Benitez moves up in the world! Blues reach final after Rafa pulls off Luiz masterstroke
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UPDATED:
22:30 GMT, 13 December 2012
FINAL COUNTDOWN
Chelsea will now play Brazilian team Corinthians in Sunday's final. You can follow all the build up and action with Mail Online.
Chelsea
stand one game from being crowned world champions but if further proof
were needed that FIFA's Club World Cup remains a dysfunctional
tournament, here it was.
A
semi-final mismatch, played in front of a half-empty stadium with an
atmosphere so quiet it was possible to hear Petr Cech's instructions to
his defenders, is no recommendation for a competition that remains sadly
unloved, despite its best intentions.
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Japaneasy: Chelsea cruised to a Club World Cup victory over Mexican side Monterrey in Yokohama
MATCH FACTS
MONTERREY: OrOrozco, Perez (Osorio 58), Mier, Basanta, Chavez, Meza (Solis 83), Ayovi, Cardozo, Corona, Delgado (Carreno 83), De Nigris.
Goals: De Nigris 90+2.
CHELSEA: Cech, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Ivanovic, Cole, Mikel, Luiz (Lampard 63), Mata (Ferreira 74), Oscar, Hazard, Torres (Moses 79).
Goals: Mata 17, Torres 46, Chavez OG 48.
Attendance: 36,648
Referee: Carlos Vera (Ecuador)
Apart from one shock in 2010 when an
African team, Mazembe, made the final at the expense of Internacional of
Brazil, this is basically the old Intercontinental Cup with a new
ballgown.
We know the only tie that really
aspires to excellence is the meeting of the champions of Europe and
South America, but the competition goes through the tortuous process of
eliminating the rest of the world first, and then makes the also-rans
play off for the dubious privilege of finishing third to eighth.
Thrilling.
Even so, from the perspective of
Chelsea and their manager Rafael Benitez, this is FIFA's problem to
resolve. They can only beat what is in front of them and on Thursday
that was Monterrey, champions of CONCACAF but currently 10th in Mexico's
first division.
Number Juan: Chelsea took the lead on 17 minutes through Juan Mata's low drive
Thinking of you: Mata paid tribute to countryman Oriol Romeu, who was ruled out for the season recently
'YOU'RE NOT WELCOME HERE'
Despite
them being fewer than 1,000 in number at the Yokohama International
Stadium, Chelsea fans could still be heard taunting interim boss Rafael
Benitez with cries for former boss Roberto Di Matteo.
Predictably, Chelsea were a
different class. Faster, stronger, more astute, the scoreline does not
reflect the reality of the contest because they had eased into training
mode long before the final whistle and Monterrey's goal came in
second-half added time.
The stickler in Benitez still
disapproved but he will have been happy with the ease of Chelsea's
progression, having fretted over jet-lag and a lack of preparation
earlier in the week. It transpired only cursory regard for the Mexicans
was required.
Rough and tumble: Chelsea were made to work harder than expected by their Mexican counterparts
Benitez made one change to accommodate Monterrey's strength at playing between the lines and it won the game.
David Luiz, in a midfield role, was a
revelation. The knot of travelling Chelsea fans still expressed their
contempt for their interim manager but neutrals are increasingly
impressed.
Without doubt, Chelsea's defence is
tighter, undeniably, Fernando Torres is scoring again and Benitez's
deployment of Luiz was a masterstroke.
Considering the amount of argument,
tactical and technical, that swirls around elite football clubs, to come
up with an original plan that, once seen, looks so obvious, is no mean
feat.
Plenty have said Luiz could be a
defensive midfielder, but Benitez took that simple strategy a stage
further. He made him a defensive midfield player who attacks.
Luiz, as a central defender, is
unreliable, everyone knows that. He wants to get forward. So move him
forward, and play him in front of the back four. Yes, but it's not as
easy as that.
Deserting the defensive midfield
position is as fatal in modern football as going for a wander at centre
half. Benitez stopped playing Steven Gerrard centrally for precisely
this reason.
If Luiz was holding and went
walkabout, opponents would be straight into Chelsea's defensive line.
