bridge views - the thinking fan's chelsea blog

England lose: but surely Chelsea must be to blame somehow?

England’s fortunate 2-1 loss to a rejuvenated French side last night saw another file added to the international side’s library of underwhelming performances. The collection has started to overflow of late.

But it’s all a bit confusing. Normally when England disappoint it’s because John Terry has sown disharmony throughout the squad (through any number of tried and tested egotistical tactics) or is an over-rated Sunday league footballer. Alternatively, it’s because Frank Lampard is an average and slightly overweight footballer with a propensity to miss the target (20 international goals notwithstanding). Sometimes defeat has even been because Ashley Cole is an unreliable, conniving and money-grabbing love rat.

England fans leaving the stadium yesterday must have stared blankly at each other, queuing silently and solemnly as they meandered up towards Wembley Park tube to make their way home. With none of the devil’s own footballers on the pitch, for what possible reason can mighty England have succumbed to the old enemy, pretty much the only team to have put in a more under-par performance in South Africa?

It’s too much to hope for that Terry, Lampard and Cole will have been missed by England fans, but maybe it will beg the question elsewhere. Most likely they will be missed by other members of the squad, who suddenly found themselves the target of the England boo-boys due to the normal candidates being unavailable.

I write this post mostly in jest of course. Regardless however, perhaps it will sink it that England has no god-given right to be good at football. Whether or not Capello is worth £6m a year is another debate (I can’t point to much he’s done right over the last six months), but the simple truth is that he can only work with what he’s given. Chelsea players or no, he hasn’t got much to work with.

You might also like to read:

• Some thoughts on how England could spend Capello’s wages

More freedom for Chelsea's Lampard sees him play better for England

Even the most devout supporter of Chelsea’s free-scoring number eight would find it difficult to argue that Frank Lampard has been at his best for England over the past couple of years. Whilst never deserving of some of the criticism he has received from some ‘fans’ and journalists – and continuing to rack up the goals for his country – he certainly hasn’t replicated the excellent form he has so consistently delivered for his club.

There are surely a number of reasons behind this – not least that he seems to play better when alongside Chelsea’s superior personnel. Key to it though, I suspect, is the way that Fabio Capello has used him in recent years.

The success of England’s World Cup qualifying campaign was based on Lampard and Barry playing holding roles, leaving Gerrard and Rooney free to express themselves further up the pitch. It seemed that, unlike Gerrard, Lampard’s discipline and positional intelligence led Capello to the view that because he could play the role it was necessary to sacrifice his attacking instincts.

England cruised comfortably through qualifying, never really looking stretched, and Lampard’s form was acceptable without generally being scintillating. Certainly there was little evidence of Lampard running games or threatening in and around the box as he might for Chelsea.

But it is true to say he has been asked to play a very withdrawn role for England, and fans have misinterpreted his quiet stitching together of England’s play and absence of real attacking play as ‘going missing’. In reality, the best holding midfielders are usually those players supporters are most likely to ‘miss’, in every sense of the word.

The withdrawn role doesn’t play to any of Lampard’s strengths: getting box to box for 90 minutes and making late forays into the oppositions’ box. He isn’t a Pirlo either, able to rely on stellar passing ability to make it less of a holding role, and more of a quarterback one. Perhaps all this contributed to some average performances, and the occasional lapse in concentration leading to a misplaced pass.

On Wednesday against Slovenia however, Capello allowed Lampard a different role. In the first half in particular, Barry was left to hold on his own (surely one is enough?). We saw something more like the real Lampard, and if the finishing wasn’t quite there the creative passing, bursting runs into the box and tackling back were there in abundance. Not all viewers will agree, but whilst Gerrard, Milner and Defoe grabbed the headlines, for me Lampard was England’s engine room.

I understand the logic of playing Lampard in the holding role: if Capello wants two players there, he’s the only player in the squad aside from Barry who has the discipline to do it. But there’s a logic to counter that argument, too. Lampard is the most consistent performer England have, scoring goals and making important contributions for his club unabated for six years now. When he’s on form, he’s among the best there is.

I’m not arguing to hold Gerrard or any other player back Fabio, but go with a system that lets Frank play his game – to not is to sacrifice too much.

