We all know that in football you cannot win every game that you play, and we all should know that we wont win every game we play (far from it lately), even at home.
But Stamford Bridge has a more recent history of being a place that no team wants to come and play at, and in seasons of late, that history was nothing but a distant memory.
Our lame attempts at making Stamford Bridge a fortress again in recent seasons has failed, and in fact, it got to a point where teams were excited to come to our home stadium because they knew they had a great chance of taking points from us.
This caused for a worsened atmosphere at home games, a toxic feel amongst the fan base before, during, and after the games, and losing that ability to have our own fans as the ‘extra person’.
Sometimes, it can be fans that win you matches. I’m talking about those last 5 minutes in a game when you are trying to see out a lead and fans are cheering a big tackle or a big block, it spurs the players on enough to finish that game out and making sure they continue to put 100% effort into every move they make and every block, tackle, or sprint they do, even if they are completely knackered. The value of the crowd must never be underestimated, and it’s so important in so many aspects.
And this is why it is absolutely pinnacle that we do all we can to keep Stamford Bridge as a fortress again, and believe it or not, this season it is starting to become that once again.
Chelsea are now unbeaten in ten games at home, winning eight of those games along the way.
Now we can debate the opposition all day long, but the way things have been lately, it doesn’t matter who we are putting away at home, just as long as we are putting them away.
Chelsea’s next home game is against Wolves and it is imperative that we keep that home momentum going, right before we ‘welcome’ Tottenham to Stamford Bridge.
Not only does it have the fans feeling positive about coming to home games, it also gives the players confidence and a real lift every time they come to The Bridge and play. They know that they have been strong there lately and they can use that as an extra motivation.
We wont win every game there, but it’s so important we make ourselves very hard to beat there. We need to strike that fear back in any opponent who have to come and play against Chelsea on our own turf. This can do so much damage psychologically and can genuinely win us matches.
I’ve been to games lately and I’ve noticed the atmosphere just generally having a toxic feel. It’s completely understandable though. But we have a chance to change that now by turning Stamford Bridge back into a fortress, and this recent run of ten games inbeaten there, has given us all a massive lift, a lift that we all very much needed right now.
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