League Cup Final preview: Chelsea v. Spurs; beware the crazy people…
There must have been a full moon sometime over the last few days. Everywhere you look this week, some very odd things have been happening (snow in Athens?) and there seem to have been hordes of delusional people hogging the headlines.
They’ve been prancing merrily around in our calm waters of reason when they should be restricted to occupying the sun loungers on Insanity Beach. And many of them seem to be closely connected to football, which is a worrying barometer as to the collective mental state of the national game.
Nutter-in-chief Richard Scudamore has carried on extolling the virtues of his cash and carry world tour, whilst everyone from Sepp Blatter to Penelope Keith has proclaimed it to be a stinker of an idea. Full marks for determination in the face of adversity; but I’m wondering if he isn’t related to the chap who made the band on the Titanic play on whilst the icy waters of the North Atlantic lapped suggestively around Kate Winslett’s nipples.
Elsewhere, Fulham FC and corner shop owner Mohammed Al Fayed has had his long-awaited day in court, where he pronounced effusively that approximately 34,726 people were involved in a conspiracy to make a drunk bloke crash a Mercedes. Presumably among their number was the mysterious figure that didn’t allow the passengers to fasten their seatbelts.
It’s little wonder that his team have been so goal shy recently; he’s probably made them all wear t-shirts under their kit emblazoned with “Prince Phillip is racist Nazi vampire!” to reveal when they score. Surely it can’t be long before David Icke pitches up at the Cottage as goalkeeping coach?
But if you think that the above-mentioned madmen have been tiresome, just wait until Sunday. You’ll see delusion and lunacy on a scale not seen since, well, the last time Spurs reached a cup final.
Armies of deranged people will wander the streets of Brent and Haringey in white shirts, looking for a football ground with a large pair of towers attached to it. They will be bellowing loudly that they are ‘back in the big time’, singing about someone’s knees being all trembly and generally demonstrating all the social airs and graces of a badly behaved chimps tea party.
If you do come across them, smile politely, don’t engage in any dialogue and move quickly on to your destination. Which of course, is Wembley. Again.
Current form is something of a worry going into the game; our fourth League Cup Final in a decade. The two blanks against Liverpool and Olympiakos, whilst not terrible results (Real Madrid, Lazio and Werder Bremen left Athens with just two points and a solitary goal between them in the group stages), were fairly lacklustre, disjointed performances. A vast improvement is needed, which, it has to be said, we usually manage for games against Tottenham.
Let us not mock Spurs though, tricky though that may be. Whilst the proclamations of competing for fourth place in the league this season proved somewhat hasty, the arrival of Juande Ramos, arguably one of Europe’s brightest coaching prospects, was a major coup for Messrs Levy and Comoli.
There was a time in recent years when the mention of a 39th game up at Three Point Lane would have been a promising cup run, but the times they are a-changin’ up in North London. A leaner, meaner Tottenham seems to be emerging, having been ordered to diet by the new boss (I presume you’ve seen the “Spurs squad ordered to lose 16 stone of useless flab / Why not just sell Paul Robinson?” gags? Well, you have now).
The game itself will be an interesting test for Avram Grant. In arguably the biggest fixture of his career as a manager, he leads out a team of players who have an abundance of cup final experience - far more collectively than he has as a coach. How he deals with the team on the day will be crucial to our success, or otherwise.
The situation at Spurs is almost the polar opposite; many of Ramos’s players have not played in a major final before whilst he has proven himself as something of a master in knockout competitions with his former employers. Turning Jermaine Jenas into something resembling a competent footballer is no mean feat, although much will depend upon the fitness (or otherwise) of Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate, two players who would have been humanely destroyed some time ago were they of the equine persuasion.
The usual stats and facts stuff will be on the BBC website sometime before the game, but Chelsea are likely to be injury and enforced absence free for the first time in some months, with even perpetual knacker’s yard resident Andriy Shevchenko approaching his own interpretation of match fitness. The decision to rest both Frank Lampard and John Terry in Athens will remain firmly in the ‘gamble’ category until we see them perform on Sunday.
Make no mistake; whatever the fans’ view of Grant, his reputation at the Bridge could be greatly enhanced or diminished by the result on Sunday. Lose this one, and he’ll be about as welcome as a Cillit Bang enema down in SW6.
Avram, Chelsea expects. Don’t allow the crazy people to stay in the headlines.
Prediction: Police leave in the capital has probably been cancelled.
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- Posted at 11:26 PM · Permalink · Print · 3105 views · Last indexed by Google on the 14th May 2008
- Tags: Avram Grant, Chelsea, Juande Ramos, League Cup, Spurs, Tottenham Hotspur
Great article JD…. Made me giggle out-loud at work, much to the amusement of those around me!
Here is to the nutters being put back in their straight jackets by Sunday night!
Ok, have your little joke,but just remember this.
Your only in the so called big time cos some Rusky
paid off all your debt’s. you couldn’t survive on
you piddly little fan base,you would be doing a Leeds.
What we achieve,is achieved by our own ability to raise
money and a Large fan base.
Just think,with all your success you still have to advertise
to sell tickets,pathetic.
Mind you,you made me laugh about that twat fayed.
Pedigree — you beat me to it. Any gloating from plastic Chelski supporters can be ignored: their club is a sorry excuse for a money laundering exercise carried out by someone who had no prior connection to them, and saved them from extinction after they had used up all of Matthew Harding’s legacy and run up Leeds scale debts.
Most of the Russian population continues in abject poverty because a few individuals like Abramovitch basically helped themselves to the country’s resources, which then went on buying players and success for what remains a small time club. Lottery winners shouldn’t gloat at having more money than the rest of us. Learn a bit of humility.