Chelsea season in stats: an English team; ageing squad creaks and Lampard v. Scholes

After a slight break from posting at bridgeviews.co.uk the latest monthly stats article has come round extra quick, but here it is again. This time a look at the contribution of Chelsea’s English contingent, uncovering a worrying trend on Chelsea’s results during periods of congested fixtures, a close look at Lampard’s stats and why Chelsea’s league challenge has gone off the rails.

A very English team?
For years now Chelsea have been criticised for not fielding enough English players (which seems particularly galling when compared to Arsenal’s record, for example) but actually Chelsea’s English contingent form the backbone of the club’s success.

Of the 28 squad players who have made an appearance so far this season, seven (25%) have been English. Five of those players (Lampard, Sturridge, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole and Terry) have scored a total of 26 of the team’s 91 goals – nearly a third (29%). Similarly, those same players have contributed 35% of all assists. All going to plan, four over those players should travel to South Africa to represent England at the World Cup.

The ageing squad is creaking - Chelsea can’t cope with fixture congestion
Looking back over the season’s results, Chelsea’s worsening form neatly coincides with periods of particularly bad fixture congestion.

When totalling those games played in months where there have been six fixtures or less (and there have been four months – September, October, November and January) Chelsea have done well, winning 18 of 21 games (86%). Very respectable. In months where Chelsea have had seven fixtures or more (there have been two of those – December and February), performance has been decidedly worse, with Chelsea winning just five out of 15 games (33%). Not too good at all.

Make no mistake, it’s a very bad omen indeed. If Chelsea progress to the end of each competition (yes, I know that’s looking doubtful, especially in the Champions League), there are a possible 18 games remaining. With just over 10 weeks left until the last game of the season, that would mean Chelsea will be required to play an average of over 7 games a month in that time. And by way of a direct comparison, during December, when Chelsea played eight games, the record read won two, drew five, lost one. Eek. Perhaps our ageing squad is more of a problem than we think?

Lamps on target for 20
In more encouraging news, after a spate of goals over recent weeks Lampard now looks to be back on target to once again score 20 goals this season. He has currently scored 15 (albeit with six of them – 40% - coming from the penalty spot) from 37 appearances, averaging one every 2.5 games. If he continues scoring at this rate, he will need to play 49 games to go.

There are a guaranteed 12 games remaining (10 league games plus one Champions League, one FA Cup) which, coincidently, neatly adds up to 49. If Chelsea don’t progress in either cup, the pressure will be on Frank to maintain his current scoring rate if he wants to get 20 goals for an incredible fifth season in a row…

Lampard versus Scholes
Much was made of Paul Scholes scoring his 100 Premier League goal last week, joining a short list of esteemed players that includes Chelsea’s Frank Lampard. Scholes is rightly celebrated – he has been an excellent, world class player for Man Utd for many years. But it got me thinking…

In danger of going on (and on) about Frank Lampard, I thought it would be interesting to compare the scoring rate of both players. On the face of it, their records aren’t that different: Lampard made 100 Premier League goals in his 14^th season in the Premier League, Scholes in his 16^th.

Over the course of their careers, the picture changes slightly however. Lampard has a record of a goal every 3.8 games, Scholes one every 4.4. But six of Frank’s 15 seasons were at West Ham, where he only scored 24 goals over 148 appearances. In his nine seasons at Chelsea (including the current one), Lampard has scored 95 Premier League goals, averaging one every 3.3 games, over 90 minutes less than his Utd Counterpart. It took Lampard just nine seasons of top class football to reach pretty much the same total as Scholes has managed during his entire career.

Of course – before Utd fans get too irritated by the comparison – this is just one aspect of the game. There is certainly more to both Lampard and Scholes’ games than scoring goals, and potentially more so with the latter. But it is an interesting comparison nonetheless, and I suppose my argument is around how Lampard will hopefully be perceived in years to come. Like Scholes, he should be held in the highest esteem.

Terrible form since November points to failing title challenge
Why not end on a pessimistic point?

In the twelve league games since 1^st December, Chelsea have won seven games, drawn 3 and lost two, registering 24 points. That’s two points a game on average. If that rate was sustained over an entire season, Chelsea would only score 76 points, only enough to finish fourth in each of the last two seasons. Enough said.

