Basel Faulty: Does Chelsea's Loss to Basel Mata?

Schar enjoying Van Ginkel more than the goal #awkward

As I attempted to press on triumphantly throughout the day, my performance suffered and I became increasingly less effective at the office. Eventually I succumbed to the forsaken -- man flu! After watching Chelsea’s performance tonight, it’s evident I wasn’t the only one struck down by this horrible disease!

Not to diminish the performance of Basel in any way as they looked the more threatening of the two in the first half. It was lucky that Chelsea took the lead at the half. Salah constantly tested Chelsea’s defence. Although at times this evening, even bed ridden, I may have been able to challenge Chelsea’s defence. It takes something pretty special for a goal to be the fault of three players.

There’s no need to whip up a frenzy and panic about the season just four competitive matches in - and only a single match into the Champions League group stage. But it does highlight some areas that may need a little work. Part of it can be in future transfer windows -- buy players the club needs rather than every player in the world for one position.

This may be the Lemsip talking, but the absolute glut of attacking midfielders is a bigger concern than whether a 20 year old man-child should or should not have been sent out on loan to guarantee his development. Mata, Oscar, and Hazard were a thing of beauty last season. In fact, their chemistry was one of the few distractions to the pervasive presence of the one that should not have been. So why break them up? Individual talents - but as a unit a force to be reckoned with.

Competition in the squad is not necessarily a bad thing. And when you play as many games as Chelsea anticipate playing each season, depth in squad is a must. However, the tinkering and inclusion of every number 10 in the Western hemisphere is a bit of a hindrance. Slightly greedy on Chelsea’s part to keep signing them, sometimes it’s ok to share with the other kids. The constant rotation has hindered any budding chemistry with new additions and created communication issues with them as well as the forward.

As for the man up top (not <generic religious figure>) -- Eto’o is a proven goal scorer, and those goals may not come. At the sprightly age of “32”, Eto’o was slightly off the pace against Everton and may have been better reserved for Fulham this weekend. However, more concerning than Eto’o starting was Demba Ba rather than Torres being on the bench. 

Say what you want about the Spaniard, because Lord knows I can’t seem to stop you, but it’s in European games that he has actually shined for Chelsea. His lack of goals domestically has overshadowed his success against Munich, Barcelona, and the mighty Genk. Only Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski managed more goals in Europe last season than Fernando Torres. And his goal against Munich in the European Charity Shield Super Cup should have secured him regular starts in on these European nights.

All in all, a poor start to this season’s Champions League campaign, but an excellent start to their Europa League title defence. In the immortal words of the Not So Happy One “Sometimes you win sometimes you lose. The reality is sometimes you don't win”. There's a lot of football yet to be played. Roll on Saturday.

jb x

ps send tissues and gingerale, ta!

pps the egg-based puns surrounding this match have been a little less than cracking -- try harder!