Hull City 0-4 Chelsea

Last updated : 27 September 2007 By Rick Skelton
Did we really deserve that result? I'm undecided. On the one hand, we worked hard, played some decent stuff and created a few openings but on the other, we spent a lot of time chasing the ball, defended sloppily at times and Chelsea had the lion's share of possession and chances. I think 4-0 was probably a tad unfair, but there's no arguing with the outcome.

I was quite disappointed in Phil Brown tonight. I think the 4-3-3 was absolutely ridiculous. Playing like that against a team with lightening wingers and two of the best attacking full-backs in the country is suicidal. We needed to either match them, or play a genuine 4-5-1 with wide players who would help going backwards. Pedersen and Elliott either didn't fancy the defensive bit or they were told to stay forward and threaten. That put a lot of pressure on us, particularly on Delaney who opposed the live wire, Wright-Phillips, and meant we were always on the back foot. I'm not sure why Delaney was playing. If it was an opportunity to play McPhee, Elliott, Livermore and Pedersen, then Daws should have had a run out.

The other mistake was Okocha, well perhaps. He should have had an hour, maximum, to strut his stuff. Saturday is far more important than this evening. Playing JJ was understandable, he's our most exciting player and we had a massive crowd in but he's still not fit and this was his 4th game in 10 days, with a fifth in 14 to come on Saturday, early on Saturday. If JJ is performs well on Saturday and next Tuesday (6 games in 17 days!), then I'll eat my words but at this moment leaving him on looks like a silly decision.

We didn't offer a lot going forward, but we had our moments. Generally, we looked best when Ricketts joined in. He really is a threat, he's quick, defenders have no idea which foot he'll go onto and his crossing is becoming a massive asset. He linked up very well with JJ and provided our best option. Okocha was the most skillful player on the pitch. If a Wright-Phillips could do with the ball what JJ does, he'd be worth £50m. He's lost some of his acceleration but his brain is as sharp as a pin. He's got great balance and a top class shimmy and when he's on, like tonight, there isn't a lot you can do to stop him. He was better than Saturday, he was much more decisive and probably more incisive too. He brought other players into the game and looked likely to create something. He let himself down with 2 or 3 poor deliveries, but generally, his set piece delivery is absolute incredible. It has pace and swerve and hits the key areas. Leon Cort would score 3 in every game if he played with JJ. The rest of the attack did OK. McPhee looked lively and made good runs. He probably should have scored the first of his 2 chances, the second was an excellent effort from a strange position. The 90 minutes will have done him a lot of good. I'd like to see McPhee and Folan at some point, it's certainly an exciting prospect. Probably not clinical enough, but it would cause problems and give defenders a real headache. Henrik Pedersen looked really sluggish in the first half. He was slow to react to situations, didn't threaten in the air and didn't get involved enough. In the second half, he made one great run and cross that offered a bit of hope that he'll come good. Elliott did OK, he shouldn't have been substituted, he needed the game time. He won some bits in the air and looked composed on the floor. Garcia played well when he came on and Nicky Featherstone did OK, but struggled to get involved.

Defensively, we were mixed. Turner and Ricketts were great, Brown and Delaney weren't. Ricketts was great individually, but in terms of team play, goals 3 and 4 game from Chelsea exploiting huge Ricketts' shaped holes in our defence. Number 3 wasn't his fault, he was fouled in midfield but for number 4, he'd charged forward on the attack, we lost the ball and there was no-one around to cover. Chelsea were far too quick and clinical for that sort of thing to go unpunished. That aside though, Ricketts put in good tackles and as strong in the air. There wasn't a lot coming in from their left and he didn't lose too many individual battles. On the other side, we got absolutely murdered. Delaney couldn't get anywhere near Wright-Phillips in our half and to be fair to him, he had no cover at all. Chelsea's movement was incredible, Wright-Phillips would cut inside, Belletti pushed up from full-back, Kalou and Pizarro wandered all over the penalty area and Essien and Sidwell shot forward from midfield. We actually did quite well to restrict them to one in the first half, because it was some threat. Delaney looked uncomfortable the whole game. There wasn't any real reason to play him because it's not like Wright-Phillips offers an aerial threat. His distribution was poor again, he gave the ball away for goal number two, messing up a simple pass and leaving us stranded at the back, and he makes numerous poor decisions when he has the ball. Dawson looked better when he came on and he threatened them more too. Brown and Turner continue to look like a decent partnership. There's absolutely no doubt that Turner is the better defender of the two. Brown looks like a good leader, he keeps everyone on their toes, manages a good defensive line and generally takes up good positions. He also gets beaten in the air too often, backs off strikers (there was an incident in the first half that was a carbon copy of the Blackpool winning goal incident) and doesn't get tight enough around the box. Turner is always up your jumper, he times his tackles well, he's strong in the air and he's decisive. He doesn't take chances and he takes responsibility if there's any doubt. He looks better and better with every game. To criticise, perhaps harshly, he really should score more goals.

That just leaves Ash and Livermore, the gruesome twosome. Ash had another good game. Tackled well and passed well. Livermore was composed in possession but didn't get involved a lot. There isn't a lot to criticise. They were up against the very capable, Steve Sidwell and also Michael Essien, who for my money is the best footballer in the country. They gave a very good account of themselves and got through a lot of work, most of it caused by us being far too narrow in midfield.

We can take plenty from the game. We showed great attitude to keep playing football and trying to create chances at 0-4. We defended well against a barrage of set pieces. We can improve in plenty of area's, they were much more composed on the ball and finished clinically. Had we panicked a bit less and stuck away one of several half chances, it may have been a different game. It was a very enjoyable evening at the KC, the opera singer was excellent and it was nice to see a bit of sparkle around the place. It's not for everyone, but it created a good atmosphere. Here's to giving Ipswich a receipt for last season next up. I think we're a much better side than last season, at both ends. I'd love to see us keep proving it.

Ratings:
Myhill 6, Ricketts 7, Delaney 5 (Dawson), Turner 8, Brown 6, Ashbee 7, Livermore 6, Okocha 8, Pedersen 5 (Featherstone), Elliott 6 (Garcia), McPhee 7.