Chelsea (N) - FA Cup Final, Sat 14th May 2022 (4:45pm)

[Trumo 16,314]

Our first FA Cup final for a decade then, and it’s against the team we played in the last one. It’s also the second domestic final this season featuring the two sides. We got the better of an absorbing encounter in the League Cup final to triumph on penalties to claim our first trophy of this incredible season. To say our FA Cup record is poor is an understatement, even if we’ve previously won it 7 times which is more than most. In the last 20 years in particular, we’ve sacrificed progress in the FA Cup to concentrate our efforts elsewhere. In most cases that was down to a lack of squad depth, but all too often it’s been the result of complacency and not matching opponents for fight. This is an opportunity to correct things, and show we genuinely have a squad built to challenge on multiple fronts.

 

Atmosphere. Bravery. Intelligence. Drive. Energy. Work-rate. Ingenuity. Tactical nous. Heart. Motivation. Effervescence.

 

I don’t ask for much.

 

Our previous two FA Cup ties at Chelsea have seen us on the wrong end of a result. In 2020, we were beaten at the Bridge thanks to some calamitous goalkeeping from Adrian. 10 years ago we were bullied by Drogba and co until the introduction of Carroll almost saw us claw our way back. In the latter period of that game, we were denied by the ball being deemed not to have crossed the line, and had that gone in, we looked to have the momentum to find a winner. Alas no.

 

In 2006, things were better. Though Chelsea would easily retain the league title, the FA Cup was a different matter. We were having a very good season in the league, we were hard to break down and we had experience of bettering Chelsea in a semi final. The game took place at Old Trafford in the last week of April (the new Wembley was still a few months from completion so finals continued to be staged in Cardiff), and Chelsea rested one or two regulars. The Reds took the lead after a free kick routine on the edge of the area saw JAR go for placement over power, hitting a low effort around the wall and into the bottom corner. Chelsea, though still in the game, didn’t look as powerful as they did in the league. Kewell had had a pretty good season himself (probably better than his debut season) and he was having an effective game one our left. It was the fella on the other side who would haunt Chelsea once again, with Lil Luis racing through after a defensive misjudgement to lob the ball over the stranded Cudicini. No whinging from the Blues about that one not crossing the line. They had it all to do now, and despite Drogba finding the net with over 10 minutes to go, the final stages weren’t quite as nervy as one might expect even though Joe Cole blazed over late on. We were through, and would go on to claim our seventh (and to date, our last) FA Cup on penalties against West Ham in the Stevie G final.

 

 

Sleeper hit psychological horror film Silent Hill was atop the box office in April 2006. The film stars professional Yorkshireman Sean Bean and Radha Mitchell (of Pitch Black fame) and is based on the PlayStation game of the same name. She plays the adoptive mother of a young girl who gets visions of the abandoned town of the same name while sleepwalking. She and her husband take the young girl to the almost derelict town in search of answers (as you do!), only to wind up in a car accident from which she awakes to find the young girl missing. It also turns out that the town exists in some weird other dimension populated by folk that turn into monsters, and from which there is seemingly no way out. Added to that is her daughter’s weird connection to this odd place. I don’t recall having even heard of this film and I’ve never played the game, but the basic plot is a little formulaic. I could be talking about any number of films or TV shows here. The fact it was a hit might be more down to the public’s love of this sort of tale, and a bit due its computer game origins. Reviews certainly suggest it’s run-of-the-mill.

 

 

It wouldn’t surprise me if Tuchel has Kante, Kovacic and Pulisic available for this one. They are either out injured or out of form most of the time but they always seem to be available when Chelsea play us. Our main question mark is Fab’s fitness after he went off injured at Villa yesterday. Form-wise, Mo’s looked out of sorts since the AFCON (Sadio has been our standout since then) and Diogo has struggled to make an impact in recent weeks. Bobby should be available for this one though. I don’t think motivation or attitude will be in question here for any of the players. The question is application. Do we set out with the aim of dominating possession and territory? Or do we look to play it cagey and gradually turn the screw? Whatever we do, we must be bang up for it. A trophy is at stake, and it’s one that only Millie and Ox have any experience of winning. I don’t care that Chelsea have been runners-up for two seasons running already. I care that we make it 3. Let’s go and win it, and make a domestic cup double the minimum of our achievements this season. Upwards!

