Wednesday, 19 September 2007
Saturday, 15 September 2007
Chelsea v Blackburn
Home again after the international break and Chelsea start without Drogba or Lamps and have the unfamiliar midfield pairing of Sidwell and Essien. Sheva starts upfront with Kalou and England’s wide boys of SWP and Joe Cole complete the attacking options.
It’s a scrappy first 20mins with nothing to write home about unless Sheva heading over from 15 yards on 15 minutes gets you going. It’s a full 25mins before Essien tests Freidel with a wonderful swerving drive and Sheva is wasteful again, this time from a one on one with the keeper. Chelsea close the half a little more brightly with Joe Cole coming close from an SWP corner but overall it’s a disappointing half with only Essien and Belletti coming away with any credit. It looks like there’s plenty for Jose to rip into during the break.
An unchanged Chelsea attack the Mathew Harding in the 2nd half and a chance falls to Sheva within 5 mins which is well blocked, apart from this it looks like more of the same. It takes JT charging out of defence to create the first real excitement. Just about an hour gone and Malouda and Obi the Jedi come on for Sidwell (very poor) and SWP (looking tired). Within a minute, Belletti and Joe Cole combine to send Kalou through and the ball’s in the net ..... only to be ruled offside – Clarke and Mourinho are furious as it looks well onside. Sheva looks way off the pace, he’s not got much service but equally he’s not grafting for it either, however Chelsea are controlling possession.
Last 15 minutes and Blackburn are starting to push on and stretch Chelsea. Chec saves brilliantly from Savage after a Malouda mistake. At the other end, Kalou and Sheva link up well but Kalou’s shot shaves the post as it skips wide. It’s all end to end now as the Blues push on for a winner – its times like this that you really miss Lamps and Drogs. Five mins to go and Sheva finally does something useful and gets a good far post header on target but it’s saved by Friedel. Christopher Samba takes a kick to the head on the way down from his challenge on Sheva and play stops for what looks like a serious head injury. Chelsea throw everything but the kitchen sink at Blackburn for the remaining minutes, playing 3 at the back and Terry as a centre forward, but Blackburn hold on to take a share of the points.
Once again, Chelsea are short changed from a game they have dominated. All the talk will be about the offside that never was but ultimately we’re not looking anything like the team of the last few seasons.
It’s a scrappy first 20mins with nothing to write home about unless Sheva heading over from 15 yards on 15 minutes gets you going. It’s a full 25mins before Essien tests Freidel with a wonderful swerving drive and Sheva is wasteful again, this time from a one on one with the keeper. Chelsea close the half a little more brightly with Joe Cole coming close from an SWP corner but overall it’s a disappointing half with only Essien and Belletti coming away with any credit. It looks like there’s plenty for Jose to rip into during the break.
An unchanged Chelsea attack the Mathew Harding in the 2nd half and a chance falls to Sheva within 5 mins which is well blocked, apart from this it looks like more of the same. It takes JT charging out of defence to create the first real excitement. Just about an hour gone and Malouda and Obi the Jedi come on for Sidwell (very poor) and SWP (looking tired). Within a minute, Belletti and Joe Cole combine to send Kalou through and the ball’s in the net ..... only to be ruled offside – Clarke and Mourinho are furious as it looks well onside. Sheva looks way off the pace, he’s not got much service but equally he’s not grafting for it either, however Chelsea are controlling possession.
Last 15 minutes and Blackburn are starting to push on and stretch Chelsea. Chec saves brilliantly from Savage after a Malouda mistake. At the other end, Kalou and Sheva link up well but Kalou’s shot shaves the post as it skips wide. It’s all end to end now as the Blues push on for a winner – its times like this that you really miss Lamps and Drogs. Five mins to go and Sheva finally does something useful and gets a good far post header on target but it’s saved by Friedel. Christopher Samba takes a kick to the head on the way down from his challenge on Sheva and play stops for what looks like a serious head injury. Chelsea throw everything but the kitchen sink at Blackburn for the remaining minutes, playing 3 at the back and Terry as a centre forward, but Blackburn hold on to take a share of the points.
Once again, Chelsea are short changed from a game they have dominated. All the talk will be about the offside that never was but ultimately we’re not looking anything like the team of the last few seasons.
Friday, 7 September 2007
Prince at O2 (6th Sept 2007)
The little purple one returned to the O2 for his last set of shows at the venue and I was lucky enough to be there. Its my first Prince show since seeing him back in the eighties (when Jacko was disappointing 'em all at Wembley Stadium, I was enthralled by the little man at the Arena) and I have to admit I was quite excited – despite the patchy reviews. I certainly wasn’t disappointed.
