Aps’ Note: Nachiket Dravid aka ‘Nachi’ has done a lot of things which most of us aspire to do in a lifetime. Some of those being;having invited Rahul Dravid to his home, having worked at the Stamford Bridge as a steward, having shaken hands with the likes of John terry, Makelele and Crespo and also having won the much coveted pen fight tourni in school. For all of us pretenders, he is one who has seen the beautiful game as close as it gets. Somebody who wears his heart on his sleeves (or more appropriately the blue jersey), he prefers to spend his leisure time in slightly less sophisticated but immensely gratifying places like the chai tapri. This one’s from the guy who introduced me to the world of the delightful kadhi samosas and other mundane petty things I cherish and look back upon on a Sunday morning after an FA cup match.
The greatest pleasure in one’s life is when one gets to say – “I said so”.The greatest pleasure in a soccer maniac’s life is when he/she says that his team is gonna win and the team does it.
Bring them on… we’ll kill the Blue Bastards was a call by somebody on this forum…guess the guy is hiding his face in shame some where. Arsene “Le Sulk” Wenger (according to espnstar) was sulking again, complaining about the quality of the Wembley pitch. Sore losers, they have been quite a no of years now, the pitch is not prepared to aid their passing game or injury to first team players or the inexperience of their side et all. It never seems to end,the whole universe is conspiring against them it seems but Wenger doesn’t think that there is anything wrong with the way they played yesterday…just to name a few they had the pedestrian Silvestre, who looked like he had come for a walk in the park and Fabianski who I think was shown Cech’s video against Liverpool and told by Wenger that ‘zis iz not how itz done’…but I guess that the message got lost in translation.
Another fine performance by Chelsea, who are having a great week so far. First it was Liverpool and now Arsenal, just shows how much difference an awesome manager can make. Hiddink has inherited the same side from Scolari but the performance is anything but same. Chelsea is peaking just at the right time, will have to wait and see if its too little too late for the EPL but definitely the right time to perform in knock-out competitions.
Lampards playing his heart out, involved in both the goals with inch perfect passes…must have given Gerrard goose bumps who would have been watching from the medics table. One short of 100 goals in 5 seasons, at an average of 20 goals a season for a midfielder is amazing by any standards. Even the over-rated Adebayor has just scored 62 in his 4 seasons so far at Arsenal.
Arsenal started the brighter and livelier of the two teams. But even when they looked like scoring when they went forward in the early exchanges they looked shaky at the back and almost let Chelsea score against the run of play. Chelsea were gifted two chances in the opening 15mins of the game.Arsenal’s first error saw Fabianski lose out to Drogba and the Polish goalkeeper was grateful that Gibbs was fast enough to chase Drogba’s header and hack clear. Another mistake seconds later saw Eboue give the ball to Ballack, who released Drogba – but the Ivorian was forced wide by Toure and the chance was gone. As this was the case with Arsenals defense attack was the best form of defense and it paid off in the 18th min when Walcott scored,the ball clipped Ashley Cole’s hand and wrong footed Cech to roll into the net. Lucky them, these people moan every time Lampard scores off a deflection!!!
Chelsea’s equalizer came in the 33rd min, when Malouda expertly took down Lampard’s hoisted pass before cutting inside Eboue and beating Fabianski at his near post. By this time Chelsea owned the midfield and should have gone on to score atleast one more before half time. Anelka went close but only went on to hit the ball against the post.
After the break the Chelsea was dominant on the field with Drogba creating havoc in the Arsenal defense everytime he got the ball but his counterpart Adebayor was having an anonymous game and wasn’t offering their midfield much to play with(unsurprisingly). With not many clear cut chances and Arsenal only threatening on counter attack only one team looked like scoring the winner. Chelsea out muscled Arsenal off the park in the midfield but Arsenal almost scored against the run of play when Walcott’s cross just eluded Robin van Persie at the far post. Finally Drogba scored the winner with seven minutes of normal time remaining, a perfect lob by Lampard to the highly industrious Drogba who ran past Silvestre and rounded off Fabianski to slot the ball into the net. It must have been another reminder of what might have been had he signed Drogba from Le Mans for a meager 100K when he had the opportunity.
To me it was a reminder of the 2007 Carling Cup final when Walcott scored first only for Chelsea to score twice and win the match and the championship.
It was like snatching candy from the kids (read Arsenal kids)…Will the kids ever grow up to play like men?!?!?
I should be ashamed? Please. There WAS nothing wrong with the way we played yesterday mate. And you kind of contradict yourself when u talk about us whining about our injuries and in the very same breath about us playing Silvestre. Do u really thin we would’ve played him if we had a choice?
