Chelsea's Billion Pound Game

After a torrid start to their title defence, leading to the sacking of Jose Mourinho;Gus Hiddink’s return to the Stamford bridge managerial hot-seat has seen the Londoners go 8 unbeaten. 

Slim chances of a top 4 finish were given a boost with a victory over arch rivals arsenal. Despite the win, Chelsea are 14 points adrift of a top 4 position. Champion’s league qualification for next season looks far-fetched, making this the worst season in the Roman Abramovich era.

The significance of not achieving a spot amongst Europe’s elite will have an effect on the clubs spending powers next season due to financial fair play regulations. But in all likelihood, the club's financial prowess and football ambition will suffice in keeping hold of the current group , and , build on it next season. 

The ramifications of this repugnant campaign in current context might seem abysmal but does not come in comparison to what the club has endured in its past.

Circa 2003, the club was in a completely different situation. Locked in a period of major financial debt and growing rumours  regarding massive player clearout and budget cuts at the end of the 02-03 campaign. Finshing in the top 4 that season; quintessential in keeping them financially able,to compete at the top level.

Chelsea’s final game of the season was at home against Liverpool. Both clubs were ajar 68 points, but, blues greater goal difference meant they were the ones in the final champion’s league spot. Anything but a loss would send the London club to Europe’s premier competition.The clash was dubbed the £20mn game.

The squad walked out onto the pitch knowing theirs as well as the clubs future depended on what transpired in the next 90 mins. The group consisted of many talented players like Zola, Lampard, Gudjohnsen, etc. The headlines though would belong to a certain Dane. (not Nicklas Bendtner!).

11 minutes in to the game and pool silenced the home crowd; taking the lead. Sami Hyppia escaping his marker to head into the Chelsea goal from a Steven Gerrard free kick.

The home side hit back within a minute; levelling the game. A Chelsea corner was not dealt with by the Liverpool defence and Danish winger Jasper Gronkjaer sent the ball back into the box,onto the head of Marcel Desailly; the frenchman pulled of a perfect a header that went in off the far post.

Gronkjaer celebrates his goal in the blues 2-1 win.

26 mins in, a throw in on from the right side of the Chelsea attack was collected by gronkjaer and the dane cut in to escape riise and unleashed a shot with his left foot that nestled into the bottom right corner!The blues were heading to europe and,now, liverpool had to score twice. The merseyside club failed to find the chelsea net again ,and, a red card to gerrard sealed the result.

Chelsea F.C were going into the champions league and crisis seemed to have been averted for the time being.

Amidst all the drama on and off the pitch, a Russian oil tycoon was pondering the takeover of a premier league club. Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur his two best options at the time.The west london club's financial conundrum had Abramovich leaning towards spurs.

Passage to the champions league and spurs inability to do so tilted the odds in chelsea's favor,and, he would eventually take-over the club in July, 2003.

Abramovich took over the club from Ken Bates on 1 July 2003.

Jetting back to 2016, this is his 13th season as club owner and he's spent approximately 1 billion pounds in transfer fees; fuelling a meteoric rise from near reaches of bankruptcy to European champions.

One might wonder, would the Russian have bought the club if not for that victory?

Looking back at the clubs history, it is safe to say, that game in May of 2003 was their billion pound game!




First published on www.sportskeeda.com

Monchengladbach 1 - 3 Dortmund: Counter Class gets BVB back to winning ways.

Dortmund consolidated on their 2nd place position in the league with an enthralling 3-1 victory over 4th placed Gladbach.

Goals from Marco Reus and Henrik Mikhitariyan on either sides of the halftime gave dortmund a 2-0 leads. But, a resilient fightback from the Gladbach saw them pull one back through Raffael. However, a deft gundogan volley gave Tomas Tuchel's side all 3 points.

Gladbach were thrashed 4-0 by Dortmund in the opening game of the season ,where they looked exposed at the back and were hit on the counter. They seemed to learn from their shortcomings and sat back deep, defended well, and created some good chances.

The best chance for Gladbach in the first half fell to the head of Chelsea Loanee Andreas Christensen who headed wide after being left free in the box from a corner.

Dortmund, especially Aubameyang were wasteful in front of the goal in the opening exchanges, finishing poorly from good crosses by marco reus. Aubameyang failing to add to his 18 league goals and eventually being substituted in the 2nd half.

As the first half went on BVB seemed to get into their stride and they made it count in the 32nd minute. Ilkay Gundogan putting Reus through on goal and the German finished incisively to the bottom left of Yann Sommer's goal.

Dortmund missed a couple more chances in the first half to extend their lead; mikhitariyan shooting wide from an Aubameyang cross.

Gladbach came out in the second half with a higher defensive line and pushed their full backs on in search of a leveller.
A brilliant tackle from Hummels sparked a counter for the away side and it was a 3 on 2 situation for them. Reus found Mikhitariyan free on the left who did not disappoint on this occasion finishing calmly the the keepers left.

There was some hope for the home side after they got a goal back through Brazilian Raffael, resulting from shoddy defending by Dortmund.
Good defensive substitutions by Tuchel bringing on Ginter and Durm stemmed the comeback. A third goal from Gundogan,50th in the league for Dortmund , handed Andre Schubert only his 2nd defeat as Gladbach manager.

