When this breathless European encounter ended, the Napoli supporters might have been addressing Andre Villas-Boas with the anthem they sing to mark victory at the Stadio San Paolo.
Il Soldato Innamorato tells the tragic story of a soldier writing his last letter home and there was a sense here that Chelsea’s manager may have done something rather similar within the context of his career.
The team sheet he submitted read to some like a professional suicide note and while that might sound a touch melodramatic the first 11 names that appeared below ‘Chelsea FC’ could yet amount to a Portuguese P45.
As a Champions League tie this is far from over. Napoli have a commanding lead but not an insurmountable one given the fact that Juan Mata scored a precious away goal before the combined excellence of Ezequiel Lavezzi and Edinson Cavani produced a three-goal response for the stylish Italians.
The question now, however, is whether Villas-Boas will be around to see its conclusion three weeks from now. Amid the chaos that enveloped Chelsea, both before and during this utterly absorbing contest, it felt like his time might be up.
There was the abject nature of Chelsea’s defending and the absence of a plan designed to stop Napoli doing to them what they did to Manchester City. As Petr Cech said, if the intention was to prevent them hitting Chelsea on the counter they failed fairly miserably.
But the problems for Villas-Boas extended beyond the perimeter of the football pitch and into the heart of the dressing room, an apparent split in the ranks seeing a young manager and some of his more senior players divided.
The day started badly with the news that John Terry would not be restoring some much-needed organisation and solidity to Chelsea’s fragile defence, his knee problem demanding that he goes for surgery today. Without Terry the team suffered, David Luiz and Gary Cahill proving themselves one of the more inept central defensive pairings we have seen in this competition.
But life for Villas-Boas is understood to have become even more uncomfortable when he decided to omit Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole from the starting line-up as well. Particularly when Lampard, it is said, responded to the news by communicating his disappointment directly to his manager.
Now, Villas-Boas is entitled to do as much if he feels those players are no longer with him and some would call it a courageous stance.
But when it means you start with Jose Bosingwa at left back and a central midfield partnership of Ramires and Raul Meireles you need those players to prove you made the right call.
Even Villas-Boas must have suspected he could be writing his own resignation letter when he submitted the team sheet. But he no doubt felt that if he was going to go down fighting, he would at least do so with players he felt were on his side.
In the end, they just weren’t up to the job inside this pulsating concrete bowl. Branislav Ivanovic was every bit as awful as Cahill and Luiz and although Bosingwa went off injured after only a few minutes, an unfit Cole also struggled.
Would Lampard have done any better than Meireles and Ramires? I’m not so sure when a once great player, at 33, is not quite the force he was. But Michael Essien would have been useful given the need for extra security in front of the back four, as would John Mikel Obi, and the decision to leave them on the bench felt like the bigger mistake. It was too ambitious a team he sent out against Napoli. Too clever by half.
From the moment this last-16 clash began Chelsea looked vulnerable, Cech making fine saves to deny first Cavani and then Christian Maggio.
The cavalier approach of a side that is more Spanish than Italian in its style does give Chelsea hope. They leave themselves vulnerable to the counter-attack and last night the marvellous Mata made them pay with his 27th-minute opener.
When Paolo Cannavaro failed to clear a Daniel Sturridge cross, inadvertently diverting the ball into the path of Mata, the visitors were suddenly ahead thanks to the simplest of side-footed finishes from the Spaniard.
Luiz went close to doubling Chelsea’s lead when he met a Mata corner with a header that flew over the crossbar. It was one of a number of examples of Chelsea’s profligacy.
But within 11 minutes of Mata’s goal Lavezzi had levelled, the Argentine gliding past Meireles all too easily before unleashing a shot that squeezed between Cech and his left-hand post. That Meireles then got himself booked, and so ruled himself out of the second leg, would not have endeared him to his manager either.
But matters would only get worse for Chelsea, with another example of truly abject defending costing them again just before the break.
Cavani’s was a dreadful goal to concede, from the failure to close down Gokhan Inler before he crossed to the total loss of concentration Ivanovic was guilty of in allowing Cavani to shoulder the ball home at the far post.
At 2-1, Villas-Boas might have argued his side were still in this tie. But when that Chelsea defence contrived to concede a second goal from Lavezzi in the 64th minute, the crisis deepened considerably.
Luiz was an embarrassment, first failing to respond to the threat posed by Hugo Campagnaro’s ball forward and then allowing Cavani to speed past him as a consequence. Cech reacted by rushing off his line but was quickly left stranded by a delivery from Cavani that Lavezzi converted with ease.
