A few - some might argue red tinted and overly optimistic but fuck em - reflections having just watched the whole game again whilst sat here licking my wounds after cracking me left heel bone and right wrist following an unwinnable disagreement with a ladder:
What an absolute twat of a performance by those officials. So they may have eventually called the penalty episode correctly but fuck me did the Manc twat and his oppoes not more than compensate for it to Chelsea with virtually everything else remotely 50/50 or even 60/40 in our favour. Between all that and the gamesmanship plus a few crucial bad bounces and profligacy it becomes so hard to get over the line against an admittedly impressive outfit.iii
My initial post game assessment that there wasn’t that much to separate the teams radically changed after a second watch. For all Chelsea’s resolute defending, the fine players they do have, the Abramovichised squad depth and their mastery of the darker footballing arts virtually encouraged by the Manc twat, we are pretty comfortably superior to Chelsea all over the pitch and time will be a testament to that. It was clear to me watching back that we have a definite higher overall football performance ceiling than Chelsea. Sure they can certainly defend and counter as well as any such teams past or present but no way are they going to outperform us in a game given full player complements.
Just few other brief observations.
Contrary to some things I’ve read, I thought Sadio was terrific and I can’t think of many past or present players who would have been so alive to that opportunity that won us the pen. Not forgetting his original winning of the header.
What a central defensive pair we’ve got. There’s been great ones both for us and elsewhere in the past but don’t think I’ve seen a better twosome. Moreover, Matip is by no means the lesser of the two. How that guy has bloomed over time into one hell of a player.
Harvey Elliott. Fuck. What a bundle of class, balance, vision, energy, tenacity and awareness. He is surely the first name on the midfield team sheet at the moment.
Lastly the crowd. I couldn’t go the game due to the accident and was a bit disappointed with the crowd watching first time round on the telly. Should have known better. Mates told me the crowd was great and the second showing I just watched confirmed it. Not sure how they managed without me like but made up they did.
Deffo champions this time around.
