As the European leagues emerge from their winter breaks, well all except England which I think needs a winter break. And we have the end of the season to look forward to as well as the domestic cups. Some thoughts:
The Carling Cup : Does anyone outside of Middlesbrough care about the Carling Cup, can you tell me who won it last year? Usually this tournament is highlighted by managers lining up their reserves and youth players, a chance to have a look at a club's future on a small stage. However this season the cup has added a new twist - Chelsea vs Arsenal final. The rivalry between the managers, while has cooled off, remains heated. Chelsea is in a bad spell, Mourinho and Abramovich are openly feuding, Shevchenko looks completely lost, Ballack looks terrible, the defense is in shambles (granted Chelsea remains in 6 points out of first place). And now they meet their cross town rival Arsenal. Wenger has approached the Carling Cup with a simple philosophy - get the youngsters some run, getting players such as Alaidiere and Diaby some run while resting the likes of Cesc and Henry. With all this drama this final might be "must see TV" I will be interested to see if Mourinho plays a close to regular side versus what Wenger has already stated will be his regular Carling Cup side. If this is the case the pressure will be monumental on the shoulders of the "Special One," if Chelsea with Terry, Ballack, Lampard, Drogba, Cech et al are on the pitch and they lose to the Baby Arsenal team what will happen to between Abramovich and Mourinho....
French Cup : The 5 time champions Lyon lost to Marseilles. In what appears to have been a great game...too bad I could not see it...I really need to get Setanta sport. Marseilles came back in the last 5 minutes to win 2-1. What could be a bad sign, Lyon has been dropping points and games all month. Does their double point lead in Ligue 1 make Lyon soft? In the transfer window Lyon lost Carew and added Baros, a move that is a push. They are not facing injury issues, so what is wrong with the French champs? Not clear. They better wake up soon, the Champions league is around the corner and they have a tough test against AS Roma. I think Lyon has become too accustom squeezing out last minute victories, now they will need to muck through ugly wins....
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