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5/6th & 12/13th Champions League Matches

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    Did yez google it?

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      Check out this absolutely embarrassing write up on the official Chelsea website - written by Giles Smith who is a sports writer for one of the nationals.



      GILES SMITH’S MIDWEEK VIEW

      Posted on: Wed 13 Apr 2011

      It without doubt hurt (again), but columnist and life-long Chelsea fan Giles Smith is certainly not betting against there being another chance, and another chance soon…

      Who wants to win the Champions League at Wembley, anyway?

      Of all the dreams one has had, down the years, of seeing the team lift the big European trophy, many will have featured a hot night in Madrid, say, or the background of a long, nostalgic trip to sultry Athens - even, yes, a rainy evening in Moscow. Absolutely none of them, surely, has involved sitting in a rammed train on the Jubilee Line.

      Wembley is where you go to win the FA Cup and, if you're lucky, the Carling. But it's not where you go to win the Champions League - not if you're an English club. It wouldn't have felt right.

      And then, assuming you had won it, everyone would have been able to say, in a detracting tone of voice, 'Well, you were kind of at home, weren't you?'
      Amsterdam? Now, Amsterdam looks nice. Milan, too. Barcelona, obviously.

      Dancing on the streets of Neasden, though? Hmmm. The more you think about it, the more you realise that we were wise to make our excuses and duck out early. Let's step up to the plate again when something more exotic comes around.

      For Manchester United, of course, it's entirely different. A trip to London for Mancunians, whether for a footballing occasion or at any other time, is hugely exciting - all those grand buildings and bright lights and shops with their own electricity. They love all that.

      And whisper it, but, in this week's encounter, it would stand to reason if their fans, accordingly, wanted it just that little bit more than ours did.

      Indeed, I'm no psychologist, but I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't a factor, somewhere deep in the team's sub-conscious. 'Wembley? It's fine - you get this one. We'll wait for the next one to come along.'

      I mean, obviously, if there were never going to be another chance to win the Champions League, you'd take Wembley. You'd take the Walkers Stadium at Leicester, for that matter, and get there by bike if you had to.

      But I suspect most of us believe there will be another chance, don't we? This is the privilege of our current position (and we would do well never to lose sight of what a colossal privilege it is). In fact, if our players hold their nerve in the remaining league games of this season (and there are very positive signs that they will, especially now that they don't have anything else very much to distract them, the way that last night's tie clearly distracted them at home to Wigan last Saturday), there'll be another chance as early as next year - and with a comprehensively rebuilt and widely refreshed team, most likely. And who would bet against there being a few more chances in seasons beyond that one, as well?

      So, yes, it hurts to go out - and, again, in such bizarre and unlikely circumstances. (Mind you, this competition has hurt us all much harder than this before now. These days, if you want to upset Chelsea fans with a Champions League-related disappointment, you have to get to the back of a pretty long queue. Why, a fussy sending-off and an ungiven first-leg penalty barely have the power to scratch the surface these days.)

      But think of it this way: the Champions League dream is still powerfully alive - and even more so, for not having Wembley in it.

      Of course, it's traditional, at the point of exit from a cup competition, to wish your vanquishers well and to express the hope that they go on to win the trophy. And there's clearly an awful lot to be said for that attitude, with its mix of gracious magnanimity in defeat and, at the same time, fierce pride in the worth of your own team.

      But could I just say at this point that, in this specific instance, I don't hope that? Come on, absolutely anybody else, in fact.
      Thanks very much for being ‘This Mornings’ Farmer’

      Comment


        Originally posted by Shaggy View Post
        Giggs is way worse. Look at any picture of that lot surrounding the ref and it's always Giggs right in his ear. I'm not saying ours don't do it but all this painting of Giggs to be a saint is cringeworthy and absolute bollocks.
        I think he gets away with it because he doesn't do it with the same aggression as some of the other Rooney, Scholes, Neville, Keane etc, but he always does it.
        The only gracious way to accept an insult is to ignore it; if you can't ignore it, top it; if you can't top it, laugh at it; if you can't laugh at it, it's probably deserved.

