League Cup, Matches - Written by BlueChampion on Thursday, December 20, 2007 0:26 | 2,079 Views | 68 Comments | Add Comment
Chelsea 2-0 Liverpool | To face Everton in semi finals
Not the high intensity match I was expecting for. Rafa Benitez spoiled the whole party by selecting a team with about half a dozen second string players. He has valued the weekend Portsmouth game more than the League Cup. We know that his first team has been playing in successive matches with short intervals. Last season, Chelsea had a similar situations but we cruised along playing 4 matches in a 10 day period and all that. I don’t see Chelsea making any half hearted attempt for any competition.
We won comfortably. There were some anxious moments but on the whole, we were not really tested. That said, it was a poor match overall. Very poor football all around. Players making stupid errors, making wayward passes, losing possession like that’s what they intend to do and shooting like they’re playing American football. Poor exhibition for football.
Lots of positives in this match. Carvalho is back but not at his best (that back pass gave me a mild heart attack!) but at least he is back and seems to quite allright. Ballack made a 20 minute cameo and was very comfortable on the ball. Sinclair showed promise but still has some way to go before really top level football. I wish we see more of Sinclair in place of SWP. Joe Cole was fantastic. After a poor match at the Emigrants, Joe Cole showed a lot of desire and determination and that made the difference. Kalou was the most impressive and played a part in every single attack. Shevchenko scored a goal. He played well and got himself a goal. Still he is yet create that fear in the minds of the defenders. But he is certainly improving.
I liked Wayne Bridge’s contribution in this match. His crosses were not as good as you’d expect them to be, but he had a good match. Mikel was disappointing. Essien had a good match. I want to see Essien play in the attacking midfield as much as possible. Everytime he had the ball in the attack, you knew something’s gonna happen. He’s not going to waste crucial possession. Though he started off scrappily, he improved as the game went by, much like Lampard. Frank didn’t play a big role in the first half but in the second half he was pretty much the engine of the attacks along with Essien. In the process he got his 99th Chelsea goal.
Liverpool did not seem to care too much about this match or this trophy. They were very lacklustre and Rafa must be thinking that he now has one headache less to worry about. Crouch did a very stupid thing to earn a red card. I wonder why players can’t resist that momentary madness despite knowing the possible consequences. Having taken the lead and playing the last 30 minutes of the match against 10 men, we should have finished off the match much earlier.
The League Cup semi final draw has been made. Chelsea hosts Everton while Arsenal hosts Spurs. This would be two-legged affair, if matters are not decided in the first leg. Obviously, Chelsea and Arsenal play at home in the first leg matches.
Congrats to Grant on notching his first win against Liverpool. By the way, how many of you saw how Grant reacted to Crouch’s foul on Mikel? C’mon Avram, we know you can do it!
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68 Comments
1. Maysam
2. CellSea
Could be a draw based on the odd
3. Maysam
The assis Ref. injured :))
4. Maysam
Grant did not take this game serious .
——————Cech—————–
Bell———-Ben——-Terry-Bridge
——-Essien—Mikel—Lam——–
—–Kalou—Sheva—Sinc—–
5. Maysam
sorry , not terry . Carvaliho
6. Maysam
Chelsea has to win becasue Liverpool has not even used Reina
7. Maysam
Benitez is crazy becasue they do not have chance to win EPL , they have to do their best for this kind of cups.
8. Maysam
Brdige save chelsea , Sinclair has screwed up so far
9. Mikey
Can’t believe Lampard didn’t score there.
And then an awesome reflex save from Cech. Liverpool just made Ben Haim look like a poor fool.
Good surge forward from Sinclair. I haven’t seen that type of movement from a Chelsea player in a while.
10. Mikey
Wow Sinclair! Boy can he accelerate!
11. bluejuggernaut
Where’s Piz? Tought Sheva and Piz would start up front. Piz not even sitting on the bench!
12. Mikey
Both teams have had good chances and come close, especially Essien on about a 25 yard volley that must have nicked the outside of the post.
13. Mikey
Personally, I could not have been happier to see Sheva blast that off the keeper and into the back of the net. Good for him. His long-range freekick earlier in the game also looked awesome. Too bad that didn’t go in, it was close.
14. Den
2-0 final score, good result
15. SH.IBRAHIMI
despite long injury Ballack look good .. i hope he start against Blackburn and by the way great 2nd half by Chelsea ..
16. vito chelsea
poor old liverpool or should i say liver pool in the pool of water
care free where ever you may be xmas is dressed in blue not red
ha ha ha hja liverpool go home chelsea chelsea chelllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllsea
17. Lado
So who is still not happy with sheva? Assist
18. Lado
So who is still not happy with sheva? Assist and a goal….
