Portsmouth 0-1 Chelsea - Match Reports, Goal Video, Manager's Reaction
Matt The Blue |
Match reports
The Guardian, Jamie Jackson: “If Chelsea take the brand of sideways, sluggish football they displayed here into the new Premier League season, then Villas-Boas could soon certainly develop a neurosis. While these are, of course, still very early days for the man who used to scout for Mourinho, witnessing this offering from what was a Chelsea of two completely different teams fielded in each half – and a win claimed only via Tal Ben Haim’s hapless seventh-minute own goal – it was easy to see where Luka Modric would fit in.”
Official Chelsea FC Website: “Chelsea made it two wins from two and two clean sheets in pre-season with an away win on the south coast. The game was by no means a classic, with only two truly memorable moments.”
The goal“There are some positive signs and negative signs but mostly positive.
“It’s one of the most difficult grounds to visit and Portsmouth always put in a good challenge. We were happy to come across just three days after the Wycombe game and overall we’re pretty pleased.
“Bear in mind we used two teams, one in the first-half and one in the second-half. This is most likely the players who will come to Asia, along with Rajkovic, Alex and Petr Cech.
“So most of the boys were out and it is good for us to have this kind of challenge that Portsmouth always gives us.
“We can still reach better quality possession and better speed of circulation of the ball.
“It is important for us to keep the spaces tight between sectors but the things we do in training are getting into the players’ heads and this is a good sign.
“For the kind of intensity that we have been working to, for the players to display this kind of freshness after 13 days of pre-season is a good sign as well.”