Chelsea vs. Manchester City : 30 September 2017.

On Wednesday evening, I was a football fan with split loyalties. While many of my friends were over in Madrid for the Champions League encounter, I was at a football game a lot closer to home. I had decided earlier in the week to avoid watching Atletico Madrid vs. Chelsea, either on a streaming site at home or in a local pub, and instead to embrace the non-league scene and attend my local team Frome Town’s game at home to Hereford. The visitors were arguably Frome’s biggest ever opponents in a regular league game and I know that I had been relishing the game for some time. Hereford had been flooding grounds for a while with away support in their hundreds, and I would have felt bad about missing Frome’s biggest home gate for ages. The Hereford club, a phoenix from the ashes of the now defunct Hereford United – who Chelsea played in the Second Division season of 1976/77 – had an average gate of some 2,500, a fine figure at the seventh tier of English football. For one night only, I would eschew Chelsea in favour of my local team. I would watch the Chelsea highlights on ITV after. After a little soul-searching, I was OK with my decision. It dawned on me that, in years to come, there will surely be a time when my trips to watch Chelsea might dwindle away – lack of finances, lack of mobility, the passing of time – and I will be found watching my local club more often than Chelsea. My first Frome Town game, after all, was in 1970, some four years before my first-ever Chelsea match. They say that everything goes in a full circle.

And then Wednesday evening arrived, and I felt as though I was letting Chelsea down. I had a change of plan. I decided that I would watch the Champions League game in the Frome Town clubhouse, hopefully see a fair proportion of the first-half and then saunter out, ideally with us winning, to catch some of the Hereford game.

I arrived just before kick-off and noted a bigger-than-average crowd. I paid my £10 and headed inside. However, the Chelsea game wasn’t being televised in the clubhouse and so my plan was blown asunder. I took my seat alongside three mates in the main stand and, unable to watch the CFC game on a streaming site on my phone, watched on as Frome conceded three first-half goals. A friend told me that Chelsea were losing 1-0.

“Oh great. This whole night is going well.”

The second-half at Frome was a mundane affair and I got the impression that both teams were saving themselves for FA Cup games, financially beneficial these days, and were happy for the status quo. The news came through that Alvaro Morata had equalised; a quick “yes” was uttered. I knew that thousands would be celebrating in Atletico’s spanking new stadium. At the final whistle, with a 0-3 loss but a healthy 531 in attendance, I quickly walked back to my car as the rain fell. Then, two simultaneous text messages from Alan, in Madrid, and Glenn, elsewhere in Frome, confirmed a last minute winner at the Wanda Metropolitano.

I’m not usually a jealous type, but for a moment, I was – I admit – pretty jealous of the away army in Spain, no doubt falling over themselves in joyous oblivion.

What an away win for Chelsea. It was undoubtedly one of the best away performances in Europe for a while. And I missed it. Bollocks.

Not to worry, there was another game on the immediate horizon – Manchester City at home – and, bolstered by that fine win in Madrid, it was all that I could think of as the weekend approached.

I collected the lads – Jake in Warminster, PD and Glenn in Frome and Parky in Parkyville – and the Chuckle Bus was full to the rafters. Like on a few other occasions, I had planned a pre-match pub-crawl in London for the chaps.

At bang on 11am, I parked-up right outside the first one, The Black Lion, just off the A4 and not too far from the Fullers Brewery at Chiswick. We were the first ones in. Parky and I had called in to the same pub on one other occasion, after the monumental Napoli game in 2012. It did not seem five minutes ago. Outside, there were brilliant blue skies. The first pint did not touch the sides. Next up, “The Dove” right on the river, with lovely views of Hammersmith Bridge. There were rowers on the Thames. The boys were enjoying this. In the third pub, “The Blue Anchor” we were joined by my friends Diana and Ian from Chicago, who last appeared in these dispatches when I went out with them for one night of boozy fun in Chicago on the 2015 tour of the US. It is always a pleasure to see them. There was talk of football and music, everyone’s twin loves. We popped, quite literally, next door and into “The Rutland.” Another lovely pub, though by now, with myself on designated driving duties, I was off the lager. We said temporary “cheerios” to the two Chicagoans and hot-footed it back to the car, via a final scoop in “The Old Ship.” It had been a fine pub-crawl – we had been blessed with excellent weather for the most part – and it mirrored the one that Parky and myself completed before Arsenal away in 2015. What a joy it is to be able to dip into these historic, charming and quaint pubs in the nation’s capital.

