Chelsea stutter against Steaua, as a season defining week begins

As the season goes by, it's not surprising to see how we've run out of adjectives to describe how woeful the Chelsea have been performing. Following a decent performance 3-4 days earlier comes an atrocious one, that makes you pull your hair out in frustration. Thursday night in Bucharest was no different. The responsible performance by Benitez's men against West Brom at the Bridge may not have been champagne stuff, but to follow that up with an insipid performance as soulless as the one the Blues came up with in the Romanian capital was astonishing. Honestly, we're lucky the tie is still alive in the competition.

Raul Ruscescu slots home the penalty he won to give Steaua a 1-0 lead in the 1st leg.
It was the home side's only meaningful shot on target over the 90 minutes as well. 

The unpredictability of the starting line up is refreshing, but the tactics are a cause for concern. By playing both Branislav Ivanovic and Ryan Bertrand as your fullbacks, Chelsea resigned to the fact that they are not going to go forward on the wings. Neither are accomplished going forward and doubling up with the wingers on a regular basis. Cesar Azplicueta and Ashley Cole give so much more in this regard, that it is a necessity that either one of them starts as fullbacks. So often, Eden Hazard got the ball and had two Steaua players to cope with, that he made the wrong decision everytime he got the ball. Neither did Oscar come to help him out, nor did Ryan Bertrand. Just watch how much Ashley Cole and Eden team up, if they both start against Man United at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Being forced to defend for most of the 1st half was down the fact that our midfield barely got into the game until the penalty. Steaua may not have had chance after chance, but we were not exactly stamping our authority in the defensive third either. David Luiz committed himself far too often and found himself in no mans land, which really makes me wonder why he is rated all that highly. Mind you, he's been at rarely failed to commit his habitual blunder in every game he plays in the centre of defence.

Chasing down the ball when not in possession is something we clearly suck at. The way Steaua's left side combined in the build up summarizes the problem. Oscar, Lampard, Mikel got close, but not one was able to dispossess the opponent. And finally with all the attention dragged onto the right side, a simple ball in behind Ryan Bertrand led to the penalty. In the Premier League, you will never see those given as penalties, and the same goes for Nani's red card. The offences are more sternly dealt with in Europe, its something we have to live with.

To be fair, Chelsea did wake up after conceding  But that was more because the home side were happy to sit back and watch us in possession. With little to no movement ahead of Mikel and Lampard, it was not surprising that we lost the ball so regularly. Oscar and Benayoun did manage to penetrate the penalty box in the 40th minute, but the Israeli's shot on goal was a lacking intent as his place in the starting line up in the first place.

The reaction expected in the second half did not materialize either. The Bucharest president labelled us a slow side, and when the ever dependable Frank Lampard had the ball taken off his toes just as he was about to let fly from the edge of the box, you couldn't really disagree with what was being said. Frank did have a below par outing, he wasn't able to find the trio ahead, and had more misplaced passes than I could count on  my fingers.

Yossi Benayoun had Chelsea's best chance of the match 5 minutes from half time,
but his shot on goal was characteristic of his time at Chelsea - fruitless.

When Rafa Benitez puts Yossi Benayoun and Ryan Bertrand in the eleven, you have to fear the worst. The same goes for the Lampard-Mikel defensive pivot, while Gary Cahill has shown in the last few matches why he is the most dependable centre-back at the moment on the Blues' roster. From the outset, the tactics were a bit confusing.

Starting with John Terry obviously means we are not going to be more than 20 yards from our own penalty box, if that's the case, then why have the midfield pressing. Rather have a counter attacking gameplan, and 32-year old Yossi Benayoun is the anti-thesis of everything Chelsea want to be. Marko Marin, Eden Hazard n Oscar does make a lot more sense doesn't it? I won't blame Benitez for playing Fernando Torres up front, honestly, its not like he had a choice.

Picking ourselves up for the FA Cup game against United and the return leg will be crucial,
or else we could resign ourselves to a trophyless season in the year we called ourselves Champions of Europe.

Petr Cech's assessment after the game was telling. The 'worst possible result' he said. But he also said we could turn it around. Over the weekend, we might get battered by the wounded Premier League leaders if we turn in another performance like this. Expect changes galore for that one. Be sure all of Ramires, Victor Moses, Ashley Cole, Gary Cahill and Demba Ba to start. Because if either of them don't, I'd fear for Rafa Benitez's safety.

Television pundits and journalists are bound to have a swipe now, since Chelsea is the club everyone loves to hate across England. But that's the same thing they were doing last March. We need a reaction soon, or premature end to the season looms. The season can still be salvaged mind you, if we turn in a big performance in Manchester at the weekend.