Chelsea Vs Everton

[EskWeston 696]

There are some games when you just sit there and think "Is ANYTHING goin to go right for us tonight?". Last night was one of those games without doubt. We absolutely dominated everton, completely steamrolled rolled them and playing some very good football and with a half decent striker playing last night we would have been out of sight by half time, to say Pizarro was poor would be a serious understatement, he couldn't pull off anything last night and the ball seemed to bounce off him everytime.

The ref was an absolute joke, Mikels was one of the tamest all night yet he gets a straight red, absolutely shocking to say the least considering the way that the Everton players were charging around the pitch and flying into tackles, one of the worst refs i have seen in ages.

Still there were plenty of positives, firstly we won, there were some cracking performances out there as well, Malouda was fantastic, SWP had a great game, Ballack was top class again and Mikel when he was on completely controlled the game.

It's a shame because had we had a proper striker out or we were allowed to play with 11 men still this tie in all probability would have been done and dusted last night.....

[BlueLion. 21,491]

When Everton hit the post through McFadden you knew it was going to be our night. Luck went for us, even though the referee was against us for large periods of the game. If Mikel's tackle was worthy of a red card then at least be consistent and send off Neville and Lescott. Carsley should have gone for two yellows in the first half.

Hilario amazes me sometimes. How can a goalkeeper be shot shite at crosses yet be brilliant with reaction saves? He certainly made up his earlier error.

[Fulham Broadway 16,386]

Although we had a fantastic team spirit there were a few desperate X rated tackles flying about. Sidwell was trying to prove 'I'ma good player' by hacking someone, Mikel, and Carvalho almost scythed McFadden in half.

TBH I think Mikel should have a red, studs up and all that, but there was no consistency, and Neville should have gone. ..and what about Lescott when Belletti had a niggle with him and got booked, Lescott charged after him jostling and threatening -yet got nothing. I know he's been in a car crash and that, and looks a bit mental, but come on ref!

[EskWeston 696]

Although we had a fantastic team spirit there were a few desperate X rated tackles flying about. Sidwell was trying to prove 'I'ma good player' by hacking someone, Mikel, and Carvalho almost scythed McFadden in half.

TBH I think Mikel should have a red, studs up and all that, but there was no consistency, and Neville should have gone. ..and what about Lescott when Belletti had a niggle with him and got booked, Lescott charged after him jostling and threatening -yet got nothing. I know he's been in a car crash and that, and looks a bit mental, but come on ref!

Mikels was never a red! He went in 1 footed, not high. I think it would be physically impossible to go into a tackle like that with your studs down, you just can't do it. 2 Footed challenges i can understand the red card, but we are pushing towards a no slide tackles rule if we are punishing that with a red.....

Sidwell was awful when he came on, it is so very clear that Sidwell, Pizarro and Ben Haim were just very poor signings and will never stay beyond the summer.

[misschief 24]

Still think it was a case of who it was rather than what it was that decided the straight red tbh. Ok it was studs up but it wasn't two footed and there was no intent there, red was bloody harsh.

Same old story really, big game and we play against 12 men. Don't think I stopped swearing all night.

[EskWeston 696]

Still think it was a case of who it was rather than what it was that decided the straight red tbh. Ok it was studs up but it wasn't two footed and there was no intent there, red was bloody harsh.

Same old story really, big game and we play against 12 men. Don't think I stopped swearing all night.

Absolutely spot on, on all points. The character of the team to come back with 10 men after dealing with the inevitable Everton pressure to press the game in the last 10 minutes and win the game is fantastic. With a full squad we would have been looking at a massive win last night.

[misschief 24]

Sidwell was awful when he came on, it is so very clear that Sidwell, Pizarro and Ben Haim were just very poor signings and will never stay beyond the summer.

Said exactly the same thing myself last night but to be fair to Mourinho you can only buy what you're given the money to buy. Roman's penny pinching might've been his way of trying to pressure Jose out of a job but its come back and bit him on the arse because Jose's gone and we're still stuck with substandard players.

