Arsenal 1-0 Roma
Atletico 2-2 Porto
Chelsea 1-0 Juventus
Internazionale 0-0 Man. United
Lyon 1-1 Barcelona
Real Madrid 0-1 Liverpool
Sporting 0-5 Bayern
Villarreal 1-1 Panathinaikos
Champions League second round results – first leg
Why Tottenham did not succeed this year
Tottenham were having big plans at the beginning of the season after they managed to transfer several players with good reputation in Europe.
Also they had Juande Ramos as manager, the man who was supposed to bring Tottenham in Champions League. Unfortunately the things did not went as expected and Tottenham are in the relegation zone.
Even if they invest a lot of money in transfers, the new players have not manage to adapt to the team or to Premier League in some of the cases.
Another reason for this bad season could be the massive change of the squad. There were no relationships between players, the results failed to appear things that have led to Ramos dismissal.
Tottenham have brought back Harry Redknap, the former manager with which they were very close to catch the fourth place few seasons ago. Redknap brought back Defoe and Keane his favorite couple of attackers but the things have not change too much.
If everything seems compromised in Premier League, Tottenham were hoping for better in Uefa Cup. But they do not have too many chances after losing 2-0 at Shakhtar Donetsk.
The only accesible goal now remains the League Cup where they will play the finnal with Manchester United.
Why Guus Hiddink should use Anelka – Drogba pair at Chelsea
Drogba and Anelka have rarely played together this season, ex-manager Scolari preferred to play only with one striker upfront.
More than that Drogba failed to make Chelsea‘s starting line-up too many times this season Scolari preferring Anelka as lone striker. Drogba was never at his best under Scolari, mainly due to injuries, managing to score only once, not the way we all expected.
The appointment of Hiddink was well received by Drogba and his colleagues. The Ivorian international could get the chance to shine again under his new manager. Chelsea is having a bad time right now and the manager change would probably not be enough to make things work again.
The system 4-3-2-1 seems to not fit anymore Chelsea as Malouda or Kalou are simply not good enough for Chelsea‘s standards. The system worked perfectly under Mourinho but since then a lot of things have changed. Duff and Robben left the club, Essien is injured, Joe Cole is out of form as well as Deco, Quaresma or Mikel their potential replacement.
A good solution for Hiddink would be to change the system to a 4-4-2 classic formation with only 2 central midfielder and with Drogba and Anelka upfront. Also Anelka, the Premier League top scorer would be delighted to play alongside Drogba as he declared some weeks ago:
“It is not secret that I play better alongside another striker, particularly with Didier Drogba in a 4-4-2. Hopefully I’ll have some more chances do so.”
If the system will not work then Chelsea should search for some good wingers in the summer, Robinho, Young, Silva or Di Maria could be ideal targets in this case.