With Andre Villas-Boas in great danger of being Abramovich's next managerial victim, it was of great importance for his Chelsea side to secure qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions League. Villas-Boas had come under much criticism after Chelsea's mediocre season and has come under scrutiny for being too inexperienced and out of his depth at such a big club. The Blues came into Wednesday's match needing a win or a goal scoring draw in order to qualify however they had only managed a one all draw with the Spanish side back in September. There was a great atmosphere in West London as the 42,000 seater stadium was packed out. I was hopeful of the result as our defense seemed to be improving and David Luis had made less mistakes in the three nil win over Newcastle a few days previously. I was also pleased to see Ivanovic starting at right back as i believe he is highly underrated and is always solid for Chelsea regardless of the position he is played in. The pre-match tension had built up as everybody knew the first goal was vital. Three minutes in Drogba showed that despite not having the same pace he did five seasons ago, he is still a world class finisher as he calmly finessed his shot unfazed by the defenders around him. I was pleased to see that after the goal Chelsea pursued a second and did not try and sit back and defend a one goal lead. Romeru ,Chelsea's newly signed youngster from Barcelona looked to be struggling with his first touch and short passing being poor as he took on the role of anchorman in the midfield. However Valencia's defence was being continually split open with Sturridge and Drogba both having chances to double the lead. Luis, Terry and Ivanovic were looking solid and the only Valencia threat was the combination of pacy winger Jordi Alba and Spain front man Roberto Soldado as Cole was having problems handling them. The second goal came after Drogba, who was outstanding all evening, teared into the Valencia third trying to find Ramires who amazingly managed to out muscle Valencia defender Victor Ruiiz as he hesitated and failed to clear leaving the Brazilian with an easy finish. Straight after Chelsea doubled there lead they completely changed their mentality as the whole team rarely strayed out of their own half. It was clear Villas Boas wanted to protect this lead as the defense and midfield sat deep. Few Chelsea chances were created and Mata and Sturridge looked lost. Romeru and Mereiles began to come into the game and tackled well however had no options as the front three seemed reluctant to make runs. The Blues looked very content to just sit back, much to the frustration of the fans. The possession stat at half time was 34% to Chelsea and 66% to Valencia showing that Chelsea were happy to let Valencia keep possession. The Second half was much the same with Chelsea allowing Valencia to keep the ball with Mereiles and Romeru effectively providing as a wall in front of the defense. The combination of Drogba and Ramieres was by far Chelsea's biggest threat as Rameires kept up the pressure with bursts into the Valencia box. The fans were unhappy with what had so far been a textbook showing for Chelsea and were enraged when John Obi Mikel was bought on for the exhausted Ramieres. As we gave a standing ovation for the Brazilian a man to rows in front shouted "if your bringing him on (John Obi) you might as well bring Ferreira on for Drogba and all" obviously with profanities every other word. This showed me the pressure Boas is under from not only the media but also the Chelsea faithful. Cech went to make a couple of good save from long range efforts as the defence did well to stop any clear shooting chances.. Mata, against his former club, began to come into the game more, linking with Drogba and Mereiles. It wasn't until the 76th minute that Chelsea got a third as Drogba topped off a great performance with a delightful finish after Mata put him through one on one with the keeper. The match ended 3-0 and Chelsea gained their first consecutive wins for two months and guaranteed qualification winning the group. David Luiz looked pleased after managing to put in a solid performance at the back showing that he beginning to adjust to this level of football. Cech also put in a great performance between the sticks seeing off all threats posed by the Valencia attack. However the stand out player was the 33 year old Ivorian who continued to show why he should be in the team ahead of the £50 million man.
Despite what was in the end a comfortable win, the fans still didn't seemed satisfied as there was a melancholy atmosphere during "Blue Is The Colour." Boas will have to start getting his side to grind out results in the Premier League as although it may not please the fans at first in the long run it puts Chelsea in with a shot the fiercely contested title. He has come out saying that he will continue to play his way of football and that will not be compromised however Tuesday night's match showed that by playing a different way, his team looked more comfortable defensively as well as more threatening offensively. This way of playing is certainly reminiscent of Mouhriniho who was a master a grinding out results and making his team always look comfortable in victory. Perhaps Villas Boas is adopting this style or maybe this was just a fluke, we will certainly see in the weeks to come.
Sorry about the late post, I have been busy with exams.
Thanks for reading
Joe
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