Wigan 3 Chelsea 1 - too early to hit panic button as blogs lambast lack lustre Chelsea

Having not seen the game from beginning to end, I don’t feel 100% qualified to comment too much on Chelsea’s first defeat of the season. That said, I think I’ve seen enough to know that the doomsday-like pessimism from some Chelsea fans on message boards and forums is just as knee-jerk as the talk of Chelsea being shoo-ins for the title had been before Saturday’s loss.

There are certainly problems to overcome, namely how the team will break down stubborn opposition when it’s not playing at top form and doesn’t have the width to stretch defences. Without Joe Cole, the team also at times looks a little short of imagination on the ball. But every team has one or two problems to iron out: Utd have a shaky defence, are over reliant on Rooney and their central midfield looks a little lightweight; Liverpool won’t have enough goals if Torres gets injured and Carragher is on the wane; and Arsenal don’t have the strength, determination or experience to cut it at the highest level. Saturday’s loss just confirms what I have suspected for a while: the big four will drop more points this season than they have for a long while.

The truth of the matter is that three things went against Chelsea on Saturday: first and foremost Wigan played excellently with a very impressive attitude for a side that had never before beaten top four opposition; Chelsea were well below par; and, whilst Cech’s challenge on Rodallega was certainly a penalty, it was almost certainly not a red card. Once Wigan had scored from the spot past substitute keeper Hilario, the game was effectively over.

Perhaps Chelsea can use the defeat to its advantage. I’m not going to convince myself that the loss is a good thing, that it will flush out any latent complacency in the squad and encourage a backlash against Liverpool. Those things could be by-products, but I’d far rather we’d despatched Wigan as we should have done. This top of the table will be tight come May and, for Chelsea to still be vying for that top spot we’ll need a slice of luck, players to stay on top form and Ancelotti to have 100% sussed the Premier League. More importantly, we’ll need to have picked up the points against the weaker teams.

Breaking it down though, like all of us football teams – however much their players are paid – have bad days at the office, and this result alone doesn’t need a post-mortem. Chelsea weren’t up to scratch against a good side on Saturday and the referee just helped ensure that we got what we deserved. It’s far too early to hit the panic button yet (although injuries to Mikel and particularly Ashley Cole are a concern), but let’s hope for a better day at the office against Liverpool next Sunday.

Chelsea’s best blogs have been pretty damning of the Chelsea showing, and justifiably full of praise for Wigan’s. Here’s what three of them had to say in the aftermath (click on the links to read their articles in full):

thechelseablog.org

“If you’re good enough to beat the opposition to start with, referees decisions don’t decide a game (Ovrebo aside obviously). And the harsh truth is, Wigan actually deserved to beat us – which makes it all the more embarrassing. Michael Ballack had been dropped from the side, to be replaced by John Obi Mikel. Personally I’d have preferred to see Joe Cole in the side – as I’m sure he would – and the longer the game wore on, the more I was convinced his omission was a mistake.

“As for the performance itself, there really isn’t all that much to say – we just weren’t good enough. Ok, so we started well enough and it looked like it might be a predictable game but inside 16 minutes we’d found ourselves a goal down to a Titus Bramble goal against the run of play. And whilst it’s not such an unusual position for us, having come back from behind three times already this season, we didn’t seem in any great hurry to do it this time. It was a nonchalant first half performance from us full of sloppy passing and sheer laziness which could have seen us go in 2-0 down at the break if it hadn’t been for Petr Cech.”

bluechampions.com

“Let’s give the credit where it’s due. Wigan absolutely deserved the win and also the margin to some extent. When I saw the match, Wigan looked more determined and stronger. They played good football. They induced errors from Chelsea. It was not just Chelsea playing, it was more of Wigan playing their match of the season. But teams like Chelsea get their moment of brilliance and quality and bail themselves out. That part did not happen yesterday.

“The red card did have a huge impact on the match. To play an away match with 10 players for 40 minutes is quite difficult. And if that missing man is Petr Cech, you’re going to be concerned. There are some discussions over the red card and the penalty. I think it was a penalty surely but to give a straight red was a bit tough on the keeper.

“This team under Carlo has been going through the cycles. They have now had a winning streak. They have won a match in the stoppage time. They have come back to win matches. They have completely dominated teams. The one thing they could not do is to show their resilience after losing a match. Now they’ve got that too.”

chelseainsider.co.uk

“His (Ancelotti’s) Blues side were humbled by Roberto Martinez’s Wigan at the DW stadium. Goals from Titus Bramble, Hugo Rodallega and Paul Scharner subjected ten man Chelsea to their first defeat of the season. Didier Drogba continued his fine form, grabbing his 100^th goal for the Blues but it wasn’t enough and in truth the better side ran out winners.

“In a week where Chelsea were branded “unbeatable” by the media Wigan showed the rest of the Premiership just how it’s done and knocked Chelsea off the top of the Premier League in the process. Chelsea were not at their best yesterday and can have no complaints about the result. A marked improvement will be needed for the Blues next league game, Liverpool at home next Sunday.”

Comments

[Michael Hepp]

I feel that after a loss like this and a big 4 game coming right on the heels, this is where we find out what Ancelotti is made of. I am hopeful he will be able to lead us to a win.

[Russell Saunders]

Hi Michael, hope you're well mate...

Thanks for your comment. Think you're dead right - but that's what's making me nervous. I've nothing against Ancelotti, but to be honest I don't have the same feeling that I had about Hiddink that he will come up with the perfect strategy to put Liverpool (or whatever opposition) to the sword. Sunday will be interesting, whatever the result.