Posts Tagged ‘Chelsea Match Preview’

Who the hell are… Olympique de Marseille?

Hailing from the second biggest city in France, Marseille have been something of a sleeping giant in recent years. Their most glorious moment came in 1993 when they became the first and only French club to win the UEFA Champions League. Sadly for L’OM (as they are known locally), the club had to wait 17 years until lifting another trophy, last year’s French title.

The city of Marseille is one of the most ethnically diverse in Europe, with huge numbers of Italian, Spanish, Russian and African immigrants arriving at the Mediterranean port over the last century or so. It was estimated in the first half of the 20th century that 40% of the population of the city could trace its routes back to Italy.

The football club has reflected this ethnic diversity, with a history of having a large number of players with routes in Africa. Names such as the Ghanaian born World Cup winner Marcel Desailly and the Moroccan Larbi Benbarek (one of the first black stars and the first to be given the nickname ‘The Black Pearl’, later made famous by Pele) spring to mind.

Founded in 1892, the club only adopted the name Olympique in 1899 after flirting with various others in the early years. It is said that they settled on ‘Olympic’ to honour the Greek founders of the city of Marseille thousands of years earlier, and wear blue and white to replicate the Greek flag.

With 9 French titles and 10 Cups, they are one of the most successful teams in Western Europe’s biggest nation. This is much to the delight of the fans who have a fierce rivalry with Paris Saint-Germain who have just 2 league titles and are a club with differing traditions to L’OM. Some sections of the Parisienne club’s supporters are affiliated with far-right politics and this has lead to violence between the two in the past before, during and after the fixture dubbed Le Classique in France.

L’OM are managed by former Chelsea star and 1998 World Cup winner Didier Deschamps, who was part of the Blues first ever campaign in the Champions League in 1999-2000, scoring his one and only goal for the club in the competition. He was captain of the Marseille team which won the Champions League in Munich in 1993, also winning the competition with Juventus in 1996. The Frenchman also guided AS Monaco to the 2004 final but saw his team beaten 3-0 by Jose Mourinho’s FC Porto.

The return of Deschamps to the club has resulted in its first silverware since that famous victory. It seems the powers that be at the club are keen to bring back the glory days, giving the manager a huge amount of financial backing as they look to break the hold Olympique Lyonnais have had on French football for the best part of a decade.

Didier Drogba will be looking forward to the matches between the two clubs after he spent a year with L’OM in 2003-2004. He remains one of the most popular players in the club’s history after passionate performances and the Chelsea front man still talks of his love for Marseille. Chelsea supporters who remember him scoring a brace in the away Champions League fixture against Paris Saint-Germain might now understand why his subsequent celebration provoked such a hostile reaction from the home supporters.

The club is yet to find a replacement with the presence and goal scoring ability of Drogba, but having brought in strikers Loic Remy and Andre-Pierre Gignac from Nice and Toulouse respectively this summer, they might well have found a pair who can bring the goals back to the Stade Veledrome.

Those Chelsea fans making the trip to the away tie will get to see one of Europe’s most beautiful and unique stadiums. Built in 1937 and renovated for the Euro 84’ and World Cup 98’ competitions, the Stade Veledrome is certainly striking and differs from most modern day grounds. It has large, uncovered slopes on three of its four sides, meaning players and fans alike are at the mercy of the elements.

The recent success of the club means that they were averaging over 50,000 spectators each week last season, and have been over that mark in six of the last nine campaigns. This shows the huge levels of support for the team which plays in a league with an average attendance of just 20,000. That’s a total of six million fewer people watching French football each year than in the Premier League.

Chelsea should expect to take all three points against L’OM at Stamford Bridge, especially as they look to bounce back from a disappointing defeat against Manchester City at the weekend.

The away leg could prove more tricky, however, as there is a real buzz around Didier Deschamps’ side at the moment. Remy and Gignac will be a handful, but also expect the threat of goals from the midfield through Benoit Cheyrou and the rugged Lucho Gonzalez, both of whom are a danger.

One would expect Drogba to be fired up for the games against his old side and hence having money on him to score against his former employers is probably a wise move. He will miss Tuesday night’s encounter through suspension but will be back for the game in France. The Blues are as determined as ever to go the distance in Europe this season, meaning that victory in this fixture is paramount to Carlo Ancelotti and his players.

Marseille find themselves in a group which one would expect them to qualify from, and they need to bounce back from defeat in their opening game to Spartak Moscow. Deschamps will have his players ready for battle as they look to get points on the board and put French football back on the map.

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So Who the Hell are Newcastle United?

Stadium: St James Park

Capacity: 52,387

Last Season Position: 1^st in Championship

Newcastle United from the North East of England and are known as the Magpies, famed for their attacking football and the exposed beer bellies of their fans they are famed for being one of the most fanatical sets of supporters in the country.

When I first started watching football Newcastle were in the ascendancy under Kevin Keegan when they came within a whisker of winning the Premier League.

Recent times however have been harder the takeover of Mike Ashley led to fan anger and relegation from the top flight, the Magpies bounced back straight away and will be looking to develop this season with mid table a realistic goal.

St James Park is a difficult place to visit at any time, let alone on the back of two straight defeats so Chelsea will need to be at their best to overhaul the Magpies and the elements

Chelsea v Blackpool Preview

Twelve months ago if Chelsea were due to be facing Blackpool in a weekend fixture we would have assumed it was a cup competition.

After an against all odds campaign last term for Blackpool ended in a successful play off final at Wembley and catapulted Blackpool from into Premier League dreamland and this weekends fixture at Stamford Bridge.

Having started the season unable to play at Bloomfield Road due to hastily erected ground extensions being incomplete, the minnows of the Premier League have had a more than respectable start picking up 7 points from their opening four matches. This includes an emphatic opening day win against Wigan.

The Blackpool squad is a typical Championship level squad with a mix of journeymen and young local talent mixed together who under Ian Holloway have played football that belies their status and combined individual talent.

Chelsea host Blackpool without talisman Frank Lampard who has not yet recovered from his hernia operation. Yet with the start of season form improving with every game (even if the number of goals per game is in theory going down) Chelsea fans will be more than confident that the club’s 100% start to the season will continue on Sunday.

I expect the side to stick to the same formation since the start of the season in a de-facto 4-3-3 which should be good enough to secure a victory.

Chelsea (likely line up)

Cech, Terry, Alex, Ivanovic, Cole, Ramires, Essien, Mikel, Anelka, Malouda, Drogba.

Blackpool Key Man – Charlie Adam

Likely Weather Conditions

Chelsea vs Stoke – Preview

Nice and short this preview as there is little controversy around a relatively settled Chelsea line up, the only possible change will be the introduction of Ramires for Mikel however with fitness still something that may need to be brought up to English standards for the Brazilian this may not happen straight away.

Otherwise I expect an unchanged side as follows

Cech, Ivanovic, Terry, Alex, Cole, Essien, Mikel/Ramires, Lampard, Malouda, Anelka, Drogba

Stats:

Last 2 fixtures v Stoke: 1-2 (Drogba 45+2 and Malouda 90+4) 7 -0 (too many goalscorers to mention)

Expected Match Attendance: SELL OUT crowd

Key Men for Stoke: Rory Delap (pesky long throws), Matt Etherington and Kenwyne Jones (if fit)

What is your score prediction?