[manwiththestick 5,324]

Kante will get rolled out for his usual man of the match performance against our midfield, more so now Fab is out.

[coachpotato 713]

Wouldn’t surprise me if Tuchel went 3-5-2 with the wide men dropping when we have the ball. Overload and run through our midfield.

If we let them of course.

Which we won’t.

[an tha 8,636]

41 minutes ago, manwiththestick said:

Kante will get rolled out for his usual man of the match performance against our midfield, more so now Fab is out.

Missed their last (inc tonight) 3 games.

 

Bound to be fit sat....

[Creator Supreme 1,801]

We've fucking no chance, and even less now Fabinho's out.

 

6-0 to Chelsea, we're fucking shite!

[beejay 134]

Big pitch, makes it more difficult for us to defend the high line as we saw in the League Cup final when they broke through one on one too many times.

 

Picking the right combinations is so important, we have more firepower than Chelsea but their system gives them overloads out wide while we should have more control over possession.

 

We don't have too many options in midfield unfortunately, as much as Ox has underperformed when in the side, we could really have done with him knocking on the door with more legs than Milner. 

 

Otherwise the 3rd midfield spot now is Keita, Jones or Milner and none of them inspire confidence. 

 

Still fancy us to win because of Klopp, he will find a way 

 

[Creator Supreme 1,801]

1 minute ago, beejay said:

Big pitch, makes it more difficult for us to defend the high line as we saw in the League Cup final when they broke through one on one too many times.

 

Picking the right combinations is so important, we have more firepower than Chelsea but their system gives them overloads out wide while we should have more control over possession.

 

We don't have too many options in midfield unfortunately, as much as Ox has underperformed when in the side, we could really have done with him knocking on the door with more legs than Milner. 

 

Otherwise the 3rd midfield spot now is Keita, Jones or Milner and none of them inspire confidence. 

 

Still fancy us to win because of Klopp, he will find a way 

 

No he won't.

[JohnnyH 7,389]

If that injury to Kovacic keeps him out of Saturday then it fairly evens up us losing Fabinho. He’s a key player. Let’s hope he’s fucked. 

[Anubis 21,775]

Get in. Get the three points. Get out.

[3 Stacks 3,443]

I think this is a complete toss up. It's still in this run of games where we're playing every 3 or 4 days, in which we have to play strong teams on the odd chance City slip up in the League. We looked a bit cooked against Villa, whereas I thought we looked still somewhat fresh against Spurs, although we didn't win.

 

We'll need massive individual performances and players to go above and beyond here to win, in my opinion.

 

The Champions League final will be totally seperate with more rest before and with time to digest for it because it's the last game of the season.

This one will be a slog and will be about just getting over the line. I'm not mega confident.

[aRdja 2,921]

Alisson; Trent, Matip, Virgil, Robertson; Henderson, Keita, Thiago; Salah, Diaz, Mane

[an tha 8,636]

We are better than them, but have struggled with them in 3 games this season.

 

Styles make fights and theirs is one we find tricky.

 

Fabinho missing is a big, big blow.

 

We haven't once this season been able to put out our first choice midfield 3 v these and we won't Saturday.

 

It's a 50/50 game IMHO....hopefully no Kante or Kovacic for them.

 

Hopefully we can go:

 

Alisson

 

TAA

Matip

VVD

Robertson

 

Thiago

Henderson

Keita

 

Diaz

Mane

Salah

[AngryOfTuebrook 24,974]

It'll be tough, especially without Fabinho, but I've got more faith in Naby's ability to do a decent job than a lot of people round here have.  They're very good, but we're better.  This Liverpool deserves to win all the trophies in sight.