Lazy Daily Express story on John Terry designed to stir up trouble at Chelsea

Searching through this morning’s news in the search of some credible transfer gossip, I stumbled across a worrying headline that reinforced the view that John Terry – and others at Chelsea – are wielding too much power at the club.

The headline, in the Daily Express, unwaveringly says: “Terry: I run Chelsea with Lampard and Drogba”.

It seemed, or so one might be tempted to think having read the headline, that our esteemed captain had given another misguided press interview and made a statement that undermined not only Ancelotti but also Chelsea’s push for silverware. 

In essence, the article claims Terry believes he, Lampard and Drogba literally control the club and are ‘bigger than any manager will ever be at Chelsea’. It states that Terry said it is those three players who should take sole credit for keeping the team going through managerial upheaval. The paper also claims that Terry thinks it doesn’t matter who the manager is – ‘with those three in the dressing room, Chelsea have a chance’.

But to come to all these conclusions, what do the Express actually quote Terry on? Well:

“It has been a test for me and not only for me, but Frank and Didier too. They deserve real credit because people hear about me, they don’t tend to hear about what they do behind the scenes”.

And that’s pretty much it. The Chelsea captain does add:

“I can tell people that Frank and Didier are great and it is really important I have got their backing, because we have had so many managers over the last few years. But it was important that not only myself, but Didier and Lamps kept everyone together and said listen, as long as we keep doing our job, the fans will be there supporting us. That is what matters, Chelsea Football Club, not the manager or the players”.

Perhaps it’s worth paraphrasing what he’s has actually said in those two quotes. They boil down to Terry saying there have been some tough times during managerial upheaval, but Lampard and Drogba have been great and deserve credit for their role in keeping the Chelsea effort on track. Regardless of all that at the end of the day, the football club itself – and its fans - are more important than either players or manager.

There is absolutely nothing about what he’s said that is controversial or could be misinterpreted as a suggestion that there are players who are more important than Ancelotti. What’s more, Terry is speaking about the past – how the club weathered managerial changes on the pitch – and his words are exactly what I would expect from a responsible captain of club or country. Going further, he has very deliberately singled out Lampard and Drogba for praise, which seems pretty sensible bearing in mind that the form of those two players over the coming months will probably be the most significant factor in Chelsea’s push for trophies this season.

It’s such an easy story to write – no thought or research required – but there is no story here (compare the Express article with the Guardian’s take and the contrast is telling). It’s lazy journalism, and there’s no excuse for it. There is plenty to write about on football at the moment, even without the endless transfer gossip. The African Cup of Nations, the re-emergence of Man City under Mancini, the supposed decline of the FA Cup, the war between the Liverpool board and the club’s fans...I could go on. The sensationalist article follows well-trodden (and equally nonsensical) lines and can only be designed to stir up trouble at Chelsea.

I shouldn’t get so wound up about it. It’s no conspiracy, and journalists write stories like this about the top clubs every week. I suspect the likes of John Terry are used to it, too. But there are a wealth of issues to debate about the beautiful game out there and, when football journalists have the ear of hundreds of thousands of fans, we deserve more from them.

You might also be interested to read:

• Does John Terry have too much influence at Chelsea?

Neglectful FA cost Chelsea dear during latest pointless England excursion

How many international breaks have there been this season already? It seems like time and again the Premiership season has been disturbed by a string of international fixtures this year, many of which have been friendlies. The latest England jolly to Doha for a friendly with Brazil may have cost Chelsea a high price.

Reports this morning suggest that an injury suffered by Frank Lampard while on international duty, who flew home from the England training camp yesterday, may be worse than first thought. The prognosis is that he could be out for a few weeks at best, or until Christmas at worst.

It is frustrating that the injury has come about as a result of an arguably needless friendly. I’m sure most Chelsea fans would agree – according to research, over 80% of British football fans feel a stronger sense of allegiance to the team they support than they do for the national side. This particular friendly is further made redundant by the paucity of regular first team players making the trip. Perhaps more frustrating however, are reports that the FA flew the England squad all the way to Doha in economy class-style seats – that’s a seven hour flight - which contributed to Lampard’s eventual injury.

