The manner of Chelsea’s defeat raises questions

Football FanCast columnist Ross Mooring felt the manner of Chelsea's defeat raised a lot of questions.

The perfect start to the season came to a rather imperfect end at the DW
Stadium this past Saturday with Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea getting unstuck
against a motivated Wigan side who had not tasted victory over a ‘big four'
team in 34 outings in the Premier League. In a game that was eerily similar to
an FA Cup defeat at Newcastle in 2005 when the Blues finished the game with
barely enough men to complete the fixture, Chelsea slipped from top spot in the
Premier League.

(That snowy day, Wayne Bridge broke
his ankle, Carlo Cudicini was sent off and Damien Duff and William Gallas were
injured, all after Jose Mourinho had made three substitutions.)

That Wigan were able to hold off 10 (and then 9) man Chelsea should not be
an excuse for the Blues' failings: Ancelotti's men looked second best for much
of the afternoon and this is what should worry supporters, not simply the
result itself.  Incidentally, there should be no complaints over the Hugo
Rodallega penalty – Cech caught him (even if the Colombian was looking for
contact) and in spite of men covering on the line it was a clear goalscoring
opportunity, not to mention a professional foul.

How did Wigan do it – outfight and outthink a team several levels above
themselves? Firstly, in Roberto Martinez they have a manager schooled in
continental football and with a British work-rate applied to a good game plan
implemented by technically adept players they were able to dictate play, not so
much in terms of possession but how and where the game was played.

However, had the "normal" Chelsea turned up, not one appearing to shy away
from a competitive game (a criticism seldom held against a team renowned for
its physical and mental superiority) one would expect a continuation of the run
of unbeaten games against the Lancashire side – Chelsea had not lost to the
Latics since 1981 and had won 9 out of 10.

Tactically, Wigan employed a 4-5-1 and used their wide-men to exploit the
lack of midfield width from Chelsea's midfield two. With the ball moved quickly
across the centre of the pitch the Blues were shifted sideways without being
able to exploit pressure on the football or the opposition. This is one of the
tactical drawbacks of the 4-4-2 diamond that I have written about before and can only be overcome by
an alert and fit midfield. At set pieces, as illustrated by Titus Bramble's
goal (his third against the Blues, strangely) the players collectively were
slow to react and this continued throughout the match.

So predominantly, spirit and determination were missing… At this point in
time it is easy enough to assume that this was a one off, a blip in the long
marathon that is a season, but the problem is that like Manchester United's
defeat at Burnley a month ago, this was 3 points dropped at a venue where there
really is no excuse for defeat, unlike say a trip to Goodison or Villa Park.

One expects Chelsea to rebound from this with more determination and in
spite of Ashley Cole's injury – we're thankful that Yury Zhirkov is now fit -
the Blues should travel to Cyprus this Wednesday with everyone confidently
expectant of victory.

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