Sunday, April 15, 2007

Chelsea v Manchester United

And so it is done, Manchester United and Chelsea will meet for the FA Cup finals. Could we potentially see a Manchester United vs Chelsea Champions League finals, as well as the second to last game in the premiership is, you guessed it....Man U vs Chelsea, maybe for the League title. I am not sure sure who I can root for if any of these other situations arise.

I must admit I was a pseudo supporter of Chelsea, prior to their become the expensive fantasy sports hobby for one rich oligarch. The reason why Chelsea had a place in my heart was that they seemed to be the place international players went to end their careers:

  • Deschamps
  • Zola
  • Desailly
  • Guillet
  • Vialli
  • Leboeuf
  • Petit
They were a nice team, that never really challenged domestically, other than in cups, had some nice runs in Europe, but in UEFA cup and Cup Winners Cup, but otherwise were the little brothers to the large English clubs such as Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United.

However with the arrival of the Russian billionaire and the "Special Whiner" from Portugal has brought an attitude and arrogance not seem in England since perhaps the treble winning side of Manchester United....but even then, that team was made of home grown talent. That team had to rise from a dark ages on the backs of players such as Giggs, Beckham, The Neville Brothers, etc that worked their way up from the youth ranks. This Chelsea team is similar to the Yankees in baseball, lots of mercenaries. Who, once the Russian oil billions are no longer around to pay the bills, will scurry off to other clubs like rats escaping a sinking ship....

So I guess I might have to root for ManU...as much as that pains me. But I cannot stomach listening to the likes of Terry, Mourinho, Cole and the rest of the bounty hunters talk about their potential success....the only ones I will root for are Cech (to me he remains a classy player and a top notch keeper), Makelele and Diarra (the last two for obvious reasons based on my Froggy bias).

Ahh it will be a difficult set of matches to watch!

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