You can blame Benitez, but that wont help Chelsea

Outplayed, outwitted and outclassed. Not many teams have done that to Chelsea over the years, but my word its becoming all to regular in the year we call ourselves the Champions of Europe. At the moment, its unlikely that Chelsea are the best team in London, let alone England.

The 2-0 defeat to Manchester City hurts. They honestly have not been good this season. And the fact that they were clearly superior from the 1st minute when Yaya Toure got his shot on target, will bite us a bit more. They excelled at the one department that Chelsea's forwards have struggled with in the last few weeks - quick passing in the final third and movement off the ball. Mind you, the finishing of their strikers has been as woeful, except for Edin Dzeko.

The home side did start the game better, and we were lucky to be level after a barrage of attempts on goal early on. Petr Cech pulled off a brilliant save when Nastasic looked certain to score, while Gary Cahill showed why he was so highly rated at Bolton. His role at the weekend, when John Terry partnered him was to play sweeper as Terry tackled the striker, on Sunday he showed his tackling ability as David Luiz mopped up behind him. Cahill blocked 4 shots on target, needless to say that the only time the ball got past him, it got past Cech's outstretched hands too and nestled into the back of the net.

Criticism for Juan Mata over his 18 odd months at Chelsea has been rare. But on Sunday, he did have one of those games again, the second time in a week. There were fouls that did not go his way, but far too often he came back to collect the ball and did not find the intended targets up front. Eden Hazard on the other hand, was having a better game than most of his colleagues, and alongwith Frank Lampard's saved penalty, his speculative, if not feeble right footed attempt on goal, were the only two shots on target Chelsea could muster.

Talismanic playmaker Juan Mata's dip in form
could hurt Chelsea during a pivotal part of their season

Ashley Cole seemed a bit under pressure from Pablo Zabaleta and James Milner early on, but once he got his bearings right, he was able to team up with Eden Hazard and Juan Mata on the left flank. And as the half ended that looked like Chelsea's best bet of getting a goal. Meanwhile, the set piece delivery on a day of so few chances, was appalling. Not once, not twice, but about 5 times in the half alone, Chelsea's corner's and freekicks barely got passed the first line of defence.

In the second half, we came out better, looked better in midfield, but with Demba Ba unable to offer much upfront in terms of runs in behind coupled with some careless passing, we barely managed a decent effort on goal. When Ivanovic floated the ball to Ba, controversy aside, not a soul expected Frank to miss. But credit to Joe Hart, that save, that moment rallied the Citizens.

Ramires who was having a howler on the right flank, made a lung bursting run into the box after winning the ball near the half way line, but could not put away Ivanovic's return pass. City's goal came minutes after that. David Silva doing well to find Toure free on the edge of the box, and the Ivorian side-footed past Mikel and opened himself up to finish in the far corner.

Frank Lampard did not have one of his most accomplished performances, and after the missed penalty, it was obvious Benitez would bring him and Ramires off. Instead Eden Hazard came off for Oscar on the left and Lampard came off for Victor Moses. But with not much impact, Benitez threw on Fernando Torres for Jon Obi Mikel, with David Luiz pushing up into defensive midfield, Ivanovic into the centre and Ramires at right back.

As we attempted to drive forward, City began to counter attack and with no one to break up play effectively, all Carlos Tevez needed was a yard, and he rifled a stunning strike past Petr Cech to put the game to bed.

Mikel off for Torres: The intention was right,
but the gamble did not pay off for Rafa Benitez on Sunday at Eastlands

What will be most disheartening is the fact that this Manchester City team was not in great form, had even lost their last PL game to Southampton and drew to Liverpool and QPR in the run up to this game.  Torres or Ba, or Torres and Ba, it did not matter anymore. The fact is we are not good enough to be in the top 2.
We've might even be down to 4th by Monday night if Spurs beat West Ham, and that is poor considering how well we started the year under Robbie.

With Middlesborough in the FA Cup in midweek to come, we can't afford to go out of the competition or even settle for a replay, so a win is a must. It was around this time of the year, that Andre Villas Boas was sacked and we went on to win two trophies last year, so miracles can happen. But they wont happen every year. Rafa needs to get it right on Wednesday night, and blaming him if he doesn't wont get us anywhere. It about time the players stand up too.