Maddy Arsenal always had the choice of not buying him.
@Maddy
Dude the point here is that Arsenal is always moaning and complaining….every team goes thru a purple patch atleast once in a season with injuries/suspensions and stuff….but unlike Wenger most other teams do not seem to make a big fuss abt it!!!
And this time Wenger was complaining abt the quality of the pitch……but neways we made sure he doesnt have to return to Wembley for the final…..i expect him to thank Chelsea for tht……bwahahaha
Agreed. It happens, but unfortunately this season its been a case where for a large period almost our entire first choice mid field was injured. now almost our entire first choice back 5 is out. So it is something that has made a difference. Wenger never cried foul last season when we lost various players for various parts of the season. Do u honestly think Chelsea would’ve been able to do anything if they had Ballack, Lampard, Essien and Malouda injured for the first 3 4 months and then Bosingwa, Cuntley Cole, Caravalho and Terry injured for the later part of the season all the same time? Think about it.
Maddy, ofcourse there was nothing wrong with the way u guys played…its the way u always play…isnt it???
Pathetic defending, an invisible midfield, and a cunt in the form of RVP whose only option in such situations is to try and take out opponents.
NOW, do u see why i said before that fabregas isnt even in the same league as Lampard…actually very few can be, but the legend himself showed the kids HOW its done. He practically owned the midfield, and to cap it, two brilliant assists. Now THAT is called vision.
Nachiket mate, are u the same guy who posts on the 24k Chelsea community in orkut??
“having worked at the Stamford Bridge as a steward, having shaken hands with the likes of John terry, Makelele and Crespo ” – man, lucky you…cheers.
And Maddy…again…Fabregas, who?
Keyur, Don’t talk crap. Shut up dude.
My point is made..i rest my case (:))
@keyur
I dunno who the other Nachiket is on the 24K orkut community……but yea i am a member there but do not post often. there is a Chelsea Mumbai community and i used to be very regular there.
@Nachi
DOnt tell me Ferguson doesnt complain after he loses a match. Scolari blamed his players and thats like the worst thing to do as a coach,criticize your players in public.Wenger was right about the pitch. It was pathetic. The ball kept bobbing up and down and it definitely doesnt suit our play. When teams come to Wembley they expect a good pitch. Read the words properly. HE says partly the reason for the loss was the pitch. He admits Dogba played well and admits we were overconfident in this game. Emirates has a much better and well maintained pitch than the Wembley.
mate i agree wiv you here…..most coaches complain and that is probably the best way of going around instead of criticizing ur own players after the match. but then i dunno i have always felt tht Wenger does it more often than the others (i might be wrong…but its my opinion)
i have always felt that Arsenal wer always sore losers since the time of Viera, Pires, Henry, Sol Campbell, Lundberg et all ( again an opinion)….the famous games that come to mind are Arsenal vs West Ham wen Wenger went berserk at the touchline wen Arsenal lost, fighting poor Alan Pardew….and the other one being Arsenal vs United wen Van Nistelrooy missed the pen at 90 mins at Highbury (Arsenal didnt lose the match but the reaction from ppl especially Keown was uncalled for)
more over that piece was written wen emotion wer running high after the game……so yea some harsh words there.
@Keyur.
95% of all chelsea fans are dumbshits and glory hunters. Its pretty suprising they are glory hunters because there is no HISTORY !!! the only history you guys talk about is ZOLA !!. remember the terry fuck up. He sat and cried like a little girl on the pitch. LAmpard is a cunt who cant defend. Such a great player cant even be fit in the england national team. Even if you go on to win this FA cup, it would not even be close to the history that we have. It is wonderful that an immature dumbass like you thinks that FAb and Lampard are in the same league. Chelsea are known to be the most boring team in the whole of Europe. I will always remember the day that terry cried like a little girl in MOSCOW !! 😀
Hmmm…
“LAmpard is a cunt who cant defend. Such a great player cant even be fit in the england national team.”
Is this Lampard snr u r talking about (assuming u even know who that is), or is it sum other sport??
Coz the one i was talkin about scores 20 goals a season for 5 successive seasons, and capello has to play a certain gerrard on the left flank so lampard can play his natural game.
Either case just shows ur ineptitude.
Oh..and then ther’s that history crap thrown in too..
actually comments like
“95% of all chelsea fans are dumbshits and glory hunters”
“He sat and cried like a little girl on the pitch. ”
“Chelsea are known to be the most boring team in the whole of Europe”
show its not even worth my time to argue with such an imbecile like you.