It would be very easy for some to have limited sympathy for the 22 millionaires having to fly economy. But the reality is that these are athletes finely tuned by their clubs to perform at the top of the game. Players like Lampard will run maybe seven miles in each game – at the season’s peak perhaps three times a week. And it’s not like running seven miles on the street: football combines the need for both endurance and explosive power, in addition to other physical rigours such as turning and tackling.

To mistreat and neglect such athletes after their clubs have made such considerable investment in them is outrageous. After all, those players when on England duty are essentially on loan with the goodwill of the owning clubs. It’s therefore unsurprising that Chelsea are reportedly livid at Lampard’s injury, and are preparing a compensation claim of just under £1m.

I’m livid too. When players get injured on international duty (like Essien last season), should football fans who have paid for tickets be compensated by the national associations? After all, we don’t get to see the players we paid to watch. Of course I’m not being serious, but the real point is the FA shouldn’t be so carefree with their scheduling of fixtures and their treatment of players: when injuries occur it impacts players, clubs and fans.

There has been much paper talk in recent weeks – particularly from Rafa Benitez and Liverpool – about how injuries affect club’s fortunes. Liverpool have had a number of injuries which have exposed the lack of depth in their squad. Having more luck than in recent years, it feels like Chelsea have had a relatively clean bill of health so far this season, although the papers have neglected to report that Deco, Alex, Ashley Cole, Zhirkov and Joe Cole have all had extended spells on the sidelines.

Lampard’s injury comes at a time when Chelsea are starting to make a real impact in the Premier League, and now a minor injury crisis is growing at Stamford Bridge with likely to sit out with him until Christmas and Bosingwa probably out for considerably longer. There is no sign of Zhirkov making an imminent return.

The depth of Chelsea’s squad is about to be tested – especially with crunch away games against Man City and Arsenal just around the corner. I fancy the squad will hold up far better than Liverpool’s however: provided Terry doesn’t get injured in Doha too, of course…

You might also be interested to read:

• Another international break? English fans don’t care about the national team

Chelsea season in stats: a water-tight defence, invaluable Ivorian and lucky streak

Here’s another monthly look at what at what the stats tell us about Chelsea’s progress: this time with revelations about Lampard’s scoring rate, Chelsea’s deceptively good defence and a continuing reliance on Drogba. My obsession with football stats continues…

At this rate Lampard won’t score 20
Such is the quality of Frank Lampard that scoring just one goal in 12 games was a crisis. Now that he’s scored three in the last two his rate looks a whole lot more impressive and firmly into the realm of respectability for a player of his ability. He still needs a couple of quick goals to get himself back on 20 a season form however: if he carries on scoring at his current rate (one goal every 3.5 games) he’ll need to play 70 games during 09/10 to make that total – which clearly won’t happen.

Are Chelsea getting lucky?
14 games played – two penalties won (and scored) and two own goals. But to what extent do teams make their own luck?

Defence is king
After some unfortunate slip ups against Wigan and Villa, the media would have us believe that Chelsea’s defence was in crisis, Carvalho was past his prime and John Terry was a bad player. But in contrast to the knee jerk reaction, Chelsea’s defence is pretty rock solid, conceding just 0.6 goals a game on average. Carry on at that rate and Chelsea will concede just 22 goals in the league this season – comfortably less than any team managed during 08/09. Other key facts: Chelsea have kept nine clean sheets – a staggering 64% of games played – and haven’t conceded in any of the Champions League or League Cup games played so far.

More players are scoring more goals
I suggested during the last stat-attack that, in order for Chelsea to be successful, more players would need to start chipping in with goals. This has happened: now five players have scored three or more in all competitions. While at the end of September Drogba had scored 30% of all Chelsea’s goals, he’s now scored just 25% - and not because he’s stopped scoring.

But Drogba’s still invaluable
Scoring 8 goals from 10 games is pretty spectacular record. But it’s half the story – if you include the two penalties he’s won for the team and his seven assists, Drogba has played a critical role in 17 of Chelsea’s 24 goals scored in Premier League games (the only competition he’s played in). That’s seven in ten goals the Ivorian is having a hand in. Torres might score a few more, but it’s Drogba’s other attributes that make him the more valuable player.

