ManUtd 1-1 Chelsea

Here are some match reports from UK papers taken from ChelseaBlog.com

Daily Telegraph, Henry Winter: “This was a good point for Chelsea, one they are convinced will be a turning point in the title race. All draws are equal, but some are more equal than others.

Chelsea left Old Trafford last night with a smile and a belief that they can keep the title at the Bridge. In the noisy, self-regarding animal farm that is the Premiership, Manchester United are a creature of great beauty, but yesterday they ran into opponents whose hunger and stamina are astonishing.”

The Guardian, Kevin McCarra: “An afternoon that left the top of the table undisturbed still carried portents of transformations to come. While Manchester United could have opened up a 2-0 lead, the life was gradually drained from them as the indomitable visitors showed why Martin O’Neill calls Chelsea the most powerful team in Europe. Physical strength allied to improved coordination after the interval threw a bellowing crowd into an introspective mood at the close.”

The Independent, Andy Hunter: “The most important fact is that United still sit on top of the Premiership by three points, but Jose Mourinho did not look like a man who feared that his third consecutive title was out of sight. Neither did his players, who went over to applaud their supporters with some relish after a second-half equaliser had levelled Louis Saha’s goal ­ all helped by another masterful tactical change-up from Mourinho.”

The Times, Matt Dickinson: “Sir Alex Ferguson may feel entitled to claim that his team are presently the best in the country, but Mourinho has more options and, crucially, he knows how to use them. Which other manager could have transformed this game by bringing on a left winger for a right back? Certainly not Ferguson, who looked to the bench for a forward and saw only Darren Fletcher. Therein lies the worry for those who hope that the champions can be stopped from winning a third successive Premiership title.”

The good

1. The result. A good point and a fair result despite Chelsea having 59% of the possession. It was the proverbial game of two halves, Manchester United shading the first, Chelsea bossing the second. Jose Mourinho is correct when he says United wasted a “big, big chance” to apply some serious pressure. It’s going to be an interesting title race.
2. Ashley Cole. He had Ronaldo in his pocket for the majority of the game, at one point even going so far as to communicate this fact to the Old Trafford crowd. He took the Portuguese out of the game late on with a slightly mistimed tackle - Ronaldo had probably had enough by then anyway.
3. Michael Essien. For all intents and purposes he was practically anonymous in the first half. But once Jose Mourinho switched tactics and put him at right-back he thundered into United (seemingly playing right midfield at the same time) and eventually earned the corner from which we equalised. The temporary answer to our problems at right-back? Joe Cole and Arjen Robben probably hope he plays there more often this season.
4. Ricardo Carvalho and John Terry. Carvalho was probably at fault for United’s goal - he allowed Louis Saha too much time and space to get his shot off - but he more than made up for it with a great equaliser. He and Terry, who made a serious of crucial tackles, were superb.
5. Howard Webb. I can only recall him making one mistake - a horrible tackle from behind by Gabriel Heinze on Didier Drogba which went unpunished and nearly led to a United goal. Apart from that he was excellent, even refusing to be sucked in by the United players’ attempts to get our players booked or sent off (Nemanja Vidic in particular deserved a yellow card for feigning serious injury and a hand in the face after a 50-50 tackle with Michael Ballack).

The bad

1. Our narrow midfield. The trio of Essien, Ballack and Frank Lampard playing in front of Claude Makelele didn’t handle the width of Ryan Giggs and Ronaldo in the first half - Ballack in particular was more a liability than a world class midfielder. Cole dealt admirably with Ronaldo but Geremi struggled to cope with Giggs’s guile, as many predicted he would. Mourinho’s inspired (or entirely necessary?) decision to substitute Geremi for a midfielder (Robben - not good but gave Gary Neville more to think about) and switch to 4-3-3 changed the game. Ballack certainly improved in the second half.
2. Andriy Shevchenko. What on earth happened to the Ukrainian’s pace? I don’t recall him once getting the better of a United player. Surely it can’t all be down to the knee injury he sustained prior to the World Cup? I’m hoping it’s more a problem with confidence than a physical one. It does take time to get used to the pace and power of the Premiership, but does Shevchenko have time on his side?

Man of the Match

Ashley Cole. He was our best player over the 90 minutes. Michael Essien’s second half performance deserves a mention as does Ricardo Carvalho, but Cole edged it for me.