Come up with something better next time if u can..
And stop being an arrogant blabbermouth, or for God’s sake dont let ur fingers run loose on the keyboard…
or should i just dismiss u as another slow gooner??
Keyur,
I hate Arsenal. I grew up in a world where Arsenal and
Man Utd were gunning for major honours when Roman Abramovic was the governer of Chukotka and was thinking which yacht to buy and when. I cant just stand an Arsenal win. And it has stayed like that ever since. It would sound funny, if i were to say that i was also one of those who celebrated the Drogba goal. But i did. (That was partly due to a gunner friend sitting nearby also!). But i would not go to the extent of calling Fabregas as better than Lampard. I would always like to hear from you in this regard. I sure hope that you know Scoring goals alone is certainly not the main criteria to say who is better than who. And to remark Fabregas as an impactless midfielder, if anything, shows how immature you are.
Just to give you some numbers(2007-08): Lampard scored 20 goals in all competitions to Fabregas’s 13 goals in all competitions . He created close to 11 Assists to Fabregas’s 24. So an impactless player does not do things like score 13 goals and create 24 chances and also show immense maturity at 21, to lead one of the big four in one of the best and most marketable leagues in the world. I would also like to remind you that at 21, Frank Lampard scored his first goal for West Ham against Barnsley.
Otherwise i beleive Frank is chelsea’s most prized-possession and has been an outstanding player for the club. But careless statements like Fabregas is useless could always be avoided. Keyur i am sure you know better.
With you on that one Vishwa.But Fabregas is still not as good as Lampard.
Vishwa, dude, carefully read what i wrote. I never said Fabregas is useless, infact i consider him to be among top 5 CM’s in PL. All i said was he isnt upto the standards of lampard or gerrard yet, who not only score goals but have a well rounded game, and help out in defense too. Fabregas is, being a spaniard, technically brilliant, but he sometimes lacks the presence in midfield, and often goes missing in the big games. Sure u would agree with that mate.
Isnt upto Lampards standards…hmm….cant say….And as regards not being a big match player, he shone to stardom after a quarter final match with Juve scoring one and setting up the other. Again he scored against Liverpool and Man Utd last season. He scored the opener at Milan. So cant but disagree with you there.
I was waiting for these stats to come up from someone other than me. Thank you Biswa. Keyur, Fuck off 😛
Now dont come up with such stats like he scored in this game or that…they often hide more than they reveal. A CM is analysed on the entire 90 mins, and to be frank except the goal he was absent in the Milan game. Dont remember much about the others u talked of.
Frankly, did u see him in the chelsea game?? He has a few big games coming up, so i’ll reserve my judgement but so far, he’s just a talented player to me, not a complete player.
And, Fab = Lampsy ??
You are not even getting me started on that.
Maddy, stop coming out with those one-liners, come up with a sensible counter argument or just STFU.
keyur,
capello has to play a certain fucktard named lampard in the center because he cant adapt anywhere else ! :P..Gerrard can adapt and given a choice between gerrard and lampard we all know whos gonna win that battle…
Chelsea just got lucky yesterday.. MAaakalouda was way offside when he scored a goal.Please remember your history when you shout ur mouth off .. you need to win a lot of tittles before you can even think of being in the same league as arsenal. I have been to london and chelsea is a place filled with stuck up cunts !..
@Color Sensor
Arsenal has a great past.But Chelsea has a better present and future.I guess that is what you concede.How long will the Gunners cling on to this ‘History’???Is that your only line of defence for all the forthcoming matches??
And
” I have been to london and chelsea is a place filled with stuck up cunts !..”
The guy who has written this article hasnt just BEEN to London…he has worked as a Chelsea steward for 2 years…he will let you know where all the chavs come for.Well if that is news for you,they stay somewhere around Highbury.
And seems like you remember the Terry fuck up quite well and seem to have forgotten about the Arsenal bashing by Barcelona.
Lastly nice to notice the Arsenal optimism(read shamelessness) after a defeat.When will they learn to be sporting enough?
Apurva, mate, no use replying to such retards…they are best left alone. Absolute bullcrap.
COMEDIAN
Comedian you are White lighter!, and why bring history. Most Arsenal fans would not know much about pre- Wenger Arsenal in my view. And the tampering of Malouda was seriously funny.
The previous comment was for Color “the comedian” sensor and not whitelighter….
Apoligies.
Ok. Easy boys. Lets ease up a bit and give it a rest. This is getting ugly