[Fulham Broadway 16,386]

Yup they're definitely Tesco Value eggs.

Could be a case of Who rather than What that determined Mikel going. Whats that, four reds in just over a year ? But there's no need for the Sunday League tackles

[EskWeston 696]

Said exactly the same thing myself last night but to be fair to Mourinho you can only buy what you're given the money to buy. Roman's penny pinching might've been his way of trying to pressure Jose out of a job but its come back and bit him on the arse because Jose's gone and we're still stuck with substandard players.

The money was there, i think it was a case of not wanting to be mugged on prices which is fair, but the money spent on Malouda and Belletti was money well spent, surely we could have spent a bit of money and got better players for the squad than those 3 though.

[misschief 24]

Yup they're definitely Tesco Value eggs.

Could be a case of Who rather than What that determined Mikel going. Whats that, four reds in just over a year ? But there's no need for the Sunday League tackles

Wasn't his best tackle admittedly but he can do a lot worse.

I thought he was bloody immense before that last night.

[EskWeston 696]

Wasn't his best tackle admittedly but he can do a lot worse.

I thought he was bloody immense before that last night.

He was immense, controlled the game for both sides, stopped them playing and got us going. The boy is special and will be World Class in a year or 2.

[oxfordblues 299]

OMG i'm still kinda buzzing, that was insane, the atmosphere was awesome, made sure i got the east stand to open their holes, it dont take much, just a few ppl (us 5) to sing what the MHL were singing and everyone joins in, piecea piss really. i'll give the toffee men their due too, they sung really passionately even tho they only have 2 songs lol.

First half was complete domination, i was loving what i was watching. We passed well, the movement was good, everything was kinda slippin into place perfectly and what a class finish from shauny to give us a well deserved half time lead.

Second half started pretty much the same, but when mikel was sent off, the game changed and we got edgy. The fans and the players got edgy and when they scored the equaliser, i seriously feared the worst. We quietened down which maybe was expected because tbh we felt really down after the goal, we started to give the ball away sloppily and we was all getting stressed in the crowd for around 10-15 mins. We showed great desire tho, we slowly got our act back together and it got the crowd back into the game as we believed we would get the winner. The winner was weird, it looked like SWP jumped above Lescott but i think its been confirmed as on OG now which would make more sense, would love to see it again tho.

When Everton scored, they went fucking crazy so when we got the winner, boy we fucking give it to em. What a game, It's not over yet tho. Roll on Goodison!! Can't wait!

When you watch Chelsea win on TV in the last minute, its awesome, but when you're actually there, its priceless. Ive now seen 3 last minute winners, Leboeuf vs Leicester in 1997, Dalla-Bona vs Ipswich in 2001 i think and now this one on 2008. It's one of the greatest feelings in the world. I gotta go more often, there's just nothing like it.

remember flo`s late goal against villa @ home mate,i think it was a midweek game if my memory serves me right.ps fantastic game last night,ps i may not post loads but i do read alot

[Layla 0]

Never thought we'd be playing against 12 men at home lol.Meh only made it worth it as it was a foul on Neville.Twat.Mean glad he bloody didnt spot it but Carvallo did worse then Mikel and didnt get anything thank god but still!

Still the goalie wacked Sidwell one and the ref just ran off he lost the plot completly

Moulda did well for his first game back in yonks the subs hahaha that was kinda wtf,guess cause it seemed Everton were gana score again but still?!Slightly random

Gone down as own goal but meh SWP playing well like at the start of the season so wooohey.Confidence is back.

Teheheehehehe how quiet the Everton fans went when we/Lescott scored tehehehe fun times.

Agree with what everyone said,whole place was buzzing not that often a quiet moment and was all lalalallaa and we won with 10 men under Grant lol.Amazement

Still only half time.Bring on the next leg!

Edited January 9, 2008 by Layla

[Elliott 7]

Fantastic game, fantastic performance, fantastic support - all this despite an extremely inconsistent referee and some bizarre substitutions from Mr. Grant. First he brings on Sidwell, inviting the pressure leading to them scoring, and then he takes off a striker (albeit a bad one) for a right-back - very bizarre. He'll say it paid off, I think we managed to win the game despite it.

