Champions League: Liverpool 1 - 1 Chelsea
Match reports
The Guardian, Kevin McCarra: “The roars of the Anfield crowd at the close were solely of defiance. Lesser supporters would have been struck dumb by John Arne Riise’s own-goal equaliser for Chelsea four minutes into stoppage time that, improbably after this showing, makes the visitors favourites to stride on to a Champions League final against Barcelona or Manchester United in Moscow.”
Daily Telegraph, Henry Winter: “Lacking inspiration for long periods, Chelsea rarely troubled Pepe Reina, but kept pressing to conjure up only the fourth goal Liverpool have conceded at Anfield in 15 European semi-finals on a night of drama on and off the pitch.”
The Times, Matt Hughes: “The size of Liverpool’s task is shown by them not managing to score on the eight occasions that Rafael Benítez has taken his team to Stamford Bridge in the past four seasons.”
The Independent, Sam Wallace: “Avram Grant may not yet have proved he is a good manager but last night reinforced something about him we already knew: he is a very lucky manager.”
Official Chelsea FC Website: “Drama in the final seconds sends Chelsea back to Stamford Bridge with an away goal and the tie all square after John Arne Riise turns Salomon Kalou’s cross into his own net.”
The goals
43′ Kuyt 1-0
90′ Riise (og) 1-1
OK, so who’s closest to Moscow, Chelsea or Liverpool?
A quick search on Google and quite clearly it’s us at 1552 miles compared to Liverpool at 1610.
On the pitch, with the clock at 93:50, it appeared that Liverpool were slightly closer until Salomon Kalou managed to dig out a cross from the corner flag for John Arne Riise to head home into his own goal.
The pundits speculated that this game would be the normal dull stalemate with excitement at the level of a TV debate between Avram Grant and Rafael Benitez but to be fair it was more exciting than expected, maybe equivalent to Grant and Benitez naked mud wrestling.
Liverpool is currently the European Capital of Culture. I prefer to think of Liverpool as a bacterial culture and Chelsea as a seven-day course of antibiotics. Today we’ve delivered the first tablets and by the seventh day the bacteria will be completely eradicated.
The highlights
In the first half we started brightly and looked more comfortable and composed than Liverpool. As the half wore on Liverpool started to look better and Fernando Torres missed a one on one opportunity against Petr Cech.
Joe Cole had a chance but the ball was high and difficult to control. Didier Drogba had his normal moments lying prostrate but in between played a decent game and seemed “more up for it” than in recent weeks.
The referee gave us a surprising number of free kicks and didn’t seem to realise football is a contact sport. However when Jamie Carragher clashed with Drogba in the box the ref bottled it and didn’t give us a penalty. To be fair with each subsequent TV replay my opinion oscillated.
Three minutes before half time Liverpool scored. A quick free kick caught us napping but we appeared to have escaped the initial threat. The ball broke to Frank Lampard on the edge of the box and instead of hoofing it away he decided to try and dribble it out and lost the ball. From the subsequent pass Claude Makelele made a half hearted challenge and failed to stop Dirk Kuyt from scoring between Cech’s legs.
In the second half Liverpool started stronger and for 20 minutes I feared the worse. Ryan Babel had a good shot that just went outside the post and Cech was called on the make three very good saves. Our main line of attack was pumping it long to Drogba which is disappointing for a squad worth several hundred million when Wimbledon achieved the same result for a few hundred quid 20 years ago.
However Liverpool deployed our tactic of sitting back in the last period and invited pressure.
As the game drifted to a close and I conditioned myself to believing that a 1-0 defeat was perfectly acceptable Riise made it a more than acceptable score of 1-1.
The good
- The away goal.
The bad
- Must pass better and not rely on the long ball to a lone striker.
Player ratings
- Petr Cech: Three top saves kept us in it. Flapped at a couple of corners but overall - 8/10.
- Paulo Ferreira: Steady - 6/10.
- Ashley Cole: Steady - 6/10.
- John Terry: Strong but caught for pace a couple of times - 7/10.
- Ricardo Carvalho: Strong and quick - 8/10.
- Michael Ballack: Bit of a stroll and would like to see more midfield domination - 6/10.
- Frank Lampard: If I left a nail out in the rain I wouldn’t expect it to go rusty this quick. Plus he’s got to take responsibility for the goal - 5/10.
- Claude Makelele: Poor tackle for the first goal and almost gave away another in the second half - 5/10.
- Joe Cole: Was he playing? - 4/10.
- Florent Malouda: Looked more committed than we’ve been used to. Or was it Joe Cole that made him look better? - 6/10.
- Didier Drogba: Drama queen but tried hard and for most of the game was our only outlet - 7/10.
- Salomon Kalou (sub): The cross for the goal earns him - 7/10.
Man of the Match
Petr Cech - top saves.
Final thoughts
Are we there yet? Are we there yet?
All we’ve got to do is hold out for a draw and we’ve been very good at drawing this season. So are we already in Moscow? Is the deal done?
Is it like we’ve exchanged contracts on a house so completion is just a formality or will we be hit with the sucker blow that we got our mortgage from Northern Rock?
Is the pie already baked and it just needs browning off? All we need to do is keep our eye on it through the oven door glass to make sure it doesn’t burn. Or is it more like a soufflé? It’s risen nicely but there’s plenty of time for it to fall flat.
Now where did I put the application form for my Russian visa?
Related links
- Reaction: Final not promised but a good step
- Grant hopes goal will be turning point he craves
- Timing wrong for Rafael Benitez as he blames the usual suspects
- Posted at 10:59 PM · Permalink · Print · 4434 views · Last indexed by Google on the 11th May 2008
- Tags: Avram Grant, Champions League, Chelsea, Dirk Kuyt, John Arne Riise, Liverpool, Petr Cech, Rafael Benitez
Oh my aching sides…
Just about deserved something from the game I’d say; we’ll have to be far better next week though. Avram, you have the luck of the devil about you - and long may it continue.
I must go and put the furniture in my living room back into its usual place and clean the beer off the walls.
John Arne Riise, oooh aaaah, I wannaaaaaaaaa knooooow, how you scored that goal…
7 for Drogba, what game was I watching :P
I am trying to remember him doing anything useful that entire game except falling over?
Malouda probably deserves (just) a 6, he managed to win us some corners and had a few shots. Even so he needs to improve drastically to hold his position. If this was 3 years ago Duff and Robben would now be moving in to the spaces left wide open by JC and Malouda.
Competition for places feels like it has gone now, we need to clear out the team and sign some quality players in their mid 20s. It is a shame it is so late in the season, because I think a few games on the bench would do Drogba a world of good.
I have to confess I didn’t see the game — and I won’t be able to make the return leg either. But from what I’m hearing we were rubbish but got a fantastic slice of luck. I’ll take it. I’ll take the stuff we’ve been serving up all year at home, too: a clumsy, nerve-wracking, jammy 1-0 will be just fine (especially as it won’t be my nerves being wracked ‘cos I can’t go). Essien should make a big difference.
Right, I should shut up and leave the forum to people who actually watched the game.
