They're not bitter

[bysants]

The Fa cup has been given a new name this year: Loser's cup.

[Monty]

Threw.... toss.... tosser.....

Not a very tough word association game is it?

Your bird (avatar) looks like my ex - what's her name?

[loco_law]

Your bird (avatar) looks like my ex - what's her name?

Well Monty, unless you live in Canada I doubt you've ever even seen her, let alone had the pleasure. :whatever:

[Rigadon]

Mourinho the deluded one


Jose Mourinho was stripped of his self-appointed status as the special one and became the deluded one as Liverpool visited another Champions League nightmare upon Chelsea.

Mourinho's disappointment was understandable, as he had to swallow a second semi-final defeat in front of an Anfield gallery that has taken particular exception to his unique, outspoken personality.

But it took all of Mourinho's brass neck and some very thick blue-tinted spectacles to sit and declare - without any sign of his tongue drilling a hole in his cheek - that the best team lost and that Chelsea were truly deserving of a place in the Athens final.


Nonsense. Every word of it.


If Mourinho truly believed Chelsea were the stronger team, the team pressing inexorably for victory, the team throwing men forward at set pieces to secure the goal that would have made a final place certain, he kids no-one but himself.


Mourinho's self-belief is iron-clad, but in this instance he simply used it as a shield against what was a grim reality for Chelsea.


"Chelsea tried to win it in 90 minutes. Chelsea tried to win it in extra time. The best team was the team in blue," he said.


Liverpool were the side that deserved the win


And on it went in an assessment that was nothing short of bemusing.


Liverpool were the side that deserved the win, even if it came in the awful lottery of penalties.


Rafael Benitez's side showed the greater verve and variety - just look at the work-sheet of the two goalkeepers if you want proof.


Pepe Reina, before his penalty heroics, made a fine save from Didier Drogba and endured the odd skirmish around the six-yard area.


Chelsea counterpart Petr Cech was beaten by Daniel Agger's first-half strike, saved brilliantly from Peter Crouch and watched Dirk Kuyt's header hit a post.

Dutch striker Kuyt also saw a goal ruled out by a marginal offside and brought a fine save from Cech in the final seconds after he was played in by Robbie Fowler.


Chelsea, in the real world away from the place Mourinho appeared to be occupying, were brave, resilient, and only the hardest heart would not feel a tinge of sympathy for men like John Terry and Claude Makelele.


But they were pedestrian, unambitious, and seemed to have a simple plan A aimed at securing a goalless draw.


Once that went west, plan B was a horribly basic approach of hoofing the ball in the general direction of Didier Drogba and crossing fingers that these scraps would lead to a feast.


It did not work and never looked like working, hence general astonishment at Mourinho's swiftly drawn up attempt to re-write history.


Chelsea ultimately paid the price for failing to kill Liverpool off in the first match at Stamford Bridge, a game Mourinho was well within his rights to say his team dominated.


This game was Liverpool's and Benitez's. They will not care one jot for the somewhat bizarre analysis offered up by Mourinho.


Liverpool, fuelled by another firecracker of an Anfield atmosphere, deserved their place in the final.


And after the miracle of Istanbul in 2005, who would bet against Benitez making it a remarkable two Champions League wins in three seasons at Liverpool?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/6614245.stm

[Monty]

Well Monty, unless you live in Canada I doubt you've ever even seen her, let alone had the pleasure. :whatever:

Yeah mate, Toronto. I wasn't being facetious.

[loco_law]

HAHA Toronto is a little too far away mate. We live in Victoria.

[MrMichael]

Haha. Cheers. I was inspired after his wonderful interview after the game.

That's quality

[friedk]

FLMAO



From the official Chelsea Site


Wed, 2nd May 2007

As dust settles on events on Merseyside, it falls to columnist Giles Smith to provide an early reflection on the fortunes of Chelsea and Liverpool.

I'll say this much for Liverpool: they're good at penalty shoot-outs. In fact, when it comes down to it (and it so frequently seems to, in their case), there's no better team out there at nicking a match on sudden death.

Do they train for it? You would have to assume so: all summer, I would reckon, and then on into the winter and spring. Two European Cups, one FA Cup, one League Cup - all nicked on penalties. That's an extraordinary amount of penalty-based plunder for one football team.

Also, one FA Cup semi-final, and now one Champions League semi-final. Amazing. They've got a record to be proud of there.

And incredible, the rewards a team can accrue without ever needing to be ahead in a match. The European Cup Final against AC Milan in 2005? Liverpool were never ahead, but they nicked it. The FA Cup final last year against West Ham? Liverpool were never ahead, but they nicked it. The Champions League semi-final last night? Liverpool were never ahead but they nicked it.

Bitterly disappointing for us, of course, but at the same time, losing on penalties has its consolations. We get to sigh and shake our heads, and to trot out that argument about it being a lottery, and no way to settle a football match. And you look at the cup history of Liverpool, and it's hard to disagree with that.

