Chelsea 3-1 Sunderland, 24th May 2015
Three things from the final game of the season against Sunderland, where Chelsea fell behind to Steven Fletcher’s goal but responded to give the fans what they wanted with a 3-1 home victory that culminated in John Terry lifting the trophy in front of the Stamford Bridge crowd.
Honourable Mentions
Petr Cech & Didier Drogba. There’s no way we could let them sign off without paying our respects to two greats. It feels like a changing of the guard in some senses, two of the greatest foreign signings in Roman’s era, and two players that will rightly take their place in Chelsea folklore.
I could talk all day about the joy these two players have brought to the club since the day they arrived, but I think I’d rather their actions do the talking. The two videos below capture some of their (and mine) greatest moments for the club.
The other player we are unlikely to see again in Chelsea colours is Filipe Luis. As we’ve been through in some detail previously, through no fault of his own Filipe Luis will probably be heading back to Atletico Madrid. Not one to begrudge anyone first team football and for the way he’s handled himself this season where opportunities have been at a premium, he will go with my blessing.
One player that I hope we haven’t seen the last of is Loic Remy. Without his energy and guile up front, I’m not sure we would have beaten Sunderland so comfortably.
He linked up particularly well with Hazard which is a partnership to keep an eye on for next season and as long as he can stay injury free then we have a serious goal threat already at the club. So much can change in the short close season, but come the season opener I hope Loic Remy is taking his rightful place in the matchday squad.
A Stylish Glimpse of What’s To Come?
Chelsea played some dazzling football in their final dead rubber of the season, with Hazard and Willian lighting up the game and putting on a show for those that came to be entertained. Let’s face it, this wasn’t Jose’s style for large parts of the season.
There can be no doubt that the team was given license to play free flowing football and equally I’m sure the majority of Chelsea fans would be more than happy watching their team play with their hearts week in week out.
Unfortunately this won’t be the case. The opportunities Jose gives the team to ‘turn it on’ are few and far between and expect that to continue well into next season and beyond. Mourinho has a winning formula and he’d be foolish to trade that for any style, never mind exuberant attacking play.
A Lack of Youth
Sunday seemed like a great opportunity for a show of force and backing for our esteemed academy.
Prior to the game Jose announced that he would give more minutes to players that had contributed significantly throughout the season, so the lack of youth in the starting 11 was of no real surprise.
However given that the bench was laden with young talent, it was something of a surprise that only Christensen made it off the bench (and he was only given 13 minutes at that).
A win was also what everyone wanted and given the collapse at West Brom earlier in the week, maybe it’s not too much of a surprise that the big guns were rolled out.
Everyone is clambering to see Solanke given an opportunity, and Boga has performed sensationally at youth level so far. Their time will come and I guess in this case we leave it to Jose’s best judgement.
- Related: Filipe Luis v Cesar Azpilicueta
