KwAcKy's Konfessional |
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Nothing of interest; just mindless links to bikes Birmingham City Football Club and useless junk  
  
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22 August 2004
Football - Blues v Chelsea 
Our first home game of the season saw the multi million pound line up of Chelsea pitted against our more modest team. With Forssell barred from playing against his own team and Morrison nursing a knock, Blues went with just one upfront. I'm not sure if this was to enable Bruce to accomodate his current lover, Damien Johnson, or if Bruce wanted to pack out the midfield to stiffle the visitors. Melchiot Tiny Upson Lazaridis Gronkjaer DJ Savage Izzet Gray Heskey Blues did well from the off and looked the better team for most of the match. Gray and Gronks played as true wingers and were supported by Lazaridis and Melchiot to cause all sorts of trouble down the flanks. The midfield trio snuffed out most of Chelseas threats and were successful enough in the first half to ensure that both Maik and Lampard looked like spectators. Maik however did not doze and responded well when called. In a game that was going to be decided by a single goal Blues must have rued their inablility to take the limited chances. With just one up front the visitors didn't have too much of a problem to limit our shots on target. Heskey came close with a couple of half decent efforts but it is Julian Gray who should have bagged the opener, having initially put his shot on the upright then to blast the rebound over the crossbar. Joe Cole claimed all 3 points with a cruelly deflected shot off Tiny which gave the other Taylor no hope. In all a very promising game which reminded me of our efforts at the start of our life in the top flight when we outplayed Blackburn, only to lose. I still can't fathom why Bruce insists on starting with DJ. He's a good squad player but we've got better players than him who should be in the starting XI. With all the best will in the World, Heskey isn't the sort of player you want up front as a lone striker. Not many Bluenoses like Stern John and I know he was tired after his recent interntional, but I feel that we should have played a 4-4-2 for the last 30 minutes of the game with DJ taking an early bath. When Bruce did decide to make a switch he took off Jesper and broke up a very good partnership on the right thus reducing the number of crosses in the box for our front pair to get hold of. Special mention has to go to Savage. I'm no fan of his due to his inability to hold the ball or look before passing but yesterday saw him at his best. He read the game well and harrassed anyone who dared think the ball was theirs. Player Ratings Maik Taylor - had little to do but reacted well - 8 Melchiot - looks very good and pairs well with Jesper - 8 Tiny - still settling in with Upson but looks promising - 7 Upson - our defensive man of steel (and worth more than £8m!) - 8 Lazaridis - making that left back berth his own - 7 Jesper - needs a little more self belief - 7 DJ - why Bruce? why? - 6 Savage - if he could look before he passed he would be awesome - 8 Izzet - pairs well with Savage - 7 Gray - excellent home debut but sometimes tries too hard - 8 Heskey - won most balls and uses his strenght well but lacked a goal - 7 Hard to call man of the match. Upson and Maik seem to be getting taller each week. Gray looked very lively and caused all sorts of problems. Him and Stan will improve as a unit as time passes. But, I have to admit, Savage caught my attention for the right reasons. Sure, he still lets the ball go to early and often pases without looking first but he did well to push Chelsea back and allow Maik to enjoy the sunshine. Who knows what would have happened if we had been able to call on the services of Forssell and Dunn (and just how would Bruce have found room for DJ?) but when this Blues team finally gels we'll be able to give everyone in the league a dose of Blue Mondays. |
