Summary

When all is said and done, tonights performance was simply not good enough. I thought that we'd come up against a tough opponent in Napoli, but we didn't. They were poor. But the battle that we are having currently is due to our own inabilities.

Never have I seen a Chelsea team look so inept at passing and ball control. At the start of this season, I thought passing under AVB was really good, playing quick one-twos and creating good space. Now, we look like a team of Jesper Gronkjaer's - unable to pass or cross, and allowing the ball to 'run over' our feet too often - and it's incredibly frustrating to watch!

Tactically, it was a shambles. I've seen a more disciplined display on a primary schoolyard. Our players were constantly ball watching, and chasing the ball non-stop. It means we don't have players covering the whole pitch, and we lack any energy to produce a meaningful chance.

I think we deserved to lose by the margin that we did, and I wouldn't praise Napoli at all which is how embarrasing our performance was. It was truly dreadful.


Player ratings:
Cech - 6 - pulled off a couple of decent saves, that you'd expect him to make, though perhaps a little over zealous for the 3rd goal.

Ivanovic - 4- An off game for him. Allowed Cavani in for the 2nd goal, and crossing was mostly poor. Receives poor cover from Sturridge.

Cahill - 3 - could not deal with Cavani or Lavezzi.

Luiz - 3 - likewise as above. Mistake for the 3rd goal. A couple of good interventions but positives are few and far between.

Cole - 4 - Second best to Maggio, and no control going forwards. A great save off the line may have kept us in the tie.

Mereiles - 2 - never got going, didn't give the defense any cover. It may not be his natural position, but as a professional you'd hope for more. His defending for the 1st Napoli goal was atrocious.

Ramires - 2 - Even worse than Mereiles and probably deserved to be at fault for at least one of the goals. His control let him down on several occassions, although you can rarely quesiton his energy.

Malouda - 3 - started brightly I thought, and then faded into anonymity after Mata's goal. Perhaps he was disheartened to see his closest Chelsea rival get on the scoresheet....

Mata - 6 - With Cech, probably the only player to have come out of the game with some pride. His goal was a gift, but he worked hard and was trying to pull the strings. By no means his best performance with some sloppy touches.

Sturridge - 3 - he could not get that ball under control! When it's not working up front for him, he offers very little as he won't defend ever. Doesn't always show awareness of other players around, though not the only one guilty of that!

Drogba - 2 - Anonymous.


I didn't rate Lampard, Essien or Bosingwa but they did nothing of note (which is probably a good thing given that this was a match ridden with mistakes!).

Team rating - 2. No awareness, little desire, no discipline, no ability. Really terrible performance, with the only positive being that Napoli didn't have the ability to punish us further.