Crazy people worship a chicken with one leg standing on a basketball… :-)
In Australia it is quite customry when walking along a jetty to ask any fishermen(fisherperson?) if they are ‘having any luck’ to which the accepted response is either ‘nah, theyre not biting’ or ‘yeah, just a couple of little ones’. both are acceptable responses to the small talk question, regardless of how many have been taken hook, line and sinker…
given what i can see in the responses so far my dyer, it seems as though your fishing bucket is slowly filling up with little fishies with white tops on…
winding up spurs fans is like fishing with dynamite
Seem to have rattled a few cages… funny really, I didn’t actually think you were too rude about the Spuds.
Still, since they are keen to stir things up, and most of the bloggers on here are not the plastic fans they seem to have such a problem with, I think it calls for a quick chorus of:
” We were there when you were good, We were there when you were good!!”
Dylbo…. which state of Australia are you in?
JD-
I think the crazies have crawled out of the headlines and onto our blog…
Always blue.
I just want to win one important game decisively. Just one win against a decent opponent. And none of this 1-0, injury time winner fluff, but a 3-0, 3-1, 3-2 victory that I can be proud of. I want sustained attacking success. Please?
Dear me, some very sensitive people out there. Apart from a little ribbing I thought I was quite complimentary about Mr. Ramos and the job he’s doing. Oh well. Fuuny how the only recourse you have is inaccurate moaning about size of fanbase and finances is all you have when you’ve won f**k all for years.
Cyril - I presume your concern for the plight of the Russian people (greatly exaggerated and rather ignorant, it has to be said) is something that only arose when RA purchased Chelsea? Quite the humanitarian, aren’t we?
I can’t get my head round Pedigree Spurs statement “What we achieve, is achieved by our own ability to raise money and a Large fan base.
Since they’ve achieved nothing in living memory surely this means they’ve got neither money nor fans?
Do I detect sour grapes from the Rottenham fans, just because RA came within a whisker of buying them as he flew over London in his big chopper! His medication must have kicked in and prevented his florid psychotic state from wasting his money. But if he had bought them, I wonder how many Spuds fans would be really concerned about the plight of any Russian citizen?
Gloating? Where’s the gloating? As far as I can see, JD’s preview says “We’re not in very good form, and Spuds are.” (Plus lots of funny bits: Spuds fans, that’s called “wit”, it makes you look good on a blog. Just a little tip.)
All the stuff about Chelsea not really being a “big club” is quite interesting. On the one hand, people hate us for representing the boring monolithic hegemony of the footballing superpowers (a small number of super-rich clubs win everything, oh woe oh woe oh misery.) The implication is that the spiritual home of real football is with local clubs with local fans. You know the argument: “who cares about Chelsea/Man U/Arsenal, we love small clubs!” On the other hand, people try and taunt us because we’re not historically a “big club” like, I don’t know, Nottingham Forest or Villa or Sheffield Wednesday or any of those places where newly-appointed managers always say “this is a massive club”.
Maybe we’re bad because we’re a small club that became big? Hmmm, so that’s bad, is it? Was it really better when only the “big clubs” won everything? People talk about the “big four” as if it’s a permanent feature of the Premiership, but Chelsea have only been on a rough level with Arse and Man U for four or five years, and before then the “big two” alternated the title between them with no one else getting a sniff. So, was it better before our lucky cash windfall came along?
None of it really makes any sense. Of course, semi-articulate frothing twerps will say anything to try and attack a club they don’t like (”Poverty in Russia? — it’s all the fault of Chelsea FC!”). But really it all comes down to helpless envy. All the stuff in 2004-5 about how our title didn’t count because we “bought” it, and people saying they’d much rather not win anything at all than win the league on the back of a foreign billionaire … hmmmm, we’re not hearing so mcuh of that from the Man City and QPR fans, are we? Or the Liverpoo fans who are begging Dubai IC to come and buy them out? They’d all give anything to be in our situation.
Perhaps there are Spuds fans out there who can pop in and say something interesting about the upcoming game? We had a couple of Arse fans on the blog who seemed to have a couple of brain cells to rub together, so we know North London can do it.
Spuds are a team with a chance, whoops i missed out the “no fooking”.
Seriously they are Londons version of Newcastle - think they are a big club.
They live off the past but as i say to my Arsenal supporting friends - at least we are making history not living off it!!
If we lose this then Grant really has no clue - to lose to Tottenham would be an embarrassment as lets be honest despite Juande being a good manager they are sub par team.
3 - 1 Chels.
Cyril, the vast majority of the world’s population that lives in poverty is due to former colonies, organisations etc pilladging resources… you know, foreign ownership/investment etc…for example, look at nigeria and the shell corporation… shell makes billions of dollars a year and yet the ogoni people of the niger delta (where shell operate) live in condtions that are inhumane. the water contains chemicals 3600 times higher than the level that is considered to be safe in europe…
But, given your intellectual (and original) comment i can only assume you know this already and im wasting my breath. secondly, im assuming you are an active protester at the gates of your relevant government? And i sincerely hope you don’t use shell petroleum products….
send the nobel peace prize to 3 point lane…. quite the high horse…
rant over (what was i saying about fishing earlier?)
oh and greenlight, im SA, u?
‘There was a time in recent years when the mention of a 39th game up at Three Point Lane would have been a promising cup run’
This was a very, very good line. Otherwise, Spurs given the respect they deserve - Ramos is clearly an excellent manager and they look like a genuine worry for the first time in nearly 30 years.
The big club argument is really very silly. Chelsea are clearly a big club by any sensible measure, although probably not as big as Spurs. But so what? That just makes the fact we’ve been dominating them for the best part of two decades - most of which were before Roman was on board, of course - all the better. And Spurs are nowhere near as big as Arsenal, Arsenal aren’t as big as Manchester United and United aren’t as big Real. Does that really matter?
