Chelsea 1-0 Man City: Let's Keep Winning!

We were all over them. The result was not a true reflection of the performance. Hiddink has been talking about controlling the game. In this match, I could see that Chelsea were in complete control.

I think yesterday we played like the Chelsea of title winning seasons. While we could have scored three or four goals, Man City did not get even one decent shot on target. We never allowed Man City to pose us a threat.

We defended at the back and controlled the midfield in such a way that Man City had simply no hopes at all.

We are winning home and away in the Premier League. We have eliminated Juventus in the Champions League. We are genuine favourites for the FA Cup. Hiddink has worked his magic.

It would be foolish not to give him credit for this transformation. If Hiddink had taken charge at the beginning of the season and managed this winning run, I would not have gone ga ga over him.

Because that would have meant that he was just keeping us as good as we were. When Hiddink took over we were a shambles, mentally and also table-wise. He has turned us around.

When the team does not create chances, the manager is answerable. He needs to rethink the strategy or tactics or team selection or whatever. The manager needs to act.

If the team is creating chances but are not able to score more than one goal, the players will certainly have to see why they couldn’t. This was a match that we must have won very very comfortably. Few of the misses must have been simply finished better. Drogba and Ballack being the main culprits.

That’s not to say Drogba and Ballack played poorly or something. They were very good. In fact, all of them played a fantastic match. Did you notice that Anelka’s work rate has improved by many times now?

Do you see him constantly on the move trying to win balls, moving to space and all that stuff? Drogba seems to score a 7/10 or 8/10 every single match. With a solid defence at the back and sharp attack in the front, Lampard’s presence is much more effective than before.

It was Essien’s day.

His goal was superb. He created that goal, of course with some help from Lampard. Essien’s performance yesterday was not just about that goal. I loved the way he played. Kind of reminded me what Essien is all about. Essien’s presence allowed Lampard to go further up.

Also, all the attacks involved Essien. He was the focal point, he was the distribution system. It’s difficult not to talk about his workrate when we talk about Essien. That’s a given when it comes to Essien.

But what was more interesting was the way he was playing the attacking midfielder’s role while he was not. I have been saying that we may not need a defensive midfielder in every single match.

Given the strength of our defence and our keeper, we should use holding midfielders only in very very key matches. What we need is an intelligent and capable midfielder who can play either roles and switch quickly from one to other if required.

Essien did just that. Essien’s come back also means less chances for Mikel. Or it is time to start using Mikel as a central midfielder or an attacking midfielder.

Overall, I was very happy with our performance yesterday. We bossed the game. We dominated Man City to a point where it was almost embarrassing for them. £30 million Robinho was as good as the three-pound sticker of himself.

If at all there was one thing that could have been better, that was finishing. But I do see that Hiddink has been continuously improving the team. He stopped us conceding. He got us better at set pieces. He got us winning. He got us controlling the games. He got us dominating the games.

Now he has to get us finish more chances. It’s only a matter of time before we notch up those 3-0 and 4-0.

Liverpool’s thrashing of Man Utd was the best thing to happen in the weekend. They simply murdered the defending champions. This was Liverpool’s best result at Old Trafford in about 75 years.

What a result to get in a big away game! Reminds me of our own 4-1 win at Anfield a couple of seasons back. I’m still not sure if this Man Utd defeat opens up the title race.

They are still four points up with a game on hand. I’m very keen to see how they respond. If Man Utd drop points next match, I will start believing that the race is open. We are doing what we can best do. Keep winning matches; something might just happen!