Sky’s decision to award the Man of the Match to Michael Carrick beggared belief

(Filipino)-British booters are coming

IT’S probably the best feeling in the world. Of course, saying that seems more in tune with Liverpool’s Reds as opposed to Chelsea. But that’s exactly what Philip Younghusband feels right now.

“It’s been amazing,” says the smiling Fil-Briton of the last several years. “To be a part of Chelsea even as a reserve—lots of kids would want to be in my position—then now, to be playing for the Philippines…. What more can I say? I feel blessed.”

At the age of 10, Younghusband was taking part of a football camp that drew scouts from Arsenal, Chelsea and quite a few other sides from the English Premiership. Chelsea immediately snapped him up to the club’s academy, where Younghusband became the youth team’s top scorer for the 2003-04 season.

The following year, he moved up to the reserve team, where he made 18 starts and scored five goals.

“About a year ago, I played in a friendly with the First Team and it was absolutely a smashing experience,” recalls Younghusband. “The highlight for me was Frank Lampard calling me over. I almost froze right there.”

Younghusband’s dreams of glory on the pitch would take an unexpected turn when he received a call from the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) about playing for the national side.

“What happened was a PlayStation 2 gamer discovered our Filipino roots when playing an EPL game,” relates the 19-year old lad from Middlesex, England. “I think he notified the PFF and they soon came calling. At first, I thought it was some kind of joke but I’m just ecstatic about how it has all turned out.”

Younghusband and his older brother James, who once was a Chelsea reserve but is now with AFC Wimbledon, first donned the national colors with last year’s 23rd Southeast Asian Games. The Games were also held at Panaad Stadium in Bacolod, where Younghusband scored two goals against Malaysia in a 4-2 loss.

“It was a little unnerving to be in a different situation with new teammates and hot weather,” admits Younghusband. “We also had to work on our chemistry and getting used to the system. I think it still showed in the early stages of this [the just-concluded Asean Football Championship Qualifiers] tournament, but once we got going, it’s like we got on a roll.”

A roll is an understatement. After absorbing a disappointing 2-1 opening-day loss to top-seeded Laos, the Azkals (as the RP Men’s Football team is fondly nicknamed) gutted Timor Leste, 7-0. Younghusband, who is a fan of the Red Devils’ Wayne Rooney, scored four goals in the rout.

That was followed by a 1-nil victory over Cambodia courtesy of an Aly Borromeo penalty kick that was a tremendous confidence booster not just for the team but for the country out to reclaim its lost glory on the pitch. Younghusband would close out the Philippines’ campaign with a pair of goals in the 4-1 victory over Brunei DS and emerge as the tournament’s (formerly named the Tiger Cup) leading scorer with six.

Younghusband and older brother James are back to England as of this writing but will be back in January when the Philippines takes part in the Asean Football Championships that will either be played in Thailand or Singapore.

Pinoys can be good at football

“COMING from a country [England] where football is a way of life, it’s somewhat shocking that Filipinos don’t generally care about a game where they can obviously become good at,” observes Greatwich who is on his third tour of duty with the national squad (dating back to the 2004 Tiger Cup).

“All you have to do is look at this press conference [referring to the sparsely attended press conference of the just-concluded Asean Football Qualifiers held at the Mizuno Corporate office in Magallanes, Makati]. But no worries, mate. That’s the kind of challenge that you get in the morning. You not only change the way the game is played locally but in the manner of people’s perceptions.”

If the Younghusband brothers were discovered through a PlayStation game, it’s the reverse for the brothers Greatwich. “I was researching online about my local club team when I came across an article about football in the Philippines,” relates Greatwich. “My dad wrote to the PFF’s web site, where eventually [national] coach Aris Caslib gave us a call. And now we’re here.”

Greatwich currently plays for the Hartwick College Hawks in New York and hopes to play professionally after college. Said Hawks’ coach Ian McIntyre, “We are very excited that Chris has the opportunity to showcase his talents on such a fantastic international stage,” said Hartwick head coach Ian McIntyre referring to Greatwich’s stints with the RP Team in the Tiger Cup and the SEA Games. “We are very proud of his efforts.”

