"You'd have to be a real dope to mess it up"

Being a Manchester United fan it is hard to hide to write this piece with showing my contempt for Chelsea and Rafa Benitez but I will try and keep it to just facts so it doesn't come across much.

Just a few hours after Queens Park Rangers boss Harry Redknapp says only "a real dope" would fail as manager of west London rivals Chelsea, Chelsea lost at home 1-0 to QPR thanks to a Shaun Wright-Phillips goal, some backs to the wall defending by QPR and a questionable offside decision.

Chelsea dominated throughout but could not break down QPR's packed defence and looked a very different team to the side that put Villa to the sword in there last home.  that is because it was Chelsea made 5 changes from the starting XI that beat Everton at the weekend and 4 from the starting XI, albeit one enforced due to Cech's injury.

Rafa Benitez is famous for his rotation of his squads and so far has yet to name the same starting XI two games in a row and the two times they have lost is when he has made the most changes (4 - West Ham, 5 - QPR), the question is this damaging his teams chances of the title?

To look at that I have compared Rafa's record with the other top 6 teams for this season so far;

Manchester United have fielded the same starting XI two games in a row only once this season in their back to back wins against Chelsea and Arsenal.  Their loses have come after 1 change for the Tottenham match and 3 changes for the Norwich loss.  The Everton loss was the first game of the season so it can't be compared.

Manchester City haven't played the same starting XI two games in a row so far this season.  Their loses have come after 4 changes for the United match and 2 changes for the Sunderland loss.

Tottenham have fielded the same starting XI two games in a row twice so far, Man U then Villa, Southampton then Wigan with a Win - Win and Win - Lose record.   Their loses have come after 3, 0, 1, 2 and 2 changes against Chelsea, Wigan, Man City, Arsenal and Everton respectively.   The Newcastle loss was the first game of the season so it can't be compared.

Chelsea under Di Matteo fielded the same starting XI two games in a row twice so far, Stoke then Arsenal, Spurs then Man United with a W-W and W-L record   Their loses have come after 0 changes for the United match match and 4 changes for the West Brom loss.

Everton have fielded the same starting XI two games in a row in 4 games so far, Vllla then West Brom, Southampton then Wigan, Fulham then Sunderland, Arsenal then Man City with a W-L, W-D, D-W, D-D record.  Their loses have come after 0, 2 and 1 changes against West Brom, Reading and Chelsea respectively

Arsenal have fielded the same starting XI two games in a row in 3 games so far QPR then Man U, Reading then Wigan, Newcastle then Southampton with a W-L, W-W, W-D record.  Their loses have come after 1, 1, 0 and 4 changes against Chelsea, Norwich, Man United and Swansea respectively.

Conclusion

Teams will try and play the same starting XI after a good result but the bigger the squad and the better the team is the more likely changes will be made and whole sale changes can cause defeats, will Rafa learn from this?

I doubt it, but as Harry is probably right Chelsea will finish in the top 4 no matter who is in charge but it takes someone "Special" to take them further and Rafa is not that man.


Trivia Questions 2

Q: How many teams have never been relegated from the English Premier League?

Answers to Question 1

Q: Can you name the 3 football teams that have 4 separate spans in the English Premier League?

A: Crystal Palace (1992–1993, 1994–1995, 1997–1998, 2004–2005)
    Sunderland (1996–1997, 1999–2003, 2005–2006, 2007– )
    West Brom (2002–2003, 2004–2006, 2008–2009, 2010– )