Loïc Rémy's second goal of the season, the eleventh of his Chelsea career, looked to be a possible turning point in our season, perfectly timed for maximum positive impact in the dying moments of regulation time in yesterday's League Cup match at Stoke City. Unfortunately, Chelsea were unable to finish the job in extra time and ended up losing in the penalty kick shootout.
Still, in his post-match interview with Chelsea TV, Rémy is finding a lot of positives in the performance and thinks it's definitely something we can build on.
"Yeah the fight was really good, the spirit of the team as well. We lost this game with the penalties, but looking at what we did in the game before that, there is absolutely no shame to have. We played really well. I thought at the end of the game we'd be disappointed because of the loss, but to be honest, if we keep playing this way, I'm sure that we will win some games very soon. [...] We need to keep some things from tonight and just score some goals."
Some of those things that we should be keeping are the movement in the attacking third and the "injection of pace" that we showed at times and apparently the manager has been stressing ahead of the game. Some of the things we shouldn't keep are the hilariously bad counter-attacks that we managed to bumble away. And maybe reset Eden Hazard's penalty taking skill.
"Unfortunately for us, we didn't win. But the penalty is not really important. We played really well, the whole team. There's no point to blame him [for the miss]; he's a very good player, very talented and I'm sure we will many more games with him. No worries."
With Costa possibly out for this weekend's Liverpool match, Rémy could be called upon to deputize once again. Fortunately, the striker says he's fully fit and ready for the weekend. And despite all the negative headlines, he remains adamant that the spirit of the squad is "good" and that they're "not affected" by the media storm.
"Of course when you play we did tonight and you don't win, it's frustrating, but we are not worried. We know last season we were champions, and that's not for nothing, that's not by chance. We know the quality is there."
So say we all.