Some say the first half belongs to the players and second half belongs to the manager. Well Chelsea were disappointing in the first half and Jose knew what was needed to make things right. I hope he is braver over the next couple of weeks to make some sweeping changes to the team.
Begovic – We can’t blame him for the first goal and he pulled off some good simpler save, but wasn’t convinced with his efforts in the 2nd goal. 5
Ivanovic (c) – Seems to be getting better, but struggled again with the pace of the Newcastle attack. 5
Zouma – Not his usual impressive self with his marking for the first goal, a centre back should never allow a striker to bring the ball down like that in the penalty area unchallenged. 5
Cahill – The whole defence this season has been a shambles, but he played well and was unfortunate to get punished for every mistake again. 6
Azpilicueta – Our best performing defender this season, but he needs to help with the attack more often. 6
Matic – Tried his best to break up Newcastle’s attacks to the best of his ability. 6.5
Fabregas – Fabregas was to blame for the second goal, he just switched off, we have never seen him neglect defensive duties like this. 5
Hazard – Only really came to life in the last 30 minutes of the game. 6
Oscar – Was poor in the first half, he wasn’t pressing as usual – but improved in the second half. You have to love his work rate. 7
Pedro – Wasn’t effective in the first half, has the ability to retain possession in the very tricky situations. 5
Remy – Tried to get into scoring positions and had several great attempts. But we really missed the cunning of Costa. In tough situations Costa can get under the skin of defenders and unsettle them. 5
Subs
Ramires – One of the most talented players in the history of Chelsea because of his ability to play in any position. Add his pace into the equation and you have the perfect super sub when your midfield is slow and lethargic. He was my man of the match despite spending the least time on the pitch if only he had come on earlier. 10
Willian – Injected life into our midfield, we were lucky he recovered from injury in time to make our bench. 9
Falcao – Managed to unsettle the defence, which allowed Ramires and Willian to win the second half for us. 5