Also, I’d be interested to know what prior connection Levy, Sugar and Scholar had with Spurs before they bought them, and also what contributions those three have made to relieving poverty in the world’s more blighted regions? Please illuminate us lads!
I’m sure Alan Sugar has done his bit for the world’s more blighted regions, by out-sourcing telephone support for his crap Amstrad products!
Where are all the spuds fans now?
I think to myself ahhh new banter - i can leave Lolly and musumba alone and wind up some fresh people and they then disappear and make my comment seem hignorant next to the inciteful posts from you chaps.
Loving the other comments though lads but I do blame you as I think you scared them away as they are probably having to look up so many new words.
Great article as always. I can’t wait for Sunday, my prediction is a 2-1 Chelsea win.
What to make of this: Terry and Lampard to miss final.
i was going to ignore the spurs fans comments here, because they are witless and boring to read, and instead wanted to commend JD on yet another excellent article. but, i can’t resist so here it goes: it’s better to spend russian people’s money on chelsea fc, than on iranian nukes,
oh, and - excellent article JD! i wonder how such a talent hasn’t been recognised by the press - since there are very few, if any, writers in the english press, that can put together an article of similar quality…as far as the game on sunday goes - it will be very interesting to watch, and i don’t mind the suspense at all. as long as we win at the end, that is.
See what being a Spud can do for you?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/eng.....256761.stm
Shame, great player, but it was always obvious a bolt was loose somewhere.
It’s no wonder Joe Cole’s form has not been that good of late, if you scroll down to near the bottom of the page on the link….. everyone will understand why!!
http://www.myfootballnews.co.u.....ory=803171
TSO’s only opposition has gone so it looks like he will be at barca next year.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/spo.....yff121.xml
That means DD will be off - Messi back this way with Rikaard teaming up with ten cate again - If AG doesnt win the CL then i guess he is on his way.
Sorry and you have to go to the read more section and click on the fourth story!
@Clive
Yes Joe does seem to have lost his ability to penetrate. He’s not been the same since he took her up the Arse nal.
Where does it say we’re likely to get Messi, or that Barca are likely to sell him? I couldn’t find that bit anywhere. Good news though.
@ Peter — couldn’t agree more — Ramos has won instant respect for turning that team around more or less overnight. Spuds have a lot of dangerous players. They’re a bit weak on the left side and in central midfield, but I’d be surprised if we beat them as easily as we did in the league game.
I amazed Joe manages to leave the house. I bloody wouldn’t!
@nick – It is a slow day on the news front, that article was published few days ago as well, so I would not make much out of it. I think they both will start on Sunday.
http://football.guardian.co.uk.....amp;feed=5
if they arent resting and we have and we lose - that will be a sad day for west london.
or is Juande getting the excuses ready
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pag.....ge_id=1779
What’s £75million among friends?
Just read the second post by Pedigreespud. Every time that I read or hear such rubbish from these guys it makes me laugh.
Yeah fair enough our debts were written off thanks to Roman but what he forgets is that even without spending a penny in the Summer of 2002 we qualified for the Champions League by beating Liverpool on the final day of the season. With the money raised via that competition we would be far from doing a ‘Leeds’, they wasted their money on signing high-profile players that failed to do the business, we on the other hand owed most of our debts thanks to the cash shelled out on the new West stand in our attempt to raise our profile.
My team for the League Cup Final:
4-1-4-1
CECHY
BELLETTI-JT(c)-RICCY-ASHLEY
OBI
ESSI-LAMPS
SWP-DROGS(vc)-JOEY
Subs in 2nd half: NICO (DROGS/SWP). If in need gor a goal: KALOU (OBI); If ahead: MAKA (JOEY).
C’mon you CHELS!
If Sheva doesnt play I wont watch, you all get on his back but he scored twice in his last game, and Drogba isnt even match fit! Cech,Belletti,Riccy,JT,Bridge,J.Cole,Essien,Lampard,Malouda,Anelka,Sheva should be the line up!
If our Untouchables Terry & Lamps don’t start on Sunday, AG will be thrown to dogs!
Dylbo…. Im in Victoria, bit of a shame really, I was going to suggest a beer before the game on Sunday night.
I think AG would be absolutely mad to start with neither Terry or Lampard and I don’t for one moment think it will happen.
If he starts with neither and we lose, he will be roundly ridiculed and his days as Chelsea coach may well be numbered.
Match fitness? or is it just a lack of drive, Maybe he’s just had enough…
I would like to see
Cech
Beletti - Alex - Riccy - Bridge
Mikel
Essien - Frankie - Ballack
Anelka - Shevchenko
Subs - j Cole, DD, JT, Kalou, Ferreira, cudicini, maka
I can’t really believe I’m writing this, but if Drogs is fit, I would play him and Kalou together since they seemed to have played pretty well together in the ANC. I start liking Kalou but maybe that’s because I haven’t seen him for a while - absence makes the heart etc. Also, Bridgey ahead of Ashley who seems like he’s in self-destruct mode. I didn’t see the Olympiakos game but from comments here and elsewhere, Drogs does not appear to be 100% fit. Perhaps Anelka should play in his place?
I’m currently watching the Spuds against Prague who have just scored. Spuds defense nowhere when defending against a fast counter-attack. We should be able to capitalise on that, methinks.
I want to see a 4-3-3
But with Anelka—Drogba—Kalou leading the charge up front.
Hell yes.
Just let me see Drogba/Anelka!!
That well known upholder of the truth - ‘The Sun’ - has an article stating that Grant will start with both Lampard and Ballack, but also with both Anelka and Drogba….