We met up with Diana and Ian in “The Famous Three Kings” at West Kensington, and then split up again. Glenn and Jake stayed on for some food, while the rest of us piled in to the Chicagochuckle Bus as we stopped off at “The Goose.” I had managed to get hold of some match tickets for Diana and Ian, and – at last –  it was a relief to see the tickets handed over and paid for. I then darted back up to “The Clarence” to pick up a ticket for Jake.

Phew. All sorted.

Eight pubs.

Now for the football.

On the walk to the ground, I heard that Frome Town had lost 1-2 to Heybridge Swifts in the FA Cup. I whispered a melancholic “oh well” to myself and thoughts returned to my first love.

We were in early, and I had hoped that there would be a nice buzz of anticipation in the stadium, just like we used to have before the big games of old, when the terraces used to fill up early, when songs were sung by The Shed, when the thrill of the match used to capture our imagination. Alas, it was all pretty mundane really. I watched as the three-thousand City fans slowly filled their section, but there was no real electricity in the air. This was, after all, the biggest game of the weekend by some margin, and one of the biggest games in world football. I expected more.

We had heard that the team was tweaked slightly, what with David Luiz suspended. Victor Moses was benched, and Dave was pushed out to the flank to allow for Antonio Rudiger to play. Just as in Madrid, Antonio Conte went with a 3-5-2.

Courtois

Rudiger – Christensen – Cahill

Azpilicueta – Kante – Bakayoko – Fabregas – Alonso

Hazard – Morata

Sergio Aguero was out, but there was quality throughout the City ranks.

My thoughts on the game? I’d take a draw but a win would be bloody magnificent. Anything but a defeat.

The banners were paraded – “The Shed” to the south and “Pride of London” to the north – and the game started.

Just like Fiat and their innovative use of new colours a decade or so ago, Nike are certainly dabbling in all areas of an artist’s palate with their kit colours in 2017. The Manchester City away colours were fruity alright. The colour being worn reminded me of damson jam or blackcurrant Chewits. I wonder what outer reach of the spectrum will be chosen by Nike’s designers in years to come for us. Best not dwell on that, eh?

The first few minutes was all about singing that new song for Tiemoue Bakayoko and N’Golo Kante.

Well, it was the last day of September after all.

An early header from danger man Morata suggested that we would continue from where we left off on Wednesday, but we watched as City started to move the ball around us with ease. I was aware that I was leaning forward, on the edge of my seat, quite different than normal. I expected a tough game. A lot was expected of Bakayoko in the central position, and Kante seemed a little out of position to his right. I had spoken to Glenn on the drive to London about how football these days often resembles a chess match and how some managers might lose a game by being “half a position out” – playing someone just five yards away from his ideal position – and, sadly, it looked like this was the case with Kante, who tried his best to support the front two, but was then out of position once City broke.

There were howls as a clearance from Thibaut struck Gabriel Jesus; from our position, it was surely going in. We exhaled sharply. Phew. Soon after, reticence from Rudiger almost caused another City chance. The natives were getting restless. With each passing minute, City improved. Kevin de Bruyne and David Silva looked especially tricky.

And yet, rather than roar the team on, the home crowd struggled to get in the game. Perhaps we were half a position out, too.

In quick succession, our attack was called back for a few offside calls. At the far end, where I am of course unable to be certain at all, I always look for the reaction of the supporters in the East and West Stands behind the flagging linesmen. In all occasions, there was no uproar, no forest of pointing arms, no shouts of exasperation. In each occasion, I can only assume the linesman and referee were correct. But it didn’t help our cause. There was a mixture of frustration with the players and officials. The home crowd were not as one.