        Comment


          An article on Mascherano at centre-back last night: http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/04/...ack-barcelona/
          Thanks very much for being ‘This Mornings’ Farmer’

          Comment


            Originally posted by Shaggy View Post
            Check out this absolutely embarrassing write up on the official Chelsea website - written by Giles Smith who is a sports writer for one of the nationals.

            http://www.chelseafc.com/page/Latest...337513,00.html


            As if Chelsea don't want to win it because the final's in London, what a load of ****e, most of them would give their bollocks to win it at all.
            The only gracious way to accept an insult is to ignore it; if you can't ignore it, top it; if you can't top it, laugh at it; if you can't laugh at it, it's probably deserved.

            Comment


              This is funny

              [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxS8BBPRDac&feature=channel_video_title"]YouTube - Away Day - Spurs in Madrid[/ame]
              Thanks very much for being ‘This Mornings’ Farmer’

              Comment


                That is brilliant.
                "Its not about the long ball or the short ball, its about the right ball." Bob Paisley

                Comment


                  The only gracious way to accept an insult is to ignore it; if you can't ignore it, top it; if you can't top it, laugh at it; if you can't laugh at it, it's probably deserved.

                  Comment


                    Originally posted by Shaggy View Post
                    Check out this absolutely embarrassing write up on the official Chelsea website - written by Giles Smith who is a sports writer for one of the nationals.

                    http://www.chelseafc.com/page/Latest...337513,00.html


                    We didn't want to win it anyway as the final is in London.

                    ****. Off

                    Comment


                      Anyone give Spurs or Inter a hope in hell tonight ?

                      Comment


                        Originally posted by Shaggy View Post
                        Brilliant

                        Comment


                          Originally posted by anfieldanfield View Post
                          Anyone give Spurs or Inter a hope in hell tonight ?
                          Inter - 'easiest' scoreline to qualify: 1-4 - wont do it, but are capable.

                          Spurs - 'easiest' scoreline to qualify: 5-0 - wont do it because not capable.

                          Comment


                            United's treble dream is very much alive.

                            They'll defo do the double, and now only Barca or Madrid stand in their way of the Champions League.
                            If there's one team that can beat Barca or Madrid, It's them.

                            Comment


                              Man United have beaten an awful, poor-shaped Chelsea side and many people suddenly think they are an amazing side. Whilst Utd have conceded the fewest they have also scored the fewest (one of) compared with the others thus far AND their group stage and KO stages were fairly easy so far.

                              Chelsea were very poor. The amount of space they left Rooney in for his goal in the 1st leg was just embarassing defending. This season United haven't really played anyone remotely close to the calibre of Barca/Real.

                              I'm going to throw this out there...

                              United will not score a single goal in the final (assuming they make it) unless they are gifted a penalty. Real/Barca will beat them by at least 3 goals.

                              Comment


                                Originally posted by Charles Manson View Post
                                Man United have beaten an awful, poor-shaped Chelsea side and many people suddenly think they are an amazing side. Whilst Utd have conceded the fewest they have also scored the fewest (one of) compared with the others thus far AND their group stage and KO stages were fairly easy so far.

                                Chelsea were very poor. The amount of space they left Rooney in for his goal in the 1st leg was just embarassing defending. This season United haven't really played anyone remotely close to the calibre of Barca/Real.

                                I'm going to throw this out there...

                                United will not score a single goal in the final (assuming they make it) unless they are gifted a penalty. Real/Barca will beat them by at least 3 goals.
                                I don't think anyone thinks they're a great side, I think most people worry because they are a lucky side...
                                The only gracious way to accept an insult is to ignore it; if you can't ignore it, top it; if you can't top it, laugh at it; if you can't laugh at it, it's probably deserved.

                                Comment

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