OK I THINK ive calmed down now, Yeah we didnt dominate the game BUT there was a period of play in the first 10 minutes where we were firmly in control, Joey Cole has a good chance to score a simular oppurtunity to the one he slotted home against Everton in the CC, Drogba wasnt brilliant however I dont feel that the blame should be all put on him because he was isolated for most of the game and didnt get a touch of the ball unless we were going forward and shortly after he was surrounded by dirty scousers, Lampsy was decent, his passing was accurate and he wasnt completely anonymous unlike Stevie S*ithead, As for Ballack he was like the glue that stuck the team together, many of you proberbly think that should be Makeleles job but with him being 35 (I think) and Essien being suspended Ballack rightly helped him out which was the only option really considering that he is much better defensively than Lamps, Joe Cole wasnt brilliant but we expect tight games when we travel to Shitfield and he was definetly singeled out by Aurelio in the main parts of the game
As for their goal I thought that SuperFranky was to blame, Why didnt he just clear it? I KNOW thats what Essien would have done but we ended up gifting a goal to Dirk “Headless Chicken” Kuyt (It was a gift because of Mascheranos scuffed pass and Makas defensive mistake), From then on they had few chances, My credit must go to Petr who made a brilliant saves from Liverpools captain/wanker and that diving girl Torres, Now onto what made me laugh my ass off for 1 hour
Riise blimey that was so comical I was in disbelief, You couldve been forgiven for thinking he was paid to do it, Seeing Phil Thompsons reaction on SSN also brought a smile to my face, Carragher looked like his house had been burgled that was just so funny I couldnt even explain it, We may have been “Lucky” but LUCK is a reward for hard work and we certainly gave plenty of that tonight
I see many of you warning us that “Its not over” and all that but I feel we have reason to be confident for 3 reasons firstly the own goal has clearly devastated Fat Rafas players and this will surely result in a drop in form 2. Our home record 80 or something like that unbeaten at home and I dont see them beating us there 3. We havent conceded to Liverscum at home in over 700 minutes of football
Also this “Luck” or “Sneaky Win” can only give us more confidence heading into the game with Man-Ure, COME ON MESSI, COME ON CHELSEA WHAT THE HELL COME ON AVRAM, THANK YOU RIISE AND KEEP THE BLUE FLAG FLYING HIGH!!!!! :)
Mark
Impressed that you got a report out this quickly and acheived a much greater degree of coherence than Mr McCarra. He reads like a man who has sat staring at the OED and Rogets Thesaurus, only to realise there are no words in there to express just how upset he is, just how unfair football is and just how much he wants the Poo to triumph.
I thought we started well and was pleased to see we didn’t let them build up a head of steam and get an early goal. When they finally got going it was more our mistakes than their creativity that produced the chances.
For the first 15 minutes of the second half we seemed completely lost. After JC was taken off we suddenly strung some passes together (not that the 2 incidents were necessarily related.) We had a decent 15 to 20 minutes, begging the question why we couldn’t deal with the press by moving the ball quickly and moving into space at other points in the game?
Other questions arising:
1. Liverpools continuous fouling when we were getting forward. Yes we got the free kicks but they broke it all up and were never threatened with cards for persistent fouling.
2. Our lack of threat from corners and dead ball situations. Got to improve.
The positives:
1. The away goal
2. The manner of the away goal
3. Thinking about the away goal again
4. Listening to Radio 5 Scouse going apoplectic at the unfairness of it all. They were laying into Chelsea and accused us of everything except child murder. They made a big thing of John Terry’s fouls while failing to mention Liverpools tactic of taking down a man whenever he went past them. Great fun. Good to know that the Beeb remains unbiased.
5. Phil Thompson on Sky when the goal went in. You can hear the rest of the studio pissing themselves as he throws the cans down on the desk.
It might still all go tits up but if we weren’t going to win with style that was about the best you could hope for.
At least I can go to work and just laugh at all the poo fans.
I’m sorry to talk so little about the football but these 2 games are about all the sh** we have had to put up with, particularly from the media and their mythmaking and I’m going to enjoy it while I can….
I go to sleep the sleep of the righteous
I bid you all good night
I thought Paulo was good, delivered some good balls into the box and Ashley got forward and made alot of tackles too, SURELY they deserve more than 3?????
I thought we played well for the 1st 20 minutes and took the sting out of the game. After that though, we were guilty of sitting back too deep and allowing them to come onto us.
Frank was badly at fault for the goal (having said that I didn’t think he was as bad as the Aussie commentators suggested, and certainly no worse than Stevie Me)and we never really threatened much in the second half.
Malouda was much better than he has been in the past, but unfortunately Joey was missing in action. Drogba did win everything in the air, but failed to control anything at all, with the ball bouncing off his body continually. His falling down was laughable at times, but he did make the defenders work.
Defence was fairly solid, and roughing up Torres and Kuyt was clearly part of the plan. Shame about the caution for JT… means he will be on edge for the 2nd leg, and you can be sure than Liverpool will make more of that, than we did out of targeting Gerrard and Carra for bookings. Also like Paolo Ferreira at right back. He is a defender first, and can provide support to the attack when required.
Petr was in blinding form tonight. I too hate the big hoof, but as a shot stopper, he is absolutely 2nd to none.
As for the referee…. He certainly seemed to like us, however, as a rule I would far rather see referees let the game flow, like he did, rather than pull out the whistle and cards at every opportunity. You can be sure the 2nd leg won’t flow in the same way.
And lastly, a word on Avram….. I was cursing when he brought on a striker with 5-10 to go, but again, credit to him as it was Kalou and Anelka that were involved for the goal. Well Done mate…. Enjoy your moment, but remember we have been this close before. The job still isn’t done.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Funniest own goal EVER!
SBS pundits in mourning post-match, thoroughly depressed.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
I wonder which god Avram was praying too to get that slice of luck in the last seconds of the game … and in front of the Kop too… absolutely priceless to see the looks on the scousers faces at the end. I could not stop laughing and thumping the table for a good 10 minutes. Never has a draw felt so much like a win…
As for the game well mostly crap really. Neither team ‘deserve’ to be in this position but that is the nature of this competition, so now it is our turn to take advantage of the situation and march onto Moscow. And god forbid if we win then our worst nightmare may come true and AG gets another year to mess up the team.
Of course he did bring on Kalou for Code and it was Kalou’s cross which invited Riise’s neat header into the roof of the net, but Anelka on for Ballack?!? when we needed to maintain a solid midfield for the last 10 minutes, where is the logic in that substitution.
Of course I will glady take a win next week and then look forward to Chelsea playing in the last game of the season… and I can sit back tomorrow and enjoy the Man U Barcelona game which in all honestly should be a much better game to watch.
The dream is still going…just KTBFFH
#9
Buddha? Do footballing dieties have names?
Good confident start to the first half then a return to that lack of incisiveness that seems to have featured too often in recent matches. The second half was almost the opposite with having to weather the storm as they pressed for that crucial second, but as they began to sit back a bit and/or began to tire I could see us nicking a goal if one of the few chances that were created during the match were taken.
It wasn’t a great performance, mostly a lack of finesse and focus, with their goal coming from a quickly taken free kick and sloppy defending, but the crucial thing was getting that bit of luck that usually falls their way. I don’t know whether Riise knew that Anelka was behind him, but the own goal couldn’t have happened to a nicer bloodnut. It’s looking good for the return leg, but on this showing I can’t see us beating Manu in a final, however after Saturday’s match one of the sides will have a psychological edge.
Finally I think this match was proof that it is AG’s luck rather than judgement that the dream is still alive, the substitutions were more obvious than inspired. Don’t want to piss on the fireworks just retain some perspective, mine still being that the motivational/tactical guidance is lacking. To see the look on the scousers faces thinking that they were robbed was hilarious though.