A ‘reasonable’ record against better sides
So far Chelsea have played six of the teams currently in the top half of the Premier League (Spurs, Liverpool, Villa, Sunderland, Stoke, Wigan) winning four games, losing two, scoring 12 and conceding seven. It’s a very reasonable record, but those stats will come under threat once the games against Arsenal, United and Man City come around. Meanwhile, Chelsea have mopped up against more lowly opposition: four games against bottom half opponents have resulted in four wins with 12 goals scored and just 1 conceded.

For a full set of Chelsea team and player season stats broken down by competition, click here. If you think there’s any set of stats that would be useful or interesting to add to this page, let me know and I’ll start recording them.

The season in stats: mentally tough Chelsea start too slowly and over-rely on Drogba

Both this year and last much has been said about the age of Chelsea’s squad and how it will hinder the club’s charge for the title. Having kept detailed stats – on both the team’s performance and for individual players – since the Premier League began back in August I decided to take a look back at the records for the season so far to see what, if anything, they told us about the impact of an ageing squad.

While I was at it, the statto in me rose to the surface one again (it first came to the fore back in early June when I looked back at Hiddink’s incredible record at the club), and I found a number of other ‘interesting’ things…

Age isn’t affecting performance…so far
Far from fitness and stamina being a weakness, if anything Chelsea’s performance improves as time wears on and other teams tire. The vast majority of goals have been scored in the second half and two were scored after 90 minutes were up to steal last-gasp wins.

But Chelsea start too slowly
If age is affecting the team then its preventing Chelsea from sprinting out of the blocks. Chelsea haven’t scored in the first 30 minutes of any of the nine games they’ve played so far this season. Conversely two thirds of all goals conceded have been scored in the first half of matches, and two of those were scored before 20 minutes had passed.

The characteristic mental toughness is still there
All that experience is counting for something: surely there isn’t a more psychologically strong team in the league? In addition to the two goals that have been scored after 90 minutes, over a quarter of Chelsea’s goals (5) have been scored within five minutes of half time as other teams lose concentration. Chelsea have also won games having conceded first once in every three games they’ve played.

Drogba is the most important player on the pitch
The Ivorian has played a direct part in over half of all Chelsea’s goals, scoring six and contributing four assists. Take that away, what have you got? You get my point.

Three players are shouldering the goal-scoring burden
Together Drogba, Ballack and Anelka are scoring most of the goals – two thirds of them, actually. If one or two more players can chip in with a few more, the season will progress a whole lot more smoothly.

The goals scored to conceded ratio isn’t what it could be
Without scoring heavily, and despite the capitulation at Wigan on Saturday, Chelsea have still scored three times more goals than they have conceded. That’s not actually a bad ratio – better than both the season records for 06/07, 07/08 and 08/09, but not quite as good as 05/06 and far behind the stats for the record breaking season in 04/05 when Chelsea scored five times more goals than they conceded.

Lampard isn’t as deadly
Whether it’s down to diminished form or his new more advanced role is open to debate, but Lampard hasn’t been as effective this season. He’s only scored one goal so far – and that was from the penalty spot. He’s still made an important contribution, however, contributing four assists. Is his lower pass completion rate – just 60% against Fulham, for example – a problem, or just an indication that his more attacking role requires a more adventurous approach?

For a full set of Chelsea team and player season stats broken down by competition, click here. If you think there’s any set of stats that would be useful or interesting to add to this page, let me know and I’ll start recording them.

Match Review: England 6 Andorra 0

"Who we playing again?"  Even Greavsie could beat this lot

What to say?  Always very difficult to evaluate England games against mediocre opposition.  A bundle of goals, and some pretty nice football, but ultimately a pretty meaningless performance that it's hard to draw any conclusions from.  The best part of the evening was seeing the squad members from the '66 England team pick up their medals.

Apparently there are only 11 national teams in the world worse than Andorra.  And tonight it showed.  The part-timers did their best, but frankly never got close to stopping England play, let alone stringing an attacking move together.  Half-way through the second half they'd only had 17% of the possession, a remarkable statistic in an international game.

England eventually won 6-0, a scoreline that could have been even more convincing without a purposeless 20 minute period in the first half, and some wasteful finishing from Defoe in the second.  Rooney got the first, and we'll give him the benefit of the doubt by assuming he meant to head Johnson's cross into the goal.  The second was probably the best of the night: a beautifully weighted pass from Johnson through to Walcott, who pulled the ball back for Lampard to score from the edge of the box.  A second from Rooney rounded out the first half.