19. Adonis
Didn’t get to see the match, but encouraging signs. Can’t wai to see Ballack in action!!
20. Den
ballack was awsome and honestly he couldve scored in the second half when he came on but instead passed to j.cole, he couldve easily pulled the trigger.
21. Den
how the hell are we gona play with mikel, lampard, essien, maka, ballack in the same team
22. king blues
pizzaro was ill i read it in the club website that crouch should get a life ban for that tackle ……mikel was lucky
23. king blues
i was correct that rafa would start with sissoko and xabi. he was playing for a draw with 2 defensive mdfilders
24. Adonis
Den… It’s simple. We play the three best three players based on form. That’s how good teams work, they have more than enough to choose from. It’s good to have depth, please don’t complain. Last year it was our Achilles heel and it cost us a title.
25. Nihongo Blue
just saw the highlights… cech made 2 very good saves and looked as if we had very good attacks…
i feel sheva should have been rested for the blackburn game… its a tough away game. good to essien..
may be crouch had booked some vacation package for christmas and rafa didnt approved it so got a red card to enjoy 
things look good with sheva and lets rock the christmas period with full points… except aston villa at home i dont see us dropping points in other 3.
26. True Blue Fusion
shevcheko had a swollen ankle after the match……..avram says he doesn’t know how serious it is
27. Nihongo Blue
BC looks like you have to come up with a injury section soon… we r really having a injury crisis for years now.
28. king blues
sheva should recover before blackburn
29. Den
and pizzarro has the flu!
30. max
chelsea play good, shevchenko and ben haim and sinclair nice players
31. blue_victoryAUS
Once again unable to watch the game, however have read the reports and from what I can gather Shevchenko really is staking his claim in the side now. I have seen his goal and as much as i get on his back no single player scoring makes me more happy.
Ballacks return is timely and he had a hand in the goal so hopefully he and Sheva can gain a understanding and really push teams.
I’m glad we won but not getting over excited. It’s Liverpool after all and even with Torres im far from convinced they are a title threat.
KTBFFH
32. Johnarejr
Many Anfield Historians boast of their club’s history and class. Where is the history and class in a manager who does not play his best players in a quarter-final match and doesn’t try to win every competition is team is in? That’s why Mourinho was a better manager than Rafa. Now, Grant (though with much less of a swagger) has proven to be the same.
A returning Ballack and improving Sheva makes me believe that darn near anything is possible.
33. Nihongo Blue
i read some where that liverpool hasnt scored at stamford bridge since rafa has taken charge 
ha ha .. hilarious if true and tell themselves title contenders lol
34. TrueBlueInd
Hi guys,
I watched yesterdays game.BC is spot on with the analysis..nothing else to add:)Really glad that Sheva scored
Hey, I just picked this up on tribalfootball….
“Manchester United are the world’s most powerful club.
The bi-annual results of the football marketing study by the University of Navarra and the International University of Catalunya have been published this week.
United has succeeded last year’s No1 club, Real Madrid, which has dropped to fourth position. Chelsea are SECOND behind United and ahead of third-place Barcelona.
The highly-respected University study reaches its results from the popularity of players and clubs by the news they generate in the world-wide media. “
Dont know if its true n all..if its true..then Chelsea has really grown by leaps n bounds..I hope we can be on top of that list in a couple of years.
Go Blues
35. Nihongo Blue
>The highly-respected University study reaches its results from the popularity of >
>players and clubs by the news they generate in the world-wide media.
if thats the measure its all jose… they utilised him and throw him away…
36. sheva7
well sheva was one of the best players in the match and if you can see this essien didnt want to pass any ball to him but excellent work sheva
37. Bella
Disappointed that Rafa decided not to take this competition seriously but hardly surprised.
Quite why Rafa is worrying about the league and resting lots of key players I have no idea he does not stand a chance of winning anything this season!
Grant however, is DESPARATE to win his first bit of silverware as proof he is made of the right stuff to lead Chelsea after Mourinho’s departure so I am not surprised he has taken the game more seriously.
Glad he has done so, I don’t approve of manager’s just playing for one trophy and treating the rest of the competitions with contempt.
38. Maysam
good news :
According to Italian daily sports newspaper Tuttosport, Milan are set to offer
Chelsea 30 million Euros for the services of Didier Drogba.
Chelsea should sell Drogba in January , then They buy Anelka and Van der Vaart
39. Syed
I was at the match yesterday. It felt great to shut those bloody Red Scousers up at the Shed End for good and knock ‘em out of the League Cup. It’s 3 defeats in a row in England for Rafa’s Reds.
Now, everyone at Rafa:
You’re just a fat Spanish w**ker
A fat Spanish Waaaaaaaa*ker
You’re just a fat Spanish w**ker.
Great to see Lamps score as well.
