manchester united v chelsea fa cup final

[deiseach]

United will go in favourites obviously, but if it goes to penalties, Chelsea should play their joker, which they should've done in the CL semi-final....

....sub Cech for Carlo!

Yeah, he could have taken a penalty.

[Redgreenery]

Manchester United skipper Gary Neville is out of Saturday's FA Cup final showdown with Chelsea.
Neville has not featured for the Red Devils since injuring his right ankle against Bolton Wanderers on March 17.

The full-back was due to return to full training on Monday but is still reporting some pain from the injury and will now undergo an exploratory operation to discover the extent of the problem.


Sir Alex Ferguson had vowed to give his skipper every opportunity to feature against Chelsea but the odds were always stacked against the 31-year-old.

Although Neville was able to don his kit to lift the Barclays Premiership trophy with Ryan Giggs at Old Trafford on Sunday, he has never quite been able to rid himself of the problem he sustained against Bolton that has seen him miss the last 14 games of United's run-in.

Neville's absence means his place at Wembley will go to either Wes Brown, who has tended to be the England international's first-choice deputy this season, or John O'Shea.

While Ferguson can cope with Neville's absence in relative comfort, it is a major blow to England boss Steve McClaren.

Already without Manchester City's Micah Richards, who has had calf surgery, McClaren now faces the June 1 friendly with Brazil and the much more important Euro 2008 qualifier in Estonia the following week with his two right-backs unavailable.

[Norf Tyrone]

Is José playing a few games??

Obi Mikel has just let slip on Chelsea TV that he expects to be fine for Saturday!

[anportmorforjfc]

Manchester United striker Louis Saha has been ruled out of the FA Cup final against Chelsea with a knee injury.

Saha has failed to overcome a knee problem to play.

United right-back Gary Neville has been ruled out with an ankle injury, while Chelsea are without Michael Ballack, Ricardo Carvalho and Andriy Shevchenko.

Blues boss Jose Mourinho also lamented his lack of players and also has doubts over Ashley Cole, Jon Obi-Mikel and Arjen Robben.

[The Real Laoislad]

All Over  and Chelsea win
Ronaldo once again proves he can't do it  against the big teams

[Onlooker]

What a boring match.  good job we have the Championship matches to look forward to in all 4 provinces tomorrow.

[Norf Tyrone]

The police in the UK are concerned for the whereabouts of a young Portuguese boy. Last seen in North London on Sat 19th May, a police spokesman stated that when he went missing he was wearing a red football jersey with 7 on the back of it. Please be vigilant.

[J70]

I didnt get to see the game, apart from about 5 minutes in the first half. Who was the better team? Should Giggs` goal have stood ? and is Ferguson right that they should have had a penalty?

The game was very even overall, with each team being slightly better at different times. Giggs goal should not have stood - he slid into the keeper and pushed him and the ball over the line. Can't comment on the penalty claim as I haven't seen a close enough replay.

[Square Ball]

Shite match altogether, no one deserved to win it it was that bad, good craic in the bar which was better than the match itself. fair play to Chelski, end of season and new signings to look forward to.

would actually rate that one nearly as bad as the Ice Cream Man suit final, when I actuall ended up playing cards it was that bad, to me that was the worst FA final i have ever watched

[SammyG]

Worst FA Cup Final in living memory, by a long way. Apart from the goal, it was absolute shite from start to finish.

[Declan]

Dreadful match altogether. None of them wanted to win it. Ronaldo me arse. The grumpy old men are right

[Gnevin]

I see Rooney is giving out they where tired . Must be hard to play ball for 4 hours a day , really hard 

[An Fear Rua]

if you thought it was bad on telly, it was worse in the ground, Wembley is exactly what they said it would be over priced, over hyped, plastic and souless. There was no atmos at all from either set of fans, you could barely make out what the next block were singing never mind the other side of the ground.

However they have kept one wembley tradition alive, there was piss flowing everywhere. And the mens bogs didnt have any urinals!!! just 10 traps. 10 quid a program, 8 quid a burger, 4.50 for a 330ml beer.

[Declan]

10 quid a program, 8 quid a burger, 4.50 for a 330ml beer.

Still the common mans game so!!!