 |
Pre-match briefing: Chelsea v West Ham United |
|
Chelsea official historian, Rick Glanvill, and statistician, Paul Dutton, look forward to the arrival of London rivals lacking goals on their travels while comparing a Chelsea sharpshooter with goal machines of the past.
Rick Glanvill begins the story. When he slammed in his third against Watford Didier Drogba joined a select band of Chelsea marksmen. Barring another decision from the 'dubious goals committee' (such as the one that ludicrously denied Joe Cole after Blackburn a year ago) it completed his second hattrick this season, the other coming against Levski Sofia. And it meant that he becomes only our seventeenth player ever to have managed two or more in a season. The Drog joins illustrious company such as 'Gatling Gun' Hilsdon (who did so in three seasons), Joe Bambrick (two), George Mills (one), Jimmy Greaves (four), Bobby Tambling (two), Peter Osgood (two) and Kerry Dixon (two). The most recent person to achieve the feat was Gianluca Vialli, against Barnsley and Trømso in 1997/98. It has only happened 27 times in our history (details below). Should he repeat the effort before the end of the season he will be in even more rarefied company. Only the greats - Hilsdon (four in one season), Greaves (four in one, six in another), Tambling (three in '63/63), Osgood ('69/70) and Dixon (three in 1984/5) - have managed that. People forget that Drogba missed six winter weeks of the last campaign while away at the African Cup of Nations and yet still managed 12 League goals. He already has eight this season. What better opponent to achieve that new hattrick milestone against? West Ham have been occasional neuralgia in Chelsea's neck in recent years, and yet we scored seven against them in completing a League double last season. Drogba scored in both, including his last game before heading off to Egypt. Still, it is rarely easy against our Scampi Fried friends from the East. Marlon Harewood was brilliantly fed by Nigel Reo-Coker to equalise in the away fixture in January, and they won three of the four Premiership encounters 2001-2003. What manager Alan Pardew would give for a return to the team spirit that brought those results now. Last season his side finished ninth and won seven matches away from the Boleyn Ground. They have no wins in six attempts on their travels in this League campaign. The arrival of the Argentineans Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez - or rather the nature of it - has been cited as the reason for the Irons' rustiness this term. When they faced Arsenal's elusive 'work of art' football on November 5 it was the East End painters-and-decorators who bish-bash-boshed away to earn the three points, most deservedly too. People made a lot of the fact that they did so without the underperforming South Americans, whose unplanned arrival was said to have disrupted morale. But the Hammers followed up doing the Gunners with a feeble performance at the Riverside and defeat (mind you, other clubs can say that… ). Tevez, the bullish forward schemer, can hardly be blamed for that loss, although he came on 12 minutes before Maccarone's brilliantly taken goal. Mascherano, formerly a target of Man Utd, remember, did not feature at all. Whichever version of West Ham rolls up the Fulham Road, though, Chelsea's momentum has been impressive in the last two games, and even for much of the defeat at White Hart Lane (incidentally, should we now call it 'Three Card Lane', in honour of a certain gentleman?). This fixture last season, in which ten-man, one-down Chelsea rallied to win 4-1 was astonishing. José Mourinho is keen to talk about the 'awesome foursome' of Makelele/Essien/Lampard/Ballack but the understandings between new and old players are growing before our eyes all over the pitch. Drogba and Andriy Shevchenko is looking the most telepathic partnership since Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen in 2003. The football is also as entertaining as late 2004/early 2005, though Joe Cole and Arjen Robben have not yet had their usual share of the limelight. That will obviously come some time soon, as we enter a critical phase of the season. Gérémi and Carlo Cudicini are likely to retain their places after impressing. In preparation for this match, four West