 

Just get these beat, Reds.

[AngryOfTuebrook 24,974]

[aRdja 2,921]

7 minutes ago, AngryOfTuebrook said:

It'll be tough, especially without Fabinho, but I've got more faith in Naby's ability to do a decent job than a lot of people round here have.  They're very good, but we're better.  This Liverpool deserves to win all the trophies in sight.

 

Just get these beat, Reds.

He had a good game against them last time around, one thing that worries me about Naby is he can be rash, and the last thing you want in a final va Chelsea is playing with a man down.

[TheDrowningMan 720]

I can’t see past a Chelsea win - this is their sole focus and they should be fresher both mentally and physically. I hate the FA Cup being sandwiched among other games, and I think the fact we’ve had more than most is likely to prove the difference given its timing.

[aRdja 2,921]

6 minutes ago, TheDrowningMan said:

I can’t see past a Chelsea win - this is their sole focus and they should be fresher both mentally and physically. I hate the FA Cup being sandwiched among other games, and I think the fact we’ve had more than most is likely to prove the difference given its timing.

I can understand people thinking that Chelsea have a bit of an advantage having FA cup as their sole focus, but to give us no chance at all of winning this is a bit hysterical. We’ve a good team and a better manager than Chelsea. Probably the best manager in the world.

[johnsusername 3,521]

They've played more games than us haven't they? They had the Club World Cup and the Super Cup, not to mention getting to the league cup final like us, and same number of league games. 

 

Anyway, it'll be tough, but we're better. Hopefully it all works out fine. 

[gkmacca 1,452]

3 hours ago, beejay said:

Big pitch, makes it more difficult for us to defend the high line

 

People keep saying this unquestioningly, but it's a bit of a myth. Wembley’s pitch is smaller than those at Old Trafford, the Amex Stadium and Molineux. 

[El Rojo 10,863]

4 hours ago, Trumo said:

Our first FA Cup final for a decade then, and it’s against the team we played in the last one. It’s also the second domestic final this season featuring the two sides. We got the better of an absorbing encounter in the League Cup final to triumph on penalties to claim our first trophy of this incredible season. To say our FA Cup record is poor is an understatement, even if we’ve previously won it 7 times which is more than most. In the last 20 years in particular, we’ve sacrificed progress in the FA Cup to concentrate our efforts elsewhere. In most cases that was down to a lack of squad depth, but all too often it’s been the result of complacency and not matching opponents for fight. This is an opportunity to correct things, and show we genuinely have a squad built to challenge on multiple fronts.

 

Atmosphere. Bravery. Intelligence. Drive. Energy. Work-rate. Ingenuity. Tactical nous. Heart. Motivation. Effervescence.

 

I don’t ask for much.

 

Our previous two FA Cup ties at Chelsea have seen us on the wrong end of a result. In 2020, we were beaten at the Bridge thanks to some calamitous goalkeeping from Adrian. 10 years ago we were bullied by Drogba and co until the introduction of Carroll almost saw us claw our way back. In the latter period of that game, we were denied by the ball being deemed not to have crossed the line, and had that gone in, we looked to have the momentum to find a winner. Alas no.

 

In 2006, things were better. Though Chelsea would easily retain the league title, the FA Cup was a different matter. We were having a very good season in the league, we were hard to break down and we had experience of bettering Chelsea in a semi final. The game took place at Old Trafford in the last week of April (the new Wembley was still a few months from completion so finals continued to be staged in Cardiff), and Chelsea rested one or two regulars. The Reds took the lead after a free kick routine on the edge of the area saw JAR go for placement over power, hitting a low effort around the wall and into the bottom corner. Chelsea, though still in the game, didn’t look as powerful as they did in the league. Kewell had had a pretty good season himself (probably better than his debut season) and he was having an effective game one our left. It was the fella on the other side who would haunt Chelsea once again, with Lil Luis racing through after a defensive misjudgement to lob the ball over the stranded Cudicini. No whinging from the Blues about that one not crossing the line. They had it all to do now, and despite Drogba finding the net with over 10 minutes to go, the final stages weren’t quite as nervy as one might expect even though Joe Cole blazed over late on. We were through, and would go on to claim our seventh (and to date, our last) FA Cup on penalties against West Ham in the Stevie G final.

