A Tale Of Two Trips To The Bridge

Last season's triumph at Stamford Bridge was hailed as an example of the fighting spirit that carried Newcastle United to a fifth-place finish.

Saturday's defeat in West London was seen by many as a poor performance from a side that will be hard pressed to match last season's accomplishments.

I'd argue there wasn't that vast of a difference between the displays. Newcastle may have defended at a higher level back in May, but the main difference between 2-0 and 0-2 was Chelsea's offseason transformation into an attacking force - aka, the arrival of Eden Hazard.

Papiss Cisse's two blockbusters last season covered up for the fact that United only possessed the ball 36.6 percent of the time and completed just 225 of 309 passes (73 percent). This time around, Newcastle possessed the ball 47.5 percent of the time and completed 395 of 451 passes (88 percent). United also had significantly higher passing percentages in the attacking half and final third on Saturday compared to last season.

Each side's chances created don't even tell the story. Newcastle produced eight on Saturday, compared to a surprising seven for Chelsea; last season it was 13-9 in favor of Chelsea. But take a look at the shot statistics: Chelsea put six of its 12 total shots on target (United was 3-for-11), compared to three out of 18 last season (when Newcastle was 4-for-13).

You could argue the cause of that difference was Newcastle's dogged defending back in May, and United's 21 interceptions (compared to 11 on Saturday) speak to that. Or you could attribute that interception total, along with Chelsea's horrid shooting display, to a rather wooden squad.

That's no longer the case after Hazard's arrival. Suddenly Chelsea now looks like a dynamic force going forward, with the young Belgian at the heart of most of its promising play. In last season's matchup, the five Chelsea players with the most touches were its backline and holding midfielder John Obi Mikel; this time Hazard had the third-most touches, just behind Raul Meireles and Mikel.

Last season, Cisse was the player who swung the game in his side's favor. This time it was Hazard.

Comments

[simon]

Those are some surprising stats. I thought we were absolute pants in the first half on saturday, we had too many players below par, most notably Cabaye, Cisse, Ba and of course no tiote. Anita did ok, but this was a game too soon for him, I think. Torres looks a different player than what he as last year, with Hazard pulling all the strings in the center of the park. We never really matched their endeavor or output. I am not sure why pards decided to take most of his players to greece for thursdays game, surely a four hour flight there and back then a trip to the bridge doesn't put one in the best frame.

[Jon]

Chelsea look like they could go close to being champions this season, bar a couple of half chances we were never really in the game, and it was a case of when Chelsea were going to score.

We were far too sluggish, and our two worst performers on the day Cisse and Anita just happened to be the only 2 who started in Greece. I just hope with this being away to Chelsea, always a bogey ground and team for us that it is a one off, and it does not become the norm to struggle in games after we have played in Europe on Thursdays. Lots of teams do struggle like Stoke and Fulham, but then in the Sir Bobby era, we were excellent after european games, because of our fitness.

Other than a new RB i think we need another striker as we have lost Best, so need somebody other than Shola to be on the bench to give us an option should we need it.

[Phil]

I think Pardew's tactics in the first half here terrible. They totally let Chelsea have the ball and sat back way too much. Second half they finally took the game to the home side, but could not convert their chances. Also, it has to be said, the 4-4-2 does not work anymore, and the sooner the team (Ba/AP) realizes this the better for all.

Nothing to panic about, but minor tweaks. And a big week ahead with two very winnable games.

[Jaeger]

i think chelsea away and maybe man city away and at anfield will be the toughest fixtures this year (we never do well at anfield and city are just good). that being said, there was terrible play by the midfield on saturday.

jon i agree with your last statement greatly. a fast striker and a consistent RB are needs hopefully we can get this week. and hope that tiote stays healthy and not suspended (yeah right) all year.