Match reports
Official Chelsea FC Website: "A first Chelsea goal for Daniel Sturridge, Frank Lampard on target already, no injuries and a new formation were the main take-home messages from the opening pre-season game. This sunny midday kick-off in Seattle delivered both a worthy test of fitness and some bright football for the big crowd, especially early on, with the home side asking enough questions of the Chelsea defence to sharpen a few minds and reflexes."
The Observer: "Carlo Ancelotti tends to squirm at comparisons with Jose Mourinho, a manager with whom he endured a tempestuous relationship in Serie A, though he does at least now have something in common with the Portuguese. Some five years after the self-styled Special One began his reign as Chelsea manager with a victory over Celtic in this arena, the Italian followed suit here with a win over the local Major League Soccer franchise. The Londoners will hope this is a portent of glorious things to come."
Seattle Times: "The Chelsea-Sounders FC friendly Saturday was more of a friendly dismantling, if such a thing could ever exist. Chelsea, having not played in more than a month after its most recent season ended and playing together for the first time in this preseason, took apart the locals 2-0 before 65,289 at Qwest Field."
Sunday Telegraph: "John Terry led Chelsea to victory as the English side opened their four-game US tour by overcoming a competitive Seattle Sounders 2-0 at Qwest Field. First-half goals from teenage debutant Daniel Sturridge and England midfielder Frank Lampard were enough to see off a Seattle team led by Freddie Ljungberg in their inaugural Major League Soccer season and watched by a crowd of 65,289 in the Pacific Northwest."
The goals
11′ Sturridge 0-1
33′ Lampard 0-2
Player ratings (courtesy of our US correspondent Be_Champions)
- Petr Cech – 6/10 – He’s Petr Cech
- Jose Bosingwa – 6/10 – Looked good, didn’t see much wrong.
- John Terry – 5/10 – Not his best game, was turned a bit easily.
- Alex – 6/10 – Nothing remarkable that I remember.
- Ashley Cole – 6/10 – Did a good job closing people out.
- Michael Ballack – 5/10 – Also not his best game. Looked a bit sluggish, his passes were off. Could be because he was out on the right.
- Frank Lampard – 7/10 – Nice goal, good play, stupid yellow card at the end. A very good game for him, as usual.
- Deco – 6/10 – Didn’t look totally worthless. Had a nice through ball for Sturridge that he didn’t convert.
- Florent Malouda – 6/10 – Nothing exciting. Looked to be drifting towards the middle from the left.
- Nicolas Anelka – 6/10 – Good play, nice setup for Lampard’s goal. A bit too cute with the hold-up play, but nothing to complain about. It’s a friendly.
- Daniel Sturridge – 7/10 – Just barely not an 8. Excellent goal, albeit a bit lucky to have the defender have a bad touch to give him a look on goal. Also had a great through ball to Anelka that set up Lampard’s goal. Missed another chance on goal. Had some cheeky stepovers in the box. Fast, talented, but still raw. Looks a bit to me like Robinho did when he first joined Real. I hope the comparison continues.
- Hilario (sub) – 2/10 A disaster. Amazing a goal didn’t go in. Two bad clearances, flapped at two crosses, had a deflected clearance just miss goal. So glad we have Turnbull.
- Juliano Belletti (sub) – 4/10 – Not a shocker, but a bad game. Tactically poor, and his tendency to go for the tackle was exploited to get behind him. No better than third on the depth chart right now at right-back.
- Branislav Ivanovic (sub) – 7/10 – Amazing game. So happy we have him. Tactically excellent, fast, able to recover from mistakes, and put his body in front of every shot. Slight downgrade because it is a Major League Soccer team.
- Ricardo Carvalho (sub) – 7/10 – Paired extremely well with Ivanovic. Is this their first game together? Pacy like he used to be, always in the right position. Excellent distribution out of the back. I’ll miss him if he leaves.
- Sam Hutchinson (sub) – 6/10 – A good game. Didn’t do a ton, didn’t do much wrong. Had a bad cross the one time he ventured forward. Beat Ljundberg on the line to win a throw off him.
- Scott Sinclair (sub) – 6/10 – Promising, but not yet ready. Tricky on the ball, but unfortunately that is because he makes his decisions a bit late. Needs some time to adjust to the pace of the game, and unfortunately this game wasn’t extremely fast in the midfield. Still, had some good plays, had some good linkup, wasn’t a drag on the team by any means.
- Jon Obi Mikel (sub) – 7/10 – Didn’t put a foot wrong. Some nice interceptions, only had one intercepted pass, even had a good shot on target (shocking!).
- Andriy Shevchenko (sub) – 7/10 – Perhaps my most controversial rating. I did, however, like him in midfield, or as the hole player. Has clearly lost his pace, and this rating isn’t relative to world-conquering Sheva of the past. But in this game, he looked good. Clearly understands the game much better than most, and had an eye for passes that was only matched by Lampard, Sturridge, and Deco today. He’s sort of a Riquelme now – very good, but too slow.
- Franco Di Santo (sub) – 6/10 – Coming along, but he isn’t there yet. Was unlucky not to score as he got a clearance past the keeper, only to have his touch taken away by the last defender. Promising, has talent, but I think he needs to trust himself a bit more on the ball, and be a bit more of a bull. Right now he looks a whippet.
- Claudio Pizarro (sub) – 4/10 – Totally frustrating. Actually had some decent play, but completely undermined this by not being on the same page as the rest of the team. Wouldn’t complete a 1-2 with Sheva that would have put Sheva on goal. Wouldn’t make the right pass. Is perhaps the floppiest player I’ve ever seen. Falls down at every opportunity.
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