@ David
Your assuming Man U will beat Barca, I am not so sure… Man U are showing some signs of weakness and their back four may struggle if Barca’s front four fire. I would not be surprised to see Barca go through to play us in the final…thats assuming we manage to beat Liverpool at SB next week.
Equally hilarious was watching AG ‘dance’ around the touchline like a lumbering rhino trying to breakdance. The word buffoon springs to mind…
The next 2 games at the bridge will definitely define our season. I just hope whatever happens that AG is quietly moved upstairs and we get a manager who can inspire and motivate the team to play the sort of football us fans and apparantely our owner craves.
I would defy anyone to say they are enjoying the football at the moment, the wins yes but the style definitely no.
How funny is this article (and the comments that follow):
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sp.....ontri.html
Do you reckon Paul Doyle wrote it with the intention of winding the ‘Mickies’ up.
I don’t think he could possibly have put more of a Chelsea spin on things!
@PTG
Yes I think they will go through, unless Barca suddenly hit top form over the two legs, but even Barca will be a struggle for us to beat if we don’t suddenly hit top form in a similar way.
I agree though, the next two games are key and at least the Bison will be back for the second leg next week. If we win either the CL or by some fluke the Prem I’ll celebrate like everyone else and applaud the team, but somehow it’ll seem like a hollow victory considering what has transpired this season on and off the field.
Either way I hope AG moves upstairs, I’m ready to move on, accept this as a transitional year and see what happens next. Should be an interesting summer.
A very bad game for Chelsea but a very Good Luck for Chelsea. I think this year is Chelsea’s year of Good Luck. Good Luck plays an important role in the history of football. The world cup, EURO competition, EPL, Champs League. Good Luck shows itself in MU’s matches, Liverpool semifinal last year, Barcelona’s win on Schalke and this year would be ours. No matter how good or how bad we play, Luck will play its important role to deny our opponents in getting goals or going away with a win. If this continues, why not we accept and welcome these Good Lucks and let Chelsea win it by Hook or by Crook because Luck will be with our side. JM or AG, without Luck, Chelsea would not win. So lets all accept this and just hope for CHelsea to win no matter what. We need Luck for MU to lose point in their remaining games in EPL, and at the same time, Chelsea will hope for Good Luck in advancing to the final of CL and also winning the EPL. Good Luck will also deny our opponents to miss all their clear chances in front of goals or maybe an own goal will help us through. We really hope Chelsea can play better than this, and at the same time we really hope Good Luck will be with us always until the end of the season.
ohh how i feel sorry for that lad drogba. with such poor quality service no wonder he looks so shit.The lucky one really confused us again with his choice of tactics.long balls to a man with no support for 70 minutes. There were patchs in that game were some players went missing except the defence. Ballack ,lampard suppose to have BMT but looked very out of shape.
Joe Cole liverpool marked that boy right onto the bench.Kalou sparks of quality.
Obi mikel deserves some game time the way the midfield is playing at the moment..
Hopefully the lucky one can steer us through to our first final but damn we dont deserve it.
Football was terrible from our side..few sparks of counter attacking genius only for a terrible finish .liverpool were the better side on the night.Lets hope that lampard and ballack will step up over the weekend so that we can be trail MAN USA properly
Grunt handed a huge slice of luck. Let’s hope he doesnt f*** it all up.
Agree with the comments above in that Drogs was made to battle for long balls with very litle support for long periods - but, in his currnt mood, he seems intent on losing the ball regardless of whatever suport he might have.
I have to say I disagree completely with the Ferraira rating he made tons of defensive errors throughout the first 2/3s of the match and only seemed to steady himself at the end. The back four being caught out seemed more like a lack of communication than a lack of concentration or pace and that lack of communication I think can, not surprisingly, seen as a lack of good coaching.
‘Fakes at Anfield tonight (Liverpool vs Chelsea)?
« on: Yesterday at 08:44:34 PM »
——————————————————————————–
Just got a text off my brother (litmanen37) who is in the kop saying there are shit loads with fake tickets in there.
Said it is overcrowded and they haven’t even got a seat, stood in the aisles (obviously they would stand anyway but that isn’t the point).
Stewards going mental. Supposedly they reckon a few thousand with the overcrowding there is at the minute.
He also said the fake tickets which he must have seen off somebody are identical. ‘
Found the above on a Liverpool message board about fake tickets in the ‘Krap End’ last night. Do those stupid fuckin twats never learn! Heysel, Hillsborough, Athens….. If you don’t have a ticket for the game, don’t fucking go…. Otherwise, don’t expect sympathy when your shellsuited brothers hurt themselves.
I expect that our shrill friends from Merseyside will be turning up at the Bridge next week with a fair compliment of fake tickets. Still, we know that they’re such committed supporters, take fifty thousand to every match, get in by hook or by crook, blah, blah, blah.
Luck had nothing to do with it,;-) Riise’s goal had obviously been worked on in training after all it’s not the first time he’s scored from a similar position, Luton Town in the FA cup this year springs to mind.
One foot in Moscow, lets hope AG can get the tactics/luck right in the second leg, because we won’t have a better chance than this. I did say a while back we could fluke this competition, but frankly not one of us will give a shit if we do.
I also watched Phil Thompson’s reaction to the equaliser on Sly Sports later in the evening, I think it’s about time they had people who are less partisan on that panel, he’s such a wanker, I’m so glad the other panel members pissed themselves laughing at him.
As far as the scousers turning up at the bridge with possible fake tickets, I reckon RA should invite his country men’s riot police to come over to twat them just in case they don’t get the opportunity in Moscow, which we all hope they don’t.
Interesting things about facts…
When we lost to Man U back in September for AG’s first game in charge we were seventh in the league. We have since played in the League cup final (big deal I here you cry) are currently 2nd in the league with still an outside chance to win and 90 mins away from the CL final. Did any of us think back then when Jose departed that we would be in the position we are now ?
Of course the facts don’t tell the whole story and I remain an ardent critic of AG’s management prowess and our football style but all the same I don’t think many true chelsea fans would swap our position with Arsenal’s just to watch sexy football….
Whatever happens in the next week I still want to see a new manager and new blood in the team but for a season of consolidation after Jose’s departure, the club hasn’t too badly and for us fans we still have something to cheer about this late in the season…
We need to make this fortunate away goal count next week. Or else we will end up with nothing and feel even more pain. Dangerous tendency to play the contain game i feel. We need to play an even and balance game both in attack and defence. At least if we can hit them on the counter, we can give them something to worry about when they want to attack us or maybe think abit longer before making the move.
This is what I posted 24 hours ago :
“Tonight, dull 1 - 1 all the way. Us taking the lead with a Kalou-less deflected cross creeping over the line in the first half, then AG making a few bizarre substitutions and us trying to sit on the lead for the second half, and eventually conceding from a needless free-kick given away by one of the usual suspects (Riccy / Maka / JOM).”
Not a bad prediction I say. Correct score-line, guessed (kind of) how our goal would come about and also who would be involved in the ‘Pool scoring. (2 5 13 14 39 47 this Saturday if anyone’s interested….)
Didn’t (thankfully) watch much of the game as I was at a meeting for my football club, but I could tell from the cheering the score at half time and by the Scouse-style whingeing and bleating that we’d equalised at the death. And this was in Norwich.
Having watched it at warp-speed this morning via the wonders of Sky+ I have to say Joe Cole was disappointing again, as were both full backs. Makalele should definitely be let go at the end of the season - I’m not sure exactly what he was trying to do ???