Not quite sure what sort of a formation that is going to entail, but there might be a bit of room on the wings for Bridgey and Belletti to get forward. It would be interesting if he decides to ditch the wingers and play something like:
Cech
Belletti - JT - Ricci - Bridge
Ballack - Mikel - Lampard
J.Cole
Drogba - Anelka
Let’s put 3 strikers in and get some cricket scores; we probably have the most expensive strike force! My ideal 4-3-3 would be:
Cech
Belly - Terry - Carvalho - Bridge
Ballack - Lamps - JCole
Anelka - Drogba - Sheva
Subs: Cudicini, Alex, ACole, Essien, Kalou
Hi All,
My boss has offered me two tickets for the Chelsea end at wembley as he is too ill to attend. Unfortunately….. I’m a Spurs fan. Has anyone got two Spurs end tickets that they would like to swap with me?
Jon
I read this today this morning and was left in utter disbelief and the hypocrite that is Kenyon!!
From an interview yesterday
“Chelsea chief Peter Kenyon doesn’t expect them to land Barcelona superstar Ronaldinho.
“I’m pretty sure we won’t be signing Ronaldinho,” he said. “We’re always looking to keep the age profile right. It’s fundamentally got to be somebody who will contribute to the team and have a long-term view.”
If that’s the case, why did we buy a 30 year old whose legs were shot and paid 31 million for, and at the same time also upsetting the balance of a world class beating team? And of course getting rid of probably the best pound for pound manager in the footballing world today? and further appointing a no-body to lead Chesea to the top of the tree over a period of time? This is the proof that Sevchenko’s signing nor Mourinho’s sacking or Granty’s appointment were nothing to do with football but a whim of Roman. And this is how we are supposed to compete properly and professionally on the European stage when our proprieter acts no better than the Hearts owner? i wonder what Peter (Ossie) would have made of it all!!
I think the Ronaldinho stance is at least partly to do with the ridiculous amount of money thrown at Sheva. There is obviously always a point when players reach a peak, but football being what it is the wages continue to rise as the form starts to tail off, especially when the player is a ‘name’.
I would like to see
PC
Alex Ricky Terry
Essien
Bellety (SWP) Bridge
Lamp
J. Cole (Ballack)
Nico(Kalu)
Sheva (Drog)
With any one of CB free to push forward, Bellety and Bridge cover the flanges
But I guess AG will play:
Peter
Ferreira Ricky JT WB
JOM
SWP Lamps
Nico JC
DD
Will not surprise me if Carlo is on goal?
Actually will be a great fun trying to guess the starting 11,
Something like Fantasy Football or fantasy Rafa, here it comes fantasy Avram
See who will get most of the starting 11 :)))
> Simon T…
I dont believe there should be untouchables with so many good players in the team…whoever is most fit, hungriest and fits into the game plan should be selected…
Alex is good enough to play in place of JT if the latter is not fully fit, and Lamps is not so fantastic that one would be having second thots on Ballack…I think AG should start Anelka and SWP cos both are quick and Drogba doesnt appear very fit yet…Our weak link would likely be our full backs, especially on the left side, if Lennon comes to the party…Mikel should play, as his size and composure would help settle the midfield…
Everything considered on selection, AG should note that THERE IS NOTHING WRONG IN MAKING UNFORCED SUBSTITUTIONS (EVEN IN THE 1ST HALF), if that is what would enhance our chances of winning!
Here’s to our 1st trophy in 2007/08 season!
Always Blue
Could argue that Alex and SWP deserve to start given that they’ve both been key reasons for our reaching the final in the first place.
Could argue that Alex and SWP deserve to start given that they’ve both been key reasons for our reaching the final in the first place
Might be why AG is allegedly pondering leaving Terry / Lampard on the bench, I suppose. Big gamble if he does (still don’t think he will); if they don’t start and the unthinkable happens, we could see the old “suicide note rather than a team sheet” cliche a fair bit in the papers on Monday.
Still concerning Lamps & JT…we were winning when they were both away, even against the Spuds…So I personally dont see any reason for the fuss being made about their not playing when there are other equally capable players…except of course if the fuss is stemming from the good old ’sentimentality-for-the-english’!
Always Blue!
No sentimentality Alex - it’s a final so we want our best players to play (if they are fit, of course).
True JD but surely Lamps doesnt come into that category!?
<:) - tin hat!!
Im glad we dont want Ronnie but I would love to see Robinho at Stamford Bridge!
NO NO we need messi
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/spo.....rod322.xml
if they think he is “shite” bonza bring him over - i will even help roll out the red carpet.
There is no way Alex should start in front of Terry if they are both fit.
However, we are in the luxurious position of having 3 first choice centre-backs. All 3 are incredible. One is without a doubt world class.
Terry is my favorite because of his incredible leadership.
> Crjen Robben…
‘One is without a doubt world class’…I may be wrong, but i infer from your last line that this ‘one’ is Terry?…If thats the case, i guess we are all entitled to our opinions, cos for me IF there is ONLY ONE world class amongst the 3, it ‘ll be Riccy…He is the best reader of the game and has the ability to initiate attacks as we’v seen time and time again (which i cant say for JT). Even Alex is a better attack-minded CB than JT…
Its AG’s headache to worry about who to play depending on his game strategy…he sees them train and is in the pole position to know his ‘best 11′ for this match…lets stop all the undue pressure and let the man take charge!
Looking forward to a very interesting match and hoping we win…
Always Blue!
I actually agree with Alex…. Carvalho is the key to us having a sound defence. We always seem to cope fine when JT is out of the side….. however when Ricci is out we often look vulnerable.
We do now have the luxury of 3 excellent centre halves (sit back down Tal Ben Haim, I dont mean you) but the problem with that is that someone will always be disappointed.
