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Your support makes all the difference.IT'S TOUGH when you've got to defend an ageing midfielder, dodgy undercarriage and all. "Trouble is that you people [the London press] don't see enough of him," Bryan Robson said sharply. "If you'd seen our last three matches he was outstanding."
Who else but Paul Gascoigne, the most naturally gifted English footballer of his generation.
Middlesbrough's manager knew that someone was bound to dwell on Gascoigne's fitful contribution, his struggle to keep up with the Premiership's relentless pace and physical commitment. On the evidence of their defeat at Chelsea on Saturday, it was all too much for an ill-used body but Robson will have none of it. "Gazza's not going to be brilliant in every game," he added.
Here was once a great player in superannuation, playing mostly safe passes in his own half, no longer strong enough to carry the ball into more vital areas. Gascoigne's brain still works - a terrific long pass almost set up Hamilton Ricard - but the legs no longer work for him.
Watching Gascoigne you are reminded of other artists who discovered that the force had left them. In his last match for Tottenham Hotspur more than 30 years ago Danny Blanchflower was utterly embarrassed by the ease with Manchester United carried out Matt Busby's instructions to take the ball past him. The difference is that Gascoigne is seven years younger. Maybe Gascoigne has enough left to justify Middlesbrough's pounds 3.5m investment - he will not come up against many teams with Chelsea's attacking verve - but the signs are not good and the question now is whether Middlesbrough have enough all-round strength to accommodate their most talented footballer's obvious physical limitations.
Comparisons with Gianfranco Zola were inevitable. The little Italian was everywhere, his appreciation of where to go for the ball often allowing Chelsea the luxury of three attackers while remaining secure in midfield.
Not that Middlesbrough had a great deal to offer beyond resolute defending. There was never enough auxiliary support and the 57th-minute substitution of Phil Stamp for Ricard's partner, Mikkel Beck, could have been made much earlier.
However, for all their domination in midfield and the confusion Brian Laudrup caused on the left side of Middlesbrough's defence, Chelsea did not break through until a minute after the interval. Mark Schwarzer's alert and agile goalkeeping had something to do with this but so did Laudrup's delivery, his curling crosses invariably carrying too much pace.
This might have been the case with Laudrup's low, driven centre in the 46th minute but a breakdown of communication in the defence resulted in Gary Pallister's own goal.
If Chelsea's second had a touch of real class it probably caused Robson to utter some harsh words in the dressing- room. Nobody thought to close down Gustavo Poyet after a break in play and the outcome was a pass that Zola lobbed neatly over Schwarzer.
Gianluca Vialli thought Chelsea had given their best performance of the season but allowed no room for complacency. "You'll have to ask my players whether they are confident of being good enough to win the championship but nothing is possible unless they work for it.
"Thinking something is one thing. Achieving it is another," he said.
Then there is Vialli's contentious rotational system. "Too much is made of it," he said. "I haven't made that many changes and you'll find that most of today's team have started in all our matches."
Not Tore Andre Flo whose two goals after coming on at Blackburn last week brought a notable victory. It was back to the bench for Flo on Saturday but only until half-time when he took over from Pierluigi Casighari who has yet to score in the Premiership.
Some believe that Vialli's selections indicate a bad habit. On the other hand a bad habit is only a bad habit if it does not work. We shall see.
Goals: Pallister og (46) 1-0; Zola (81) 2-0.
Chelsea (4-4-2): De Goey; Ferrer, Desailly, Leboeuf (Duberry, 83), Le Saux; Laudrup (Petrescu, 75), Poyet, Di Matteo, Babayaro; Zola, Casiraghi (Flo, h-t). Substitutes not used: Hitchcock (og), Newton.
Middlesbrough (3-5-2) Schwarzer; Cooper, Vickers, Pallister; Festa, Mustoe, Gascoigne, Townsend, Gordon; Ricard, Beck (Stamp, 57). Substitutes not used: Moore, Beresford, Maddison, Blackmore.
Referee: M Reed (Birmingham)
Bookings: Chelsea: Babayaro, Di Matteo, Ferrer. Middlesbrough: Festa, Mustoe, Gacoigne, Beck, Cooper.
Man of the match: Zola.
Attendance: 34,811.
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