
Why has the maverick also insisted on playing just one striker upfront even when Costa showed signs of fatigue in the last few games? The premier league can be demanding, even on the most talented imports and besides there must be a plan B to play Drogba beside Costa as it is becoming obvious how to mark Chelsea-lona with a lone striker.
However way you look at it, the pressure is on Chelsea, as City continue to increase pace and close Chelsea down.
A look at the next Man City fixtures reveal;Leicester, Palace, West Brom, Burnley, Sunderland, Everton.
Chelsea’s obstacles include;
Hull City, stoke, West Ham, Southampton, Tottenham, Newcastle
Where would you put your money?
Who would you put your money on?
One thing is clear: it’ll take something great to wrestle the title from either of these blue teams.
The next 6 games may just tilt that pendulum towards the blues even further. But which one?