JT brings more than just good play to the team. TSO made him the captain for a reason. I can’t believe the team would have played so wimpishly against Liverpool, for example, if he had been playing. Look at those who have replaced him as captain in his absence. Only Ballack seems halfway to being the driving force any good team needs, but even though he has captained Bayern and Germany, neither won anything major under his captaincy, Bundesliga titles excepted. I view JT as another in the mould of Roy Keane. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to get on his wrong side, and playing indifferently was one sure way of achieving that. No, if JT is match fit, he should play even if Alex is the stronger CB. Ricky plays, of course.
Lawro at the Beeb predicts a Spuds victory. There won’t be many goals.
If Lawro is predicting a Spuds win, I feel better already!
I was a bit worried before that!
I also think A.G will go with his preferred 4-3-3 formation for the final.
@ CRJEN ROBBEN
Like you, i`d love to see Nicky and Drogs in the same starting line-up but somehow don`t think that`s gonna happen JUST yet. Personally don`t think Didier will play on Sunday as he seemed to be struggling on Tuesday, hope i`m wrong though. IF he`s there, maybe A.G will play him for the first half, then Anelka the second? Who knows? He ain`t giving anything away is he? He`s keeping everyone guessing.
Ok, Spurs gave Arsenal a 5-1 thrashing, so does that make them “a force to be reckoned with”? Oh..PURLEAAAASSSE!!!! They STILL have a shit defence, have they forgotten that? Obviously so. I smell an easy Chels victory, people, 2-1…if
Paul Robinson is in goal…4-1.
@ Alex
I only wish you had not been so dismissive on our senior players like Terry & Lamps just because you wanted to defend AG. As other comments pointed out, there are other factors beyond footballing ability that make a great footballer. And nationality has got nothing to do with this.
I want to say this again…
This is Cup Final! This is Wembley! The Captain and the Vice-Captain of the Club should play (if they are fit). I know Grandpa AG is trying to do things differently from previous manager; but if he goes as far as humiliating Terry & Lamps and dropping them for the Cup Final, Chelsea fans will not forgive him whether we win, lose or draw!
For a cup final (even a slightly Mickey Mouse one) you surely pick your best team on form and with the opposition in mind, given the formation. It’ll surely be a 4-3-3 since there’s been no sign of playing anything else. The only defender who seems to be to be an obvious choice on form is Riccy. Spuds don’t play by lumping it up to big men so I’d guess you’d go for JT rather than Alex, JT being that bit more precise positionally; on form there’s nothing to choose between them. I’m sure Cashley will be played against Lennon even though Biridgey gives us better attacking potential and a better link with the wingers. Belletti’s a better player than Paulo but Paulo looked good (admittedly against Huddersfield) and Belletti seemed a bit off-colour against Olympiakos. Still, Belletti will presumably play.
With the front three, it’ll surely be Drogs (I can’t see how you can leave him out, especially against a defence that tends to panic) and two wingers. Joe had a bad game against Olympiakos but he’s been one of our best players all season and will surely be one of the wingers. So the other winger will either be Malouda, SWP, Kalou, or possibly Anelka. I’d go with Kalou but I bet Malouda will be selected.
The midfield three is tricky — whom do you leave out? Selecting on form, Obi surely has to play, and will be the defensive midfielder. So either Ballack, Frank, or Essien will be left out. You can see why there are murmurs in the media here. Whichever of those three is ommitted will look like a “surprise” omission, though the formation demands it. I’m guessing it’ll be Ballack who starts on the bench.
All the fuss about JT and Frank not playing midweek was ridiculous. It’s not like Alex and Ballack are surprise selections given how they’ve been playing the last couple of months.
I was feeling a bit nervous about the game until I watched the second half of Spuds v. Slavia Prague on Thurs.
Shame for Arsenal today wasn`t it? Birmingham awarded a last minute penalty, resulting in Gallas spitting his dummy. Obviously WASN`T a penalty but who gives a monkey`s? Things not going well for Wenger this week….pity..ha! ha! ha! ha!
@Lollipop
Don’t take this the wrong way but as much as it’s nice to see Arsenal drop points, I think it’s a bit juvenile to be laughing or mocking them considering the horrendous injury to Eduardo. So bad even Sky wouldn’t show the replay of the tackle that caused it.
I dont think Lolly is mocking the injury - merely them losing and conceding a penalty that shouldnt have been. Injury aside i agree with her. Miracles do happen.
In response to other mails - Riccy is great but i feel he became this player due to JT - when he first came he read the game well and started attacks. JT was a nutter and flung himself like an SAS member into everything - Ricy adopted that and is not awesome - though he is no leader…..too quiet. Alex is brilliant too but he is still young. Riccy and JT for me.
Lamps can be on the bench that is fine.
<:)
that is meant to be “now awesome” and NOT “not awesome” whoops
I agree Clive. I switched off because I felt sick and lost enthusiasm for the game. Did switch on for the last 5 minutes though and I was shocked by the reaction of Gallas.
@Munkeyfeet
I didn’t say he was mocking the injury just pointing out that football rivalries are insignificant when a possible career threatening injury happens to any player.
Yes Mark I felt the same way and was quite nauseous even though we didn’t see the injury. I think we all know the Arsenal boys can get quite petulant when things don’t go their way, I think they’ve realised today that it’s points dropped considering it wad 10 v 11 for virtually the whole game.
I feel terrible for Eduardo. An appalling tackle. He could have been great, and he might still be, but injuries like this stay in the player’s mind forever.
I sincerely hope Taylor gets what he deserves. Awful.
There’s something about Gallas that’s very … (dare I say) French. Not much stiff upper lip there. I’m still confused about why he left us, and all the weird accusations that flew around his departure.