C’mon the Chels!
40. Blues_Godson
i am glad we won the match with a 2 goal margin but it really seems rafa didn’t care what the result was cos he came at us with a lesser team…grant on the other hand pulled off a good stunt by playing down the importance of this match and fielding up a good bad…i hope he does better at that…all the same…i hope to see and chelsea spurs final….anyone remember what the spurs did to us last season…thanks to sheva
KTBFFH
41. Blues_Godson
i am glad we would be hosting everton in the semi’s at home…and i hope spurs beat arses at the imigrant stadium…..i dont want to play them anytime soon..
42. BlueFan nr:1
i was their watching the game at stamford brige and i can say that chelsea played allot better than pool. ben-haim wasnt that bad beacuse liverpool didnt get to attack that much. the game changed in a good way when joe cole came in even tough sinclair did some good runnings, he needs to practise finishing moore. sheva was a hard worker. diddnt give upp, and im happy to se him score. essien played very good bouth attacking and defensive . met him the day before eating candy from the megastore haha, a very nice guy. carvalho was good to and so was mikel. lampard played good attacking fotball, love to se superfrank score. hope to see arsenal and chelsea at the finals. this time with all our players fit.
43. Adonis
BlueFan nr:1, you’re quite lucky you live in London(or somewhere close, at least!), mate!!
I just saw extensive highlights of the game, and it’s almost made me change my mind… I’m starting to think we might not need to buy anyone after all. Not if three things continue happening:
1. Beletti, Ferreira, A. Cole, and Bridge all join in the attack often. When they’re sharp, our flanks are quite effective.
2. Essien plays like an attacking midfielder. He’s immensly talented, he can certainly play like a holding midfielder. But he can also shoot and pass, and most certainly run and up the tempo. He needs to be playing that attacking game.
3. If we keep getting Shevchenko involved in the offence (I.E. Play the ball to his feet. For now, we need to forget our cross, cross, crossing game and focus on keeping the ball low, play to our feet, and mostly, allow our midfielders, (mainly Ballack, Essien, and of course Lamps) to shoot and shoot often.
Shevchenko’s finally put a smile on my face!!
44. CFC
Good to see a win against liverpool even if its a weaker looserpool team, i dont undersatnd why on earth rafa would field a weak team when he has a chance of going into a semi final of a cup competition, its a disgrace managers choose to put preferences on the cups, every game shud be played to win, and i really hav to appreciate AG for going for it and fielding a strong side,
Sheva was brillaint and i am sure if he can get some support upfront, with a strike partner he would score more goals or atleast create some assists. every one played their part and seems like they wer playing with confidence.
Well xmas time and now its the time for us to get some points and catch up with man utd and arsenal, before the players disappear for AFC.
The AFC starts on Jan 20th with group games, and goes on untill Feb 10 when the final is played, if anyone wanna have a look at the fixture schedule heres the link “http://www.sportscheduler.co.sz/afnationscup.htm”. looking eagerly for jan transfer window to see who is coming in.
well @Maysam, selling drogba wud be the biggest mistake unless he wants to go, hes the most powerful out and out striker in football at the moment.
45. Nihongo Blue
i feel cudacini should have played as he does in carling cup matches. he would have really felt on missing the game against a strong team. our back ups should be kept motivated and in match practice as injuries can come anytime.
and cudacini has got quality…
46. TINA/TEH
i`m really glad to know bout a lot of good news together!
I couldn`t watch the match the match time was so late for me!I had school tomorrow too!before the match I watched pirates of carribean.after that my father turned the channel and I saw that it`s chel30-liv it was 0-0 but i really felt that sth great will happen that night!but i was sleepy and i slept!tomorrow I got good news that chelsea won easily(the thing which was hard last year)and the players were nice at match!and the best news was ballack`s returnig after 7 months injury!
hope success for london blue lions!
47. king blues
this tribalfootball is crap…………………………………………………………………………. it says chelsea r gona sell sheva and pizzaro to bring in kenwyne jones and anelka. tribal says this is the news from “the sun”
can this be ture………??????????????????
48. king blues
chelsea vs olympiacos ………….its gonna be a walk in the park for u.
and arsenal vs milan hope those naughty kids get a spanking they deserve
49. king blues
walk in the park for “us”
50. king blues
and QPR are the richeset club in the world 22bn…………….
an indian “LAKSHMI MITTAL” fifth richest in the world bought the club
good to see a fellow indian involved in football
51. True Blue Fusion
@BC
This is an example to show that roman is not treating the club as his toy and his plans are for long term
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has dipped into his £10 billion fortune again this week, this time to write off a £36 million Eurobond taken out by former chairman Ken Bates
With Manchester United and Arsenal heavily indebted and Liverpool struggling to raise bank loans to pay for their new stadium, the move by the Russian billionaire means Chelsea are now the only one of the Premier League’s four most powerful clubs to be effectively free of external debt.
