There was a smattering of boos as he emerged from the tunnel but Rafael Benítez was largely ignored by the Chelsea supporters. There were the now obligatory placards and the chants of “One Di Matteo” but there wasn’t the bear-pit atmosphere of his past two home games. Maybe that was because of this flat Champions League occasion. Maybe the anger aimed at Benítez is subsiding. He will desperately hope it’s the latter.
2. David Luiz can be a leader
The Brazilian defender is so often pilloried for his lapses but here he took responsibility. After Eden Hazard’s woeful penalty was saved, and with Fernando Torres dithering, Luiz took the ball and drilled it into the net for Chelsea’s next spot-kick to gain the first goal. He was also a relatively vocal presence on the pitch and helped to drive his lacklustre team forward adding much-needed dynamism.
3. Team-mates are reluctant to pass to Torres
He may have scored twice but there’s a clear sense that the struggling striker has lost the faith of some of those around him. Time and again Juan Mata, Hazard and Ramires thought twice about picking out Torres’s runs and when they did find him the move often broke down. The celebrations for his goals were also muted. It did not add up to any sense of unity.
4. Ivanovic is struggling
He is not alone but, until recently, the Serbian defender had been a model of consistency. There were signs of frailty against West Ham, when he was bullied by Carlton Cole, and last night he was beaten far too often and failed to close down Joshua John for the visitors’ goal.
5. Hazard should dribble more
The Belgian started the season on fire, running with the ball, beating opponents, creating goals but has suffered a dip to his confidence while – rightly – his lack of work off the ball, especially defensively, has been criticised. However, he comes alive when he runs at defences as he showed when creating Torres’s second goal and needs to be encouraged to do more of the same.
Source - Telegraph
0 comments:
Post a Comment