Posted April 18, 200817 yr http://www.chelseafc.com/xxchelsea18070 ... 2210603_61 This is from the official Chelsea website... So, bring on Liverpool, who seem to have squeezed past Arsenal, in the end, with the help of a highly contentious refereeing decision. (I know - at Anfield. Who'd have thought it?) The end-result is the semi-final that nobody in the world, so far as I can make out, really wanted. And of course it could only be disappointing to advance this far in the Champions League and then end up playing, not a charismatic team from some exotic European destination, but an extremely dull one from the Premier League. It's like flying off on holiday and ending up in your back garden. But we must take what we are given - and consider ourselves fortunate. After all, it's a draw against the weakest team remaining in the competition - the Cardiff, if you will, of the Champions League. And there is ample history on our side: too many of our players have known disappointment at this stage of the competition, too often. Imagine, then, the steel-like resolve they'll be taking into this game. It surely can't happen again. Can't believe we allowed the above to displayed on the offical site ! Talk about doing Rafa's team talk for him
April 18, 200817 yr Love it - communicates exactly the correct amount of respect for that one trophy shower.
April 18, 200817 yr Giles Smith is always worth a read. From this Wednesday's article: "On this broader point, though, as enticing as the Champions League is, it is, in the end, a luxury, an add-on, and an achievement which would pale beside a sustained period of domestic domination, from which European titles would almost inevitably follow in any case. Winning the league has to be what it's all about, first and foremost, doesn't it? At a club like Chelsea? For as long as the domestic title exists in its present form, it has to be the primary goal. Otherwise you become Liverpool, and that would never do."