Anything that helps Man U win the title is a bad thing. Anything that helps Man U win anything is bad. But a leg-breaking tackle… I hope young Obi looks at that and figures out how to cut the studs-up shin-high tackle out of his game.
how do i, as a chelsea supporte, feel good about arsenal loosing two points, when as croatia supporter i think of eduardo’s misery? have no idea. if anyone wants to send a message of support to eduardo, you can do it by sending an e-mail to arsenal croatia supporters, who are saying that they will bring him all e-mails of support in a few days. i already did, obviously in my own name, as chelsea supporter, but i’m sure it’ll be nice if other chelsea supporters, from england, do the same. e-mail is arsenal.croatia-at-gmail.com
as for tonight, i wish the boys all the luck they can get. the skills they have. i also hope that mr. Ag will finally come through in a big match. by the way, how would we feel if martin o’neill was appointed chelsea manager? from what i’ve seen, he has done great things with smaller clubs…
@ Clive
I wasn`t referring to Eduardo`s injury in any way, you`ve totally misunderstood my post. I was referring to Arsenal dropping points. I didn`t see the injury myself but a friend of mine saw it on BBC last night and said it was awful and YES, i do feel for him, of course i do. However, Eduardo`s injury aside, (THAT I DIDN`T EVEN MENTION ANYWAY!) ,as a Chelsea supporter, i`m delighted that they dropped 2 points and i make no apology for that. I`d even go as far to say Arsenal fans won`t be distraught if we lose at Wembley today..
Is anyone here going to the game later by the way?
@Lollipop
If you look at my reply to Munkeyfeet you can see what I meant also. Lets show Arsenal fans regardless of what may happen today against Spurs that we can rise above rivalries when it comes to serious injuries to players.
I know it is Mickey Mouse Cup, however me must win!!!! Come on Chelsea!!!!! Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!Come on Chelsea!!!!!
@ Clive
I agree. Apologies if you misunderstood me, us Blues fans need to stick together. We`ve got the World and his Wife against us without disagreeing with each other!!!
Gallas’s reaction said a great deal about Arsenal’s mental state, to which Eduardo’s horrific injury obviously contributed, but Wenger’s teams have always had a tendency to lack a degree of mental toughness when it is needed most. Wenger has indulged Gallas, who, whilst a terrific player always had a slightly needy side to him when he was here - certainly not captain material in the same way that Henry wasn’t.
Fingers crossed for this afternoon - butterflies forming nicely…!
John Terry, Frank Lampard, Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba start.
Edit: Cech, Belletti, Carvalho, Terry, Bridge, Wright-Phillips, Essien, Lampard, Mikel, Anelka, Drogba.
droggles has just scored and im at home with a bourbon getting updates via bbc. wow
mainly posting because i wanted to ask my dyer, whom i rarely disagree with, what he would have thought if it was terry in gallas’s shoes after someone, say joey joe joe cole had been horrifically injured and we daftly dropped 2 points in the 94th…
i agree gallas acted a bit spoilt when he tried to kick the advertising board, but i think a lot of it, especially the tears, was raw emotion. a similar emotion that he displayed when he knocked the winner in for us against the spuds from outside the box..( oh happy days)
i agree he is not captain material… but im just curious as to what you would have said if it was terry acting like that.
but in all seriousness, what the hell is going on with his hair?
anelka is totally useless. and essien is a shadow of a player he was before african cup.
i feel sick
Well Anelka was played completely out of position and isolated. Should have substituted SWP for Joe Cole at half-time.
Grant is simply out of his depth at this level, once the team is picked he cannot influence a game, granted both Spurs goals were unlucky.
Also why was JT giving the speech for extra time? Grant just stood there looking confused.
You could put any of us in charge of that Chelsea (Manchester/Arsenal) team and we could beat the lower premiership clubs. The difference comes when you play another class side, and what would I give for Ramos to come manage Chelsea.
you said it mate. although its still early, i have long predicted this is how our season is going to go. The great managers number very few. the ones who win crunch matches more often than not are the winners. ..everyone else is only average. no need to say more….
Phil McNutty said it well:
“Questions will be asked about Grant’s team selection and tactics, while White Hart Lane has a new hero in Ramos.”
By no means can all of the blame be thrown upon AG, but he deserves a fair share.
THAT WASN`T IN THE SCRIPT!!! THAT WASN`T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!!! What a terrible result. I take back everything i said about Spurs, they outclassed and outplayed us today, they dominated 85% of the match. We started awful, woke up after 25 minutes, then went back to sleep..we didn`t start attacking until the last 15 minutes of extra time when we realised what was going on!! AWFUL.. AWFUL.. AWFUL.. And why wasn`t Joe Cole brought on earlier in the game?!!?? He should`ve come on after 65 minutes i reckon. I`ve waited for ages to see Drogs and Anelka play together and was really let down. Anelka looked completely lost out there. I`m as pissed off as J.T looked at the end of the game. Only good note was Didier`s goal. I`m going to turn off my mobile phone now before the floods of pisstake-texts come through…..
Might I make a suggestion to your request in the below link Avram, apply for the job yourself and let somebody else manage Chelsea
http://www.myfootballnews.co.u.....ory=804098
A very dismal performance,why couldn’t anyone on the bench see that playing Anelka wide just wasn’t working.We virtually played the whole match a man short.I don’t blame Anelka but surely Joe Cole should have started and Anelka to come off the bench to give us a “goal threat”.I’m afraid that tactically Avram Grant has been finally found out.Any Chelsea fan knows that Essien and Mikel are too similar to play together,where was Maka?We could have lost by at least three goals and couldn’t have complained.There are “Untouchables”at Chelsea and the problem is that Avram Grant is the biggest one of the lot.We will struggle to win anything with performances like this and all the talk of the treble is utter garbage.No team has a divine right to win any game but at least give the fans something to be proud of.
Exactly, i saw steve clarke giving the team talk, while grant was prancing around talking to officials, this man has no decisiveness and barely warrants being the manager of our beloved chelsea!
