Peeking Duck?

Maybe it's just me, but do any of you fastidiously read the credits after watching a less than entertaining film at the cinema? I don't. And it wouldn't matter even if I was said film's producer. P

Hi Pongo, Quick, and genuine, question for you: Why weren't you on here giving it large before the game? Do you have another username that you post under? regards, Peek

I voted for Carlo as I didn't believe any of them deserved even a hypothetical MOTM award. SWP was good for one half, but after the break he reverted to type - ie, no control and 2nd touch always a tackle. Drogs was absolutely shocking on both ends today. Lost his mark for the first goal and rolling around again like his first season. I am gonna end with that as I could probably fill a few pages worth of rant material. I do have a question I'd like others to comment on: I do not see we have any players with both pace and control. Am I wrong? In fact, after selling Robben (can't force him to play here) we only have SWP for pace and his close control at speed is almost nil. Joey has great control but has lost that bit of quickness he once had. Kalou is not the answer, not is Malouda. I fear we may be on for a long ride this season - then again, I guess I could always try to lower my expectations? P

We need to rest every single important player on our team for this match. It's only a pre-season "friendly" for us, but the mExicans will be out to win at any cost. That cost is usually measure by how many players they can injure. They are the most cynical players in the world - purposely kicking out at your achilles, only to fall over when the ref turns round to see what's happened. To call them dirty wouldbe an insult to the word - they are well beyond dirty. How do I know this? I grew up playing against nothing but Mexicans and if they can't beat you, they will surely take you down. DON'T RISK OUR PLAYERS AGAINST THESE VERMIN! Peek

No offense Manny, but to even hint at the notion of Abramovich being the slightest bit like Jerry Jones is ridiculous. Jerry Jones was a former american football player who "thought" he knew enough to make the big decisions. Not only the decision regarding personnel, but decisions as far as tactics as well. The only similarity is that both teams won back to back titles and (possibly in the case of Chelsea) missed out on a third. After that the similarities end full stop. Aside from Al Davis of the Oakland Raiders, there is no more hands on owner than Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys. Roman to this point has resisted "foisting" players on Mourinho. Yes, Roman wanted Sheva (who wouldn't at the time?) and Jose wanted him too. Jose also wanted Ballack as Eidur had fallen out of favour from a string of dour performances. I don't think the comparison is fair on Roman. On the bright side? When Dallas lost in that third year running, they came back and won it the next. Let's hope Chels do the same if we fail to retain our title this season! PS - Manny. I just re-read your initial post. The original coach, Jimmy Johnson (Mourinho in your allegory) resigned immediately after winning the second title. Barry Switzer was brought in the following season and failed to get to the final. You've got your facts a little mixed up mate.

I think it mostly has somethign to do with it not being a knockout match. Second leg at home, hmm, when was the last time we had that? Oh yes, I think it was against Barca in 2005, and I can assure that night matched anything at Anfield. Peek

I know this has probably been done to death already. But can someone please explain how Chelsea have just squeaked past Liverpool in the first leg, with the tie remaining "finely balanced". While Manchester have the same goal difference, are going to play in a much more intimidating venue, and most importantly, have conceded TWO away goals, yet they're still favourites to go through. I'm absolutely flabbergasted by the media consensus giving United the advantage to go through. It's too simple to say "the media hates us" for an explanation. Having read all the major newspaper match reports v L'pool it seems as if maybe we didn't win afterall? It can't be a journo conspiracy of sorts as the match reports are largely written as the game progresses. The best I can conclude is maybe the sports hacks are so deluded with their opinions of Chelsea they fail to see anything other than "long ball merchant" or "lucky late goals". My question is this: Chelsea have been winning in all forms of play for three years now, when does it become not lucky, but "good", or "incisive" rather than hoofing? Peek

I lost count of how many times Paulo was left to defend against two players, with one overlapping. Maybe it's just me but I always thought it was difficult to be in two places at once. I put more of the blame in that respect on SWP. When Joe came on it seemed to help a little but it also may have been due to the opposition tiring. Ashley is the one who takes all day to close someone down at times. ie, the goal from Pennant at Anfield. Other times Ashley is quite good -w ish he'd show mor consistency with preventing those crosses! Peek