The Top Flight
Fansided

5 Takeaways From Shrewsbury Town vs. Chelsea

By Lou Flavius

facebooktwitterreddit

Didier Drogba – Flickr Creative Commons

Chelsea continued their unbeaten run by toppling Shrewsbury Town in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday. The Blues have made it to the quarter finals of the competition for the fourth year in a row. Here are Five things we learned from the match.

1. Chelsea Have A Good Crop Of Youngsters

Kurt Zouma – Flickr Creative Commons

And not just that; Jose Mourinho seems like he is prepared to give them a chance. The manager isn’t taking this competition for granted and he clearly wants to win it, but he has trusted his youngsters by giving them major minutes. Kurt Zouma, Nathan Ake and Andreas Christensen all started the match today, they looked quite comfortable and hardly made any mistakes.

Big clubs normally use their young players in this tournament, but Mourinho has also given his kids valuable minutes in both the Premier League and Champions League. I expect a few of them to hold down regular first-team spots in the near future.

Live Feed

Set to return, Virgil Van Dijk facing heavy criticism back home
Set to return, Virgil Van Dijk facing heavy criticism back home /

Rush The Kop

  • Premier League rumors: McTominay to Bayern, Paqueta to Newcastle, Wilder to Sheffield UnitedFanSided
  • Premier League news: Sancho to Barca, Gallagher to Spurs, Chalobah to BayernFanSided
  • Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea player ratings: Abysmal, reckless, wastefulThe Pride of London
  • Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea: 3 Blues talking pointsThe Pride of London
  • 3 talking points from Arsenal's victory at Goodison ParkPain in the Arsenal

    • 2. Chelsea Have Difficulty Defending Set Pieces As Of Late

    The Blues dropped two points at at Old Trafford over the weekend due to their complacency at defending set pieces, and the fact that they lost Branislav Ivanovic to a ridiculous refereeing decision. They also let Shrewsbury back into a game they should have won quite easily when John Obi Mikel failed to clear a ball which was brought down into the box off a corner. As a result, Andrew Magnan was able to equalize with a powerful shot from point blank range.

    Chelsea went through a similar patch last season. Mourinho even jokingly stated that practice dummies would score against his squad during set piece training. In the end though, he worked it out, he should have no problems doing so again.

    Live Feed

    Premier League news: Sancho to Barca, Gallagher to Spurs, Chalobah to Bayern
    Premier League news: Sancho to Barca, Gallagher to Spurs, Chalobah to Bayern /

    FanSided

  • Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea player ratings: Abysmal, reckless, wastefulThe Pride of London
  • Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea: 3 Blues talking pointsThe Pride of London
  • Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 1 Blue Mauricio Pochettino should dropThe Pride of London
  • Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 3 Blues who must startThe Pride of London
  • Predicted Chelsea lineup vs Bournemouth: Palmer starts in 4-2-3-1The Pride of London

    • 3. Shrewsbury Are Quite Hard To Break Down

    The League two outfit certainly gave Chelsea a run for their money; they did have help from their sloppy pitch, but they defended well and Chelsea found that they were quite difficult to penetrate. Shrewsbury put up a good fight, and instead of a routine win for Chelsea, it was hard-fought, entertaining match.

    4. Mohamed Salah Isn’t Up To The Chelsea Standard As Yet

    The Egyptian winger did well to assist Drogba’s goal, but he hasn’t made the cut just yet. He will surely improve if he gets more minutes under his belt, he needs to do a lot more to impress Mourinho though. He does possess the skill and pace to shake a defender up, but his finishing is quite poor. Salah hit a shot horribly wide during the match…

    5. Didier Drogba Is Still The Man

    The big Ivorian still has a few goals left in him, he has scored three goals in his last three matches, and to be honest, he doesn’t seem like a 36-year-old at all. Drogba — who scored a lovely header against Manchester United on Sunday — added to his tally today with a wonderful center-forward’s goal. He would have scored another if Jermaine Grandison hadn’t hit it into his own net. Chelsea needed him to step up in the wake of their striker-injury crisis, and step up he has. “The Drog” still got it!

    The Blues are set to host QPR next. Can the unbeaten streak continue?

    Home/Chelsea