Today Grant jumped in the very big hole he’s been digging for himself since he took over from Mourinho. His snide digs at Jose and his ridiculous claims that we’d be a more entertaining team have come back to haunt him. Mourinho won trophies and ultimately that’s all that matters.
Some ‘objectivity’: Spurs were never going to win until the penalty. After we scored they looked pretty dreadful, and even though Grant got it so wrong, we were cruising at the same time as playing very, very poorly - and it took another Cech howler to give them the win.
It’s when the shit hits the fan that Grant shows his true colours. He just seems to be tactically inept and looked lost. I predict that we won’t win a trophy during his time in charge. There, now we’ll win the league!
The only thing he got right today was leaving Cashley out of the sixteen.
Tony’s doing the review, which I’m really looking forward to reading.
This comment brought to you by the letters ‘L’ ‘A’ ‘G’ ‘E’ and ‘R’.
We were shit…That is all.
This comment brought to you by the letters ‘L’ ‘A’ ‘G’ ‘E’ and ‘R’.
I hope Nick you had lots of those letters to numb the pain!
@ lollipop
Don’t worry you’re not alone in those views. I’m writing the review now and a ptretty scathing one it will be (again!). I seem to get all the rotten ones lately.
It brings the big question mark over AG again, when we have singularly failed to deliver in any “big” match under his tutelage. One can only hope the bitter taste of defeat will give the players the kick up the arse they deserve.
Right i have given grant his chance but we are getting worse!!!
Where is the sexy football, in fact where is the football!!
Rubbish - summer = wholesale changes.
Proud to be blue.
I really can’t understand why Avram Grant was offered such an extension to his contract.
It is just insane business, no new manager will want him around after he is removed as first team coach. And it will cost a bomb to release him.
Chelsea need a top quality manager now, to inspire faith in the team or too many players will leave at the end of the season and we won’t be able to bring in the quality required to stay in contention.
SWP cannot play on the wings, he either needs to start in the centre or be moved on. Same applies for Kalou, I believe if he was given 5 games up front he would start showing the same level of performances as the ANC.
We only have 1 true winger/crosser and that is Joe Cole, he should start every game if he is fit enough.
This is all very doomsday after losing 1 cup, but I don’t see us winning the Champions league or the Premiership. So it is still applies at this early stage.
Anyone care to hazard a guess what the score would have been had we swapped managers before the match ;)
Where do we start with Grant’s mistakes -
Grant chose the wrong side - Anelka and Drogba together cries for 4 4 2;
Ballack should be an untouchable alongside Cech, Carvalho and Drogba (with Essien or JMO as a sub);
Cole should have started instead of SWP
What about the subs, why bring Kalou on so that we have 3 forwards stumbling over each other, why delay bringing Cole on for so long, and criminally, why wait for 5 minutes after Woodgate’s goal in extra time to bring Cole on
For the first time, I felt a little affection for AG reading about his dad, but unfortunatley AG is not up to it. He is a middling manager if that
Why does Abramovich persist with him? I dont buy the Israeli connection as the reason - could it be that RA wants a yes man after TSO. I also suspect that RA and his advisors (from Arneson to Grant and Kenyon to Buck) all believed their own press that they were instrumental in winning 2 league titles, and that any manager could do it - how wrong they are. I’m not saying Mourinho should have been sacrosanct, but at least replace him with someone with the stature and skill that the job begs. And even if AG was the only one left standing, why give him a longterm contract - presumably they’ll forget about the plan to breakeven by 2010 when they pay off AG at seasons end
Bring back Zola
By the way, forgot to add that I agree with all post-match comments which is a first!
it was another, yet another, woeful performance. I’m sure all of us at the game were having the same discussions with those around us. As a fan its very difficult to get up for the game when the players play like they met in the tunnel before the game and resort to a form of football pioneered by graham taylor. I’m beyond dissapointed as we all know what awaits us at work tomorrow. SHAMBLES.
Oh Dear! what game was he watching? and what planet is he on?
http://www.skysports.com/story.....48,00.html
What’s that sound I hear? Pfffffffffff… all the air just went out of the Grant balloon.
Let’s try and be fair. It’s too easy to second-guess selection after a loss. He picked the back four that pretty much all of us wanted. Bridgey seemed to be our most willing attacking player for the first 75 minutes (that’s not good, but not his fault), and he took care of Lennon so easily that ramos eventually sent him over to the other side to face Belletti. (That’s called “tactics”, in case Mr Grant is reading.) I think he got the midfield three more or less right too. Frank and Essien were both below par but I don’t see that Ballack would necessarily have been better. As for the front three, Anelka turned out not to be a good winger but it was maybe worth a try. The only *totally* mystifying selection to me was SWP over Joe. All the other fans around me were equally depressed about this, before the game.
SWP was comically dreadful. But then, so was the overall attitude of the team. The lack of movement whenever we had the ball in midfield was just incredible. The players seemed as uninterested in the whole experience as many of the fans were. It would have been an outrageous injustice if we’d ended up winning. Spuds played all the football, wanted the ball more, brought it down quicker and (mostly) passed it better, and defended pretty well once we finally woke up and starting playing a bit, around 75 minutes in.
Only Cech, Riccy, Bridgey and JT come out of that game with any credit. Of the subs, Cole and Kalou ran at defenders and beat them and brought some energy. Otherwise it was just Lump It Up To Drogs and hope for the best. Except it can’t have been, can it,because we don’t do that any more, now that AG has arrived and everything is “better”.
