Four Findings – Stoke (H)

Teams love sitting back against Chelsea

It has been a recurring theme this season, and it’s something that you will often see smaller sides try to do in order to combat strong teams like Chelsea: defend in numbers. Today was no different, and Stoke had plenty of men behind the ball for most of the match. When The Potters lost possession, they did well to quickly rush back and maintain their defensive shape. When this occurs, it is extremely hard for Chelsea to break the defence down, and we often see the Blues keep possession for extensive periods of time. These situations often allow Chelsea to showcase some very good football, because breaking down a defence requires skill and patience. However, this results in Chelsea playing a bit too intricately and playing one too many passes far too often, which can be frustrating at times. But it was after a brilliant spell of Chelsea possession around the penalty area that Cesc Fàbregas was brought down in the box. After thirty-nine minutes, Chelsea took the lead through Hazard’s calm penalty conversion.

Costa’s hamstring is a huge problem

We knew from the start that Diego Costa’s hamstring was something to worry about. Last May, he was unable to even play fifteen minutes in the Champions League final for Atletíco Madrid. Diego’s hamstring hasn’t bothered him much during his debut season in England though, as he’s in the hunt for the Golden Boot and has become a prolific goal scorer for Chelsea. Chelsea manager José Mourinho has noted that using surgery to correct the issue is the least favoured possible method of treatment, and that training and strengthening the muscle was the smartest way of gaining full fitness. However after today’s events, questions must be asked when it comes down to what exactly is going on with the injury. Going into today’s match, Mourinho explained that scientifically Diego Costa’s hamstring was in fine condition, and that the Spaniard had been working tirelessly in recent days to get himself fit. He said, ‘We did all the tests and scans to confirm the situation two days ago and at the moment the muscle is fine, but football is more than that, you need confidence, you need to believe you are free to express yourself at the maximum intensity and that is our doubt at the moment.’ Thus, Diego started Saturday’s match against Stoke on the bench. But if his hamstring is ‘fine’, then how is it that just ten minutes after entering the match, Costa had to come off? The Spanish international will surely be out for at least a few weeks now, and Chelsea will now have to cope with not having their star striker up top for them in their upcoming fixtures.

No match is easy, and Chelsea’s schedule is an ominous one 

At this point in the season, no match is easy. While last season we may have cooly beaten Stoke 3-0 at Stamford Bridge, it was different this time around. After some brilliant football put us 1-0 up, a sixty-five yard wonder goal from Charlie Adam gave Stoke some confidence going into halftime. Just like that, Stoke were back in it. The first half was bloody fun to watch as a Chelsea supporter, but Stoke gave us a tough second half that had me nervous at times. My nerves were calmed eventually when an absolute gift from Stoke keeper Asmir Begovic was given that put Chelsea back in front. A game that looked easy on paper was much tougher on the pitch. With that being said, Chelsea have an ominous schedule in their future. The Blues still have to face an in-form Arsenal away from home in a derby that will surely be one of the biggest matches of the season. Better yet, Chelsea will be welcoming the likes of northern giants Manchester United and Liverpool to Stamford Bridge before all is said and done in this year’s Barclays Premier League campaign. Chelsea have put themselves in a fantastic position, but their final run of fixtures will make them really have to earn that Premier League title that they are so desperately hungry for.  

Matić is back in form

One thing I noticed today is that Nemanja Matić is back to his old self. Recently, the Serbian has just not been as amazing as we had proclaimed earlier in the season, but Nemanja put in a great performance today against Stoke. He was all over the place; winning the ball, making aggressive tackles, and spreading the ball around the pitch. Today, Matic was the rock in midfield and the enforcer that we’ve all come to know and love since his return to London two winters ago. My confidence in him has truly been restored today.