First questionable team selection?
With Franck Queudrue injured/unfit/having nightmares about small adopted wingers, Stuart Parnaby came it at right-back with Stephen Kelly switching to left-back, as Blues had finished at Stamford Bridge. No real complaints with that - Mat Sadler is out too, so it's fair enough. That was the only change to the Chelsea starting line-up which meant that Gary McSheffrey and Olivier Kapo both still played, but switched positions, with McSheffrey moving up front and Kapo playing wide left. Now, anyone who read my post-Chelsea comments on McSheffrey will know that I wasn't too impressed with his performance at Stamford Bridge and that I feared he might be on the verge of becoming one of Steve Bruce's "untouchables". Well, realising that he wasn't good enough to play the wide left role, but then still accommodating him up front only served to highlight that that sort of scenario might be happening.
I can't recall McSheffrey ever starting a game for Blues up front. I know he's moved up there during games quite often, and actually, thinking about it, he may have started one game up there at some point before Christmas last season, but otherwise he's been used wide left, pretty much. If Blues were to play 4-4-2 last night, then they needed two proper strikers, in my eyes. McSheffrey could have done it if there was no other options, but let's look at the bench: Cameron Jerome, Garry O'Connor, Rowa… well, Cameron Jerome and Garry O'Connor. If we're playing 4-4-2 with Kapo wide left, why not play two strikers??? Why accommodate an out-of-form forward type player (he's not a proper striker anymore, even if he was years ago - he's too used to playing deep) because of his form a year ago? McSheffrey may well rediscover his form, but let him do that in his own time - don't start accommodating him for the sake of it.
Blues actually looked at their best late on when they had O'Connor and Forssell up front. It was a case of two proper strikers, playing striking roles - taking up good positions, running the channels, competing in the air. Rather than Forssell being the only one able to do that, Blues suddenly had two of them, and lo and behold, it helped created Blues' second goal (as did some magnificent play by Kapo). McSheffrey was lost last night. Nothing against him personally, but if it's decided that he's not playing wide left in a 4-4-2, he shouldn't be playing unless we have an injury crisis up front. If we play a different formation, that may change, but not in 4-4-2.
So, what else? Well, there were again plenty of positives to take out of the game for Blues. After a poor opening 20 minutes, they settled well, and whilst not stunning, looked fairly good. If they keep scoring two goals a game, they'll be ok. Kapo was again superb - his ability to calm things down when in possession is a joy to watch. Two defenders around him? No problem - a drop of the shoulder one way and a flick of the boot the other and he's in five yards of space WITH HIS HEAD UP (not many Blues midfielders do that) looking for a sensible pass. His involvment in O'Connor's goal was crucial - he picked the ball up on the right, played it inside, kept going and then was involved in creating the space for Forssell who then played in an unmarked O'Connor.
The defence still looks shaky, possibly because of the current full-back problems (it wouldn't be Blues if we weren't having problems there), and probably also because of the lack of understanding that I'm sure will come. Liam Ridgewell and Johan Djourou both had very impressive individual displays last night, but don't look to have clicked as a partnership quite yet. They're both quality defenders though, so I'm sure that will come in time. I'd be more worried if they both looked crap, but they don't - they're both looking good. When the defence gels (the games are coming so thick and fast at the moment that it's difficult to work on too much in training) I think Blues will look more comfortable at the back.
It was a big disappointment to concede the late equaliser, as three points would have been a huge boost for Blues. People felt very despondent coming away from the game, but there were plenty of positives (again), and things don't look as drastically wrong as they did this time two years ago. A win doesn't look far away, and you couldn't say that two years ago. It was always going to be tough, and is proving so, but at least Blues look set up to have a good old go at it this time.
For my hordes of fans, I apologise, but I shall not be attending the West Ham game on Saturday. I'll be back for the Derby away game though. Hopefully by the time I sit down to write that, we'll have at least one win under our belt.