The victory sees Dortmund 8 points behind leaders Bayern, thus getting back to winning ways after a shock 2-1 defeat to Cologne before the winter break.

Man of the Match: Ilkay Gundogan.

HAMBURGER SV 1 - 2 BAYERN MUNICH

Bayern extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to 11 points with a hard fought 2-1 win over mid table Hamburg. A brace from their leading marksman Robert Lewandowski gave Pep Guardiola's side their 16th win of the season. Hamburg went into the game having lost 3 of their previous 4 home games and looked to rely on their defensive plaudits to keep Bayern out. 

Hamburg were the better side in the first half, defending well, and, creating half chances on the break Bayern dominated possession wise but lacked in creativity. Kingsley Coman who was brilliant throughout and by far the best player on the pitch, looked to be the most likely route to goal for the reigning champions. The match looked to be heading to a 0-0 at half-time but an incisive ball over the top of the Hamburg defence from skipper Phillipp Lahm had Thomas Muller through on goal, only for him to be brought down inside the box by an onrushing Rene Adler. Lewandowski, in the form of his life, slotted the ball in to the keepers left from the spot to give Bayern the lead. His 8^th  goal in 12 games against this opposition. 

Hamburg came out running in the second half, making all the early inroads and pushing players forward. Eight minutes into it, they were rewarded for their enterprising play. A spot on free kick from Aaron hunt seemed to miss everyone and crept into the near post of Manuel Neueur’s goal. Bayern hit back almost immediately the 59^th minute. A dreadful corner from Hamburg sparked a counter,but, the home team got enough players back to prevent Lewandowski getting off a clean shot on goal. Bayern upped their play to get back in the lead and a Thumping goal kick from Neuer had them on the attack and the ball eventually hit the back of the net. A nothing shot from Thomas Muller was deflected in by Lewandowski. Muller’s original shot seemed tame and to be heading into the keepers palms but good positional play from the Bundesliga top scorer left him unmarked and he punished Hamburg by deflecting past a stranded Adler into the goal. Bayern almost got a third in the 65^th minute through a brilliant free kick from David Alaba , which came off the far post. 

Hamburg at this point were committing more players forward and it left them exposed on the break. Costa missed a good chance to kill the game off in the 75th minute. Coman ran past the Hamburg defence on the right and he seemed too quick for his colleagues as Costa was out of position when the ball eventually got to him and lead to a shot that was way off goal.

Arjen Robben got a ten minute run out coming on for Douglas Costa, who by his high standards had a poor game. A Foul by Xabi Alonso right outside the box on kevin rudnevs presented an opportunity for the home team to get back in the game,but, a poor free kick meant that they suffered an 8th defeat this season. This leaves them just 7 points clear of the relegation zone.

IS STEPH CURRY KILLING BASKETBALL?

This ridiculous shot by Stephen Curry from the Pistons logo re-ignited an ongoing debate, is curry’s style of play hurting basketball? it goes back to his former coach Mark Jackson stating “to a degree, he’s hurt the game” in reference to the point guard’s 3 point shooting game and how it is having a negative effect on the way young approach playing basketball. Curry shrugged of Jacksons’s comments saying, “I don’t know what he means by that. If you can shoot, shoot. If you can’t, stop.” All the hoopla about Steph’s 3 point shooting has overshadowed the improvements he has made to his inner perimeter shooting, and, the number of shots he gets off the board. To understand this better, let’s take a look at his offensive numbers this season.

Curry is the leading scorer in the NBA with an average of 29.9 PPG (Points Per Game). He is undoubtedly the leading 3 point shooter in the league with a ridiculous 45% 3 PT FG (Field Goal) average. The glamour and hype surrounding his 3 point shooting has taken focus away from his numbers inside the 3 point semicircle. 46.6% of his field goal attempts have been non 3 pointers, with 30% being taken within 5 feet. Impressive numbers for a 6 foot 3inch Point Guard. Shooting 72.7% from the restricted area, curry is the leading scorer among guards (minimum of 40 shots made). The numbers are an indication to what most basketball pundits have repeatedly stated, Stephen Curry is the complete basketball player, and, this season he has shown us his game is so much more than making 3’s.

Upon analysis of shooting statistics over the last twenty years; there has been an increase in the number of 3 point FGA (Field Goal Attempts) in the league. The 95-96 season, when Chicago Bulls went 72-10 in the regular season, offensive stat's suggest a lowly 20% of total shots taken were 3 PT FGA. Numbers for the 08-09 weren’t significantly higher either, a slight increase to 22.4%. 2014-15 regular season saw a significant rise to 26.8%. The statistics show us that the sport like cricket, football, etc. is evolving in terms of the style of play. Dominated by power forwards and centres previously NBA, now, is enriched with players who handle the ball better and are more adept in creating space i.e point guards & shooting guards. The style of play for 30 teams in the association is not dictated by one person/one team alone. Personnel on the roster and their strengths play a huge role in this. A large number of the teams possess top notch point guards and it is this shift in the pool of players the teams is able to harness that the change has stemmed from. These are exciting times for the league where the focus isn’t on tall and powerful forwards/centres. Basketball is now the game of the guards!



First published on www.sportskeeda.com