Had it not been for a goal-line clearance from Cole, Maggio would have scored a fourth for Napoli.
But that will offer little comfort to Villas-Boas. He simply waits now on the whim of Abramovich.
Il Soldato Innamorato tells the tragic story of a soldier writing his last letter home and there was a sense here that Chelsea’s manager may have done something rather similar within the context of his career.
The team sheet he submitted read to some like a professional suicide note and while that might sound a touch melodramatic the first 11 names that appeared below ‘Chelsea FC’ could yet amount to a Portuguese P45.
Predator: Napoli striker Edinson Cavani celebrates after scoring his team's second goal
In the firing line: Andre Villa Boas faces a huge fight to save his job after another poor performance
The question now, however, is whether Villas-Boas will be around to see its conclusion three weeks from now. Amid the chaos that enveloped Chelsea, both before and during this utterly absorbing contest, it felt like his time might be up.
There was the abject nature of Chelsea’s defending and the absence of a plan designed to stop Napoli doing to them what they did to Manchester City. As Petr Cech said, if the intention was to prevent them hitting Chelsea on the counter they failed fairly miserably.
But the problems for Villas-Boas extended beyond the perimeter of the football pitch and into the heart of the dressing room, an apparent split in the ranks seeing a young manager and some of his more senior players divided.
Equaliser: Ezequiel Lavezzi (second left) shoots past the tackle from Gary Cahill to level the scores
Handball? Cavani (right) nips in ahead of Branislav Ivanovic (centre) to put Napoli ahead
Salt in the wounds: Lavezzi beats Petr Cech to the ball to slot home Napoli's third goal of the night
The day started badly with the news that John Terry would not be restoring some much-needed organisation and solidity to Chelsea’s fragile defence, his knee problem demanding that he goes for surgery today. Without Terry the team suffered, David Luiz and Gary Cahill proving themselves one of the more inept central defensive pairings we have seen in this competition.
But life for Villas-Boas is understood to have become even more uncomfortable when he decided to omit Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole from the starting line-up as well. Particularly when Lampard, it is said, responded to the news by communicating his disappointment directly to his manager.
Now, Villas-Boas is entitled to do as much if he feels those players are no longer with him and some would call it a courageous stance.
But when it means you start with Jose Bosingwa at left back and a central midfield partnership of Ramires and Raul Meireles you need those players to prove you made the right call.
AVB's gamble: Chelsea left a lot of big names on the bench, including Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard
In the end, they just weren’t up to the job inside this pulsating concrete bowl. Branislav Ivanovic was every bit as awful as Cahill and Luiz and although Bosingwa went off injured after only a few minutes, an unfit Cole also struggled.
Would Lampard have done any better than Meireles and Ramires? I’m not so sure when a once great player, at 33, is not quite the force he was. But Michael Essien would have been useful given the need for extra security in front of the back four, as would John Mikel Obi, and the decision to leave them on the bench felt like the bigger mistake. It was too ambitious a team he sent out against Napoli. Too clever by half.
All downhill from here: Chelsea midfielder Juan Mata pounces on a mistake to open the scoring
Short-lived joy: Mata celebrates after giving Chelsea the lead in southern Italy
The cavalier approach of a side that is more Spanish than Italian in its style does give Chelsea hope. They leave themselves vulnerable to the counter-attack and last night the marvellous Mata made them pay with his 27th-minute opener.
When Paolo Cannavaro failed to clear a Daniel Sturridge cross, inadvertently diverting the ball into the path of Mata, the visitors were suddenly ahead thanks to the simplest of side-footed finishes from the Spaniard.
Feeling Blue: Didier Drogba (left) and Gary Cahill (centre) react after Lavezzi hits the target
Roar: Lavezzi and Cavani celebrate during the Italian side's fine victory at the Stadio San Paolo
But within 11 minutes of Mata’s goal Lavezzi had levelled, the Argentine gliding past Meireles all too easily before unleashing a shot that squeezed between Cech and his left-hand post. That Meireles then got himself booked, and so ruled himself out of the second leg, would not have endeared him to his manager either.
But matters would only get worse for Chelsea, with another example of truly abject defending costing them again just before the break.
Assistance required: Didier Drogba has some help from Chelsea's medical team on a night which went from bad to worse for the Blues
At 2-1, Villas-Boas might have argued his side were still in this tie. But when that Chelsea defence contrived to concede a second goal from Lavezzi in the 64th minute, the crisis deepened considerably.
But that will offer little comfort to Villas-Boas. He simply waits now on the whim of Abramovich.
No comments:
Post a Comment