23 04 2006 Chelsea 1 Liverpool 2
I felt something was wrong when I entered our section of Old Trafford and overheard a Chelsea fan placing a £100 bet
on Liverpool to win the FA Cup Semi on his mobile phone.
I got to my seat and looked at the Chelsea team line up. Cudicini, Del Horno, Terry, Gallas, Geremi... so far so good.
Midfield - Makelele, Essien, Lampard, Ferreira. Hang on! Ferreira? I had to reread the team selection. Two right backs?
"Oh well", I thought, "I am sure we will have one of our wingers on to compensate for it". But no, Drogba and Crespo up
front. And no Joe Cole who has been arguably the biggest thorn in Liverpool's side over the past few seasons.
In any case, I wasn't too bothered. There has never been a manager that I have had so much faith in as Jose. The only
time I have been critical of him was at Barcelona, where he should have played a more attacking team. Maybe there is
something we didn't know about - perhaps Cole, Robben and Duff were not fully fit. Then I realised I was just kidding
myself, and as I watched the match progress I saw Liverpool dominate us in the first half.
It was a game of ironies. Firstly, it was Liverpool who played with one striker up front - a system which Jose had
successfully used for most of his Chelsea career. Secondly we had two experienced right backs, and yet Kewell seemed
to find more space than ever on that wing! And finally, I realised that Chelsea had made a complete reversal from being
only a cup side, to being a side that seems to struggle in non Premier League competition!
It was nice to see Graham Poll officiating - our latter day David Elleray. He really does not like us - but then again we
were the fans that invented the "Oh Graham Poll, is a fucking arsehole" song. At a Pompey match a couple of seasons
back he cupped his hand to his ear to the Chelsea fans' direction when we sang this song - let's not pretend that this
doesn't bother him. So it was no surprise when decisions went against us today. Liverpool should never have had the
free kick that lead to their goal. But then again, Drogba should not have missed a sitter just minutes earlier, and the wall
should not have disintegrated so easily from Arne Riise's shot. In the second half, Terry's goal was harshly ruled against
him, when a similar incident by a Liverpool player only a few minutes later seemed to have gone unpunished. Poll
seemed to take great delight in blowing the final whistle and gesturing the game was over in the Chelsea fans' direction.
So that's my moan about the officials over. Joe Cole missed a sitter in the last minute, although I am still not sure if the
linesman flagged for an offside or not. By this time, Jose had put Robben, Duff and Cole on. Liverpool did not have a
single chance during this period, which showed that we should have at least had 2 of this 3 on to start with. It's all very
well playing second string players and the 4-4-2 system against rubbish like West Ham, but Liverpool are in the a
different league from these other teams. They are only 15 points behind us too. The 4-5-1 system has served us well
this season and I hope Jose has not been experimenting in anticipation of us signing Ballack.
This is Jose's second strike. A third one and I feel that a large minority of fans may turn against him. It's ok being
arrogant when you win everything, but when you do not silly comments come back to bite you on the bum. I was
extremely pissed off after the match - mainly at him.
I felt most sorry for the fans who had to drive back to London that night - a six and a half hour journey due to roadworks
everywhere. They too, must have been shaking their heads at Jose's team selection. Yes, decisions went against us,
but we wanted to see Liverpool get annihilated rather than having to fight back from being 2-0 down.
Perhaps we shall find a real reason soon as to why Jose played the team he did. My feeling is that there is nothing
sinister about it, and that Jose simply made a massive error of judgement.
At least we have winning the league to fall back on which is a major consolation.
on Liverpool to win the FA Cup Semi on his mobile phone.
I got to my seat and looked at the Chelsea team line up. Cudicini, Del Horno, Terry, Gallas, Geremi... so far so good.
Midfield - Makelele, Essien, Lampard, Ferreira. Hang on! Ferreira? I had to reread the team selection. Two right backs?
"Oh well", I thought, "I am sure we will have one of our wingers on to compensate for it". But no, Drogba and Crespo up
front. And no Joe Cole who has been arguably the biggest thorn in Liverpool's side over the past few seasons.
In any case, I wasn't too bothered. There has never been a manager that I have had so much faith in as Jose. The only
time I have been critical of him was at Barcelona, where he should have played a more attacking team. Maybe there is
something we didn't know about - perhaps Cole, Robben and Duff were not fully fit. Then I realised I was just kidding
myself, and as I watched the match progress I saw Liverpool dominate us in the first half.
It was a game of ironies. Firstly, it was Liverpool who played with one striker up front - a system which Jose had
successfully used for most of his Chelsea career. Secondly we had two experienced right backs, and yet Kewell seemed
to find more space than ever on that wing! And finally, I realised that Chelsea had made a complete reversal from being
only a cup side, to being a side that seems to struggle in non Premier League competition!
It was nice to see Graham Poll officiating - our latter day David Elleray. He really does not like us - but then again we
were the fans that invented the "Oh Graham Poll, is a fucking arsehole" song. At a Pompey match a couple of seasons
back he cupped his hand to his ear to the Chelsea fans' direction when we sang this song - let's not pretend that this
doesn't bother him. So it was no surprise when decisions went against us today. Liverpool should never have had the
free kick that lead to their goal. But then again, Drogba should not have missed a sitter just minutes earlier, and the wall
should not have disintegrated so easily from Arne Riise's shot. In the second half, Terry's goal was harshly ruled against
him, when a similar incident by a Liverpool player only a few minutes later seemed to have gone unpunished. Poll
seemed to take great delight in blowing the final whistle and gesturing the game was over in the Chelsea fans' direction.
So that's my moan about the officials over. Joe Cole missed a sitter in the last minute, although I am still not sure if the
linesman flagged for an offside or not. By this time, Jose had put Robben, Duff and Cole on. Liverpool did not have a
single chance during this period, which showed that we should have at least had 2 of this 3 on to start with. It's all very
well playing second string players and the 4-4-2 system against rubbish like West Ham, but Liverpool are in the a
different league from these other teams. They are only 15 points behind us too. The 4-5-1 system has served us well
this season and I hope Jose has not been experimenting in anticipation of us signing Ballack.
This is Jose's second strike. A third one and I feel that a large minority of fans may turn against him. It's ok being
arrogant when you win everything, but when you do not silly comments come back to bite you on the bum. I was
extremely pissed off after the match - mainly at him.
I felt most sorry for the fans who had to drive back to London that night - a six and a half hour journey due to roadworks
everywhere. They too, must have been shaking their heads at Jose's team selection. Yes, decisions went against us,
but we wanted to see Liverpool get annihilated rather than having to fight back from being 2-0 down.
Perhaps we shall find a real reason soon as to why Jose played the team he did. My feeling is that there is nothing
sinister about it, and that Jose simply made a massive error of judgement.
At least we have winning the league to fall back on which is a major consolation.
