The Official Thread of Chelsea FC

[Rossie11]

CFC only have themselves to blame.
If Drogba had stayed on his feet and buried one of the chances they would be in the final.
He looks to collaspe when he crosses the whitewash every time
Only the Pique handball was a peno. Essien handled in the 1st half so they cancel out in my book.

It was a seriously cowardly performance from Chelsea.
They were a goal up, a man up and Barca played the last half hour with only 1 defender on the pitch!!  and CFC went defending..
Got what they deserve..

[Norf Tyrone]

chelsea are a really boring team to watch. 2 good footballing teams in the final. Thank fcuk chelsea are out. Duno how that Keita player gets on for Barca he is shite.

Remind me how many goals last year's Man U v Barcelona 180 minutes produced?

[Abble]

Is there a more dishonest player around at the minute than drogba?

NO.

[orangeman]

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Bitter recriminations at the Bridge
Post categories: Champions League

Phil McNulty | 01:40 UK time, Thursday, 7 May 2009

Tom Henning Ovrebo is a psychologist by profession - and Chelsea's Didier Drogba provided an unpalatable close up study in human behaviour for the Norwegian referee amid bitter recriminations at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea appear eternally doomed in their quest to fill the largest empty space in their trophy room - a Champions League title. They can throw the game's largest cheque book at it, they can change players and they can change coaches, but they still cannot change their luck.

Claudio Ranieri's tinkering squandered a semi-final against Monaco in 2004. Luis Garcia's controversial "ghost goal" did for them against Liverpool in the last four a year later and John Terry's slip in a Moscow downpour resulted in him missing what could have been a winning penalty against Mancheser United in last year's final.

This season's hard luck story will centre on a burly and balding official whose failure to make the big calls correctly drove the high maintenance Drogba over any acceptable line of behaviour as Chelsea were denied another final appearance against United by Barcelona midfield man Andres Iniesta's decisive away goal in injury time.

Yes, Ovrebo had a shocker and proved wholly inadequate to take control of a game of this pace, passion and magnitude, but even his regular refusals of presentable penalty appeals must not excuse Drogba's disgraceful actions on the final whistle...

Chelsea had just cause to take issue with Ovrebo's decision-making.
Guus Hiddink's team can rightly feel hard done by in a tie they had won until Iniesta, like a desperate boxer taking one last swing, lashed a 20-yard finish high past Petr Cech with 90 seconds left.

It was a puncher's chance and Chelsea took the knockout blow.

Conspiracy theorists will claim an implausible sub-plot was that Uefa did not want another all-Premier League final and Ovrebo had somehow sub-consciously pleased his bosses by denying Chelsea at every turn, thus ensuring Barcelona gave the final a Catalan presence.

The key exhibits were his decision to place a first-half foul on Florent Malouda outside the area when it plainly took place inside and his waving away of two handball claims against Gerard Pique and Samuel Eto'o after the break. Various perceived fouls inside the area were also all met with firm rejections.

All this Grassy Knoll-style chatter is nonsense of course and Hiddink was careful in the extreme to ensure he did not bite, contenting himself with the not inconsiderable claim that this was the worst refereeing performance he had ever seen, an observation he was perfectly within his rights to make.

Frustating yes. Sinister no.

Ovrebo was plainly ill-suited to the task but it should also be remembered he harshly sent off Barcelona's Eric Abidal and Pep Guardiola's side actually cut it rather fine by leaving it so late to level Michael Essien's magnificent bludgeon of a strike after nine minutes.

And whatever Ovrebo did, it did not give Drogba the right to march on to the pitch at the final whistle, clad in his Chelsea kit and flip-flops like some enraged holidaymaker, and subject the referee to an out-of-control verbal barrage accompanied by some fairly threatening body language.

Drogba, who was splendid until he went off injured late on, was still pursuing Ovrebo in wild-eyed fashion despite receiving a yellow card, shouting expletives into a television camera for good measure.

It was a desperate display from Drogba - a revisiting of the lack of self-discipline that saw him sent off at a pivotal moment in last season's final. The word inside Stamford Bridge after the game, was that he may well face hefty Uefa punishment and he deserves every last bit of it.

Human nature being what it is, a disappointment on the scale Chelsea had just suffered in both timing and impact - coupled with a burning sense of injustice - means adrenalin will inevitable be pumping and raw emotions will be on the surface.

Imagine how John Terry felt at being robbed of a shot at redemption after that penalty miss? Imagine how Frank Lampard felt at failing to get the chance to win the major honour that still eludes him?

