There was no shock result at the Valley when Sky Bet Division Championship side Charlton Athletic hosted Premier League Chelsea in the third round of the FA Cup. 

After the match, both managers gave their views. First up was new Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior. He said “I was very happy with the attitude of the team, even in the first half. This is not an easy place to come, third round of the FA Cup. I thought our press was really intense and really good, I felt that we controlled the game, created a couple of chances from outside the box. The goal came at a really good time for us, a fantastic finish from (Jorrell) Hato.

“The game opens up second half and I thought that some of the passages of play, we have outstanding players, we were able to bring on some outstanding players from the bench but I have to say that I was delighted with the starting eleven,

“The biggest thing that I challenged our players on was our reactions to setbacks, our intensity, nothing tactical, nothing technical, the players are outstanding. They’ve been well coached before me but I was very happy with the togetherness and the spirit of the group today. I was very happy with the intensity, winning duels, winning headers, all of the basics where you get your joy from.”

Any suggestion that Chelsea shouldn’t have conceded against a team from a lower division were refuted. “Forget they’re a championship side, they’re a very good team from set plays, we knew that.” he said. “We scored our second goal from a set play, they scored their goal from a set play, they’re crucial. We need to improve in that aspect as well. Whether it’s long throws, wide free kicks, corners coming into our box, they are the basics we talk about in football so we’re obviously disappointed to concede but our reaction to conceding was magnificent. We went up a gear and that’s a really pleasing part of the game.”

It was then Charlton manager, Nathan Jones, who spoke.  “For long periods, we competed, and we competed really well.” he said. “My biggest disappointment is just the second and third goals. Late on they played with a flourish. The fifth goal isn’t a pen, the fourth goal, we’re a little bit open but the second and third goal has killed us really. They’re schoolboy. They’re poor, poor. We can’t concede from that type of set play. It’s just too easy for them to get a header. 

“The third goal really disappoints me because it’s stuff that we work on, we preach to them, we show them, we blow it up. We give them clear pictures of the edge of the box and how we defend counter attacks. We don’t drop in and think that it’s a safe haven when we drop all the way into our box when people wait on the edge of the box.”

Having done so well to keep it tight in the first half, they conceded from a great strike in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Jones said “You have to accept that. There’s a lot going on in the game, obviously the medical stop (for a spectator needing attention), it meant that there was seven minutes of added time, normally there’s only a minute of added time so you don’t know but them striking a wonderful strike can happen so you accept that. 

“Could it have been defended better? Yeah, but you accept that, but the second and third I can’t accept. At any level, a ball is whipped into the near post and the near post man is square, he doesn’t even look. He doesn’t think, he just gets pushed off the ball. It’s too easy. It’s so schoolboy and that’s the frustration and then it kills you and we’d started well

“Then just when we get back into the game the counter attack is something, I can’t tell you because it’s gone, they’ve had a counter attack, they’ve had a shot from the rebound, it’s just stuff that we work on every single week. We’ve conceded from that type of goal before. We show them, we debrief, we gift them every single bit of information they can possibly have but to concede from it, for me, is the biggest disappointment of the night.

“You tell good players once, they remember, they don’t do it again so there’s a decision to make because that can’t happen and the worry is the fear factor and I’ll drop back into the box and protect the goal. There’s no-one in the box but we all drop in, we all go to the ball with one, leave the others, they overload and shoot. 

“If we defend it better then maybe we can take the game longer but once that third goal went in, then it gives them that freedom to play and they’re world class players with a swagger and confidence and it’s difficult to get near them because they are a world class team. They’re the current World Champions and they have spent a billion pounds so they are a wonderful team and when they can play with that freedom and without jeopardy they are very difficult to contain.”

Picture supplied by Keith Gillard.