The decision to stick with Malouda seemed a strange one as he’s been largely anonymous all season, and Kalou has been better. And so it proved last night.
I refrained from any sort of gloating last night. I’d have (just) taken the 1 - 0, so 1 - 1 is a good result based on how ridiculously crap we were (again). Play like that next week and it’ll be a struggle, but play like that against ManU or Barca in the final and it could be embarrassing. A lot of work to be done.
Well, well well….invincible Anfield! Not so much now!
By the way Grant got M City shirt on him instead of usual black one, did you see that? That must be the key!
Ok, sorry… Let’s enjoy, hope and not talk about JM-AG for the next 10 days please!
C’mon Chels, take that chance boys! YOU CAN DO IT
Pool supporter - Guardian’s blog
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Please stop blaming the ref. 4 minutes isn’t unusually long.
What a day for Torres to be off his game. Any other day and we would’ve been 3-0 up, but Torres’s clumsy touch on the day meant that he squandered 2 clear chances to score. On the other hand, Chelsea could’ve scored a few as well. Although the manner of the goal is cruel, the result isn’t completely unfair, because despite Liverpool having the better of the chances, overall the match was fairly even. One thing we have going for us is on Saturday Chelsea have ManU while we have Birmingham–at least we can rest some starters.
————–
Seconds before our equaliser, I was just willing for the match to end. At that moment, I would have taken 1-0 considering how Liverpool had the better chances. That said, it was credit to us for persevering and I think we were due some good luck.
Also, what did you all make of ITV’s commentary? I thought it was quite annoying how every time Drogba went down (and admittedly, he did go down a lot), they jumped down his throat, yet it was completely OK for Torres to lie on the floor and cry and that was him “injured.” I listened to 606 on the radio after and that was even worse, taking a pop at Chelsea for everything and making it sound as if Liverpool had played like some footballing giants and all we’d done was cheat all match. The anti-JT bias was sickening.
Anyway, an away goal. When Riise headed into his own net, I just couldn’t stop laughing. It felt so… surreal. And possibly undeserved. But I don’t care a bit, I’ll take it!
Here’s a written quote from Tubby on last night’s game, can you just imagine the headlines if it was JM that said the same thing. No wait we don’t have to imagine we know, Benitez is just as much a bad loser as any other top manager, he seems to have forgotten some favourable refereeing decisions against the Arse. And he’s also a classless twat, Fuck Off Liverpoo!
“Rafael Benítez accused the referee Konrad Plautz of bias and poor timekeeping last night after John Arne Riise’s stoppage-time own-goal cost Liverpool a precious lead in their Champions League semi-final first leg with Chelsea. The Liverpool manager criticised the award of four minutes’ injury-time and a display from Plautz that, he claimed, had favoured Chelsea throughout.
The disgruntled Spaniard said: “It’s difficult to understand. There were 94 or 95 minutes and every decision went against us. All the corners, free-kicks and fouls. But, in the end, it was an own-goal. It’s not the first time. We knew before the game it was going to be difficult [with this referee]. Against Marseille it was more or less the same. You can’t blame the referee for the own-goal at the end but the time? One minute in the first half, four in the second. It’s difficult to explain.”
Benítez also had cause to bemoan the referee for a push by Ashley Cole on the goalscorer Dirk Kuyt inside the Chelsea penalty area, an offence that went unpunished by Plautz. “The first four fouls against us were for pushing,” he added. “I saw one of their players pushing with two hands in the penalty area and nothing given. I’ve seen too many things tonight but I don’t want to say too much.”
Stop me if you’ve heard this but Riise was pulled over by the traffic police on the M6 last night.
Apparently he was heading in the wrong direction…….
I’ll get my coat
Frankly, wiping the smug look off that fat bastard Benitez’s face will be reward enough if we don’t win anything this season.
already a classic
http://link.brightcove.com/ser.....1517402178
Hilarious.
Ref wasn;t great - i didn’t think it was a free kick that led to their goal and carragher was lucky to avoid a booking for continual fouling. Drogba did okay, it was a thankless task as he had no support from midfield until late on. Lampard looked rusty but improved as the game went on and played some excellent passes, but was 99% responsible for their goal (which, remember, came against the run of play). Carvalho and Terry were great - lots of little snidey fouls on Torres as well, which seems to have wound up the mickeys. Not sure why Malouda started ahead of Kalou and Joe Cole is due a big game soon. Be interesting to see what Grant does with Essien next week.
Couple of early goals at the Bridge should do it.
I’m sure it will be that simple.
Again, can’t understand why he puts on Anelka with 5 minutes to go. What’s with the playing of Malouda? He sure as hell doesn’t deserve a place in the team based on form. Joe Cole was anonymous and I was terrified every time Maka got the ball.
We didn’t deserve a draw but I cackled like a hag at the end. It was nothing less than Liverpool and their fans deserved.
Of course, we’re not out of the woods yet…could you imagine if they ended our unbeaten run at home? That would be worse than if Man U could have won the title there.
All in all, can’t help feeling that with no one to reinforce the discipline and mentality of the Mourinho era, it is fading slightly with each game we play. Any manager worth his salt would have seen that as a quality and tried to maintain it.
As Anelka was coming on, Grant stood next to him with a tiny, grotty piece of blue notepaper and was saying something to him while tapping the paper with a pencil. Anelka kept nodding - so were we supposed to believe that Grant was delivering a last minute killer tactical ploy? I reckon he was just showing Nic the list of all the clubs that want the AG Juggernaut…
@Bluetone (30)
What does Thompson actually shout - can’t quite work it out?
FOOTBALL is one weird game.
Frankly, wiping the smug look off that fat bastard Benitez’s face will be reward enough if we don’t win anything this season.
Abso bloody lutely, would love nothing more than to see him fuck off back to Spain.
He also could get a job for Ford with his constant reference to one of their cars, he always goes on about focus this focus that.
33. Jonathan Dyer · 10:41 AM · 23rd April
JD, sounds unbelievable but no speakers on my machine. certainly his body language tells enough.
Clive,
I thought he had tourettes, as it always sounds like he is saying ‘f*ck us’ to me.
Fifty
Yes it does a bit, but I can’t type in a Spanish accent. :-)
And I’m going to be controversial here, I think I prefer AG be in charge than that idiot. Just going to wash my mouth out with soap!!!
I’d take Barry Fry to manage us over Benitez.
with hindsight
were we that worse than them? was our equalizer that undeserved?
up to kuyt’s goal, things were much in the balance and we’d had the first significant spell of possession for the good part of 20 mins, with Joey missing a chance more or less like Torres would do shortly afterwards.
after kuyt’s goal (itself a combination of comical mistakes and luck) and the break they certainly gave us a torrid time, but:
1) they could play on the counter, which makes it easier on the eye
2) the last 20 games we have been playing football they have been playing softball
with the storm weathered we took control back, but still playing like you do when you’re a goal behind, hardly an eye-catcher (which i concede we seldom are).
As lucky messy and comical as our goal was, anyway SK managed to put in a dangerous cross in very hard circumstances and for that alone i wouldn’t bill it as undeserved
I’d take Barry Fry to manage us over Benitez.
That’s taking it too far, you must still be drunk JD, but on second thoughts Barry Fry mmmm not too far fetched!
