Football’s First Defender

In the end, Chelsea won the final victory of the red-blue battle with a score of 3-0. After this round of the game, due to one round less, Chelsea ranked second with 18 points behind Manchester United with 19 points. .

However, for the early schedule of the five major leagues this year, due to the World Cup qualifiers, multiple international match days will be interspersed in the early stage of the league to affect the status of the club team. After the game, they immediately flew back to their respective national teams to report and participate in the World Cup qualifiers.

After the two national team match days, Ballack, who had just returned from injury, had another injury problem and needed to rest for a few weeks, and the competitive state of many players, after intensive competitions and a long flight, also hit rock bottom.

In the ninth round of the Premier League two weeks later, Chelsea challenged Aston Villa as a guest in Birmingham.

Aston Villa, who have stabilized in the upper reaches of the league in recent seasons, played a game of taking advantage of your illness and killing you at their own Villa Park this time.

After experiencing the fatigue of the national team, the game status of the Chelsea players who had just returned to the club were significantly disturbed.

Moreover, due to the absence of Ballack's injury, Chelsea had to continue to start Deco, who was a little physically weak, to strengthen the possession of the midfield in this game. The other positions were the same as the original team.

Although Aston Villa maintained the good form of last season and is still ranked in the top 7 of the league so far this season, but in terms of hard power, there are still some obvious gaps with the old team Chelsea .

From the beginning of the game, Chelsea still took the initiative. At least on the offensive end, they can still maintain more than 60% of the ball possession rate and firmly control the rhythm of the game.

And in the 15th minute of the first half, Drogba received a precise long pass from Deco's backcourt, turned around and volleyed successfully after unloading the ball, opening the scoring for Chelsea, which also made most fans think that this game will eventually end With a Chelsea-style lead, it would be possible to hold onto the winning approach to the end.

However, in this game, Chelsea's players had many problems on the defensive end.

The numerous games, as well as the Chelsea players who have just experienced a long-distance flight and returned to the club to play in the league, have experienced a huge crisis in physical and mental state.

Perhaps on the offensive end, the fatigue was not obvious at the beginning of the game, but on the defensive end, the incoordination of body and mind, and the dull feeling of always being a step behind, were quickly revealed.

You know, under normal circumstances, when Chelsea score the first goal, it may be a nightmare for many wealthy teams.

Not to mention that Chelsea's counterattack itself is a huge threat, but Chelsea's terrifying defensive ability will cause many teams' offenses to directly hit an iron plate and hit their heads.

If you don't believe me, just take a look at Liverpool in the last round of the league. Facing Chelsea's tight defense, there is no way but to be beaten and cut by Chelsea, and finally a defeat at Stamford Bridge.

However, today's Chelsea does not have the energy to defend to the end. Many players are obviously not concentrating, and they cannot devote themselves to the game at all.

In the 32nd minute of the first half, Aston Villa's central defender, the Irishman Richard Dunne, just in Villa's rare corner kick, beat Terry and successfully scored with a header to tie the score. It was a 1-1 draw.

During Terry's defense this time, he obviously couldn't keep up with the rhythm of the game, and his take-off height was seriously insufficient. In the case of too much interference, complete the header.

After the score returned to the same starting line, Chelsea's reorganized offense was no longer so threatening. The fatigue of the backcourt players seemed to be directly transmitted to the midfielders. It is quite satisfactory, but the last pass, whether it is Deco or Lampard, always passes the ball with a little bit of feeling, unable to pose a real threat.

The fatigue of Chelsea players can be seen from the half-time statistics.

You know, Chelsea, which has a 6.5% possession rate, only had a poor 6-foot shot in the first half. This is definitely not Aston Villa's defense is too good, but Chelsea's own problem.

Ancelotti is also not very good at intervening too much with the players during the intermission. After all, the experience of coaching AC Milan for the previous 8 years also let Ancelotti know that in the league after the international match day, it is really normal for players to perform poorly due to fatigue.

It’s not that the players are passive and sabotage, but the feedback from the body and mental concentration is the most real. If you are tired, you are tired. For a long season, it is normal to not win a few games. Ancelotti does not want to give Players are under too much pressure.

And for An Pang, there are actually not many cards in his hand that can be replaced. After all, for a European football team like Chelsea, many substitute players who do not have many chances to play, in their country In the team, they may still occupy the main position, so except for a few people who have no national team tasks, everyone has fatigue. As for whether the game can be won, it can only be seen by the performance of the team players The ability to self-adjust.

It's just a pity that Chelsea, who are in extremely poor form, met a Villa with good strength and fighting spirit in this game.

In the second half of the game, taking advantage of another free kick, James Collins, another Villa central defender, made another header. It has enough space to complete the take-off and head directly into the net.

2 to 1, Villa at home reversed the score.

In the following games, Chelsea's players also woke up like a dream after falling behind in the score, and began to strengthen their offense frantically, but in the end, the offensive effect was still limited.

Under the strict defense of Aston Villa, although Chelsea had nearly 20 shots at the end of the game, the number of shots on target was only a few times, which did not pose too much threat to Villa's goal .

The score of 2 to 1 was maintained until the end, and Chelsea's second defeat of the season came suddenly.

But after all, it is a wealthy team. Chelsea's players have also experienced many seasons of polishing. The players' ability to adjust is extremely strong. After finally getting a few days of rare rest and relaxation time, Chelsea's players completed the adjustment. With a full attitude again, we will face the next game.

In the third round of the UEFA Champions League group stage in the middle of the week, facing Atletico Madrid who came to Stamford Bridge as a guest, Chelsea did not leave any face for Atletico Madrid. They scored 4-0 cleanly and vented all their grievances about their weekend league defeat to Madrid. On Jing's body, with a big victory, he announced the return of the king.

And in the Premier League game three days later, Chelsea, who rested several main players in the second half of the Champions League, continued their good form in the previous game. At home, they 5-0 at home and bloodbathed Blackburn, a mid-range team in the league, with two consecutive victories. , in response to the outside world's doubts about himself after losing to Aston Villa.

Continuing with a double match in a week, Chelsea met this weekend's opponent Bolton in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup in the middle of the week. Both teams came to the bench tacitly. Everyone doesn't pay much attention to this cup, which is probably higher in gold content than the Community Shield.

The final result was also due to their strength. Chelsea's substitutes were obviously superior. They beat Bolton 4-0 at home, and Chelsea reached the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup.

In the Premier League on the weekend, Chelsea and Bolton met again. Both teams started the game, but the result was I watched this episode.

The starters of the two teams replayed the English League Cup match in the middle of the week, but both sides changed actors, but the script did not change, and the score was still 4-0. Chelsea's main force and substitute players all played against Bolton. Completely crushed.

Scored 17 goals in 4 games, all with zero seals. Chelsea, who has regained his form, has shown his terrifying offensive and defensive strength this season.

And because in the league next week, Chelsea will face the defending champion Manchester United in the league again, so in the UEFA Champions League group stage in the middle of the week, Chelsea made a rare lineup rotation this time. Chelsea, who played more than half of the substitute players, finally In Madrid, the 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid ended his winning streak, but it also reserved valuable physical fitness for the main players.

In the 12th round of the Premier League, the top two teams in the standings, Manchester United and Chelsea, old enemies, met for the first time in the new season at Stamford Bridge.

Another classic red-blue duel. If the red of Liverpool represents the old red powerhouse in British football, then the red of Manchester United represents the dominant color of the Premier League era. But Chelsea's blue is now eager to become the mainstream color. Chelsea, a team, also wants a new king to take the throne and replace the former red empire. The top battle is imminent.