If they treated the game as a pointless distraction from the Premier/Champions leagues, Grant made a big miscalculation. He’s created at least 40,000 (one Stamford Bridgeful of) enemies, by doing nothing to rev up a flat team or challenge a well-managed opponent. Personally I’ve never been a Spuds-hater (sorry) and I honestly don’t feel to upset about missing out on this trophy to the team that was by far the better on the day, BUT I and many others are having our willingness to give AG a chance severely tested by rubbish such as the Liverpool game, Olympiakos away, and now this. There’ll be serious instability at the end of the season if we fall off the Arse/Man U pace and go out of the CL any time before the final.
I just can’t bear the sight of AG!… WHAT A CLUELESS PUPPET!
@ Ben
I said the same thing whilst watching the match!! Do you not think Juande’s beginning screams of JM!!
I don’t think I could take seeing spurs rise above us.
I agree it is very doomsday but the fact is we have not improved since JM went - we are now seeing AGs work as JMs subsides with every passing day and it doesn’t inspire confidence. We were meant to be playing Barca style football with resilience at the back - I cant even see a glimpse of this.
It’s not the fact we have lost - it’s the way we lost it - just like against arsenal and liverpool - we seem like a blunt knife and never dominate teams like we should. If we had had lots of shots and more of the possession I would think that it wasn’t our day, we always have the CL and FA Cup but unless things change drastically we will stutter against the world class teams.
Agree totally on 4-4-2 and J cole starting - always a big game player!
Hope it`s not gonna be a recurring pattern. When i saw the starting team line-up, i was like “oh yes! This is gonna be soooooo easy!”. THAT team, on paper, is MORE than capable of winning the league cup, FA cup, Prem AND CL, so what the hell is going wrong??? We`ve worked so hard to get to that final and thrown it all away in a sub-standard performance. How does a team of such stature manage to look so amateur? It beggars belief! STILL VERY ANGRY!!!
Oh, congratulations to Didier on being the first player to score in 3 finals.
Nick,
You’ve said everything. The main problem with the team right now is Grant himself. When a manager or coach cannot show leadership or inspire players, this is what you get. But we will suffer more heartaches of this sort before the Czar realizes or admits he’s made a mistake.
As for those who think the taste of defeat will give the players the kick up the backside they deserve, perish the thought. We are back to the pre-Mourinho days, to the days when we were always overshadowed by Man U and Arsenal with us accepting our lot with equanimity. Worse still, even Tottenham is now threatening to eclipse us!
@Kenn
Spot on it’s like the ghost of Ranieri in a scruffier suit is haunting the touchline for us!
Is there anybody who is still under impression that Grant is going to bring new style of football to the Chelsea? Is there anybody who still delusional enough to claim that Grant has passed some tests and can manage team like Chelsea. I think there is not one like this around there, except may be Roman and his minders. We are fool, simply damn fool, and what pisses me of more than anything else is that I new it from the beginning. On the same day when Chelsea announced that Grant has come to the club to work as a sporting director I new there will be nothing good out of it. Damn, Damn, Damn…..
I have hold long enough just to give AG a fair chance, but now the time as come to say it. AG is not only a looser he has a big mouth. It’s now fair to say he is a failure, we are not playing a nice entertaining football AS HE PROMISED and we are not wining any titles too. More, just shows to every one that claimed that Chelsea was winning trophies because of its money, that they were wrong. AG is the good example of it; you can have money and good players, but still bad results. In my opinion he failed to inspire the team as TSO did. So resuming he is a farce. The man is also over demanded on is function, he himself admitted so, by saying he need a football director, because the trainer job is already too demanding. TSO, was always on top of things and never complained of too much work….and he had more fronts to take care than AG has. Just hope Roman, still corrects his mistake and get us a trainer capable to continue the good work of TSO.
@ Kenn
Nice to hear from you Kenn - have you had a sneak preview of my review?
As for this
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/h.....259516.stm
What an utterly fucked up collage of deluded bollocks from Grant. Honestly, it’s patronizing garbage from someone who seems oblivious to how insulting this is to everyone supporting Chelsea who had eyes today.
@Tony
It’s just spin, you say it enough times and people will believe it. It appears that he thinks he’s a Politician with the all the rhetoric.
@ Clive
Have you also had a sneak preview? I actually mention this in the review, and parts of the review are included and expanded on in a midweek post-dust settling article.
I know it’s spin, but it still falls under my description. Sorry, but I really am with Nick on this one. I can see a barren season and it’s hard to see how he can lead us onto greater things, unless the plan is to make us expect less so that the odd trophy every few years makes it seem like things are getting better……I still see analogies with “Awakenings” sadly.
Sounds like I’ve jumped into a Tardis and gone back 10 years. bring back Ruud I say, at least we did play “shexy football” back then. Today’s was rank.
Hi Tony,
I haven’t had a sneak preview of your review. Please, send it to me at kemetulu@yahoo.co.uk.
@Tony
No I haven’t had any sneaky look but am looking forward to reading it. I can imagine what you’ve said anyway and will probably agree with all of it! I also think this could end up a totally disasterous season, I even have a bad feeling about the Olympiakos second leg. And yes I still want to be proved wrong, and we can go on and win one of the other competitions we’re left in.
I will post Tony’s review shortly.
he just thinks that he can fool us around.
ain’t no fool, old guy!
My memory of Chelsea playing in major finals only stretches as far back as 1994, but every team I’ve watched since (and including) then at least put up something resembling a fight. But today was unforgivable. To see Terry giving the team talk in extra time whilst Grant wandered around in the background looking pensive said enough for me. Kenn (nice to see you back here, by the way) said it all a few comments ago; we’ve moved backwards as a team - this isn’t about Mourinho, it is about Grant. And he is coming up short when it matters, simple as.
Dylbo - re your earlier question; if JT had behaved like Gallas, I’d have been disgusted; anger at losing is one thing, but his behaviour was unfathomable. If any player in blue, captain or otherwise, had acted like that then he wouldn’t be worthy of wearing the shirt.