At half-time Defoe came on for Rooney and Young for the anonymous Stevie G.  After a long period of utterly dominant possession and wasteful finishing, the flood gates finally opened.  Defoe scored his first after being set-up by, yes - you guessed it, Glen Johnson (some sort of record surely?!).  The night was rounded up with a couple of sloppy goals - another from Defoe and one for Crouch.

A good performance, but through no fault of England, not a great game (I know, I know, some people are never satisfied).  We'll have to wait until this time next year to see what the team's really made of.

Chelsea player watch:

John Terry:  Was he even playing?  He won't have played an easier game in years.

Ashley Cole:  A nice attacking performance, particularly in the second half when supported by Young.  Later substituted for Bridge - poor Wayne, wherever he plays he's second string to Ashley.

Frank Lampard:  Good performance going forwards with a well-deserved goal.  Didn't forget his defensive duties either, tackling back on the couple of occasions it was called for.

Terry and Lampard set to start for England

Chelsea transfer gossip rumbles on today with the blues again linked with a £40m move for David Villa. Meanwhile, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole are the only Chelsea players likely to figure in this afternoon's England fixture against Kazakhstan (1600 BST - you can watch it on Setanta).

 

Famous last words, but it should be a straightforward game for England, with the Kazakhstan coach bemoaning his players' lack of fitness earlier this week claiming they were some 10-15 years behind the rest of Europe. Expect an interesting second half.

 

Terry - who will probably be joined in defence by Matthew Upson in the absense of Rio Ferdinand, will be playing his 52nd game for his country. Capello has recently played Lampard in a more withdrawn role for England alongside Gareth Barry to allow Steven Gerrard a more attacking position, despite Frank's marginally superior international record (15 goals from 69 appearanes to Gerrard's 15 from 72). Perhaps Fabio feels Frank has greater ability to play a more disciplined role. Ashley Cole will play his 72 game for England, and is still looking for his first goal.

 

Look out for my report on the Chelsea players' peformances and any other talking points later today. I'll also be making regular updates to my twitter page throughout the game - check it out here.

 

bridgeviews prediction: Kazakhstan 0-4 England, 0-1 at half time

 

Pre-match in quotes:

 

Capello: "Tiredness isn't an excuse. It's a long trip but we must remember that they played well in the first half at Wembley. This is the problem, not the jet-lag and the flight"

 

Terry: "It's going to be a difficult game. They started the game well at Wembley and made it difficult for us. BUt we find as a country that wherever we go everyone raises their game and Kazakhstan are going to be no different. We know they're going to press us early on...they key is to be organised and keep our concentration".

 

Kazakhstan coach Bernd Storck: "Our problem is we play like children. The players are flat on their backs. We lost four goals in 10 minutes against Belarus. I've got big trouble with three big clubs because they don't want to do what we do - regular testing, taking blood. They train hard with no rest time. It's the old Russian system"

Pavel Nedved - he knows

Whilst I have always known what a great player Pavel Nedved is (or was), only now have I realised what a great man he is. In a world that pours scorn on the greatest number 8 in football, old Pavel has taken the time to talk about how Frank is ‘the best midfielder in the world’. Just uncovered these quotes from a couple of months back and felt obliged to post them here:

 

“He really is a phenomenon. For years (Frank) Lampard I think has been the best midfielder in the world. His level of consistency for club and country is amazing and he scores many important goals in the big games. We will do well to take care of him because he is often like a ghost from the midfield."

 

I vote we appoint him new Chief Spokesperson at Stamford Bridge. Greenberg, sign him up, Greenberg Greenberg sign him up…

One more goal for Frank, please

Frank Lampard was awarded the player of the year award last week, courtesy of the fans vote. In a year of uneven performances from the team, Frank has been the epitome of consistency. 

 

Surprisingly though, he currently sits one goal tantalisingly short of the 20 goal mark for the season - something he has achieved in each of the previous three. He looked like he was desperate to get that 20th goal in the game against Blackburn. Fingers crossed he gets it today - he deserves it.

 

Lampard's Chelsea record in goals:

 

01/02 - 7

02/03 - 8

03/04 - 15

04/05 - 19

05/06 - 20

06/07 - 21

07/08 - 20