Fulham vs. Chelsea: 5 Lessons Learned from 1-1 Draw in West London Derby

Chelsea missed out on a valuable opportunity to take the driver’s seat in the race for fourth place in the EPL when a visit to Craven Cottage ended in a 1-1 tie against Fulham.

Frank Lampard put away a controversial penalty to give the Blues the lead just before half, but Clint Dempsey evened the score off a corner as time wound down.

With Tottenham losing to Norwich earlier in the day, it was a prime opportunity for Chelsea to go level with them on points and perhaps even pass them on goal differential. Instead, a poor performance keeps them at the will of their opponents' results for Champions League qualification next season.

The schedule only gets tougher as time goes on, and it appears the aging legs of Chelsea are already feeling its effects.

Here are five things we learned from the draw.

Jon Obi Mikel May Start Against Barcelona

It was not the most impressive display by the team as a whole, but if one player stood out in blue, it was Jon Obi Mikel. The in-form midfielder did well to stop the counter and attack of Fulham, which have been strong all season.

He stands there in the middle as a force to be reckoned with, winning tough balls and bouncing the midfielders right off it with his strong upper body. Considering the troubles Barca midfielders tend to have with physical players, he could be an ideal fit.

The one downside of Mikel is he provides little in the way of offense. He is a decent passer, but not very good with the ball at his feet. He also has a horrendous eye for goal, playing in 156 games for Chelsea and never finding the back of the net.

However, odds are Chelsea will think defense first against the Catalans and hope the offense comes from elsewhere. Mikel should at least get the start until goals are needed.

Salomon Kalou Can Look Very Bad

It was a night Salomon Kalou probably wished he could forget. He was incredibly inconsistent on the wing, always looking to see what he could do with the ball and leaving Fernando Torres hung out to dry. His only bright moment came on a penalty he was controversially awarded.

He was knocked off the ball nearly every time it touched his feet, unable to cope with the physicality of the defenders. Too many times he looked foolish, being chased from behind with a Fulham player easily picking his pocket before Kalou knew what had happened.

He capped off his night with a terrible cross in the final minute of stoppage time, one he rattled off the defender, killing any hope Chelsea had of getting a late winner.

This tough stretch of games coming up has Roberto Di Matteo trying all different sorts of combinations hoping to keep guys fresh. Ultimately, it cost them points tonight.

Chelsea Wishes They Had Clint Dempsey

Clint Dempsey is having a better season than any of the Chelsea players and for one reason only: He can score.

Dempsey was not exactly at the top of his game today. More often than not, he found himself being outmuscled by John Terry and Gary Cahill. The two kept him in check for a majority of the match. You could quite honestly say he and Torres had the exact same performance.

However, unlike Torres’ 90 minutes of futility, Dempsey had one moment of brilliance where he was able to get free on a corner and head it in for the tying goal.

It was not the most eloquent of scores and may even be labeled as an own goal on Cahill since the ball hit off his back. But scoring out of nothing is the reason that Dempsey is having the season he is.

There is not one Chelsea player that instills that kind of confidence in the fans. Any hopes or predictions for goals are purely out of blind optimism, as this team has let the fans down time and time again for their inability to find the net.

Chelsea need a player like Dempsey.

Ramires Seems to Have Lost His Mojo

As every player on the team seems to have upped their play over the past few weeks, Ramires has gone the other way. The player who many fans would have pegged as perhaps the player of the season during the early parts has dissipated into near obscurity.

Roberto Di Matteo has changed things up a bit for the Brazilian, favoring him on the right wing alongside the striker. The reason for the move originally was to help give some defensive support to that flank, which has been cut up all season.

But it has become quite obvious that the defensive responsibilities are not being matched by providing in the attack. Still an excellent workhorse, he gets ahead of himself far too often on dribbles, pushing the ball to nowhere and losing possession in the midfield.

To add to that, a Chelsea offense that has had trouble scoring all season is now playing one of the team’s worst finishers in an advanced position.

The role he is playing in may be the reason he has become irrelevant, but either way, he has really fallen off his game.

The Schedule Is Going to Beat Chelsea

Chelsea played their second match in three days, but this is nothing unheard of. Fulham were under similar restrictions, as were many of the teams who played today. However, none of them have to worry too much about their future matchups.

Chelsea are looking toward an FA Cup semifinal against Tottenham Sunday, the first match against Barcelona the three days after that, a trip to the Emirates three days later and the return leg in Camp Nou to wrap it off with the same amount of rest.

Never have I seen a team that has faced this stiff of competition in such a short window with so many things on the line. A loss in any match effectively eliminates Chelsea from the goal they are hoping to achieve in that competition.

The issue is not as much tired legs as it is the frequency of rotation. Saturday’s victory over Wigan saw seven different players start than the one against Benfica. Today, there were five changes from the Wigan side.

This rotation is necessary to avoid injury, but also ruins the chances for the team to build momentum and consistency moving forward, two things they desperately need.

With their next game Sunday, Di Matteo will surely give everyone a break heading into this stretch, but he must also guard against complacency. It is quite a difficult position for any manager to be in, let alone an interim one.

What Did You Learn from the Tie?

It was a painful one, but not fatal. Two points behind Spurs and Newcastle keeps them in the hunt, as they have a fixture against Toon at Stamford Bridge and Tottenham seem to be going nowhere but down. Three points would have been best, but a draw will have to do.

What did you learn from today's result?

As always, please leave your comments below and thanks for reading!

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