I agree with the above that Mikel must have been sent off by reputation rather than tackle. Not seen the tackle myself, was looking away at the time, but the way that cunt Neville was rolling around the pitch half the game I doubt it could have been a bad tackle. I knew we could win it though, we've won many games before after going a man down. I'm just glad the players managed to do it despite Grant's poor substitutions.

Hilario: 6 - At fault for the goal, that was awful, never really fills you with confidence when a cross is played in. Made a few good saves though to redeem himself.

Belletti: 9 - Fantastic

Bridge: 8 - Great performance from Bridgey

Carvalho: 9 - We look a million times better with Riccy back

Alex: 7 - Thought he had a pretty good game too

Mikel: 8 - Very good performance, good news is we don't lose him for any more games than we thought we would

Ballack: 8 - Another good performance from the German

SWP: 9 - Scored a great goal, forced another, showed fantastic drive, great performance

J. Cole: 7 - Was part of a team that played well, but didn't do an awful lot that I remember

Malouda: 7 - Same as Joe

Pizarro: 6 - Not good enough.

Subs:

Sidwell: 6 - Not good enough, his presence to the game only made us invite pressure on

Ferreira: 7 - Provided another forward option although it was bizarre to bring him on for a forward

Ben Haim: can't really comment, too short a time.

[Steve 10,227]

belletti and swp 9 rating totally deserved

[Aesthetic Relic 301]

Mikels was never a red! He went in 1 footed, not high. I think it would be physically impossible to go into a tackle like that with your studs down, you just can't do it. 2 Footed challenges i can understand the red card, but we are pushing towards a no slide tackles rule if we are punishing that with a red.....

You see easily 10 - 15 tackles like that every weekend that result in a yellow card. It was a shocking decision. Unless Mikel is some sort of double-jointed contortionist then there was no way he could have went into that tackle any other way

[pluto 0]

'Elliott'

Fantastic game, fantastic performance, fantastic support - all this despite an extremely inconsistent referee and some bizarre substitutions from Mr. Grant. First he brings on Sidwell, inviting the pressure leading to them scoring, and then he takes off a striker (albeit a bad one) for a right-back - very bizarre. He'll say it paid off, I think we managed to win the game despite it.

I agree with the above that Mikel must have been sent off by reputation rather than tackle. Not seen the tackle myself, was looking away at the time, but the way that cunt Neville was rolling around the pitch half the game I doubt it could have been a bad tackle. I knew we could win it though, we've won many games before after going a man down. I'm just glad the players managed to do it despite Grant's poor substitutions.

I think they are getting used to it by the looks of it.

Grant gets out of jail again with a series of subs that make him look like some managerial genius at the end, who would have guessed that the shortest guy on the pitch pushed upfront as a lone striker would get a headed goal at the death - I don't think Grant had a clue would have clung to a draw but just got very very lucky!

Edited January 9, 2008 by pluto

[pluto 0]

Pretty impressive performance despite the ref and Grant trying their best between them to put a spanner in the works. Red card again my arse. Everton should've been down to 9 men by the end of the game, should've been down to 10 inside ten minutes and as it happens they ended up with 12 men instead, but fuck it its only Chelsea. And as for Grant's substitutions, do I even need to go over it again? What else could you do except laugh your arse off? And he comes out of it with a result ffs........you couldnt script this sort of stuff.

That man rides his luck no end but despite having all the tactical nous of a wet lettuce comes up smelling or roses time and time again thank God.

The players had heart and fire in their bellies and even Grant looked excited at the end, he must have made some pact with the devil is all I can say.

He hasn't done one thing yet in his tenure that I would call blindingly inspirational or lead me to believe he is a new Wenger or Fergie in terms of quality coaching.

We won though and take a lead to Goodison with good heart so I guess Grant can rightly say I got the job done and stick two fingers up to me as he does so.

Edited January 9, 2008 by pluto