Considering the series of, somewhat, herculean matches ahead, the win against the magpies could have done more good than the three points gained.
Much of Chelsea’s games this season has been influenced by the low morale in the the team. As a result, the consistency needed to be on top, is absent. This, obviously, did not escape Ballack’s mind as he pointed out the problem of his former team after the Bayern game which we lost. Man.Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool have also gotten the better of us in the Premier League and the losses can only be attributed to this state of mind and maybe not the tactics employed by the coach.
But, thankfully, the race is not lost. We might have lost out to Liverpool in the Carling Cup, but that does not really count for much. We are 4th in the EPL, 10points behind Man City, we are still in the
Champions League and we have been drawn against Portsmouth in the F.A. Cup. So, there is still much to stand and fight for.
The game against Newcastle might just be our turnaround in the season. Although, many would argue that the game was won out of sheer luck(the magpies hit the woodwork twice), no dispute. But, we also have to admit that Chelsea deserved to win the game. But for Tim Krul’s excellence throughout the game, Chelsea could have ended up scoring at least six goals in the game. Newcastle, during the game, was never an easy opposition. Infact, we had to fight by the skin of our teeth to win the match.
The game against the magpies bore a semblance to the Arsenal, Bayern game which we lost. We could have easily won both games had we been able to handle the pressure but we did not, we caved in to it in the second half. However, we were able to cope with the pressure that came
from Newcastle in the second half and later added 2goals to subdue them. A spark!
And the spark – confidence and belief, could be the missing piece in the jigsaw that might bring about the complete transformation we have been waiting.
By Aramide Salako