40. Jonathan Dyer · 11:08 AM · 23rd April
I’d take Barry Fry to manage us over Benitez.
is there a chance? :)
>Blue Bayou
Love that line “I go to sleep the sleep of the righteous”…explained how i felt last night after the game… and i woke up feeling HIGH…
I think the guys had a good game, ANTfield is not a ground for the faint hearted especially on CL nights as many a big team would tell you. We showed we meant business right from the start and that made the scousers to show some respect. I wish JC had taken that 1st chance he had, very unlike him not to convert such. And AG showed balls with his line up and subs…good thing it all paid off.
We kept applying the pressure and it paid off…If DD and Anelka werent breathing down those red necks in the box, Riise would have been calmer in dealing with Kalou’s cross, so we can actually say we worked hard for the result and got the luck/draw we deserved like Lamps and AG have said.
Hope barca give manure enough to worry about between this night and their return leg next week…enough to shake their confidence by lunchtime on saturday…my head says the attack line of manure would be too strong for the defence of barca, but then….this is football!
Always Blue!
MOTM P Cech, with carvalho very closed, what a CD this guy is, the way he reads the game is exquisite, I wish the toad and the bully could read it as well.
Italian press says that the toad and cheslea are the luckiest team in CL, and again they did not deserve to draw, well something that we all know about.
45. Marco · 11:34 AM · 23rd April
Italian press says that the toad and cheslea are the luckiest team in CL, and again they did not deserve to draw, well something that we all know about.
i read the italian press too. che vadano a fare in culo.
@ Alex
This does not make much sense. Just been reading down this blog and I can not explain how not one mention of AG in the negative. How easily swayable…
McCarra = Wanker and Wanker = McCarra
Oops sorry
>Jose
Lafs… maybe the pessimists are beginning to learn that the best thing to do is fight their genes by enjoying the ride and waiting till the very end, before passing any verdict!
I know you really feel good…cant say the same for some of these ‘anti-grant’ acolytes who want him out at all cost…
Gosh!…how i wish we can do the double
Alex and Jose - maybe we’re too busy enjoying a great result to be bothered with petty point scoring? You should try it one day.
I loved Avram’s genius last night - bringing that ginger striker on and disguising him in a Liverpool kit - the man is a legend and I hope he stays for ever and ever.
Been doing a bit of Liverpool blog browsing to see what sort of whining those scallies have been up to. But this bit of unbelievable self righteous crap really beggars belief, we all know they’re deluded, but this really takes the biscuit.
“I tell you what makes LFC great… Us. The people. The proper people. And good on you lads for not slagging JAR and pissing all over the team. If we were Arsenal, Chelsea or Man U fans, you can bet your bottom lip, this comment page would be filled with bile, hatred, whingeing and excuses.
Yes. Of course I am gutted, just like all of you. But I refuse to slag my team or my players for one moment’s madness.
I still haven’t seen the goal again. I’ve got Sly Sports on and Talk Shite, so I soon will. But from what I can drunkenly remember is Malouda out by the corner flag. Masch and Arbeloa bearing down on him. Malouda still whipping a ball in, when he should have been clattered, and JAR shitting himself because Anelka was behind him. So, it’s 1-1 at half time.
I still believe we can win this. Yes. We. Us. the people. Can win this. They will stop us bringing our flags into the ground. They will give out their little plassie flags. They will play the PA as loud as they can to try and drown us out, but they can’t shut us up. And we can win this.
I’m proud to be a Liverpudlian. I am proud to be a koppite. I am proud of Dirk Kuyt trying to stay on his feet no matter what.
I would be ashamed to be a Chav. How disgraceful were they? How can you support a man like Drogba? Slagging off his club, team mates and manager all season. Rolling on the floor like he’d been shot everytime he couldn’t get to the ball. Crying like a 12 year old girl, and then having the nerve to run to the fans at the end of the game. The man is an absolute disgrace.
How can you support a man like Terry? Kicking people and moaning constantly.
But I am not Maureenio. I am not a Chav. I will support my team, as I always have, even if we go out next week. I will not boo my lads, like they do. I will sing Walk On with hope in my heart no matter what happens.”
Yes. We can still do this, because we are the people.”
Comment by Fat Scouser
He appears to have missed out the point about warring Yankee owners washing their dirty linen in public and bickering like a couple of kids.
“I would be ashamed to be a Chav. How disgraceful were they? How can you support a man like Drogba? Slagging off his club, team mates and manager all season” - sadly he may have a point , and this goes for some so called Chelsea (or shall I say JM)fans as well…
Can’t agree with giving Cech an ‘8′. Sure, he made some saves to keep us in it - but nothing so good that you can overlook just how bad he looks on corners. Honestly, the replays from behind the goal showed just how indecisive he has become in this situation. One of his better saves came from a botched attempt to claim the corner, so I’m sorry - I’m not having an ‘8′! Nevertheless, I have some confidence that he’ll get back to his old self next season…..
Also, I can’t agree with a ‘6′ for Ferreira. I was happy to see him start, as it gave our defense (at least on paper) the air of tried & tested. However, Babel ripped him to shreads at will, so quite frankly I look forward to Essien starting there against United & the scum next week, and getting a proper right back before next season. As much as I like Beletti when he’s playing well, he looks dreadful defensively when his confidence isn’t quite there…..
Can’t shake off the feeling that we’ll come unstuck in the next two games - not beating United could knock the lads before the second leg….. Oh well, at least it’s exciting (unlike most of this season)…. C’mon ChelSEA!
@ Mark
Good on you for the comprehensive description of the match. The description, however, is one of the few things that were good about this match.
@ Clive
Yes, they are deranged. I bet they don’t have the same ‘love and affection’ for Pennant.
@ Jiko
I think he has served the club / last manager well and it wouldn’t be wrong to expect only a few good games from him. Its sad, but Drogba is the play, earn and move on types. One cannot persecute him for that.
@ Jonathan Dyer
Avram Ghoul !! The sudden sulks of genius !!
Bottom line : Carvalho is probably the best player on the pitch right now. Essein comes on this weekend and at the Bridge against the Organ Brigade.
Cheers, all.
Thanks for that Clive, that’s fabulous. “We are the people.” Magnificent.
I suppose if your club anthem is a risibly mawkish and tear-jerking piece of Broadway pap, then you probably find that sort of sentimental self-pleasuring hard to resist. They say you can go blind if you indulge in it too much, though …
I try and maintain a civil tone when posting, but I’m getting a little tired of being told that my (low) opinion of Average is shallow/dishonest/disloyal, every time he gets a decent result.
Liverpoo were pretty crummy, we were worse, we got a huge slice of luck, we’re happy. It’s a bit early to do any sort of gloating, though, isn’t it?
Clive,
Thanks for letting me have an insight into the workings of a Scouse mind :
“And good on you lads for not slagging JAR and pissing all over the team” - so well done for no-one slagging of one of our own
to
“How can you support a man like Drogba? Slagging off his club, team mates and manager all season” - you’d have to slag him off because you can’t support him and stand up for him.
Genius. Pure, thick-as-shit, genius.
There’s a guy somewhere on the web who does this cracking parodies of Liverpool fans - will dig out a few examples. ‘Fat Scouser’ has the tone down to a T though…
Emma, I quite agree about the commentator bias towards Liverpool. It stems from the fact they all grew up with the scousers being the top team and we are seen as spoiling the party. It is so bad I have to admit that I can only watch our games against them with the sound turned off. Weird but true. You get to focus on the football more though. It’s no great loss to miss out on the atmosphere when you can save yourself getting annoyed at the idiots who are payed to talks rubbish all through a game. When Rise scored all I saw was the net shake and it was a long few seconds before I realised what had happened. I soon turned the sound on then. It was worth it to see a gutted Andy Townsend (sadly, an ex-Blue who seems to hate us) and Mark Hughes unable to keep the smile off his face. Hughes supported us a boy and was a great player for us at the end of his career. I hope he manages us one day and think he has the talent to.