Greatwich scored two goals in the tournament—one in the Philippines’ opening-day loss to Laos, 2-1, and one in the follow-up demolition job of Timor Leste. “It would be great to capitalize on the gains of this tournament,” suggests Greatwich.

“In the 2004 Tiger Cup, we got hammered pretty bad for a bit, but eventually like in last year’s SEA Games, we were a tougher and more competitive lot for the others. Winning three straight—that has to boost more than our confidence. Hopefully, it will get more people to support the team and football in the Philippines.”

From BusinessMirror.com.ph

Blogging ChelseaFC.com

Chelsea's new site looks lovely. More tech-savvy. Better layout. More info. It comes with bouncing drop-down menus, too.

You've now got mini windows/sections within a page. Plus more links on the four sides. The upper and bottom are for the main menu (Home, News, The Football etc.) ; left and right are for the sub-menus (as for this example, News to the left and Archive News to the right). Choose either of the 4 sides and it highlights in orange. (See right side, above.)

The Profile section's become cooler and funnier, hearing each player talk. Considering most of them are foreigners, they just sound funny. Shown above is goalie Cudicini. Oh, all of them say basically the same thing: "Hi! I'm (name), (position), (club, country playing for), sheck out my link! (check out my link!)" Based on this, let's divide the team into 2: the Englishmen and the Engrrishmen (aka Sheckouts). [Pardon me but this is the only time I'll be scrutinizing my team.]

Englishmen: Cech, Lampard, J. Cole, Ballack, A. Cole, Essien (by a bit), Boulahrouz, Bridge, Ferreira, Cudicini, SWP, Terry.

Engrrishmen: Robben, Shevchenko, Makelele, Carvalho, Drogba, Mikel, Geremi, Diarra, Kalou, Hilario (because he looked ridiculous speaking).

Exploring the members of the reserves team, I came across this. I've been looking for this guy for a looong time. Finally, thank you to the spankin kick-ass site, I found the kid.

Phil Younghusband. Half-Filipino. Currently playing for Chelsea Reserves. Too bad there ain't no video of them saying "Sheckoutmylink". Last season he flew to the Philippines to play for the Under 23s. We should be hearing more from this kid especially that there's some sort of qualifying games happening somewhere here. From the site:

Born 4/8/87 in Ashford, Middlesex

With Chelsea since the age of ten, Phil progressed through the system to become youth team top scorer in 2004/5 and make his first reserve start in November 2004. He scored his first goal soon after and was the reserve team's main striker last season, scoring five times in his 20 appearances. A tidy player, he turned pro in March 2005 and (along with older brother James who was released by Chelsea in the summer) he travelled to play for Philippines Under 23s last season, his qualification coming via his mother.

And oh, here's the drop-down menu I was talking about. Sorry I can't capture its bounciness though.

Finally, the most high-tech of it all... the zoom out function. Puts too much on the screen, minimizing each sub-menu to fit as many as possible. But it's still goood.


I just wanted to add a photo of UK tabloids. I wish Philippine tabloids contained things like this, instead of some cheap, ridiculous, and insignificant gossip and news. I wish for their death.

Pre-Match Briefing: ManUtd v Chelsea

United are, of course, three points ahead in the Premiership. However, if points were given for the 20 games in all competitions this season, Chelsea would actually be ahead:

Chelsea - P 20 W15 D2 L3 (47 points); Utd - P20 W15 D1 L4 (46 points). (!!!)

United's record this season in all competitions is played 20, won 15, drawn 1, lost 4, scored 38, conceded 12 with 9 clean sheets. They have failed to score on four occasions (all four defeats have all been 0-1). Chelsea have played 21 games (including the Community Shield) with 15 wins, 2 draws and 4 defeats. We have scored 38 (same as United) and conceded 13 with 12 clean sheets. Wednesday was the first occasion Chelsea failed to score this season.

Man Utd have not conceded more than one goal in a game for 15 matches. The 3-2 win against Celtic at home was the last (and only) occasion on 13th September.

(Pause: I feel so statistically well-informed like a true and die-hard football fan reading all these.)

In 14 Premiership meetings at Old Trafford both Chelsea and United have won four each and there have been six draws scoring 20 and conceding 19.