Abramovich writes off Chelsea’s vast annual losses by arranging interest-free loans to balance the books. According to the club’s 2006 accounts, Abramovich has so far loaned Chelsea £270 million to cover losses on top of the £440 million he has spent on acquiring the club in a £140 million takeover, buying players and building a new training centre at Cobham.
Sources said that while their accounts showed the loans as debt, the club’s hierarchy are confident Abramovich will never demand them to be repaid as they are converted into shares in Chelsea Football Club Ltd.
The initial £75 million Eurobond was issued by investment bank UBS Warburg (now UBS) in 1997 to help Bates buy the freehold of Stamford Bridge from the estate of the former director Matthew Harding, who was killed in a helicopter crash a year earlier.
The money was also used to refinance Chelsea’s other debts and to pay for the redevelopment of the stadium and construction of a hotel and other leisure facilities on the Chelsea Village site.
The bond came with stringent repayment conditions, however, and a nine per cent annual interest charge which used to cost Chelsea about £7 million a year.
In fact, the club’s new chairman, Bruce Buck, has said that the club’s huge debts and the need to meet the 2003 bond repayment was one of the reasons Bates decided to sell out to Abramovich.
Speaking in 2005, Buck said: “I personally was surprised. They had a £75 million Eurobond outstanding and it was perfectly clear to the markets that they might have trouble making the July payment.
“Trevor Birch [the chief executive at the time] had been in discussions for some time about restructuring that bond. The financial community, as opposed to the football community, knew there were some real issues.”
Abramovich paid off half the outstanding amount due on the 10-year bond when he took control of the club four years ago but, despite having more than enough money to pay off the rest of the loan, he decided to wait until the full amount was due to be repaid this month in order to avoid heavy early repayment penalties.
The move will silence critics, such as the sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe, who last month attacked Chelsea over their indebtedness, claiming they were “£250 million in the red” and adding their financial position was “unsustainable”.
—————————————————————————————————-
@everyone
though it’s good to see an indian investin in epl club,i doubt the motive is any other than business………………….lakshmi mittal,f1 supremo and someone else are inm this club business only for the profits……………..i doubt anyone of them has ever matched a footy match……..
52. Nihongo Blue
you goota see this to believe it
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PFDRfGWbIBA&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=39J0Ywe-oT4&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zwKK9p8UGTk&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RL_vtRtK_Tg&feature=related
i am not sure if u have seen this.. but i had not seen it earlier
joseHoliday christmas gift for u!!
jose interview after 1st premiership win…. awesome
53. joeblue
great one TBF, but i doubt it will shut the mouths of those gng on abt ‘treating like a toy’ blah blah crap, acting like little kids addicted to a toy themselves(JM in this case), if they cant see what Roman has done or is doing i doubt their common sense can fill a teaspoon, or maybe they were happy being an also-rans team, oops sorry u guys Roman is such a brat , he has got us out of debt, built everything here, won us titles, but yeah i forget Jose had his fortune along to do that, Roman did absolutely nothin right………………
54. Adonis
Thanks TBF, that’s some good news! I totally agree with you, Lakshmi Mittal and Bernie Ecclestone are in football for the business, and certainly Roman is as well (in the long haul) but you see with Roman that he truly cares about his football, and that’s unique.
About Olympiacos, I wouldn’t exactly say a walk in the park… until I look at all the other teams in the competition. Certainly, we and Sevilla got the easiest draws. I’m so glad!
55. Midfield_Decider
Adonis,
Sevilla got the easiest draw???
You should ask Inter about Fenerbahce.
We will see.
56. footballer
joeblue . . i dunno why you think fans of JM hate Roman. i like both. both are humans and are susceptible and vulnerable to mistakes. just because he is investing does not mean he won’t put a wrong foot down. i respect Roman for what he has done to us but he has made mistakes and will still makes mistakes. he should stick to the business and let at least avram do his job peacefully and independently.
57. CFC
Well TBF, good work at least some one pulled out some stats about the financial side of the club, Man utd are in heavy debt, liverpool not in a good state owned by guys who r in football just for money, and arsenal, well in heavy debt as well, anyone with common sense can see Roman is not interested in chelsea just becos of the money factor, he has enough for another few geenrations. i think he truly belive chelsea can be a great club under his leadership. and i admire his commitment. how many of the topclub chairman or owner you see watching every match on a saturday afternoon ?
58. mister
Some people said chelsea should start with
————–Kalou————-
——Sheva—-Pizarro——-
That’s not good becasue if this sustem did not work we would not have any striker to bring in and chage our tactic.
so we have to keep one of them on bench for sure.
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