From the opening medley, that lasted for some 25mins – who can manage that !! - it was clear that this is a guy who just lives for the performance. Some call him arrogant, self obsessed or just down right strange but no-one can deny this mans talent. Whether he was dancing, singing, soloing on his symbol shaped guitar or just sat paying solo at the piano you couldn't’t take your eyes off him. His pre gig video had his bands saying that he could and does play all their instruments and you get the idea that he probably can play them as well or better than any of them. He is the ultimate showman and works an audience with consummate ease. Let’s go crazy sets a blistering pace, Little red corvette is delivered as a piano solo and Purple Rain takes the roof off. Prince tells us the “dis is mahhhh house” and frankly we believed him.
It all got me thinking, particularly in the light of the recent “controversy” about giving away his album in the Mail on Sunday, about the measure of talent and value. Some people had complained about the length of the Prince set. He played with no support and the show itself was well under two hours – less if you deduct the encore gaps. However this misses the point. Seeing Prince live is a rare event and frankly I'd rather see 100mins of pure genius than 3 hours of padded out dross. JP Rangaswami posts on the subject of the because effect in this context and rightly observers that ".... the point is that Prince understands how he makes money, what’s scarce and what’s abundant about it. Digital downloads are abundant. Concert appearances are scarce. He makes money because of his CDs and not with them". This is spot on. Seeing Prince is a rare event, one that I was fortunate to be at and one that I hugely enjoyed.
I'm off to see The Police in a few weeks - a gig that will no doubt further underscore my views on abundance, scarcity, talent .... and probably the because effect.
From the opening medley, that lasted for some 25mins – who can manage that !! - it was clear that this is a guy who just lives for the performance. Some call him arrogant, self obsessed or just down right strange but no-one can deny this mans talent. Whether he was dancing, singing, soloing on his symbol shaped guitar or just sat paying solo at the piano you couldn't’t take your eyes off him. His pre gig video had his bands saying that he could and does play all their instruments and you get the idea that he probably can play them as well or better than any of them. He is the ultimate showman and works an audience with consummate ease. Let’s go crazy sets a blistering pace, Little red corvette is delivered as a piano solo and Purple Rain takes the roof off. Prince tells us the “dis is mahhhh house” and frankly we believed him.
It all got me thinking, particularly in the light of the recent “controversy” about giving away his album in the Mail on Sunday, about the measure of talent and value. Some people had complained about the length of the Prince set. He played with no support and the show itself was well under two hours – less if you deduct the encore gaps. However this misses the point. Seeing Prince live is a rare event and frankly I'd rather see 100mins of pure genius than 3 hours of padded out dross. JP Rangaswami posts on the subject of the because effect in this context and rightly observers that ".... the point is that Prince understands how he makes money, what’s scarce and what’s abundant about it. Digital downloads are abundant. Concert appearances are scarce. He makes money because of his CDs and not with them". This is spot on. Seeing Prince is a rare event, one that I was fortunate to be at and one that I hugely enjoyed.
I'm off to see The Police in a few weeks - a gig that will no doubt further underscore my views on abundance, scarcity, talent .... and probably the because effect.
Monday, 3 September 2007
Lots of huff and puff
Aston Villa 2 - Chelsea 0
....... well you have to say it was coming. A really poor display against Portsmouth last weekend and a lucky penalty at Liverpool - frankly the mighty blues don't look that mighty at present and we need to work out how to play for more than just 30 minutes a half. Our once solid defence looks shaky to anything thrown in high and we can't carry on giving teams a one goal start - as was shown yesterday.
Sure in the first half there was plenty of movement, again Malouda looked good as did SWP (just wish his end product was better), but it was just lots of huff and puff before the sucker punch.
Lets hope that the week off gives Jose a chance to work on things
....... well you have to say it was coming. A really poor display against Portsmouth last weekend and a lucky penalty at Liverpool - frankly the mighty blues don't look that mighty at present and we need to work out how to play for more than just 30 minutes a half. Our once solid defence looks shaky to anything thrown in high and we can't carry on giving teams a one goal start - as was shown yesterday.
Sure in the first half there was plenty of movement, again Malouda looked good as did SWP (just wish his end product was better), but it was just lots of huff and puff before the sucker punch.
Lets hope that the week off gives Jose a chance to work on things
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