Chelsea 1-0 Sunderland: Grading Frank Lampard, Fernando Torres and Teammates
Fernando Torres failed to score again, and he hasn't scored in his last 16 games for Chelsea and Spain.
What grade did I give Torres—an F?
Sunderland should have taken advantage of this inept Chelsea back four but didn't.
Here are my grades for the Chelsea players in their 1-0 win over Sunderland.
Goalkeeper: Petr Čech
1 of 13Grade: B
Petr Čech looked confident when he made some good claims from Sunderland crosses.
Generally, he completes 68 percent of his passes, but he only completed 58 percent of his passes in this game.
Not as concerning as being beaten easily by Stéphane Sessègnon—but the blame lies with Ashley Cole.
Čech was fortunate that Ji Dong-Won wasn't on the field, because he would have scored.
Fortunately for Chelsea, Nicklas Bendtner fluffed his chance.
Right-Back: José Bosingwa
2 of 13Grade: F
For such an offensive player, José Bosingwa did nothing of note in Sunderland's defensive half.
He didn't complete one successful dribble and only delivered two accurate crosses.
Defensively, Bosingwa is useless.
He tried playing the offside trap even though David Luiz was behind him. James McClean took advantage, and thank goodness for David Luiz's last-man tackle.
Bosingwa didn't make any concerted efforts to block McClean's five crosses—mind you, none of the crosses changed the game.
Bosingwa was ball-watching as Craig Gardner got in front of him.
Centre-Back: John Terry
3 of 13Grade: C+
Individually, John Terry was solid as usual.
But the buck stops with him, because he is the leader of this back four.
His back four looks amateurish, disjointed, shambolic and inept.
Centre-Back: David Luiz
4 of 13Grade: D
Let's start with a positive.
If not for David Luiz's last-man tackle on James McClean, the game could have been a different result.
Though, Luiz's defending still does not inspire confidence.
He didn't need to crudely hack Nicklas Bendtner in the ninth minute, because it meant having a yellow card hanging over him for basically the entire game.
Luiz's constant marauding is detrimental, because on two occasions, Chelsea could have conceded on the counter attacks because of his turnovers.
Stéphane Sessègnon took advantage, and then 20 minutes later, James McClean dispossessed Luiz, only to immediately give away the ball.
Luiz was marking air when Craig Gardner missed his gilt-edged opportunity.
Then Luiz was out-muscled by Nicklas Bendtner in the dying moments of the game, only for the Dane to miss his mark—Ji Dong-Won would have scored.
Left-Back: Ashley Cole
5 of 13Grade: F
Ashley Cole was easily Chelsea's worst player.
In the first 20 minutes, Stéphane Sessègnon beat him for pace, and then Phil Bardsley managed to get past Cole twice.
If not for referee Phil Dowd turning down a Chelsea penalty claim a few seconds before, Cole would have given away a penalty for charging straight into Nicklas Bendtner's back.
Cole was breached again in the 63rd minute by Sebastian Larsson.
In the last few minutes of the game, Sessègnon embarrassed Cole and delivered a great cross only for Craig Gardner's miss to bail out Cole.
Defensive Midfielder: Oriol Romeu
6 of 13Grade: B-
Oriol Romeu was solid defensively as he intercepted the ball four times and made one tackle.
His passing is still John Obi Mikel-esq, and he needs to be more creative with his passing.
Centre Midfielder: Raul Meireles
7 of 13Grade: B+
It was great to watch Raul Meireles easily sending in accurate long balls to one side of the field and then to another.
Centre Midfielder: Frank Lampard
8 of 13Grade: A
Frank Lampard was in the right place at the right time as he poached his first goal.
He also had a goal-bound shot blocked.
His passing was near perfect, with a 93 percent competition rate.
Right Forward: Ramires
9 of 13Grade: B
Ramires' pace made him a difficult proposition for Kieran Richardson.
Ramires played okay, but he's so much better as a box-to-box midfielder.
He wouldn't have played there if Daniel Sturridge was fit enough to start.
Centre Forward: Fernando Torres
10 of 13Grade: B+
I almost feel like giving Fernando Torres an A grade because nothing can go right for him.
What an audacious acrobatic overhead kick, seemingly headed for the back of the net, only to ricochet off the crossbar.
Torres, who has been in the right positions throughout his baron run, must have felt so frustrated as he watched Frank Lampard score.
Torres was denied two clear-cut penalties: The first one where John O'Shea clipped him, and then Phil Bardsley's knee sent Torres crashing into the turf.
Yet, referee Phil Dowd added insult to injury by booking Torres for simulation, even though there was clear contact from Bardsley.
Interestingly, 31 percent of Torres' passes were to Juan Mata.
Left Forward: Juan Mata
11 of 13Grade: B-
Juan Mata had a great first half and was dribbling past Sunderland players at ease. Then he seemingly ran out of gas as the game intensified.
I do not understand why André Villas-Boas doesn't play Mata centrally.
He's right there in the dugout, and he sees Mata playing his best when he's central.
He's at his worst when he's doing his "Hey, boss, I'm playing out wide" minutes.
It makes no tactical sense for Villas-Boas to play Mata wide when he doesn't want to play wide and doesn't mark the full-back.
Who was always passing the ball to Stéphane Sessègnon? An unmarked Phil Bardsley.
Substitutes
12 of 13Michael Essien: He had a good a cameo where he averaged a pass a minute. Hopefully, the injury lay-off has made him stronger, because Chelsea need him to be world class again.
Florent Malouda: He only played several minutes, and I'm not too sure about his future. His contract ends in six months' time.
If André Villas-Boas isn't going to give Romelu Lukaku a chance, please loan him out to Stoke City or Swansea City.
I'm so frustrated for Lukaku because Chelsea are stunting his growth.
What's the point in buying him for £19 million if you're not even going to play him off the bench?
Overall Grades
13 of 13Don't hesitate to comment below with your opinion of today's game.
| Petr Čech | B |
| José Bosingwa | F |
| John Terry | C+ |
| David Luiz | D |
| Ashley Cole | F |
| Oriol Romeu | B- |
| Frank Lampard | A |
| Raul Meireles | B+ |
| Ramires | B- |
| Fernando Torres | B+ |
| Juan Mata | B- |
Please read Gary Cahill and 9 Most Regrettable Signings.
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