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KARL WATSON'S
BIG MOUTH - RED-Y FOR THE BLUES 14-10-08
Karl Watson
With the World Cup qualifiers in full motion, the past week has been somewhat dull with regards to Middlesbrough Football Club.
With little gossip to read in the national newspapers, much of this week has been spent looking forward to the mouth-watering clash with genuine title contenders Chelsea on Saturday.
Perhaps we will be aided by the sheer numbers of internationals Chelsea will have playing mid-week as hopefully by the time they arrive in Middlesbrough, their legs will be tired and their minds will be evaporating under the roar from the Holgate End.
Column continues below...
Despite last year's drubbing by the West Londoners, our record against them at the Riverside has been impressive and it always seems to be that our young pretender of a manager overcomes the team sent out by a much more experienced and arguably more skilled and accomplished international manager.
We currently find ourselves in a position in the League that we have become very familiar with therefore Saturday's clash will place much of the pressure on Chelsea. However, how can we genuinely take something from this game?
Chelsea appear to be adapting well to Luis Felipe Scolari’s formation. This sees the likes of Joe Cole and Flourent Malouda expressing their skill, pace and flair to link up with likely target man Didier Drogba. It is how our full backs deal with this pressure that will heavily influence the result.
I am a keen admirer of Chelsea and much of their attacking prowess comes through these outlets out wide. If we can stop the supply of service to the lone front man then we will be eliminating their major source of creating chances. Easier said than done.
Chelsea gain much of their dominance by simply outplaying sides in the middle of the park. John Obi Mikel receives little press coverage but does a sterling job in his role which sees him cut out vital through balls, tracking clever runs from opposing midfielders and ultimately doing all the dirty work that we were used to seeing George Boateng do for Boro.
Not only this but he knows that he has players in front of him who have the ability to change games, therefore he is unlikely to step out of position.
Frank Lampard and Deco form an outstanding central midfield partnership. Deco seems to have adapted very well to the Premiership at this early stage and his disciplined play fits in well with a player in Lampard who is anything but patient.
The game against Boro may come too early for the Portuguese star, however Chelsea will simply replace him with their international captain, Michael Ballack. Things are already sounding ominous and there hasn’t even been a kick of a football yet.
Of course we could all discuss the ability of Chelsea’s team for hours to come but Gareth Southgate and his management team ultimately know that on paper, this game is not a contest.
However, when we defeated Chelsea 3-0 a few years back, we were undergoing one of the worst spells in the club's history, emphasising that paper is only a material which team sheets are written on.
Chelsea undoubtedly boast a tremendous backroom staff and will have done their homework extensively. They will understand their recent record at Middlesbrough is weak and will be desperate to end this baron spell. However, one crucial aspect that may not play into Boro’s hands is Chelsea’s open admittance to the respect of their opposition.
In recent years I have found that although there is a general respect shown by all teams through the League, every top side will expect, rather than hope, for three points at Boro and this has played into our hands.
During his pre-match press conference, Scolari is likely to express his admiration for Southgate. This is just sheer mind games and I’m not sure many others have picked up on this.
Chelsea are a very clever tactical side and they will play on Middlesbrough’s insecurities. I am pretty sure they will be happy for us to have the ball and for us to try and break them down.
They will understand that we struggle to break down sides and this will usually end up with a long ball through to the goalkeeper which may end up with the Teesside faithful getting on the players' backs, therefore sending the players’ confidence down the pan.
Once Chelsea see this, it will be game over.
So how can we get something out the game? We do the opposite to Chelsea’s mind games and unfortunately mirror the way Sunderland played against Arsenal only a few weeks ago.
Although deep down there will be a good deal of respect shown by Boro, we must enter the field of play with the mentality of showing their superstars very little respect.
However, we are going to have to be patient when Chelsea have the ball. We have two options, we can either try and press Chelsea as soon as they get the ball and put them under a great deal of pressure and give them little time on the ball.
Or, we can be patient and actually allow them to have the ball.
They will play on our insecurities, so why can’t we do the same? Of course at Stamford Bridge this would be footballing suicide but at the Riverside it can work. No one has willingly allowed Chelsea to have the ball.
We have seen in previous games against top sides at the Riverside (in particular against Arsenal last season) that the top sides want us to have a go and leave gaps and space for them to exploit.
However, when we willingly give them the ball, they often cannot break us down, get frustrated, and resort to a pointless long ball. It all sounds familiar because this is what we do very regularly.
I believe Southgate will select the first option but this allows for little margin for error and will only result in Chelsea getting what they want. They will have won the mind games and essentially will be allowed to play on our own insecurities.
I do not see individual personnel being the key to this game, it will be more of a team effort but I do think we have to shake things up.
If Tuncay is available then he has to start but at the expense of whom remains the million dollar question. Perhaps Adam Johnson should be included and maybe Aliadiere should play in a role that maybe Joe Cole will be playing.
Let's get behind the men the red.
BACK TO THE KARL WATSON'S
BIG MOUTH INDEX
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