Consistent Chelsea have nothing to fear from Newcastle or Liverpool
Sandwiched between that incredible Champions League triumph over Barcelona and next Saturday’s FA Cup final, it might have been easy for Chelsea to take their eye off the ball for the two league games against QPR and Newcastle.
But in this amazing run Chelsea are on, would anyone really have expected that?
In the space of just a couple of months a team lacking shape, goals, wins, and apparently also desire, have been transformed.
And the 6-1 win over QPR showed these Chelsea players don’t only raise their game for matches involving Lionel Messi.
Yes, there have been dropped points lately. In the 1-1 draw at Fulham, Chelsea looked tired and the goalless draw against Arsenal was a bit of a non-event between the two Barcelona fixtures but still wasn’t a bad result.
And it’s been quite a long time since Chelsea did have a bad result.
Home and away wins over Benfica, the incredible 5-1 win over Spurs in the FA Cup semi-final, seeing off Barcelona – supposedly the best team in the world – and now a 6-1 victory over neighbours QPR, who had plenty to fight for.
After a dismal 2011 and a start to 2012 that showed no signs of improvement under the previous management, the Chelsea of Roberto Di Matteo look not only well organised, up for it and exciting – they are also consistent.
And so on this form, there has to be a fair chance of beating Newcastle on Wednesday night, for a key three points in the race for fourth place, and following it up with a cup final win over a
Liverpool side who, while they may have won at Norwich this weekend, have been out of form and frankly just aren’t as good as Chelsea.
A consistent Chelsea could end this traumatic season in amazing fashion.
For all he has done in a few weeks in charge, Di Matteo’s greatest achievement – and one that could see him get the job permanently – has been making the Blues a resilient team that can plough through game after game in the way we used to do under trophy-laden managers of the recent past.
James Clarke is the author of Moody Blues: Following the second-best team in Europe
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Chelsea v QPR: Player ratings
30/04/2012 @ 12:40 pm
chelsea have nothing to fear but the unexpected of cup finals – which is an awful lot. Can’t speak for the geordies, but Liverpool always play better against the ‘better’ teams, and are also cup kings. So I wouldn’t write us off so quickly, especially if it goes to penalties.