What to do Benitez resolved that issue with a tactical nuance. He left
John Mikel Obi as the prime holding player and gave Luiz limited freedom
to roam and create when Chelsea were in possession.
Star man: Luiz was a revelation at the heart of Chelsea's midfield
Defending, he bolstered his side's
presence and his quickness, of foot and thought, was a tremendous
positive. Yet when Monterrey's moves broke down, Luiz came into his
own, supporting the attack and playing the best passes of the game, two
of which should have ended in goals.
He may have to rein in a little
against superior opponents – like Corinthians – but this performance
felt like a lightbulb sparking over those impressive curls. This was
Luiz's perfect role. It was no coincidence that when he left the field after 63 minutes he was replaced by Frank Lampard.
Bought to their knees: Fernando Torres' bright start to the second half finished off Monterrey's challenge
Benitez may have found a radical and realistic solution to the Lampard succession conundrum. It was an option, he admitted.
'I know David from Benfica, where he
was playing centre back, left back, right back, midfield, in many
positions,' Benitez said.
'I knew they were quick and intricate
in that area between the lines, with players coming in from the left,
so I wanted to put someone in there who could stop them.
'David is quick, can regain the ball a
lot and, at the same time, play passes to our players. We needed energy
in there, and David is a good passer with good energy. He did well.'
Job done: Chelsea wrapped up victory when Darvin Chavez diverted the ball into his own goal
It took Luiz four minutes to turn up
on the edge of Monterrey's area and have a shot, and two more to play
arguably the finest pass of the game to give Eden Hazard a chance one on
one, which he squandered.
Luiz also hit a great ball to Torres
shortly before half-time but by then Chelsea were a goal up and in
charge, and his failure to make the most of it was not greeted with the
usual anguish.
The English side's opener came from a
quite exquisite move, involving a backheel by Hazard that put in Ashley
Cole, who squared for Juan Mata to finish.
Time to smile: Rafael Benitez was relaxed on the touchline as his team earned their place in the final
From there, Monterrey were as good as done. The three minutes after half-time ended the game as a contest.
Just 17 seconds after the restart,
Chelsea went further ahead. Hazard broke down the left flank and found
Torres, whose shot was deflected past goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco.
Little more than two minutes later a
superb Torres cross picked out Mata, who cut the ball back only for
central defender Darvin Chavez to bundle it into his own net.
Chavez said before the game that he
hoped Premier League scouts would be watching; after that debacle he
must have been thankful the game went live only on the BBC HD channel.
… and most of the local support got behind him, though those from London cheered for Di Matteo
Monterrey coach Victor Vucetich, who
had predicted, rightly, that Chelsea would score, knew the size of his
task. Monterrey played in Blackpool's colours, but there the resemblance
ended. Blackpool would have given Chelsea more of a game.
'We had to play a perfect match to win today,' Vucetich said. 'We knew Chelsea were much stronger.'
Even so, Monterrey scored, in injury
time after Cole appeared to knock off for a late supper and Aldo de
Nigris travelled down the right unchallenged before finishing smartly
across Cech.
Those that know Benitez say as much
time will be spent revisiting that little lapse as glorying in the
performance that preceded it. He knows from bitter experience that one
chance, against the run of play, can decide this tournament – as it did
for Sao Paulo against Liverpool in 2005 – and if he wants to parlay his
interim appointment into a permanent one, the first stage is to
demonstrate he is a manager who wins the big matches.
'When I talk about a winning mentality, always it is the little details that make the difference,' he said.
'It's not easy with a new manager,
six days and two games, but now the team knows what we want to do. They
have more confidence and are enjoying their football.
'They have to think about winning in style and they have to keep their concentration for 90 minutes.'
If it was as easy as that, of course,
Chelsea would not be on their fourth manager in two and a half seasons.
Then again, if they could play Monterrey every week, Claudio Ranieri
would still be in the job.
VIDEO: Watch Graham Chadwick's latest video blog of the Blues in Yokohama…
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VIDEO: Rafa is pleased with the team's performance…
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