Inter vs Chelsea - Why Chelsea always loses their head towards the end

[Craiglistee]

Dailymotion - Chelsea v Inter Milan - a Sports & Extreme video

First off, watch the highlights if you haven't seen the game, it was pulsating to say the least. Great tactical fight between Anchelotti and Mourinho, surprised to see Mourinho's 4-3-3, their forward three almost back fired towards the end of the first half when Chelsea should really have scored to put more bite into the game.

I thought the key for the entire game was Mr. Wesley Snjieder, whom Real must have been crazy to have let go. Or rather decided to keep half heartedly before he bailed on them once Inter came in. He was so direct and created loads of opportunities with his delivery. Always rated him, and I have a feeling Mourinho would bring him along to England if he leaves Inter this summer, which he will, regardless of his Champions League results.

Chelsea, a team assembled out of petulance. They just do not have the bite in them to last the entire race, thats the difference between them and Man Utd. Drogba's stamp was just a manifestation of that petulance. They had too many opportunities, granted Lucio and Samuel were immense at the back, they were just too wasteful. You could argue that Inter missed that Pandev and Etoo first half chance, but they hit the third one, which counted as it killed off the game on away goals.

I enjoyed the game, just for watching the tactical mastery, something that sets these foreign managers apart from English one. I hope Harry watched this game instead of wasting time complaning to the papers about how there aren't English managers left. Its darwinism Mr. Redknapp, you either evolve with it and survive, or get left behind in the dirt, no point complaining.

Good game.

[THFC6061]

Chelsea managers who have failed to reach the European Cup / Champions League Finals:

Ted Drake
Tommy Docherty
Dave Sexton
Ron Suart
Eddie McCreadie
Ken Shellito
Danny Blanchflower
Geoff Hurst
Bobby Gould
John Neal
John Hollins
Bobby Campbell
Ian Porterfield
David Webb
Glenn Hoddle
Ruud Gullit
Gianluca Vialli
Graham Rix
Claudio Ranieri
José Mourinho
Luiz Felipe Scolari
Ray Wilkins
Guus Hiddink
Carlo Ancelotti


Chelsea managers who have reached the European Cup / Champions League Finals:

Avram Grant

[stroud_jm]

First off, watch the highlights if you haven't seen the game, it was pulsating to say the least. Great tactical fight between Anchelotti and Mourinho, surprised to see Mourinho's 4-3-3, their forward three almost back fired towards the end of the first half when Chelsea should really have scored to put more bite into the game.

I enjoyed the game, just for watching the tactical mastery, something that sets these foreign managers apart from English one. I hope Harry watched this game instead of wasting time complaning to the papers about how there aren't English managers left. Its darwinism Mr. Redknapp, you either evolve with it and survive, or get left behind in the dirt, no point complaining.

Spot on about this as a tactical battle, it was fascinating stuff, what Champions League football is supposed to be all about. What can you say about a manager who comes to Stamford Bridge to hold on to a 1-goal lead with three strikers? Granted Chelsea should have scored- and had more than one decent penalty shout- but they looked unbalanced all night and were always open for the counterattack, especially with Snejder playing so well, as you said.

Chelsea really missed Ashley Cole imo, their lack of width really haunted them again. And I think that Cambiasso is one of the most underrated players on the planet, he's like a terrier in the middle of the park, and fairly classy with the ball too.

I see where you're coming from with the managerial thing, but the thing to remember when comparing Harry's, and other English managers' tactical acumen with Mourinho's (or Ancelloti's, to be fair) is that these men manage teams stocked with world class players who are vastly experienced. There were two players under 25 on the pitch to start the game- Turnbull and John Obi Mikel.

These are teams with enough discipline and savvy to execute the types of tactical chess moves we saw in the game-picking the right times to counterattack with numbers, turning Chelsea's attempts at wide play in to the center, etc. Harry's really never had players as sophisticated as that, and that type of experience is something we're lacking.

Point is, I'm not sure that Harry, or Martin O'Neill, or David Moyes, etc (I realize I'm expanding "english" to "british" here) couldn't manage a team with the same level of sophistication given a squad that is rich in those types of players. I left Roy Hodgson off the list because he's proven he can. I guess to me it comes down more to personality, decision-making ability, experience, and just plain smarts, none of which necessarily have much to do with nationality.

[Dustin]

if Inters front-men would pass to each other a bit more instead of trying to beat the keeper/last man themselves it might have been 4-0.

[Craiglistee]

Dustin>> If they passed to each other, they wouldn't be strikers .... remember the goal bonuses. Didn't you see Etoo fly 10 ft off the ground after scoring? It was like: Etoo>>"And ... thatssss in! Woozaaaa 50k in the bank! Woooo Wee who the mutha****ers!" Etoo runs to the inter crowd "You da man inter fans, paying me ma bills"

stroud>> I guess we will never know, because the managers you mentioned would most likely never touch a large club given the money at stake. Think O'neill would come closest, but I admire Moyes work at Everton. Redknapp I liked from his West ham days.

[Dustin]

ha, its sad that that may have some truth.

[424style]

Pleased that Chelsea are out of it again, another season where Romans money couldnt buy them the CL. Nice.

[Audere est Facere]

Real Madrid is pathetic.

Giving away their 2 best players with sneijder and robben they must of lost their brain totally.

Sneijder ist totally owning in italy and robben is a superstar in germany and already scored more goals than ribery did the whole last season.

[BigDub]

I was just happy that the cnut Drogba was sent off

[stroud_jm]

stroud>> I guess we will never know, because the managers you mentioned would most likely never touch a large club given the money at stake. Think O'neill would come closest, but I admire Moyes work at Everton. Redknapp I liked from his West ham days.

sad but probably true. only way any of those guys would get a big club is if Manure hired one of them. Except for Harry, of course, who's already at a big club.

[Javi]

I was just happy that the cnut Drogba was sent off

Me to it felt so good to rub that in my brother's face.

[andrews]

i watched that game, and i must admit it was kind of a surprise to see chelsea kicked off from this CL. at the beginning of the season they were like the "team to defeat" in all competitions. ancelotti was doing a great job with the great team chelsea always had. but since mid season i guess they're just going down. manchester an arsenal are already pushing them on the premier league and now mourinho sent them home from europe. im kinda glad cause i've never really liked chelsea

[samuel007]

This game should be a lesson to us, we should watch, watch and watch again this match, make sure Harry get's that a manager can actually can tacticly change a game, and learn somin for Mourinho.
This match is a key lesson for us before our matches against the 3 monsters, if we can just copy just a little of what they did, full pressure, precise tackles, playing down BOTH wings, use stregth against opposition instead of technique, we could actually beat the top 3!
Let's hope Harry had watched the game also...