Blue Armour

Said it before,...Chelsea, always superior in Europe. Always had the pedigree. I had a different feeling coming into this match...none of the underdog mentality from 2012. That feeling evaporated over the past few months when we convincingly beat both Madrid teams, Porto, Liverpool, Spurs and Man City themselves, twice, over a period of 4 months... As long as Chelsea turned up, and this is the occasion players turn up, if ever, I had a feeling we would take control. The most satisfying 90 minutes of a final I've ever seen...heart-pounding because it was at 1-0 for a long time, but never a negative thought. Not many teams can even say they have won the top prize in Europe once,.. but how many can say they have won it multiple times? If not already, the club has cemented its place amongst the European elite. Drink it all in, everyone! Cheers, and KTBFFH !!!!! 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

Well..to be fair that 2012 final had different things going for it. It was partly about that group of players (Drogba, Lampard and Terry), and partly about the club...because both had tried so many times to come close, but ultimately fail to win. I honestly haven't even bothered much to draw comparisons to 2012., and have pointedly tried not to watch highlights from that tournament for the past few months. This is different. This is a chance for the club to not just be a CL winner, but also be a club that has won it more than once. That to me, is different class. It will be difficult, but my feeling is that Chelsea has always been superior in Europe, and has contributed to some of the most fantastic matches ever. So let's see.

City regardless, I wouldn't give a crap about who we were facing. This is the 3rd CL final of Chelsea's history., and it's been 2 years since the last trophy. Getting to a final like this is a special event, and you shouldn't play if you weren't in it to win. Don't care about what tactics we employ, shithousery or attacking dominance. Just win. It's the best thing that can boost the mentality of the younger players in the squad.

Not wading into the Pulisic debate, but as far as Werner goes, he's in the team for his movement and the avenues he creates for the team. His tireless running into dangerous areas isn't matched by anyone else. I don't think anyone is expecting him to score a hat trick out of nowhere.

Also, I do have a dislike City not because they are terrible, but on the contrary. They've been slowly eclipsing some of our best records in the history of the premier league, including the highest number of points per season, and the most goals scored in a season. They've been quietly stealing our thunder over the past few years., while never drawing the same kind of flak that Chelsea did for transfers, etc.

The worst comment I've seen was Danny Murphy saying that it 'would be a win for football'. Ridiculous stuff.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.marca.com/en/football/real-madrid/2021/05/23/60aa3b1a46163f354f8b45bc.html Bale slams Spanish press and defends Hazard

To paraphrase Apollo from the Rocky movies, This Chelsea squad of the past 2 years are a team that can play great, but are they a great team? They've gotten to finals, beaten some of the strongest sides in England and Europe, but still don't have much to show for it. They've lost the last 2 finals, and even today against Villa, when they absolutely needed a win to confirm qualification they came up short. It would be spectacular if this be the time that they shake that tag of being also-rans and do it in the most glorious fashion.

Ziyech operates fairly well in space, which City tend to leave behind their midfield.

Well, apparently he doesn't quite agree, based on his comments after coming on as a sub against Madrid in the second leg. I too think he has got fairly enough minutes, especially considering that he is an injury risk, but at the same time feel he wants to be the player to start the big games and not just be a useful squad option. I would still start Ziyech against City, so maybe Pulisic could have started the FA cup final just to keep things even.

I've noticed that too. Especially in the last game. Is it just a case of PL vs European competition? He looked like he wasn't that interested in having or keeping the ball like he usually does when on song. Anyway, just hope it isn't because of him getting disillusioned from the lack of starts. Felt he should have started the FA cup final. Ziyech on the other hand has a record against City, it seems.

Rest Kante for this game. Especially if both Kovacic and Jorginho are fit.

Loved the performance. Exactly what I was hoping to see. A little shame about the end scoreline. A 2-0 goal lead would have done wonders to widen the goal difference between us and Leicester. Can't complain too much though. It came from Kovacic, who in all honesty am just glad to see on the pitch again with some degree of form after being out for a month.

I know it was a while ago, but what was the reason behind it? Was it just fans who didnt know any better?

While I agree that losing out the on the CL does not mean we can't attract talent, it does reduce our options. Remember, Hazard ended up joining us partly because we secured the CL for that season. Granted players like Drogba and Joe Cole influenced him, but every bit helps. The other fact is it would mean missing out on the CL for the 3rd time in nearly 5 years. I know with 6 clubs competing financially, there's always the risk of missing out, but to do so against Leicester or West Ham is embarassing. Especially after this season. Giving up top 4 if it meant we secured a trophy in the FA cup, would have been alright. But we didn't. And no we're facing the same team that denied us that and also resulted in Lampard's departure. We HAVE to go all out.

No draws, if we can't beat this Leicester side convincingly at home in front of the fans, then we have bigger problems.

Still have nightmares about 08. Coming back to this game, I don't want some fucking referee or VAR to have a chance to decide this game. Hope we come flying out of the traps and beat this Leicester team into submission. I'll be disappointed if we don't.

And when they did, they only focused on the oldest and stately looking Chelsea fans, and one fan with a twitching eye. Biased scum. They like to paint a narrative.

Yep, instead of bringing on Chillwell,.it would.have been sufficient to switch James and Azpi, with James playing WB,..and bring on Giroud much sooner. Tactics have been off the last couple of games. Hope Tuchel doesn't undo all his good work just because of a few decisions like these.

Yeah it's tough to gauge which players have that x factor. From our current crop, I would say Pulisic, Mount...and at a stretch (a real long one), maybe Havertz too could be included in that bracket of players with the potential for it. But the answer is still no until they've actually won a final.

Just seeing this video now I'm really hoping that we are the team that will keep them out of the top 4 again.

I'm tired of being nostalgic for the sake of it , but I'll say it. No Drogba. A club can buy the hottest young prospects, or the most expensive attacking players, but not having players with the right mentality and gumption to score on any occasion leaves it with an incomplete squad.

DP

The only way we can get around this is for us to take complete control and prevent a close game. I'm counting on us to do this. We should have far more well rested quality players in the squad than they do. Also hoping that Vardy and co. will do some celebrating and come to match feeling a bit more laggy. Climbing over them in the table will feel sweet.

It only takes one cup win to change that. I hoped it would be this one. Looks like we will have to wait a little longer. On the flipside, I hope they are somewhat hurt from this and can channel it into something positive in the coming matches. Chelsea vs Leicester, next round coming right up.