United won last season's encounter with a goal from Darren Fletcher (see below). In United's last home game the previous season, champions Chelsea won 3-1 with goals from Tiago, Gudjohnsen and Joe Cole. Ruud van Nistelrooy had put the reds ahead early in the game after United had formed a guard of honour to applaud Chelsea on to the pitch.

The last five years in the Premiership:
2001/02 Man Utd third, 77 pts, Chelsea sixth 64 pts
2002/03 Man Utd champions, 83 pts, Chelsea fourth, 67 pts
2003/04 Chelsea runners-up, 79 pts, Man Utd third, 75 pts
2004/05 Chelsea champions, 95 pts, Man Utd third, 77 pts
2005/06 Chelsea champions, 91 pts, Man Utd runners-up, 83 pts.
(Do I see a pattern here? If I saw it right, then I know how things will end for Chelsea.)

Man Utd's last six games
Nov 1 FC Copenhagen (UCL a) L0-1
Nov 4 Portsmouth (h) W3-0
Nov 7 Southend (League Cup a) L0-1
Nov 11 Blackburn (a) W1-0
Nov 18 Sheffield Utd (a) W2-1
Nov 21 Celtic (UCL a) L0-1
(Yes, I am emphasizing their losses.)

Chelsea qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League despite losing 1-0 to Werder Bremen on Wednesday. Jose Mourinho made four changes, bringing in Boulahrouz for the injured Carvalho, Ballack for the suspended Lampard, and Joe Cole and Mikel for Shevchenko and Robben.

Michael Essien, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard have featured in every Premiership match this season. Michael Essien has played every minute of all 21 games in all competitions.
(This guy surely creates an impact to the team!)

If selected, Frank Lampard will make his 200th Premiership appearance for Chelsea and Claude Makelele his 100th Premiership start. (200! 200! 200! Lampardo!)

Didier Drogba is the country's top scorer with 14 in all competitions from Peter Crouch on nine and Darren Bent, Kanu and Louis Saha on eight. He also heads the Premiership scoring chart together with Kanu with eight goals. (DIDIYEY DROWGBA!)

United are one of only seven clubs to have been ever present since the Premier League was formed in 1992. The others are Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, and Tottenham.

Chelsea's overall record against Man Utd in all competitions is: played 144, won 39, drawn 41, lost 64. (To be honest, this is a pretty lousy record, 27% win, 28% draw, and 44% lose, which makes me worry more about tomorrow's game, which makes me think if I did the right thing playing my banker on the ManU-Chelsea match, of course, in favor of the Blues.)

Head to head in the League at Old Trafford: played 64, won 17, drawn 22, lost 25. (Still a pretty bad record. Tomorrow should start the winning streak, whether playing against ManU, home or away, or against any other team in the Premiership, leading to the season's hat-trick of Champs title.)

LAST SEASON'S CORRESPONDING GAME
Manchester United 1 Chelsea 0
Barclays Premiership, Sunday November 6th 2005 at Old Trafford
Man Utd (4-4-2) van der Sar; Brown, Ferdinand, Silvestre, O'Shea; Fletcher, Smith, Scholes, Ronaldo; Rooney, van Nistelrooy (c) (Park 81).
Scorer Fletcher (31)
Booked Smith, Ronaldo, Fletcher
Chelsea(4-3-3) Cech; Ferreira, Gallas, Terry (c), Del Horno (C Cole 78); Essien (Gudjohnsen 54), Makelele, Lampard; J Cole (Wright-Phillips 73), Drogba, Duff.
Booked Drogba, Ferreira, Gallas, Makelele
Referee Graham Poll.
Crowd 67,864.
This was Chelsea's first defeat in 41 Premiership games.


From Chelsea's spankin kick-ass site.

CHELSEA TO BE BEST BY 2014

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon says that the club's "ballsy" vision is to be the biggest club in the world by 2014.

Ahead of Sunday's clash with Manchester United, the Old Trafford club's former chief made it clear that he believes the Blues can overtake the Reds as the world's biggest club.

Kenyon admits that Chelsea do not have the "heritage" of United, but claims that their aggressive approach to building their fanbase means that they have the potential to grow faster than any other club.

"By 2014 we want to be internationally recognised as the No 1 club," said Kenyon. "Our revenue has grown dramatically and is now on a par with United. It's a very ballsy vision but one that has captured the interest of the owner.

