yup some very strange decisions made last night for sure. Losing Essien from the midfield was a costly mistake I think, as Boula should have been given the chance to play which would have given us Essien in a more dangerous position.
As the stalemate went on and on, I was waiting for Jose to make the changes. They never came. Subs not brought on early enough, and when it was obvious that we had the upper hand I expected the formation to be more attacking, but nothing changed.
Penalty shootouts are a crap way to finish a game for sure, but it should never have got to that stage. All we needed was one goal and we were there. We failed to score for the entire 120 minutes of the game and that is not acceptable in my opinion.
To allow Arjen to take the first penalty after his layoff and injury and taking into account his short time on the field in his first game back, was just madness. I think we all knew that Geremi was gonna miss too didn't we?
Crazy decisions indeed. Still as previously said, there is always next season so whats the big deal.
After 60 games so far this season, the boys did indeed look jaded. It's a huge task to be up there and fighting for 4 trophys in a season. It takes a lot of luck and minimal injuries over a season, to get anywhere near attaining that huge goal. Considering all of that, the guys have done amazingly well to get as far as they have I think.
The League Cup is ours. We are in the FA Cup Final and we are still chasing the title however impossible winning the league might look to some. We reached the semi finals of the CL too. I think every club on the planet would be appreciative of the commitment given by their players to have reached that many highs in the space of one season. I certainly do.
We still need a little more time to evolve as a complete team I think. Its still early days for this squad, their first season together in fact, and I do think that too much is expected from them from so many people.
This season has been valuable to the squad. Its been a learning curve but at the same time we have done well. I think that needs to be noted.
Next season we should be more cohesive as a team and as much as I love Jose, he is entitled to make a mistake once in a while too without every wanker jumping on his back. He too will learn from this season as he would probably tell you himself. He is human (and special)
This Chelsea is only 3 seasons old. The first two seasons we took the League title twice. We had 2 seasons with minimal injuries and a massive squad. That is something that we never had behind us this season. We have suffered from the same curses as every other team in the league, and we are still where we are.
I've been following the Blues since I was 6 years old. One thing I have learned as a Chelsea fan for so many years is that, there is always another season to achieve what you failed at. As a Chelsea fan, it has always been essential that you get your head around that philosophy, otherwise you would probably have alrteady committed suicide by now.
I'm a patient bloke and I'm too long in the tooth for last nights result to get me down for too long. Today is another day and its the remaining competitions that we are still in that matter the most. So lets look forward to a little more silverware before the seasons end huh?
C'MON YOU BLUES...........