Now did we get away with murder or didnt we?
@49. Jonathan Dyer · 12:17 PM · 23rd April
hahahahah very good
I agree with most Avram Grant OUT, even if he wins, so what? chelsea is not winning with football, but with far too much luck, no tactics, no decent football, just nothing.
And AG had the audacity to compare his management to the JM’s one, so what again one own goal, in so many, but I still think liverpool may surprise AG, been a fan and supporter since the times of Alan Hudsons and Peter Osgoods amongst others, never seen chelsea with so many brilliant players and playing so amateurish football, there is no doubt in my mind that chelsea was far more convincing, and playing better football last year than now.
The only diifference last year we never had the amount of luck that this year brings.
Example put it out of CL by Liverpool with a ghost goal, this year advantage chelsea, with an own goal.
Now for all the fans of that backstabber, is this luck or is this luck.
Did you guys saw how Rafa motivated his players to go for the seconf goal, during the game, constantly moving from one side to the other gesticulating etc etc ,in contrast that wanker AG always sit his big arse, and when moves an eye lid takes it as proof of stamina.
Here he is after the Barnsley result.
An eerie paralysis has settled like a fog across the city of Liverpool this morning. Bicycles, upon which kids performed wheelies around shopping malls just yesterday morning lie abandoned this morning. No whistled melody plays on the lips of the milkman as he does his rounds. The lead on the church roof remains strangely unstolen, Jimmy Tarbuck and Tom O’ Connor, for once in their lives, have only completely unfunny observations to make. At TV rental shop windows, hushed folk gather around in the hope of updates on our manager, who surely faces a fight for his life over the next several days. At Anfield, fans form a long, patient queue, waiting to leave floral tributes at the point where the tragedy occurred, just 25 yards from the hallowed Kop End. One, spelled out in red and white roses, reads simply “BARNSLEY??” This is a city united in grief, under the world spotlight, a city wondering to itself; did John Lennon of The Beatles die for this? George Harrison? Stuart Sutcliffe?
This is as a time for mourning, and for lessons to be learned from the dreadful events of what will be known as 16/2. And the first lesson that needs to be learned is by the friggin’ Barnsley players, in how to read. In case they didn’t notice, there’s a sign above your heads as you come out of the dressing room that reads “THIS IS ANFIELD”. It’s supposed to put the fear of Yosser Hughes into you. You don’t ignore that sign, you quail and genuflect. Then you go out and lie down as Liverpool Football Club walk tall, with passion and pride in their hearts and guts in their bellies, all over you.
It was quite obvious the way Barnsley played that they had completely the wrong attitude. No respect for their betters, or for the sacred turf they charged around on like kids misbehaving in church. How can you play like that, desecrating the memory of great players like Tommy Lawrence, Tommy Smith, Emlyn Hughes and Jimmy Carter with every last-ditch clearance, slide tackle and friggin’ 25 yard screamer? How can you do that in front of the Kop, where surging fans would sing Freddie & The Dreamers songs and piss in each other pockets? That was the community spirit we had back then – every man a toilet for his neighbour. There were no inside lavs back in the 60s, remember – when you need to go, you knocked on the door of feller in the next house along, he’d let you in, and you’d go in his overcoat pocket. And you’d do the same for him. Great days. Talk of the “romance of the Cup” rings sick and hollow this morning. To people who say that, I say – Myra Hindley and Ian Brady. Was that romantic? It was not. Neither was this. Cilla Black has quite literally been laid prostrate and defecated upon from a height of 30 metres once more and forced to crawl around eating the plop that didn’t land directly in her mouth. Cilla. Our Cilla. Well, I hope you’re happy.
But we are Liverpool. Over the next few days, the watching world will see an example of how a city copes with adversity, its citizens united, never walking alone, standing together, showing solidarity in their grief, except for the Everton scum, the city of Liverpool, together in unison as one.
There is a time for grieving but also a time for bitter recrimination. So, as of this morning, I am organising a city-wide boycott of all Barnsley products. Coal. Clogs. Michael Parkinson autobiographies. Barnsley shall feel the wrath of the people of Liverpool where it hurts. I’m also organising a Barnsley Appeal Fund. I’m hoping Marji Clark will agree to sing a few songs at a big show I’m planning, maybe get Paul McCartney to write one of them oratorios of his, in honour and memory of the Heroes who Fell At the Fifth, or reunite the cast of Bread to record a rousing version of “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. ‘Cos, you see, I’ve realised, if there’s one thing we can learn from the tragedy that was 16/2, it’s that we, Liverpool Football Club, need to buy more players. Stevie, Jamie, Stevie, they’re great la’s but they can’t do it all by themselves. Maybe, in future, a tragedy like this could be averted if we threw more money at a bunch of players who turned out to be un-useless and totally succeeded in gelling. That, and appoint Ricky Tomlinson as team manager. Passion! Heart! . . .
A few of us in the interval of last night game discussed that with AG luck we could pull a good result, but no players reckon AG or TC at all, and it will be an exodus this summer if he stays.
Or maybe one of our team players scores an own goal, LOL, you never know.
No doubt AG will claim the credit on the result,we played shit really.
Here he is after Arsenal.
They say there’s only two teams in Liverpool – the one Rafa Benitez picks one week, then the one he picks the next. Well, this was the one he picked last night, and we walked tall in the shirt. There’s been some memorable nights in Anfield, especially in the 90s – there was Racing Boys of Berne in 1996 (0-0), FC Lederhosen, 1997 (0-0), St. Ponce, 1998 (0-0), matches which brought the blood rushing to the acne on your forehead, pulsating results which summoned up all the passion you think of when you hear the words “Liverpool, Wednesday, November.” But this was special, this. This was a night that made you realise just how much Liverpool is Liverpool and how much everywhere that isn’t Liverpool isn’t, how much Steven Gerrard is Steven Gerrard and how much you down south aren’t. “Liverpool, Liverpool, we walk tall/You are not, so you walk small.”
I remember me first trip down to London, me, on the Wally Arnold in 1987 to see them play Arsenal in that Milk Cola Final. As we were going down towards Wembley Way, there were these Arsenal fans, right, waving little bunches of paper at us with the numbers “5” and “10” on them. We all turned to each other and said, what the frig’s all that about? It was only a couple of years later when I saw Degsy Hatton in WH Smiths hand over one of them that this was London money. Well, I’m telling you, after tonight’s performance, I reckon Jamie Carragher deserves to be awarded one of those bits of number ten London paper – and if it were up to me, he’d get one every year of his life till the day he dies, a Red through and through. We look after our own. Other players tackle. Not good enough. Not good enough for Liverpool Football Club. Jamie TAAACCCCHHHHKKKLLLEEES. He slides on his backside through his own saliva to save the day. For Cilla. For Margi. For Carla. For Liverpool Football Club. We wear the shirt.
