Buzzin Football Blog

If I was to tell you the game between Chelsea and Valencia ended in a 0-0 draw, and that it was a meaningless game as far as Chelsea had already qualified for the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League before a ball was kicked, you would probably think the game was a dull, lifeless affair. Never would that thought be further than the truth.

Chelsea played to win and deserved all three points. They started and finished in an up-tempo fashion with about 20 shots along the way. What was apparent that in the first half, with both Andriy Shevchenko and Claudio Pizarro spearheading the attack, and the second half with Pizarro and the introduction of Joe Cole for Frank Lampard, was though Chelsea had plenty of shots and hit the woodwork twice, where are the goals going to come from without Didier Drogba (who is currently injured and will miss January due to the Africa Nations Cup)?

The game included two rather bizarre incidences. The first involved David Villa, a much proclaimed prolific goal scorer with bags of talent. Tonight he was just was not interested, at all. Valencia are apparently not performing well in La Liga. Manager Ronald Koeman has lost the dressing room and the club is experiencing internal politics. David Villa’s performance epitomized all of this.

Shortly into the second half he fell to the floor with the slightest of innocuous challenges. As the ITV4 commentators carried on yakking about something completely insignificant Villa just looked over to the bench and simply shook his head. Valencia got a substitute ready faster than a F1 Ferrari pit stop, while Villa got to his feet and casually walked off, passed Koeman and disappeared straight down the tunnel, and probably got into a taxi with his kit on and asked to be driven to the airport!

I have never seen such an obvious lack of interest in playing a game of football in my life! I hereby declare that David Villa is looking for a move in the January transfer window.

The second bizarre occurrence happened as Chelsea continued to doggedly attack the Valencia goalmouth. One particularly weak shot was followed by the most outrageous back pass by Junior I have ever seen. It left Valencia keeper Santiago Canizares no option but to header the back pass out for a corner as he stood, under pressure, just off his goal line.

Chelsea looked good except for a goal scorer.  Imagine how effective they would be with an Alan Shearer or Ruud Van Nistlerooy figure.  The Champions League resumes in February.  By then Didier Drogba, Michael Essein and Salomon Kalou will be back from the African Nations Cup and could well go all the way. If they do, imagine how gutted Jose Mourinho would be!