I know it's a week overdue, but I have had one busy week and I final got chance to reflect on this game today, ahead of our biggest of the season. So we went into the Chelsea game full of confidence after the win against Birmingham and the draw against Tottenham, which should have been more. The confidence in the squad does seem for once in a few years holding and we looked a better squad as we started off the game at Stamford Bridge. We held, pressed and kept them down to a creative bareness with very little chances really make Ali work above his normal level.
It was in all a scrappy game, and one I have really found hard to write about. But the major point in the game, was Chelsea's goal. A 62nd minute scrap of a goal, where at first we failed to clear, followed by a foul on Ali. Left Malouda with an open net. Ball delivered in from a corner, Ali came to catch. Torres's arm was clearly raised at Ali blocking him from catching the ball. Referring error. Now why not one of our players just went and smashed that ball out is beyond me, because eventually it fell to a Chelsea shirt for the tap in.
So after that was the most important part of the game for Latics. Had we crumbled and been demolished our confidence would have gone. But unlike recent Latic's teams, we held on. We fought and like so many other games this year we came close to getting back on level terms. The story of our season summed up in one game. Mistake made, and then none there to score at the other end. Does it mean we won't stay up.
That all hinges on the game which is about to kick of in 40 minutes or so. We have to go out against Blackpool bouncing and take the game from the first minute, filure to do so and our chances of staying up are gone. The fight back starts today and the players, fans and staff know it.
Win and we could climb out of the relegation zone, boost the team's confidence and make a statement to the rest of the league. We will not go down, and if we do. We will go down fighting.