After a little Chelsea pressure, Azpilicueta struck low inside the box and forced a low, late, save from Ederson, the City ‘keeper.

Throughout the first period, we were second-best in all areas. We were slow in closing space, and our passes were not crisp. But the new additions in defence, Christensen and Rudiger, continued to impress. The young Dane, especially, looks a natural, both positionally and technically. Gary Cahill, never the easiest on the eye, was a mixture of nervy clearances and solid tackling. But he drew a few moans from the supporters around me. Even now, the jury is out on him.

I spotted Morata hold his leg and stop. I wondered if he was injured.

Thibaut saved from Silva.

With ten minutes to go before the break, Morata – my fears justified – slowly walked off, to a massive round of applause.

Surely, it was Michy Batshuayi’s chance. Well, amazingly, apparently not. Instead, Conte chose Willian. How odd. Was the idea for the diminutive Willian and Hazard to buzz around the tall City defenders and wreak havoc? I was not convinced.

Willian, at times unplayable in previous times, drew the ire of the crowd with an implausibly poor free-kick. The boo boys were starting to gather.

Glenn commented “it’s not very often we get out-played at home, lads.”

Just before the half-time whistle, more City pressure and a corner from the impish de Bruyne. His cross found the head of Fernandinho, but his effort was beaten out by Thibaut. It was a cracking save, and one which kept us in the game at the break.

Chelsea hardly got out of our half in the first period of the second-half. We were well and truly penned in, with City flashing the ball neatly around us. We were being outplayed on our own turf and – yes – it felt odd.

As the rain started to fall, the City fans were hardly making a racket, but they certainly could be heard.

“We’re Not Really Here.”

Eden – at last – ran at pace at City and was fouled. His shot from the resulting free-kick was easily saved.

City continued to move the ball into our box. I remember a sublime gutsy block from Alonso. Soon after, typically incisive play found that man de Bruyne who smacked a rising shot past the valiant dive of Courtois.

“Bollocks.”

City were well worth their lead.

And save for a very few sporadic outbursts, the home crowd stayed as docile as before.

Antonio replaced Hazard with Pedro and Bakayoko with Batshuayi. In all honesty, things did not improve one iota. City still pushed, and should have scored a deserved second goal, when a shot from outside the box from Jesus was miraculously headed off the line by Rudiger. We tried, but the City defence was well in control. Christensen showed a different side of his game with a fine pass towards Batshuayi, but the ball was intercepted.

One last chance – hell, there were only three or four the entire game – fell to the head of Andreas Christensen, but his towering lunge resulted in the ball going well over the bar.

The rain fell on the walk back to the car. We were honest in our quick post-match analysis.

“We could have lost 3-0 or 4-0, boys.”

“City look the business.”

It was a long old trip back to Frome. My two clubs had both lost, but the Chelsea one hurt most, and by a mile. I almost dreaded looking to see what nonsense had been posted throughout the day by the social media darlings, and there was the expected melt-down by some.

Some cocksocket in Chicago was adamant that “Willian is the worst footballer on the planet” and I shot him down in flames.

We were clearly not at our best against City. But there are surely some positives at the moment. I like the way that we can set up in a 3-4-3 as of last season, a slightly narrower 3-4-2-1 and now a 3-5-2. And Conte will fine-tune these formations too. He will be hurting after this, and he will rebound. I love the form of Christensen, and Bakayoko could well trump anything that Matic has done for us. We always have a chance with N’Golo on the pitch. Eden Hazard, on his day, is unbeatable. And before anyone of us, or anyone outside our club, thinks that Manchester City have the title sewn up, let us all remember what was happening twelve months ago.

After seven games in 2016, City were top with nineteen points out of twenty-one. Chelsea were on thirteen points.

After seven games in 2017, City are on top with eighteen points out of twenty-one. Chelsea are on thirteen points.

See you all at Palace.