Post match thoughts, and who Is Baba Rahman?
After a disappointing pre season, and an opening day draw against a decent Swansea side, Chelsea was faced with a trip to Manchester where they were to play title rivals City. Before the game, there was a sense of optimism amongst Chelsea fans, as we thought the early season rustiness would be gone and we could show everyone the form that won us the title last year.
City were impressive in their opening day victory over West Brom, and looked to be continuing that form, within minutes of the game starting. A pinpoint through ball from Silva put Aguero through on goal, only for him to be thwarted by a good Begovic save. This was his first start for Chelsea due to the suspension of Courtois, and he was perhaps the most encouraging thing we saw all afternoon. Chelsea were under pressure constantly throughout the first half, and it could have been much worse if not for multiple impressive saves from Asmir Begovic. Man City looked like the team that won the title two years ago once more, and we looked lethargic, rusty, and unorganized. There were pockets of space all over the pitch, allowing the likes of Silva and Aguero too much freedom and time on the ball.
After 31 minutes of relentless City attacks, the deadlock was eventually broken. Aguero was again left with too much space in the box, as he and Silva played a one two, before he turned and fired into the bottom corner. Many thought this goal would kick Chelsea into gear, but this was not the case. Chelsea had chances, Hazard came close, and perhaps should have scored, but at no point did we look like the team that stormed to the title last year. With 11 minutes to go, and Chelsea pushing for an equaliser, City countered and forced a corner. This was swung into a dangerous area where Kompany shrugged off Ivanovic, who showed a lack of desrie and awareness, allowing the Belgian to head into the far corner. This was shown again 6 minutes later, when the ball was played to Ivanovic 30 yards from our goal, and he dithered on the ball, attempting a flick with the outside of his foot. This was intercepted, and the ball bounced to Fernandinho, who drove it into the net. These two poor bits of defending reflected the majority of the Chelsea performance. The whole back line looked slow and rusty, especially the full backs, who were run ragged by the two City wingers, and there was constantly too much space for the City midfield, making it easy for them to form dangerous attacks. Fabregas was playing in front of the defence, and did not protect the back line what so ever, being given the run around by his fellow countryman David Silva.
There were some encouraging points for us. Willian again looked dangerous going forward, and was constantly running back to help our collapsing defence. Costa looked fit again, making some decent runs behind the defence, being unlucky not to score late on and Begovic proved that he is an extremely capable back up keeper, who could even be used as competition to push Courtois to improve.
Following a turbulent week for Mourinho and Chelsea due to the controversy surrounding the medical staff, the last thing we needed was to lose ground on our title rivals on the second weekend of the season. A convincing 3-0 loss was the last thing we needed and Mourinho needs to change something, whether it be to make a big name signing, to increase competition for places, or change the line up drastically. Whatever he does, it needs to be done fast, as we cannot allow our worst start to the season since 1998 to become any worse.
After the game, the signing of Augsburg left back Baba Rahman was confirmed, for a fee believed to be in the region of £17 million, although no fee has been confirmed. He may only be 21, but in his two seasons at Greuther Furth, and his one at Augsburg, he has caught the eye, leading to multiple top European clubs showing interest in him. He is confident in possession of the ball, but his best attributes are his power, speed and athleticism that allow him to be an extremely effective defender, something our current full backs are struggling with at the minute. In the Bundesliga last year, Rahman made more tackles (108) than anyone else in the league, and had a success rate of over 80%. He also made the 8th highest number of interceptions in the Bundesliga last year, showing great awareness and reading of the game. He also made four assists and created 24 chances, suggesting he is more than capable of attacking, as well as defending.
This has the potential to be a fantastic signing for Chelsea, as it will finally provide some stern competition on our whole back line, and the young Ghanaian has very good potential. He could replace Azpilicueta at left back, or dislodge Ivanovic from the team with Azpilicueta moving back to right back. This will hopefully be used as a way of shocking two of our worst performers so far this season into regaining their magnificent form of last year. I would like to see Mourinho bring Rahman into the side, and perhaps others like Moses or Falcao, at least for a game, to show the team that no ones place in the line up is safe. This would hopefully eliminate any complacency or rustiness in the squad, motivating them to work harder in training, and become sharper and back to their best to maintain there places and the title winning performances of last season.
Sean Walsh
Latest posts by Sean Walsh (see all)
- Swansea City vs Tottenham Hotspur – Preview - October 4, 2015
- AS Monaco vs Tottenham Hotspur – Preview - September 30, 2015
- Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City – Preview - September 25, 2015