But in this, of all years, there are other, far greater consolations to be sought for the pain of going out of the Champions League. Permit me to set them out.

One of the football correspondents wrote, in advance of yesterday's match, 'In each of Jose Mourinho's seasons in charge Chelsea have had Premiership titles to protect them from hurt of defeat elsewhere. It looks as if that safety device is gone in this campaign and nothing will protect them from the hurt of failure at Liverpool this evening.'

Well, let's not completely discount the possibility that Chelsea could, even now, end up with a third consecutive league title. But setting all that aside, there is plenty to protect us from 'the hurt of failure at Liverpool'. In fact, I don't think we have to win anything else this term - any other match, in fact - or even score another goal for this to have been the most remarkable Mourinho season of them all, and therefore, by definition, the most remarkable season in the history of the club. I thought that before last night, and I see no reason not to think it now, just because of a miserable Champions League exit on penalties.

Consider it. Some time last summer, important people at Chelsea sat down and said to each other, 'Let's go for the lot in 2006-07. Let's not say this trophy is more important to us than that. Let's not 'prioritise' anything. Prioritising is for weasels, scaredy-cats and the self-consciously infirm. Prioritising short-changes the fans and sells everyone connected with the club short.

'To hell with prioritising, then: let's aim for the full house. Let's try and win everything. Let's try and construct a season in which, for as long as possible, every game counts - not just in August, but even, if necessary, in May. And if we crash and burn? Well, we crash and burn. But we'll have had a hell of a time trying, and so will our fans. And we'll have learned a few things about our character.'

It would need players, of course - players of a certain calibre. Players with not just a 'winning mentality', but with a 'let's win the lot' mentality, which is superior, and harder to find. Except that we had them: Essien, Carvalho, Terry, Lampard, Makelele, Cech, Drogba - everywhere you looked, we had them, the biggest bunch of 90-minutes-plus diehards ever to wear blue at the same time.

And who came along with us in this scheme? What other club had the nerve? Not one of them. Manchester United threw the Carling. Yes, they dared to join us for the ride in the three other competitions, and hats off to them for that. But at the same time, it can't be ignored - they threw the Carling.

Arsenal tried to throw the Carling, but it wouldn't let them. They also threw the Premiership because they decided that they were 'in transition' instead (ie. confused, disorganised and not playing very well).

Liverpool threw the Carling, the FA Cup and the Premiership and pushed everything they had into the Champions League alone - the sum extent of the club's ambitions since the arrival of Rafa Benitez. And if they could scrape it on pens, even better. It left them in a position, only last weekend, to toss away a Premiership game at Portsmouth.

Tossing away a Premiership game - can you imagine? Good value, I'm sure, for the travelling supporters of this 'community' club.

Can you remember the last time Chelsea played a game that didn't matter? You can't, and that's because it has been the most extraordinary season ever, one in which the players have earned our love and respect as in no other. It has already delivered a Champions League semi, a down-to-the-wire title race, an FA Cup final and the Carling Cup - all secured, one hardly need add, in the face of the kind of calamitous injury list that would have sent other clubs with less guts into administration.

And if the team has looked a little tired in the last week, then who could blame them? I feel tired, and I only watch. The players' concentration and commitment has been nothing short of unearthly, and no penalty fudge at Anfield could ever remove the shine from that.

So, we say this to Benitez and Liverpool. Congratulations on last night. Go on and win it, why not? But here's a suggestion - next season, get involved. Try and set out to win more than one thing. Go on. Give it a shot. Play some football. Hey, you might even find you enjoy it. It doesn't always come off, granted. But you get to feel good about yourself even so. And you would definitely enjoy that

Hard to imagine any other team that would have such a complete and utter lack of class in the face of defeat.

After spending £500m, who's fault is it that they have a squad that is too small?

[Icon]

GREAT.

Have something to wipe my arse with now!

[Joe Le Toff]

[Maestro]

GREAT.

Have something to wipe my arse with now!

What - your laptop?

[Tom]

I'm really enjoying their pain
couldn't happen to a nice supporter base - mixture of right wing thugs and upper class tory supporting chinless wonders. And of course the "uber-slug" david mellor.

[SB]

Giles' notion that Liverpool did not attempt to win the league this year is frankly bemusing.

He points to the Portsmouth game as a game we "threw" - but we had no chance of winning the league at that time, so some ressies were fielded - I don't see whats wrong with that ?

Bitter ******

Maureen would never give the ressies a go as it might make him look bad. He can assemble a squad of over paid mersonairies (sp?) but he can't nurture young talent which is what United, Arse and us were doing when we threw those matches he mentioned. Why bring in new young talent when the owner has a check book to pilfer any promising players.

You only had to look at the chav players faces to see that they were shattered after a long campain in which the "undroppables" or whatever he called them should have been better prepared for. Jerks, all of them.

[Neil Young]

It doesn't matter what they think or what they say to justify their defeat.

They lost and that's all there is to it.

[RedWolverine]

Drogba


Charges in like a bull ...pain threshold of a lamb