1. Same Old Chelsea, Just Not As Good
After a bright ten minutes or so, Chelsea found themselves falling into the same old familiar pattern. Granted, this pattern of getting men behind the ball, shutting out the opposition and looking for counter attacks and set pieces for their goals worked very well last season. It did need a lot of luck at times, but in the Allianz Arena Chelsea were the victors. The problem is they are no longer set up to be uber-defensive. Fernando Torres was isolated upfront and is not the kind of striker who can hold the ball up, unlike Didier Drogba. Oscar did a good job tracking Andrea Pirlo but apart from his two well taken goals he was not in the game anywhere near enough, Hazard and Ramires were more wide midfielders than flying wingers or inside forwards, and Lampard and Mikel did not offer the protection the defence would have expected. This Chelsea team is set up to attack, to take the initiative and take the game to the opposition. This makes them a lot more attractive to watch but a fluid, free flowing style of football is not something that comes to mind when one thinks of Chelsea. Pace, power, directness are the characteristics of a John Terry-led Chelsea. When the going gets tough they fall into their default setting, unfortunately they are no longer set up for those defensive and indomitable tactics. Nor are they set to become the new Barcelona. They must find a workable middle ground.