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08 04 2008 Chelsea 2 Fenerbahce 0
Tonight, Chelsea were fantastic for the first five and the last five minutes. In between we had to witness some of the
most dire quality of football that you could imagine at this stage of the competition.
It is difficult to understand why there seems to be this pattern developing with Chelsea at home - maybe the negative
attitude of the fans towards the management and administration of the club is affecting the players - but certainly after
Ballack's brilliant headed goal it only took a wayward kick from Cudicini (one of Carlo's and his subsequent replacement
Hilario's major weaknesses) to see the side fall apart and nearly get knocked out to a side that would struggle to reach
the top six in the Premier League.
Make no bones about it, Fenerbahce are a nice passing side, but we should not be struggling against a team like this. It
was even worse to lose away to them and have someone called Colin score against us.
Now we face Liverpool (again!) in the Champions' League semis. Benitez's tactics for the season seem to be obvious -
do just about enough to qualify for the Champions' League by finishing fourth in your domestic league, and then put all
your efforts into winning the European Cup. I fear for us again - not particularly because I think Benitez is a good
manager, or has any world class players apart from Gerrard and Torres, but because you know that when fourth spot is
secured the Spanish Ricky Gervais lookalike can rest his first team, unlike Chelsea who will be fighting a war on two
fronts (last year we were fighting a war on four fronts!).
On the plus side, at least we will have the second leg at home, but if Liverpool obtain refereeing decisions like they have
had against us in the past in the Champions' League, and even this season against Arsenal where they were extremely
lucky to progress, then we might as well not turn up.
Now, onto another point. Not counting my chickens before they hatch, but the ludicrous decision to stage the CL final in
Moscow has posed even more problems. Even before the finalists are yet to be confirmed, all hotels are booked and
flights are well outside the normal fan's price range. Even more bizarrely, the new, "democratic" Russia requires visas
for you to visit even just for a day... at a rough cost of just under £100. Good luck processing 50,000 UK applications if it
is an all English final!
On to Wigan now. Another weekend without football on a Saturday, followed by an away trip to Everton on a Thursday!
Please boycott Sky and Setanta, they are killing the game for the normal fans.
most dire quality of football that you could imagine at this stage of the competition.
It is difficult to understand why there seems to be this pattern developing with Chelsea at home - maybe the negative
attitude of the fans towards the management and administration of the club is affecting the players - but certainly after
Ballack's brilliant headed goal it only took a wayward kick from Cudicini (one of Carlo's and his subsequent replacement
Hilario's major weaknesses) to see the side fall apart and nearly get knocked out to a side that would struggle to reach
the top six in the Premier League.
Make no bones about it, Fenerbahce are a nice passing side, but we should not be struggling against a team like this. It
was even worse to lose away to them and have someone called Colin score against us.
Now we face Liverpool (again!) in the Champions' League semis. Benitez's tactics for the season seem to be obvious -
do just about enough to qualify for the Champions' League by finishing fourth in your domestic league, and then put all
your efforts into winning the European Cup. I fear for us again - not particularly because I think Benitez is a good
manager, or has any world class players apart from Gerrard and Torres, but because you know that when fourth spot is
secured the Spanish Ricky Gervais lookalike can rest his first team, unlike Chelsea who will be fighting a war on two
fronts (last year we were fighting a war on four fronts!).
On the plus side, at least we will have the second leg at home, but if Liverpool obtain refereeing decisions like they have
had against us in the past in the Champions' League, and even this season against Arsenal where they were extremely
lucky to progress, then we might as well not turn up.
Now, onto another point. Not counting my chickens before they hatch, but the ludicrous decision to stage the CL final in
Moscow has posed even more problems. Even before the finalists are yet to be confirmed, all hotels are booked and
flights are well outside the normal fan's price range. Even more bizarrely, the new, "democratic" Russia requires visas
for you to visit even just for a day... at a rough cost of just under £100. Good luck processing 50,000 UK applications if it
is an all English final!
On to Wigan now. Another weekend without football on a Saturday, followed by an away trip to Everton on a Thursday!
Please boycott Sky and Setanta, they are killing the game for the normal fans.