Ham players - Gabbidon, Collins, Ferdinand and Reo-Coker - withdrew from midweek internationals. All expect to be fit. Pardew has already hinted that his game plan will be to flood the midfield and stifle the hosts. Even after consecutive 4-0 victories for Chelsea at the Bridge, West Ham remain capable of carrying out that threat. Chelsea V West Ham — Paul Dutton looks through the record books. Chelsea's win against Watford last Saturday took our record unbeaten League sequence at Stamford Bridge to 50 games. We have won 41 and drawn 9 scoring 107 goals and conceding 21. There have been 33 clean sheets and we have only failed to score on 5 occasions. In eleven home Premiership meetings Chelsea have won six, West Ham have won four with a goal-less draw in 1999/2000. West Ham's last win at Stamford Bridge was in September 2002. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink opened the scoring with a penalty but goals from Defoe and Di Canio either side of the break put the visitors in the driving seat. A wonderful Zola free-kick brought the scores level but another Paulo Di Canio goal with seven minutes to go secured West Ham's first win of the season. West Ham won the return at Upton Park in May 1-0 and were the first team to achieve the double against us and get relegated in the same season since Oldham managed it in 1993/94. The previous two seasons saw convincing wins for the Blues. In January 2002 we won 5-1. A brace a piece from Hasselbaink and Gudjohnsen and Forssell were our scorers. Defoe got West Ham's consolation at 4-0 after Di Canio got sent off. On the opening day in August 2000 Chelsea won 4-2. The scorers were Hasselbaink penalty (1-0), Di Canio (1-1), Zola (2-1), Stanic (3-1), Kanouté (3-2), Stanic (4-2). West Ham returned to the Premiership last season and lost at Stamford Bridge in April (details below). The Hammers have lost their last seven away games in all competitions scoring only two goals. In the league on their travels they drew their first game 1-1 at Vicarage Road against Watford and have lost the rest at Liverpool, Manchester City, Portsmouth, Tottenham and Middlesbrough. Their last away league goal was scored by Bobby Zamora at Anfield on the 26th August, 438 minutes ago. West Ham's last away win was in May against already relegated West Brom. Nigel Reo-Coker scored the only goal. Their one clean sheet this season came at Upton Park two weeks ago against Arsenal. West Ham are down to 16th following their defeat at the Riverside last weekend with eleven points from twelve games. They had an identical points record from the same number of games in their last Premiership season 2002/03. They were eventually relegated with 42 points. West Ham's last six games read like this: Oct 14 Portsmouth (a) L 0-2 Oct 22 Tottenham (a) L0-1 Oct 24 Chesterfield (League Cup a) L1-2 Oct 29 Blackburn (h) W2-1 Nov 5 Arsenal (h) W1-0 Nov 11 Middlesbrough (a) L0-1 Their nine Premiership goals have come from Zamora with five and one each from C Cole, Harewood, Mullins, and Sheringham. West Ham's team for their last game against Middlesbrough at the Riverside last Saturday was: (4-4-2) Green; Spector, Collins, Gabbidon, Konchesky; Benayoun (C Cole 82), Mullins, Reo-Coker (c), Etherington; Sheringham, Harewood (Tevez 62). Unused subs: Carroll, McCartney, Mascherano. Gabbidon and Reo-Coker have started every Premiership match and Benayoun, Harewood and Mullins have featured in all twelve League games this season. West Ham's last major piece of silverware was the FA Cup in 1980. They have never won the league but have won the FA Cup three times and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965. Michael Essien, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard have featured in every Premiership match this season. Michael Essien has played every minute of all nineteen games in all competitions. Chelsea have opened the scoring in all twelve Premiership games so far, the only club in the division to do so and also the only club to have scored in all twelve. John Terry's dismissal against Tottenham was our ninth in 2006. The others were Arjen Robben (Sunderland a), Ricardo Carvalho (Charlton h), Asier Del Horno (Barcelona h), Robben again (West Brom a), William Gallas (Fulham a), Maniche (West Ham h), Michael Ballack (Liverpool h) and John Obi Mikel (Reading a). If selected, Didier Drogba will make his 50th Premiership start.He currently is the country's top scorer with fourteen in all competitions, from Darren Bent, Peter Crouch and Louis Saha on eight. He also heads the Premiership scoring chart with eight. Kanu has seven. The roll-call of players with two or more hattricks in a season for Chelsea: 1905/06 Jimmy Windridge (Hull City h, Burton a) 1906/07 Jimmy Windridge (Chesterfield h, Gainsborough h) 1907/08 George Hilsdon (Bristol City h, Bury h, 6 v Worksop h, Everton a) 1908/09 George Hilsdon (Everton h, Middlesbrough a) 1910/11 George Hilsdon (Derby a, Leeds City a) 1911/12 Bob Whittingham (Nottm For a, Clapton Orient h) 1924/25 William Whitton (4 v Leicester h, Oldham h) 1925/26 Bob Turnbull (Barnsley h, Stockport h) 1927/28 Jimmy Thompson (4 v South Shields h, Grimsby h) 1934/35 Dick Spence (4 v Liverpool h, Blackburn h) 1934/35 Joe Bambrick (4 v Leeds Utd h, 4 v Man City h) 1935/36 Joe Bambrick (Stoke h, Norwich h) 1936/37 George Mills (Everton h, Man City h) 1957/58 Jimmy Greaves (4 v Portsmouth h, Sheffield Wed a) 1958/59 Jimmy Greaves (5 v Wolves h, Nottm For a) 1959/60 Jimmy Greaves (Preston h and a, Birmingham h) 1960/61 Jimmy Greaves (Wolves h, Blackburn h, Man City h, 5 v WestBrom h, 4 v Newcastle a, 4 v Nottm For h) 1961/62 Bobby Tambling (Sheffield Utd h, Sheffield Wed a) 1962/63 Bobby Tambling (Derby a, 4 v Charlton a, 4 v Portsmouth h) 1969/70 Peter Osgood (4 v C Palace a, Sunderland h, QPR a) 1971/72 Peter Osgood (Jeunesse Hautcharage a 3 and 5 h) 1971/72 Tommy Baldwin (Jeunesse Hautcharage h, Bolton a) 1981/82 Clive Walker (Shrewsbury h, Grimsby a) 1983/84 Kerry Dixon (4 v Gillingham h, Leeds Utd h) 1984/85 Kerry Dixon (Coventry h, Man City h, 4 v Wigan a) 1997/98 Gianluca Vialli (4 v Barnsley a, Tromso h) 2006/07 Didier Drogba (Levski Sofia a, Watford h) There are no suspensions for either side. Michael Ballack has four domestic bookings. One more will result in a one-match ban. Chelsea have played nineteen games and won fourteen, drawn two and lost three and kept eleven clean sheets. We have scored at least one in every game. In the Premiership Man Utd have 31 points from 12 games followed by Chelsea with 28. Arsenal have 21 points with a game in hand (Wigan away on December 13) and Aston Villa and Bolton have 21. The referee is Mike Dean. Chelsea's overall record against West Ham in all competitions is: Played 87, won 35, drawn 16, lost 36 Head to head in the League at Stamford Bridge: Played 38, won 18, drawn 8, lost 12 Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink scored six goals in five games against West Ham between our opening day 4-2 success in 2000 and the 2-3 defeat in September 2002. Dennis Wise missed four out of ten Chelsea West Ham games between 1995 and 1999 due to suspension as well as being sent off in West Ham's win at Upton Park in 1993 In December 1966 Chelsea and West Ham fought out a 5-5 draw at Stamford Bridge. With seven minutes left Chelsea were two behind and equalized in the dying seconds. Playing for Chelsea were Peter Bonetti, John Hollins, Ron Harris and Tony Hateley and for West Ham Martin Peters, Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst. West Ham's George Hilsdon signed for Chelsea at the age of 19 and proceeded to score five on his debut for the Blues against Glossop in September 1906. He went on to become one of only seven to have scored a century of goals for the club. LAST SEASON'S CORRESPONDING GAME Chelsea 4 West Ham 1 Barclays Premiership, Sunday April 9th 2006, Stamford Bridge. Kick-off 12.00 Chelsea (4-1-3-2) Cech; Gérémi, Gallas, Terry (c), Del Horno; Makelele; Essien (Carvalho 89), Maniche, Lampard; Crespo (Robben 66), Drogba (J Cole 90+1). Sent off Maniche Scorers Drogba (2  , Crespo (30), Terry (53), Gallas (6
West Ham (4-2-3-1) Hislop; Scaloni, Collins, Gabbidon, Konchesky; Benayoun (Sheringham 71), Mullins; Harewood, Reo-Coker (c), Etherington; Ashton (Zamora 83). Booked Harewood, KoncheskY Scorer Collins (10) Crowd 41,919. Referee Chris Foy. Maniche sent-off after 15 minutes. A devastating display from Didier Drogba. One of the defining games of the season. |
||||||||
|
|||||||||
 |
|
 | Pre-match briefing: Chelsea v West Ham United |
|
||
|
|
advertisement