They will have hurt just as badly as Drogba, if not worse, but they did not charge at Ovrebo, or have to be held back by anyone who happened to be in the vicinity.

But when Hiddink insisted he understood Drogba's behaviour, it is to be hoped this is simply a case of a manager defending his player rather than condoning what we saw at the final whistle.

In truth, Stamford Bridge's technical areas were poorly policed all night. Guardiola was asked to move away from Hiddink's territory - Chelsea's boss even appeared to be buffeted when Iniesta scored - while Barcelona's space occasionally resembled Piccadilly Circus in Friday's rush hour.

And the saddest aspect of the Drogba debacle is that it took all the attention away from so much that was good from Chelsea, who deserved a place in the final.

Chelsea were outstanding. They may not have matched Barcelona's passing, but they were the more potent team, creating the better chances before the Catalans kicked them in the teeth with their only shot on target all night.

Lionel Messi was kept to the margins, Eto'o was totally anonymous and Chelsea keeper Cech was kept out of harm's way by a superbly-marshalled defence, in which Terry was immense.

Barcelona may have weaved their pretty patterns, but such was the solidity of Chelsea's strategy that they did it in areas that were never going to hurt until the most savage wound of all was inflicted in the dying seconds.

Lampard was inspirational in midfield while Drogba demonstrated the other side of the great enigma with another powerful display up front that proved a constant source of nuisance to Barcelona's revamped defence.

It was display that did Chelsea huge credit and one that should have been rewarded with a place in the final.

Barcelona were unimpressive, and victory came at a price with both Dani Alves and Abidal, the latter unluckily, suspended from the final.

On the compelling evidence of a tumultuous evening, the more effective side is out and Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson may just be a little happier to be facing Barcelona than Chelsea.

Chelsea were just moments away from the outstanding result their effort and guts deserved - instead they were left with the bitter after-taste of defeat and the potential consequences of another loss of control from Drogba.

[orangeman]

Pure class. 

[A Quinn Martin Production]

Right here goes...ah f**k I couldn't be arsed

[Rossie11]

Norf I know you are fairly pissed off today but whats your thoughts on Drogba?
If I was a CFC fan I would be disgusted with him and would want him out of the club.
IMO he cost you big time in the final last year getting sent off and over the 2 legs v Barca he missed the chances to
put you through to another final.
You believe that UEFA have something against CFC. I dont really have an opinion either way on this but
do you think without the likes of him in the squad that things would improve as regards hierarchy opinion..
i.e. the 50/50 decisions would go your way?

[bingobus]

chelsea are a really boring team to watch. 2 good footballing teams in the final. Thank fcuk chelsea are out. Duno how that Keita player gets on for Barca he is shite.

Remind me how many goals last year's Man U v Barcelona 180 minutes produced?

How dare you question United? They are untouchable round here and can't be questioned.

The biggest cripe Chelsea have last night in my opinion is that they didn't finish the job over the two legs, when they had the chances to do so. Drogba was the guilty one over the two legs and while they defended very well against a formible attacking force, I felt that they could have been a small bit braver last night and could have got the reward for it. Barca crapped themselves at every corner.

Bar Drogba going ape shit, I don't think the protests where any worse that we've seen before. Thats soccers problem as much as Chelsea's and taking Chelsea in context it was probably understandable, if still unexcuseable.

The final should be good with Barca pulling through  

[Joxer]

Drogba is a diving cheat.  He is a cheat and there iis no way of getting around that fact!

[A Quinn Martin Production]

OK, a large cup of strong coffee on the desk and I'm feeling slightly better.  I thought I'd wait till some posters were at primary school.  In no particular order:

CONSPIRACY/FIX?:  It would be nice to hold on to the idea but definitely not.  If this was a fix why send off Abidal (unjustly)?

CHELSEA'S REACTION AT THE END:  I was somewhat embarrassed by this.  It was understandable but not excusable.  Remember too that not all of the players reacted like this (even Cole was gracious) and Hiddink showed a more reasoned reaction at the end.  I would have loved to have seen Ferguson or Wenger had their teams gone out in such dramatic fashion.  On a positive note it's great to see that Ballack actually can run, something that he hides very well during the rest of the season.  