 

 

Sleeper hit psychological horror film Silent Hill was atop the box office in April 2006. The film stars professional Yorkshireman Sean Bean and Radha Mitchell (of Pitch Black fame) and is based on the PlayStation game of the same name. She plays the adoptive mother of a young girl who gets visions of the abandoned town of the same name while sleepwalking. She and her husband take the young girl to the almost derelict town in search of answers (as you do!), only to wind up in a car accident from which she awakes to find the young girl missing. It also turns out that the town exists in some weird other dimension populated by folk that turn into monsters, and from which there is seemingly no way out. Added to that is her daughter’s weird connection to this odd place. I don’t recall having even heard of this film and I’ve never played the game, but the basic plot is a little formulaic. I could be talking about any number of films or TV shows here. The fact it was a hit might be more down to the public’s love of this sort of tale, and a bit due its computer game origins. Reviews certainly suggest it’s run-of-the-mill.

 

 

It wouldn’t surprise me if Tuchel has Kante, Kovacic and Pulisic available for this one. They are either out injured or out of form most of the time but they always seem to be available when Chelsea play us. Our main question mark is Fab’s fitness after he went off injured at Villa yesterday. Form-wise, Mo’s looked out of sorts since the AFCON (Sadio has been our standout since then) and Diogo has struggled to make an impact in recent weeks. Bobby should be available for this one though. I don’t think motivation or attitude will be in question here for any of the players. The question is application. Do we set out with the aim of dominating possession and territory? Or do we look to play it cagey and gradually turn the screw? Whatever we do, we must be bang up for it. A trophy is at stake, and it’s one that only Millie and Ox have any experience of winning. I don’t care that Chelsea have been runners-up for two seasons running already. I care that we make it 3. Let’s go and win it, and make a domestic cup double the minimum of our achievements this season. Upwards!

That 2006 semi against Chelsea gets forgotten a bit. Great day out, nicely sandwiched between knocking them out of Europe in the 2005 and 2007 semis. Kewell was very good that day. 

[johnsusername 3,521]

Yeah I went to that semi final, it was a great day. Although the train home was absolutely rammed, I'm not sure how it was legal to operate, must have been massively overcrowded.

 

I went to the 2012 final and to this day am convinced Carroll's header went over the line. We had them on the ropes, too. 

[Baltar 1,057]

4 hours ago, manwiththestick said:

Kante will get rolled out for his usual man of the match performance against our midfield, more so now Fab is out.

It's uncanny how Kante misses so many games up to the run up against us and then suddenly he's fit and plays a blinder. Does he save himself for our matches or something? So annoying.

[Baltar 1,057]

We need to learn from the league cup final. They had so many bodies in midfield and were just overrunning us. I worry about that especially with Fabinho out. I'm tempted to stick Firmino in midfield if he's available just so we can have more numbers.

[Torvald Utne 832]

2 hours ago, Baltar said:

We need to learn from the league cup final. They had so many bodies in midfield and were just overrunning us. I worry about that especially with Fabinho out. I'm tempted to stick Firmino in midfield if he's available just so we can have more numbers.

I've been wondering about Firmino in midfield recently as I'm confident he'd do a better job than Keita or Ox.

 

To be fair, Allison would probably do a better job than those two.

[s(k)aturation 5,963]

7 hours ago, Trumo said:

 

Atmosphere. Bravery. Intelligence. Drive. Energy. Work-rate. Ingenuity. Tactical nous. Heart. Motivation. Effervescence.

 

 

 

Repped, especially, for clever acronymic reference to and reverence for tradition.