There were eleven players on that pitch last night. Pride. Passion. Heart. Commitment. Guts. Honesty (Experience, 65 min). The Shirt. Spittle. The spirit of Stan Boardman. Gerrard. Carragher. All of them, especially the Shirt, were fit to wear the Shirt. They took John Lennon, George Harrison and Brookside from us but they cannot take away our Shirt. What does it represent, the Shirt? To me, to everyone who holds Liverpool Football Club dear, it represents one thing – and that is The Shirt. What Liverpool fan, when the see the Shirt cannot think of the word “Shirt”? Every letter in that hallowed word counts, every letter, like the Liverpool team, plays its part. Take away the “r” and what are you left with? Shit. Makes you think, eh? That tells you everything you need to know about The Shirt. Last night, we were Shirt and you know we were. Every Liverpool player, he’s like a letter in that word. When we are on song, when we are Kings Of Wednesday Europe, we are Shirt. Except when we reach the final, then we are Shirkewell.
This result, this represents, quite literally, the renaissance of a city. This reminds everyone what Liverpool is all about. We’re supposed to be City Of Culture, right? Well, let’s us be having some of them plum jobs, then. Instead of that Russell Davies writing Dr Who, get Carla Lane writing it. Get some of the fun back. “Dalek? I’ll Dalek you in a minute!” “Cyberman! I’ll Cyberman you in a minute!” We’d be falling about. Instead of that kecks bloke, Paxman, on friggin’ Newsnight, get Cilla Black on the job. She’d asks the questions we all want asking of them politicians (“What’s yer name and where d’yer come from?”). How’s about Margi Clarke starring in a six-part telly drama about Queen Elizabeth I? With Michael Angelis as Sir Walter Raleigh and Tom O’ Connor as court jester? (“Remember when you were a kid and your mam used to give you castor oil?”) See, we do stuff like this better. It’s like tragedies. Look at that Shannon kid in Yorkshire. Crap! I tell you, if that’d been Liverpool . . . Walk tall! ‘Ello! ‘Ello! That night in Istanbul! The Shirt!
That was the community spirit we had back then – every man a toilet for his neighbour.
Superb.
To be fair, for every pro Scum shout from Tildseley(?, Beglin was countering with a more neutral or even pro Chelsea comment.
Isn’t he supposed to be ex Scum?
Never watch Chelsea games with the commentary on - they all talk far too much bollocks and have their tongue up the arse of the establishment clubs. Can’t even listen to the radio anymore in case that twat Alan Green is whinging away like the melodramatic, humourless and easily offended ignoramus that he is. Apparently he was on top form last night. I don’t think many football fans would shed a tear if he got spotted at the Bridge on Wednesday and somebody decided to fill him in.
That’s the best thing about watching via the net - if you’re lucky, you get a foreign commentator so don’t have to put up with the biased crap of our lot.
I try and maintain a civil tone when posting, but I’m getting a little tired of being told that my (low) opinion of Average is shallow/dishonest/disloyal, every time he gets a decent result.
@LTB
Every village has its idiot, we just happen to have a few of them, I sometimes think I’ve stumbled across the 606 boards with the WUM’s on here.
Green surpassed himself last night - he sounded moments away from a coronary at points during the 6-0-6 hour. If it had been a 2 hour programme he’d have been stretchered out long before the end.
Strangely in a mathematical sense our options in terms of possible results are significantly less that they were at this stage last year.
In 2007 after winning 1-0 at home, where x is the number of goals scored by Liverpool our options were thus:
2007 Chelsea to go through if
y = x
y = x-1 (where x is = or > 2)
y = x+1
To penalties if
y = x-1 (where x = 1)
Chelsea go out if
y = x – 2
2008 Chelsea go through if
y = x (only where x = 0)
y = x+1
To penalties if (as good as gone if recent penalty shoot outs are anything to go by)
y = x (where x = 1)
Chelsea go out if
y = x (where x >1)
y = x – 2
y = x-1 (where x is = or > 2)
No I don’t know why I’ve been overlooked for a nobel prize either.
[Stunned silence]
You just don’t get stuff like this on Football 365.
@ Blue Bayou No 68 - so when can we expect your clarification of the place of quantum physics and parallel universes in football results?
@71 Blueboydave
That’ll be a while yet as I’m still trying to work out whether the woman in the bakers gave me the right change this morning
So if Lm-z/y= >M…………mmmm I think she may have done me
“John Arne Riise! Ooh Aah! I wanna know-oooooooo- how you scored that goal!”
re: phil thompson
apparently he’s berating Ian Payne coz he’s laughing at Riise’s masterpiece: PAYH-NEYH!
Bloody hell Bayou.
Makes Carol Vorderman on Countdown look positively innumerate.
Fantastic equation Blue Bayou but you omitted one vital piece of information which makes your findings flawed, and that is the Grant effect. Stephen Hawking is working on that very effect as I type, but experts reckon he’ll find the answer to the universe life and everything before that, corner of the classroom with the dunces cap for you.
@ 72 Blue Bayou - what do you think of this suggestion:
Big Bang = RA buys CFC and spends shedloads of money leading to
Universe expands until Ranieri cocks up CL semi against Monaco causing
Timewarp 1 = TSO arrives and 3 years of unparalled (sorry) success ensues until ego clash with RA causes further ripple in space-time continuum leading to appointment of Average One who causes split in multiverse where:
Universe 1 = Lucky AG follows up League/FA Cup cock-ups with stunning flukey wins in Champions league v Barcelona when Messi gets sent off in first minute / Premiership as Man U lose 0-15 on last day of season condemning us to another season of mediocre football and mass exits of our best players or
Universe 2 = AG cocks up both competitions, RA sees sense at last and brings in a decent manager for next season.
@76 Clive - since we know the answer to life, the universe and everything is 42 where does that leave us?
Sorry, it must be the elation from Riise’s moment of brilliance last night - I’m just going to lie down in a dark room now…..
Phil Thompson called Riise a “Wanker” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA big nosed bastard, That was the funniest own goal of all time and I almost died laughing! KTBFFH
Blimey. There’s another Tuesday night wasted. Congrats and all that, chaps, but to a neutral - and yes, I know, in football everybody hates a neutral - it was shit on a stick (copyright Jorge Valdano) again.
I think you’re through, though. Dos vadanya, Moskva!
Aw, come on SedentaryDave - you don’t get to see own goals that good too often…
I’ve just listened to the Phil Thompson outburst again, and it sounds as if he said “Payne eee” obviously aimed at Ian Payne who must have been laughing more than the rest of the panel.
Indeed, it was a classic. Anybody remember that Willie Donachie one? Oops, showed me age there.
Home internationals as a guess? ’tis indeed some time ago now…!
We are of course the club to bring the finest exponent of the OG art to the world of football - the one and only Frank Sinclair…
- it was shit on a stick (copyright Jorge Valdano) again.
@Sedentarydave
Can’t explain the shit but when you get sticks of this quality, how can it be waste of a Tuesday evening?
http://www.walkingsticksonline.....sticks.php
Do do we want ManU to win, lose or draw tonight.
I’d like them to lose 2-0 to ensure they have to play their best team next Tuesday which in turn increases the pressure on them for Saturday.
I think Barca will be easier in the final than ManU, assuming we get there.
Also I’d like Rooney to collide with Ronaldo so they both break their metatarsals and for Ferdinand to get a groin strain so that Fergie has to pull him off (to relieve the pain obviously).
A snifter on a stick! Now you’re talking.
