downincognito

bridge over troubled water

Aug. 20 London Chelsea 3 (JT, FL, DD) Man City 0.
Aug. 23 Middlesbrough Middlesbrough 2 Chelsea 1 (AS).
Aug. 27 Blackburn Blackburn 0 Chelsea 2 (FL, DD).

Men get bored easily. Rich and spoilt brats, well, spare a guess. E! News wouldn't be in business but for Hollywood's disposable relationships and expensive freakshows. One hit is enough to get you a star on the much-publicised Walk of Fame. Two, fame itself.

A hat-trick is one of the most celebrated moments in any sport and nothing satisfies a striker more than the sight of the rival custodian going nuts thrice in the same game. Mourinho had the measure of the Premiership twice in a row and he would know more than anybody else that the third time is the trickier one.

And it shows.

Thankfully, the season opener was at home, Man City was the guest and Robben was fit. You can talk about all the millions spent on multinational talent but for me, Robben and J. Cole are the dudes who pump oxygen into Chelsea's system. Take em out of the picture and we look like sorry Wembley.

The A. Cole soap opera must have irked Bridge so much that he looked like a man possessed and hell-bent on proving a point. A similar vein was evident in Essien's game. The arrivals of Ballack and Mikel meant his job too was on the line. The rest of them were more or less on auto-pilot and 3-0 was the result.

Then came the trip to the Riverside. Sheva profited from Bridge's industry and all was well with the world. What followed was quite a disgrace. Everybody in a blue jersey looked like fatso Ronaldo in disguise and their casual passing game had an air of indifference about it more than the expected arrogance.

Boro played along for quite a while and the ticking clock forced them to go for broke. 2-1, game gone.

If the fans were expecting a backlash at Ewood Park, all they suffered was another snorefest. Bridge proved yet again why A. Cole would be another expensive folly. Bouhlarouz had a quiet debut. (Maybe it's time for Ben Thatcher to usurp the cannibal moniker.) Drogba came off the bench and stunned us all by staying on his feet and scoring an absolute peach. But it was far from an assured performance and a penalty saved the day for us.

More than anything else, motivation will be Mourinho's main challenge in his third season. And getting Robben and J. Cole back from the clutches of pretty nurses.

No wonder only five English teams have won the league thrice in a row. Winning can get quite boring at times.

posted by downincognito @ 7:39 PM