Why Chelsea fans need to calm down
The fall out from Chelsea's 3-5 defeat at Tottenham yesterday is ongoing and will fill websites such as these all day long. Having had some time to reflect (and although it hurts) I appeal to each and every single of you for a sense of calm right now.
Let me start by saying that you can bet your life that the boss sat and watched the recording of the whole game. He has said previously he likes to try and understand why something hasn't worked and mistakes that have been made so he can work with the players to ensure it doesn't happen again. Just like last season, I feel there will be a change to our mentality from now on.
You have to trust Jose and his technical staff to get it right as they have many times before. I have read comments stating that playing Ivanovic at right back, Azpilicueta at left back and Cahill, who has suffered against Harry Kane last night has been wrong and it was only a matter of time before they became exposed.
To that I would like to point out that we had had the best defensive record and had only lost once in twenty eight games in all competitions before yesterday! Surely, it's not as bad as that!
Tottenham defeat a dark spot in a long bright run of form
It's important to have a proper sense of perspective right now and to be realistic. You have to hold your hands up and admit that Tottenham played fantastically well. They had a game plan and executed it perfectly. They spotted a weakness in our defensive shape and exposed it.
You also have to take into consideration the amount of games we have had recently - FOUR games in just eleven days which is tough on everyone. Jose stated that NO player will feature in every game but as we have seen, the majority have and it became clear that some of them are fatigued.
Despite the defeat and the fact that we have dropped five points from six in our last two games; both away from home at Southampton and Tottenham, we remain top of the league level on points with Manchester City.
You have to take a positive from our attacking play again. Having scored three goals, we created more than enough chances to score at least two more to possibly draw the game but lacked that final touch to make it count. If we had not, I would be worried.
No major threat in immediate future for Chelsea
Finally, you have to look at the remaining fixtures we have away from home to take encouragement. In the Premier League we face the following sides away from Stamford Bridge between now and the end of the season:
Swansea, Aston Villa, Leicester, West Ham, Hull, QPR, Arsenal and West Brom. It's not a bad run of away games to have at all, is it? You have to say on paper that Arsenal will be the most difficult but ALL of them are winnable.
Although it's hard to take and to accept, we have to move on from yesterday and focus on the next game which is Watford in the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. After that, we face Newcastle at home in the Premier League and have a chance to get back on track.
It's not all bad people and once again I appeal to all of you for a sense of calm. Jose Mourinho will sort things out and I can promise you this - we will never concede that many goals or play like that defensively again this season!