"Chelsea as a football club and a brand is more dynamic, more relevant," he said when asked to pinpoint the difference between the two clubs.

"They are fundamentally different. Manchester United was built around heritage, whether that was the Busby Babes, 1958 and Munich, winning the European Cup in 1968 or the Fergie years. Their record of eight Premiership titles, two doubles and the treble in 1999 has set the benchmark for every English club.

"Chelsea's success was sporadic and we did not have the depth of heritage to pull back on. We're probably expected to do things that bit different and that's part of the DNA of Chelsea. We're based in one of the top three cities in the world, which is another difference from Manchester.

"That's not a criticism of United, it's in the context of where we differ. Chelsea didn't have a tragedy, didn't have ten years of unbelievable success in the Sixties, which culminated in winning the European Cup, and then the Fergie years. It was a fairly soulless place, so it was about starting again."

His comments are bound to go down well at Old Trafford, where Kenyon was in charge before being lured south to take the reins at Chelsea after the takeover of Roman Abramovich.

-Football365.com

THE Ultimate Battle.

I have not posted recently simply because there's just so much to write both about football and my life that I'd rather prioritize MY life.

Couple of weeks ago, Chelsea lost to Spurs breaking their tie with ManU for the top slot, disregarding goal difference, putting them in 2nd place. At least for a couple of weeks, both were staying tight on top. But Chelsea lost, again to a mediocre team. That actually confuses me. Why is it that the big teams lose to smaller teams? During the 2nd week, the Blues lost to Boro, which is until now struggling with only 4 wins out of 13 games. Then couple of weeks after that, ManU lost to Reading, one of the teams promoted this year from the Championships, although honestly they had a good start in the Premiership. They are currently #8. Both Boro and Reading won 1-0. Liverpool, on the other hand, well, they've been losing no matter who their opponents are. For a team with such beautiful football history, and players like Stevie G, Crouch and Luis Garcia, to find themselves at the bottom of the first half of the table (they were once 15th if I remember it right) is just disappointing. *Peace Cza* Then the Gunners also lost to West Ham (currently 5th lowest) and just this week, a shocking 1-1 draw against Newcastle United who are just outside the relegation zone. Of course, being my second team in the League, it's good to see they're now up at the table, with last week's finish as 3rd, just behind ManU and Chelsea. Ah, the unpredictability of football.

Next week. The most exciting game to see. I hope nothing, nobody interferes. The clash of the best EPL teams. ManU against Chelsea. This game will put Chelsea either back on the same level as ManU or further behind them. Some people say Old Trafford's the most difficult away game a team could have but I trust my boys. I predict that the worst that could happen is a draw. 1-1. The best? The Blues crushing Rooney, slowing down Ronaldo and driving the ball past Van der Sar, which IMHO is not the best GK. WE have one of the best Premiership GK in Cudicini. Maybe I'm biased.

We'll keep the blue flag flying high! Chelsea, Chelsea! I'll be singing [in my mind] til Lampard, Sheva, Didier Drogba or Ballack scores for the team. I'll be singing until we walk out of Old Trafford with a win. Chelsea's got a game against Bremen this Wednesday [veryy early Thursday morning here] for the UCL playoffs. But my mind would rather focus on the match on Saturday; I'm pretty sure the Blues could easily get past Bremen just like they did in the past, winning 2-0.

At the moment, Chelsea's sitting on top of Group B, followed by Bremen. Take note, both teams beat Barca, claimed to be the best in Europe. The Blues managed to get a draw in their second face-off with Barca, with the second goal courtesy of Ivory Coast striker, DIDIERRR DROGGBAAA. On the other hand, Arsenal ranks second to CSKA Moskva. The Gunners and Porto are tied with 7 points with the former only leading on goal difference.

PS My sister who's coming back from HK tomorrow has got me my early Xmas gift for myself.
Yeeeebaaaahhh!!! I would've wanted the home kit, the one that really stands for the Blues, but there was no size available. Screw Adidas HK! The hell, a kit, away or home, as long as its Chelsea, I LOVE.

Uefa set to examine Chelsea tie

(Damn it!)

Uefa may launch an investigation into the game between Chelsea and Barcelona.

