closed Chelsea 3-1 Leeds

[Muzchap 8,966]

3 hours ago, MoroccanBlue said:

Could essentially rotate all three ST's for the next three games. 

Leeds - Werner

Krasnador - Tammy

West Ham - Giroud 

That's a good shout 👍

Werner to exploit Leeds with pace

Tammy against lesser quality oppo

Giroud against physical Wet Spam

[NikkiCFC 7,955]

4 hours ago, Jason said:

Everyone is fit and available for the game, according to Lampard.

Interested to see who does not make the bench tomorrow. Probably CHO again. But if we start with Werner as CF there is no reason to have both Olie and Tammy on the bench. Or should I just say Tammy.

[Vesper 28,856]

VIDEO: CHELSEA V LEEDS | A HISTORY OF THE RIVALRY...

https://www.chelseafc.com/en/videos/v/2020/12/03/chelsea-v-leeds---a-rivalry-renewed----oyk64cRx

Type: Features
Posted on: 04 Dec 2020, 08:00 AM
 3:37 MINS

It may have been a while, but there's certainly no love lost between Chelsea and Leeds United. We took a look through the history of the fixture ahead of the rivalry being renewed on Saturday...

[Tomo 21,733]

Can anyone answer this one without cheating.

Which current PL player scored the last time Leeds beat us?

[NikkiCFC 7,955]

10 minutes ago, Tomo said:

Can anyone answer this one without cheating.

Which current PL player scored the last time Leeds beat us?

Wow 18 years ago 😱 He was just 16... 

 

[Vesper 28,856]

14 minutes ago, Tomo said:

Can anyone answer this one without cheating.

Which current PL player scored the last time Leeds beat us?

I sorta cheated, as I heard it on the telly, when they showed the last time those cunts beat us.

But I will not spoil. I had no clue it was him btw. Once a bellend, always a bellend.!

[Vesper 28,856]

My last post before we get ready and go out for our birthdays

Why Chelsea hate Leeds. And does it matter any more?

https://theathletic.com/2236979/2020/12/04/chelsea-leeds-rivalry-hate/

It is the kind of question that might get asked in a sports quiz among friends or down the local pub: what is the most watched football game between two clubs in the history of UK television?

To the younger generation it would be understandable if their guesses included Manchester United v Liverpool or Arsenal v Tottenham. The answer is Chelsea v Leeds.

In 1970, 28.49 million people tuned in to watch the two sides battle it out, quite literally, in an FA Cup final replay which the west London club won to secure the second major trophy in their history. Only England’s World Cup triumph in 1966, Princess Diana’s funeral, a special documentary on the royal family and the dramatic return of spaceship Apollo 13 has attracted more viewers.

The incredible figure reflected the country’s great interest in what had become a fierce rivalry, one which older Chelsea supporters still regard as the second most important behind Tottenham but may come as a mystery to the new generation. After all, the teams’ grounds are 200 miles apart and until this campaign, the clubs hadn’t been in the same division for the previous 16 seasons.

A lot of FA Cup finals don’t live long in the memory, but what happened in 1970 left a lasting impression on those who saw it. Chelsea won the rematch 2-1 (and celebrated below) after the first encounter finished 2-2, but it was the ferocious tackling that people still speak about.

Earlier this year, Premier League match official Michael Oliver re-refereed the game using today’s rules and admitted he would have sent 11 players off. On the night itself, Leeds striker Mick Jones was the only one to get booked by referee Eric Jennings.

But that clash was 50 years ago. There have been another 50 fixtures between Chelsea and Leeds since then, the last of which was eight years ago in the EFL Cup. What relevance does this contest have for fans of either club today? “The reason the rivalry has carried on is it’s been handed down,” Chelsea historian Rick Glanvill explains. “I have two sons who are Chelsea fans. When they came with me to games, they would hear the stories. For some people, it might be when they were in the pub before a game, a Leeds match would be on the TV and their supporters are singing about Chelsea. That would raise questions.

“It’s something that would regularly come up. If someone said, ‘I see Leeds are winning’ a member of the group would say ‘dirty Leeds’. The younger ones ask why and then it’s explained to them. It’s part of the pageantry of football.”

That sense of loathing doesn’t seem to be quite what it once was. When The Athletic conducted a poll among Chelsea fans in April over which team they despise the most, some questioned why Leeds, who picked up just 4.1 per cent of the vote, were on the list of options alongside Spurs (58.6 per cent), Arsenal (26.7 per cent) and Liverpool (10.6 per cent).

But as Chelsea prepare to face Leeds on Saturday evening, many of their followers still can’t wait to see hostilities resume even if, apart from the lucky 2,000 ticketholders, they are having to watch from home.

Glanvill continues: “This all stems from what happened between them in the late 1960s. They were involved in a lot of big games near the top of the table and in cup competitions. Then there was the 1970 FA Cup final. It was a case of familiarity breeds contempt. It was like what Chelsea and Liverpool went through when Jose Mourinho and Rafael Benitez were managers and kept playing each other in the Champions League as well as the domestic competitions.

“But why Chelsea v Leeds resonated so much is it was about more than just football. At the same time society was changing. When the Swinging Sixties was happening, one of the epicentres of that was Chelsea. They were the King’s Road club, glamourous, stylish, had a feeling of youth and the buzz of London. There was a creative explosion. Due to that, the media attention focused more on Chelsea and Leeds felt left behind because of it.

“The media played up the differences between the two teams. Leeds were stereotyped as Yorkshire grit, salt of the earth. Don Revie, their manager, had his players playing bingo, that’s how they passed the time. Whereas Chelsea were going out to expensive restaurants with fashion designers and photographers. It played into the ‘southern softies’ mantra. Revie actually said ‘southerners are too soft to win the title’.