THE PENS?:  f**k where do you start?  Truth be told I thought Chelsea should have had two penalties.  I think everyone agrees that Pique definitely handled the ball.  The other dead cert was Abidal's pull on Drogba in the first half.  It's good to see that some ABCs are of the opinion that to pull an opposing player's shirt is no longer a foul in soccer!  In fact had Rosetti been in charge of this match Abidal would have walked then.  Of the others, perversely the ref got the Malouda decision right.  He gave the free on the edge of the box for the first foul on Malouda (as the law says), problem was he didn't blow his whistle until the second incident.  As for Eto'o at the end?  Yes he did divert the ball with his arm but the ball was going like a bullet and I think it would have been very harsh.

DROGBA AND DIVING?:  I think Didier Drogba is a fantastic player and until Chelsea find someone better he should remain at the club and on ability alone if I were the manager he would be my second pick (after Essien).  But he is not without "flaws".  If Drogba (and a number of other players) concentrated on staying on his feet (and we know he is physically strong) he would score 6 or 7 goals more a season.  The root of the problem is that modern refereeing and the way FIFA is moving toward soccer being a non-contact sport encourages players to go down easliy.  If refs stopped giving fouls for players laddering their tights then they wouldn't spend so much tie on the ground.  Drogba is not the only diver in football, but he is certainly a high profile one.  All clubs have their divers both English and non-English.  Drogba and whoever manges him next year should get out the DVD of his second season at Chelsea, where for the most part he stayed on his feet scored 25 odd goals and Chelsea cantered to the title.

THE REF?:  What can you say, a poor performance, but it's a difficult job and without refs there would be no sport and don't forget there were two linesmen officiating as well.

THE FOOTBALL:  Probably 1-1 over the two legs was a fair result.  What came out of last night's match was that Barca are overrated.  OK they beat Real 6-2 in the Bernabueu...but didn't Liverpool tank Real a few weeks ago??  Real are shit.  Barca were pleasing on the eye in the opponents half but had one shot on goal in 95 mins.  Chelsea, the supposed anti football team, created far more chances and had two clear penalties turned down.  To use a golfing analogy, tee to green Barca were terrific but they can't putt for dough on the hard courses.  Chelsea kept Messi fairly quiet in both games (a very talented player but watching him makes you realise what a genius Maradona was)

Man Utd will beat them easily

Man Utd have a better defence than Chelsea and Barca have a worse defence than Chelsea.  I fancy Utd to score in the first 15 mins and then defend (like at Old Trafford last year)

WHAT CAN CHELSEA LEARN FROM THIS?

If Drogba hadn't have spent so much time on his arse there may not have been four mins added time (where did they come from)
Chelsea had chances to put this tie out of sight in both legs and didn't take them
I'm a big fan of Hiddink, but the decision to bring on Belletti wasn't a great one
Chelsea's biggest flaw was not time wasting or diving but they kept giving the ball away.  Bosingwa and Ballack were particlualrly guilty of this

HARDSTATION:  I used to like you.

[full back]

Bar Drogba going ape shit, I don't think the protests where any worse that we've seen before.

You obviously missed a few incidents then 



BTW, excellent & fair summary Quinn Martin

[new devil]

Hard luck NT...No worst way to get knocked out and after keeping Barca so quite for 90mins...Chelsea should of had at least 1 penalty and should of pushed more to get the 2nd goal...
Have a lot of time for Drogba has a player think hes one of the best in the world when hes on his game and not f**king about..cant really be to hard on him for going mental at the end because the ref did f**k them
Happier to be playing Barca in the final..they don't really have a plan B....

[Clown]

talk of a uefa conspiracy against english teams is ludicrous

porto had 2 penalty appeals at old trafford, one was a stonewaller - tevez taking out the attacker on the byeline

also henry had as good a shout for a pen last week as any of chelseas appeals last nite. barca players accepted the decision and got on with it

[bingobus]

Bar Drogba going ape shit, I don't think the protests where any worse that we've seen before.

You obviously missed a few incidents then  



BTW, excellent & fair summary Quinn Martin

Missed what? Ballack running after ref? Can see that at regular EPL games.

A few of them confronted ref after game as happens regularly at EPL games. There wasn't all of them on his case at final whistle. It was wrong but bar Drogba we've seen it all before.

[wherefromreferee?]

Have to applaud Quinn Martin and Norf Tyrone for not hiding away today, and for giving a fair analyisis/summary of the game.

I dont often jump on the United (or Liverpool threads), as it turns into a bitchin session, but just thought I should congratulate QM for a well thought out post.

As a United Fan, I'm happier to be playing Barca, as I think the revenge factor would have been great for Chelsea.