The stormy match was drawn 2-2 with Chelsea picking up six of 10 bookings and Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard confronting the referee at the end.

Lampard will miss Chelsea's next European game after his booking

Chelsea can expect a fine as any team picking up five or more bookings in a game is automatically punished.

The size of the fine and any penalty for Rijkaard will depend on the reports of referee Stefano Farina and Uefa match delegate Wolfgang Thierrichetr.

Uefa are keen to stamp out players surrounding the referee during a match and, as that took place on several occasions at the Nou Camp during the game, it may decide to make an example of both clubs as well as Rijkaard.

Rijkaard vents his anger at ref Farina

Uefa communications director William Gaillard said: "We may open an investigation if there are a large amount of cards, if other incidents are mentioned by the referee or Uefa match delegate, or if either team files a complaint.

"We will examine the reports when we receive them and see if there is anything which would lead to an investigation being opened."

Barcelona could also be in trouble after their fans are thought to have hurled bottles at the Chelsea players.

The incident took place when the Premiership side's players applauded the travelling supporters in the top tier of the Nou Camp after the final whistle.

Blues midfielder Frank Lampard said: "I knew things were raining down but none of them hit me.

"There was a bit of banter with the Spanish fans and that was good."

-BBC.co.uk

Chelsea Celebrate, Barca Bemoan

Wrong move that I just set aside last night's Barca-Chelsea match via online streaming, working on my application essay. Crapness. I finished the time the game ended. And I saw the score, 2-2. Barca and Chelsea drew. For a while I thought the Blues were gonna lose. They were behind by 1 up until the 90th minute. Thanks to an injury, there were 6 minutes of stoppage time. In the 2nd minute, the mighty mighty Didier Drogba scored an equaliser. It was just H-E-A-V-E-N. I went to bed at 545 in the morning with a smile on my face. I was happy even if it were a draw. That's all I wanted. A draw. While I trust Chelsea, I knew winning was gonna be difficult especially after Barca's Deco scored within the first 5 minutes. That first goal was equalised by Lampard. That bloke's just brilliant. He saved the Blues from losing. Kudos to him and Didierrr DoorooogBBBa. Those are my Chelsea men!

From UEFA.com
Righteous reward for Lampard

The Chelsea FC players were naturally ebullient after Didier Drogba's added-time goal gave them a 2-2 draw against FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou and left them in firm control of Group A.

Making amends
Drogba's winner was the main talking point but Chelsea could also reflect on a high-quality performance and exceptional goal from Frank Lampard as they made some amends for being knocked out by the reigning champions in last season's UEFA Champions League first knockout round. "My goal was tremendously satisfying but I have to admit that although the angle on my finish looks very daring it was actually the only option left to me because I didn't control the ball correctly the first time," Lampard admitted with a grin. "The defender was on me, I was falling back so I just tried a little clip over him and the keeper - I loved it when it went in."

Third trip
The English international, whose Catalan-born girlfriend was watching him from the stands, declared himself satisfied with the result of his side's third trip to the Camp Nou in as many years, having lost 2-1 in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League first knockout round and drawn 1-1 at the same venue last season.
"The satisfaction stems from a great result against a talented team and performing on the big occasion," he said. "However, it also comes from the fact that at half-time we were 1-0 down and none of us felt that our display merited that scoreline.

'Classic city derby'
"I believe that our performance, in total, is the epitome of what we have not managed to do over the last couple of seasons at the Camp Nou," he added. "This time we did ourselves justice and we dominated the game. Perhaps we have been just a little overawed in the past but not this time. Barcelona against Chelsea is taking on the air of a classic city derby with all the incident, atmosphere and pressure that brings. Obviously, at the moment, we are quite happy with that!"

Match suspension (!!!)
The only down note for Lampard was that a first-half booking, which many had assumed was a yellow card for team-mate Ashley Cole, will rule him out of Chelsea's Matchday 5 encounter with Werder Bremen. "It turns out that I was booked without knowing it and I did think when Ashley was shown 'another' yellow card I thought he was off," he said. "I just hadn't been aware of the ref booking me and I'm a bit frustrated that I'm now out of the next match. But it was all pretty simply sorted out when the referee looked at his notes and confirmed that I'd been booked in the first incident and not Ashley"