Phillip

Quite right, G4. I thought this was the first game in a long time where I thought we got all of the calls from the referee. He did a great job, though, in all honesty. The mugging on Drogba by Ayala was horrific, and the ref caught his nasty elbow to Drogba's face. As to the ratings, I thought Ballack was brilliant, and his tactical positioning was immaculate. Joe Cole was just fantastic. I just finished watching the game on a delayed basis, so I did not go on the forum lest I find out the score. It was definitely worth the wait. The ranks right up there with the 4-2 Barca result, in my opinion. Just lovely football from Chelsea!

I hope to squeak by with a result, 1-0 will be fine with me.

When I watched the match yesterday, I could not but be impressed by Valencia's fair play. They never went to ground needlessly, very little time wasting tactics, and they played very fair. I was also impressed by our play, and thought we were just a bit unluckly not to have scored two goals. Whether or not we advance to the next stage, I don't know, but I cannot help but think that we were not jobbed in the first leg (at best, the non-foul against Sheva just before Kalou hit the post would have been an obstruction, and an indirect free kick inside the box, but not a penalty kick).

You are I saw a different game, SydneyChelsea. I thought Lamps was excellent out there, except for his corners and free kicks. His passing was magnificent. One of us is crazy, or blind, or both.

If Lamps can't play with a broken wrist, then I'm a monkey's uncle. Just put a soft cast on it, and he should be good to go, right??

Ugh. If ManU wins the Premiership title this year, then they will have earned it, and I will respect that. 'Nuff said. But to say that ManU has homegrown talent and/or players who were unknowns prior to being bought by ManU is absurb. So no-one ever heard of Vidic and considered him to be a great talent? The same for Carrick? The same for Rio? And this guy Larsson is a total unknown, correct? Come on, you are making me laugh.

We should ban this poser for calling Lamps "Fat Fw**k". If he cannot be the least bit respectful to Chelsea players, then tell the Ghanian idiot to go back to Red Cafe, where the dirtbag belongs. Perhaps if the little bugger apologises, then maybe he can stay.

OK, then I stand corrected. He is so big and strong -- I just assumed that he is slow.

Dunne is a slow person, right? Watching Kalou zoom past him, and then watching Dunne catch up and make a fine tackle in the penalty area, was too much for me to take. Happened three times, I believe. If Kalou is fast, that just should not happen at all.

I do, if it means that half of his fortune will vanish in an instant.

A bloke down the pub called him the dutch Darren Huckerby. At least Huckerby scores a few goals -- Robben goes for months without putting one in the back of the net. Though his defence is a lot better than it was last season -- you have to give him credit for that. He actually bundled a Citeh player off the ball today. I almost had a seizure when that happened.

Except for when he gave up a needless corner about 1 minute into injury time. I could have strangled him for that.

Hideous, Dreadful game. Just awful to watch. I recall someone posting a while back, saying that Ballack is the kind of player who tries to hide out there, and that certainly was the case today. Though he did take an excellent free kick at the end, which was bending into the goal, but for Isakson's nice save. Not many good things today, I was mad at Maka for giving up a corner at the 91st minute, and I was mad at just about everyone else. Well, we won, so I guess I should be happy. Cech seemed a bit at sea out there, but it did not cost us.

I love frogs. She looks Russian -- what more can you say!

Apparently the penalty was not so clear. From a reverse angle, it appears that Micah Richards barely touched Kalou. Anyway, what a boring first half. It was played in first gear, and just horrible football to watch. We are up, though, but we have been put under pressure a lot during the first half. I worry about JT, since he seemed to wrench his back very late in the half. I hope that it is nothing.

I think that was the final result, but I did not see the end of the game. Valencia looked a bit sluggish, due to their previous midweek Champions League match, no doubt. They are a skillful side, but I saw weaknesses in their defence.

My biggest gripe with Riccky is his bad habit of grabbing anything in the box, which will cost us dearly one day. I did not see the game, and will refuse to see replays for obvious reasons of not wanting to get mad. If Just says that Riccky played bad, then I believe it, but I also believe our entire defence played like SHI*E.

Mourinho definately was, according to BBC they had an argument in the tunnel, now I don't know how much of this is true, but one thing I saw with my own eyes. Cole got a freekick against him and Mourinho jumped off the bench and shouted "Puta!!" at Riley, maybe 2 or 3 times. Commentator picked up on it as well, said "Mourinho is speaking to Riley in Portugese there, but I'm not going to translate what he said" He f***in deserved it, maybe not for that freekick, I just hate the little git. Still by his usual standards against us, today he had a good game. If that is true, and if the video evidence is conclusive, then I expect JM to get a touchline ban for 3 or so games, and he would deserve it for saying such things. It is very disrespectful and he should know better. Rant over. JM probably should get a 3-match ban just for starting Sweepy.

Mido was a non-factor, I presume? Based solely on his substitutions, Jol did not park the bus until very late in the game, which probably allowed us to get a draw.

Too bad Citeh did not take him back in the January transfer window. If I recall, they were seriously looking at him.

How did Boula look with him bum shoulder? Did it just hang there? Was he a bit afraid of hard contact with strikers?

I am eagerly awaiting the player ratings -- anyone? Sounds like Riley did a great job, since noone is b*tching about him.

What? Did you get the American commentators, Phil and Ray? If so, Ray Hudson is always on the edge of bursting an artery, and used to coach DC United. The poor guy needs to learn how to calm down. Perhaps some Tai Chi or Yoga would do him a world of good.

Over in the States, it is a thing the under-25 crowd does, to attract the opposite sex. I am well over 25, and have an old lady, so I have no interest in it.

I have bad vibes about this one, and I fear a 1-1 result. I hope that I am wrong.