Begovic gave us a chance
Asmir Begovic played one of the best halves by a Chelsea keeper in recent memory. Sergio Aguero had nearly a half dozen chances in the first 20 minutes, and Begovic made fantastic saves on all of them. Regardless of the 3-0 score line, you weren’t going to see a much better performance today by the Chelsea keeper – whether it have been Courtois or Begovic. Begovic’s performance has given Mourinho and Chelsea fans some peace of mind going forward, knowing that we’re set in net.
Ivanovic
Stick a fork in him. Week in, week out – it’s the same, lazy performance. In today’s match, he was directly responsible for the last two goals. Kompany bullied him like a child on the corner kick and easily headed the ball home. On the third goal, Cesc passed the ball out of the box to Ivanovic. The Spaniard led him with the pass, but Ivanovic walked on to it and tried to play a lazy pass ahead to Diego Costa. David Silva got a piece of it, falling straight into the feet of Fernandinho who buried the shot.
The defense of Ivanovic from fans as of late has been worrying. “He shows up in big games.” He showed up for the first 45 minutes today. Tops. “He’s done so much for the club.” No one is bigger than the club. Not Iva. Not Eva. Not John Terry. Not Jose. Not Roman. The club has been here before all of them, and it’ll be here long after they’re all gone. Right now, Ivanovic is messing up this team.
Enough of this sentimental stuff with keeping Ivanovic at right back as some sort of novelty. We had a woeful ending to last campaign, despite winning the league with games to spare. The preseason was a bag of trash, and the beginning of the 2015/16 campaign hasn’t been much better.
With the confirmed signing of Abdul Baba Rahman, I’d love to see Baba at left back and Azpilicueta back at right back. It will also give us the added dynamic of having a CB/RB player on the bench, and even more beneficial should we not sign Everton defender John Stones. But, let’s face it, we all know the manager. It’ll be the same thing as Cuadrado. “Baba needs time to train with the team and gel with his teammates,” before he makes 15 appearances in all competitions and is sold in July. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Zouma was a breath of fresh air
At the beginning of the second half, Kurt Zouma came on for John Terry – a shock substitution to nearly everyone watching the game. It marks the first time Mourinho has ever substituted the captain. Zouma began warming up in the first half when Gary Cahill took a shot to the nose from Begovic, but the Englishman was able to come back on.
After the game, Mourinho had this to say about the substitution:
“Zouma is the fastest defender we have in the squad. I know Man City are going to play counter-attack and Zouma is a different player to John and was proven right because Zouma was in complete control.
“John is a player I have total trust for. With me he was never substituted… with other managers he was not selected and people thought his Chelsea career was over.
“If a manager has the right, I do, because I gave the chance to make him what he is, a fantastic player and a fantastic captain.
“I was proven right.”
If you knew City was going to play the counter, why would you not just start Zouma in place of Cahill? The French international was very solid in the second half, and was a nice breath of fresh air at centreback.
Oscar’s value
Aside from Begovic’s performance and Diego Costa playing a full 90 minutes, one of the hidden takeaways from the match is just how valuable Oscar is. He put in a MOTM-worthy performance last week against Swansea, but was unable for selection today due to injury – an injury that could also keep him out next weekend.
Without the Brazilian, it took away a dynamic from this team and left us with fewer options in attack. It pushed Fabregas to the unfavorable attacking midfield role, and Ramires alongside Matic. If Chelsea want to win any hardware this season, Oscar is going to be at the helm of it, as writers Evan McMurtrie and Tyler Strauss recently wrote.