“It was a football civil war. It reflected the north-south divide. I think events of late have added to the socio-economic divide, the feelings of resentment that London gets everything and the north is treated differently. The residue of those football clashes is what you hear echoes of in the songs you hear today.”

Go on YouTube and type in “We all hate Leeds’ or Leeds’ version of “Wash your mouth out son” and you will see clips from both sets of supporters singing about the other even when their teams are playing somebody else.

Chelsea fan and broadcaster Rory Jennings can vouch for that. “Before fans were prevented from going to games by COVID, anyone who went to Stamford Bridge would pick up on it. Chelsea will be playing a lower league club in the FA Cup on a Tuesday night and there will be a song about Leeds.

“Is it still a rivalry? 100 per cent. It’s ingrained. The animosity, the venom, the hatred, it’s still palpable. We’d sing about Leeds every week. It’s still alive. It’s not as ferocious as it once was, but now we are playing each other again, and there are things at stake, controversial decisions, it will all come flooding back.”

Jennings was a teenager when Leeds last came to Stamford Bridge in 2004. The visitors, whose relegation from the Premier League had been confirmed a fortnight before, lost 1-0.

“It was rough,” he says. “That was one of two occasions where I’ve been scared being at a game. It was really bad. They brought so many fans down, lots without an intention of going to the match and Chelsea aren’t shy in that department either.

“The final day of the season usually has a carnival atmosphere. That wasn’t the case this day. There were riot police, horses. There was venom in the crowd. As far as how Chelsea fans viewed Leeds football-wise that day, it was dancing on their grave.

“There is a cultural difference. In their eyes we are Cockney upstarts. They feel they’re a proper club with a soul and we’re this tinpot club who won the lottery because owner Roman Abramovich took over. We are the flash Londoners, Millwall with money.

“To someone who doesn’t get it, the strength of feeling, go look at that 1970 FA Cup final. It may feel like an irrational rivalry but it stems from years of angst between the two clubs.”

The host of BlueLionsTV, who likes to be referred to as NiiNii, shares the dislike of Leeds but has noticed on his channel and Twitter account that the sentiment isn’t shared universally.

“There are so many modern fans who it might not matter too as much, new fans who look to Manchester United or Arsenal instead,” he says. “Judging by what I’ve seen from Chelsea fans online, you don’t see Leeds being talked about as much. There wasn’t too much chat about it when they got promoted from the Championship, there hasn’t been earlier this week ahead of the game. Maybe that will be the case closer to kick-off.

“It needs something to get it going again. Most rivalries come down to who are we most competing against to win this trophy, to get that position. Some rivalries get a little bit lost over time because they’re not as relevant. To a lot of people it doesn’t matter.”

No doubt Chelsea coach Frank Lampard will make sure it matters to his players. He was playing for the club in midfield when the fixture last had a bit of competitive spice to it. When he joined from West Ham in 2001, Leeds were big spenders and on a three-year run of finishing above Chelsea in the table (1999-2002).

And his own frosty relationship with Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa means the final scoreline will be just as important to him personally as what three points will do for Chelsea’s title challenge.

For Jennings, who is one of the 2,000 in attendance, there is a lot at stake. “My in-laws are all Leeds fans,” he says. “There has been a lot of exchanges between myself and the brother-in-law all week. Leeds fans have this moral superiority thing going on of, ‘We’re a bigger club, we’re box-office’.

I’m pleased they’re back in the Premier League so this game is back on again but not only do I want Chelsea to win this, I want them to be relegated.”

 

 

 

 

[Tomo 21,733]

18 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

Wow 18 years ago 😱 He was just 16... 

 

 

13 minutes ago, Vesper said:

I sorta cheated, as I heard it on the telly, when they showed the last time those cunts beat us.

But I will not spoil. I had no clue it was him btw. Once a bellend, always a bellend.!

In fairness to him, he has done very well to keep up such a level at this point when you see how badly Rooney (who also came through at 16 about a month before) declined.

[Muzchap 8,966]

26 minutes ago, Vesper said:

I sorta cheated, as I heard it on the telly, when they showed the last time those cunts beat us.

But I will not spoil. I had no clue it was him btw. Once a bellend, always a bellend.!

Was it Millner? I'm sure he started at Leeds and was super young 🤔

[DANILA 290]

I think Pulisic Giroud CHO should be the three up top for this. Ziyech has been brutal his last 2 apps and Giroud, well, doesn't need explaining. After that depending on Giroud performance put Werner back in the ST spot - Abraham should go on loan in Jan.

[Blues11 213]

Think they'll run Werner, Giroud, and Cho up top. Cho deserves the start and Frank might save Puli for a late sub to ease him back. 

[kiwi1691 255]

 

[Special Juan 27,429]

Cannot wait for this, especially with fans back, amazing.

[Special Juan 27,429]

Mendy

Reece Zouma Silva Chilwell

Kante

 Mount            Havertz

  Ziyech                              Werner

Giroud

[1chelsea 864]

Welcome back all you fans who make it to the Bridge today.

 

[OneMoSalah 8,778]

22 hours ago, DANILA said:

I think Pulisic Giroud CHO should be the three up top for this. Ziyech has been brutal his last 2 apps and Giroud, well, doesn't need explaining. After that depending on Giroud performance put Werner back in the ST spot - Abraham should go on loan in Jan.

loan? are you for real? fucking hell.

 

[Jase 43,479]

Looks like Giroud is starting.

[LAM09 6,752]

Looks like Giroud is starting.

More than deserved, if so.