Liverpool cheat in a very real sense under Fat Benny. No domestic competitions to worry about for the last three months of the season. All their season long training and rotation schedules geared towards reaching a peak for the Champions League knock out stage. They field reserves against relegation fighting teams and completely distort the competitive nature of the Premiership for lesser clubs. They are odious beyond measure and yet are lauded constantly as the ‘heart of English football’. They don’t give a toss about English football and players like Stevie G and Carragher will never gain the medals they covet - Premiership Champions - because of it. Chelsea by comparison is as honest a club as you could hope for. Ploughing money back into the English game through paying top money for domestic players where possible (what other club can boast 6, yes 6, local born players in their first team squad: FL, JT, AC, JC, SWP and Sidwell) and competing in every competition, sometimes naively, to our own detriment at times. Yet we are always under attack from ignorant and bigoted pundits who essentially jealous of our resources and success. If we did what the scousers did we would be hounded for it. I have no quarrel with Liverpool fans and have known several down the years. I find scousers top people. And you cannot argue with the way theu support their team. It is the blinkered reporting that gets to me. I absolutely love it when we fuck them up. last night was the biggest treat since Drogs terrified them in that 4-1 at Anfield some years ago in the League.
I’d like them to lose 2-0 to ensure they have to play their best team next Tuesday which in turn increases the pressure on them for Saturday.
@Mark
I was thinking the very same thing earlier, but whatever the score tonight it has to keep them interested in fielding a strong side next week to possibly progress. Of course the perfect result would be for them to get knocked out next week and us to go through and face our old foes.
@Jose,
I simply tired to say how much I hate AG. Yesterday’s game just proves one more time that he has not got a clue about football. Putting Anelka on the wing and moving Maulouda to the centre just one of those stupid things.
Barcelona really putting the boot in. Makes some of our rough-house tactics last night look positively restrained. No complaints here, just stick one on Ronaldo.
Do you know what is really starting to piss me off! Its not alex or jose. its not even avram.
Its the bullshit aka the british press.
We should have beaten liverpool in the first semi final. they were very lucky. the press say they are cup experts - if i remember rightly they stuck the team bus behind the ball.
we should have put the second semi final out of touch at stamford in the first leg but missed a host of chances to only take a 1-0 lead up to anfield. they apparently played a good game to win through despite riding their luck more than a dutch lady of the night!
we have one game with a little bit of luck - mainly a cracking game by cech and the press!! Ohhh Liverpool can beat the jinx, liverpool hard done by, chelsea very lucky, the ref was against liverpool.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/h.....362057.stm
there are many more!!
a very annoyed munkey!
So much for the entertaining football that people claim should be the final. It’s just as dull as last night, but it’s good to see Utd get the runaround to tire out their players.
Danny Broderick…..”I find scousers top people.”
Nurse!!!!!…..Nurse….Come Quick!!
Poor result for Utd in my opinion. There is a huge difference between nicking a goal away, and not getting one.
Barca are more than capable of sneaking a goal against Wes Orange, and the leaden-footed Rio, so I think that semi is now all to play for. Pleased to see Ronaldo failed to impress against another big team….Penalty was woeful.
Should mean that Utd now have to keep winning to get silverware this year. Of course, it will only be relevant if we can turn them over at the weekend, and given the way they defended tonight, that could be tough.
Pretty poor game. Nice patterns, but no heart.
We’d have been slated if we’d produced a performance as dour and defensive as United’s, but they did it well. They’re definitely stuttering, but we’re hardly flying.
87. Danny Broderick · 6:10 PM · 23rd April
exactly my thoughts bout the scousers.
only thing to add: Wayne Bridge. it makes seven english players
93. Greenlight · 9:38 PM · 23rd April
second to none, SAF, when it comes to parking the bus……its gonna be tough alright
No doubt the press et al will be fawning over Manure’s ‘professional’ display much as Parry/Gray were tonight. Only Souness seemed disappointed. They’ll be describing how pretty the passing was, neatly glossing over insignificant facts like chances on goal, chances on target etc, which I reckon were less than our game. I have another description for that 105 minutes of my life.
Arse-gravy
With regards to Benitez resting players this weekend so that they’re fresh for the game mid-week, it doesn’t always work like that. Some players don’t take to being rested very well and like to be involved in every game. Resting them disturbs their mojo.
Rotating his squad has worked so well in the league to date …
Nick….
He is hardly the king of rotation, however when he does play the first team, they tend to perform quite well.
I think we are in the box seat, but my optimism of yesterday has now quickly ebbed away, and that nervy feeling that only comes from watching Chelsea snatch defeat from the jaws of victory so often in the past 30 years has returned!
Saw the first half of the Man Ure game last night but then went to bed, was sick to death of seeing Horse Face diving in the penalty area , then looking over to McFergie, hands on head, every time he didn’t get one awarded. W****r!
Take it Barca didn’t win then? FFS!! I watched them play Espanol (is that spelt right?) the other night and they were awesome! I said to my mate “Utd don’t have a cat in hell’s chance against this lot!” Should’ve bloody known! They’re equal to the scousers on luck! Don’t think Barca will win at Old Trafford..in fact, i’d bet money on it that they won’t.
Did anyone see Tubby complaining on Tuesday night about the Ref and Linesmen being Anti-Scum? He was saying that they gave bad decisions and it’s not the first time it’s happened! I take it he’s OBVIOUSLY not regarding the 2 games they played against Arsenal where the Ref turned a blind eye and let them get away with 2 penalties? Hypocrite!
Regarding the match on Tuesday, i don’t think we played that bad. Especially the first half..maybe we were a bit lazy in the 2nd half though. One things for DEF, i have to say..IF we get to the final and play like that, we’ll lose. It doesn’t take a genius to work that one out.
And Frank wasn’t the worst player either, that award goes to Malouda. Ok, he played a part in the Scum getting their goal but Maka was as much to blame..even Kalou gave the ball away with his first touch when he came on the pitch! I’d give Frank a 6-6.5 but no way a 5!! Think Joey played worse than him but he’s had a crap couple of games..Tired maybe?
And he STILL didn’t play for a full 90 minutes!!
Well done Chels xx
Bluetone, I meant we have six ‘local’ boys, Londoners. Wayne B was born in Southampton. Like they always go on about Gerrard and Carracher being ‘local’ scousers, and Scholes and Neville being ‘local’ Mancs, and their teams being real community teams playing for the city. Well, I repeat, we have 6, repeat 6, ‘local’ London-born players in our first team squad. Nothing can match that anywhere.
What I dont understand about last night is how Man U seem to be appointed by everyone as favourites.
Barca are just as likely to score as them, and anything Barca will get as an away goal is better.
Thought it was an o.k. game, two teams looking to attack each other. Barca will be better with Puyol back, but will certainly miss Messi if he’s injured.
Man U didn’t look great, theought it was a strange decision by Old Red Nose TM to play Ronaldo ahead of Tevez. Shame he missed than penalty. No, seriously. Let’s hope it sends him into some manic depression today or tomorrow and he has to miss Saturday and Tuesday.
Wishful thinking eh…..
off the bbc gossip pages -
Chelsea could move for Inter Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, although his team-mate Mario Balotelli is being considered as an alternative.
Please dont let Zlatan come - if we got mario - we would be dangerous, imagine drogba mixed with torres and you arent far from the type of player this chap is.
Awesome
Please dont let Zlatan come - if we got mario - we would be dangerous, imagine drogba mixed with torres and you arent far from the type of player this chap is.
That means he will be falling over twice as much!
Ibrahimovic?
Arse-gravy.
Great to see Thomo lose it. What did he shout at the end?
Christ, not Ibrahimovic - they’ll be suggesting Adriano next.
LOL clive - no Mario is an amazing centre forward - if memory serves me correctly i think he is on