Chelsea vs Man Yoo (League Cup semi-final) Spoilers.

[SirFozzie]

Damn..

don't know whether to be stoked that Man Yoo lost AGAIN.. another year with no silverware?

or pissed that Chelski has the chance still to do the quad.

(from soccernet)

A freak goal from Damien Duff put Chelsea into the Carling Cup final with a 2-1 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford. The Irish winger's right-wing free-kick was bent into the area and took one bounce before finding its way into the back of the net. Earlier, Ryan Giggs levelled Frank Lampard's opener but Chelsea won the battle - and they may yet win the four.

[GoldenEagle]

I heard things got a bit crazy.

[PilotMan]

I just read that Howard was in goal, but that Fergie was laying the blame on the central defenders. I guess ManU had the momentum in the second half and really looked odds on to win.

[ISiddiqui]

Yeah, apparently the goals scored were a result of some boneheaded defensive play. I was listening to it on Internet BBC radio and they blamed the first one on the Man U defense letting Lampard take as much time as he wanted to shoot (what were they thinking?), but the second one, they blamed everyone: Howard and the defenders.

[Mr. Wednesday]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Damn..

don't know whether to be stoked that Man Yoo lost AGAIN.. another year with no silverware?

or pissed that Chelski has the chance still to do the quad.

I recommend choice c: Unhappy that ManU lost with Howard in net.

[Mac Howard]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Man Yoo lost AGAIN..

One more and they'll have matched Arsenal's "undefeated" season

another year with no silverware?

Wishful thinking! Three comps to go yet

[andy m]

Quite accurate thinking! Three comps to finish behind Chelsea in yet

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by Mac Howard

One more and they'll have matched Arsenal's "undefeated" season



Wishful thinking! Three comps to go yet

Two and a half comps, maybe, you don't think Chelsea are gonna make it easy on ManYoo with a 10 point lead?

BTW.. Love my TiVo.. basically it grabbed all the weekend games from FSW (gonna be weird to change that to FSC starting next week) and watched em all, while attempting to sleep)

[varacel]

It was a bad goal to conceed, but Howard probably has to take the lion's share of the blame. He backed totally away from the ball and was stood a yard behind the goalline when the ball went in. Probably the end of his United career tonight. United's need for a top keeper was underlined by the world class save made by Peter Cech in injury time.

[Bomber]

Sounds just about entirely Howard's fault:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=169913&cc=5901

[Scholes]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Damn..

don't know whether to be stoked that Man Yoo lost AGAIN.. another year with no silverware?

They won the FA Cup last season.... you can't hold them down.

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by Scholes

They won the FA Cup last season.... you can't hold them down.

Oh, I'm sure I can.. After all, I'd just need more rocks.. *Evil Grin*

Bloody ManUre Fans

[Katon]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Yeah, apparently the goals scored were a result of some boneheaded defensive play. I was listening to it on Internet BBC radio and they blamed the first one on the Man U defense letting Lampard take as much time as he wanted to shoot (what were they thinking?), but the second one, they blamed everyone: Howard and the defenders.

I don't think it was so much that they gave Lampard too much time to shoot as that they completely lost track of him before he got the ball. He didn't really need all that much time; one touch to control it, then a shot. Because nobody was covering him, they couldn't recover in time to stop him.

The second one was a very good free kick, but if there had anyone standing in that bit of the six yard box or standing on the post then they would have been able to keep it out. Look at Bridge's clearance off the line just afterwards for contrast.

To be fair to Howard, he did pull off a couple of good saves just before Giggs' goal to keep United in it. Up until the second goal, he'd actually made quite a good case to be ahead of Carroll.

[Mac Howard]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Two and a half comps, maybe, you don't think Chelsea are gonna make it easy on ManYoo with a 10 point lead?

It's January and the season isn't over until May. If Chelsea are to lose that lead it will most likely come about through injuries. They've been very lucky so far (Utd have had two periods where they had 8/9 players out) and if, say Drogba and Gudjohnsen are injured for a few weeks, they could well start dropping points - or even just Robben who's made an enormous difference to their ability to score. At three points a win the situation can change VERY quickly. Who would have thought Utd would have caught Arsenal so quickly?

If they stay injury free then it will be difficult to catch them but the fat lady hasn't even entered the arena yet

As for Howard. I think he's gone now. That was a very bad error. Sure the defence was at fault but that's when a 'keeper is put to the test. But it was a combination of common errors for him - his poor judgement on when to leave his goalline, his lack of confidence on crosses and domination of his goal area and poor communication with his defenders.

I don't think he can take the pressure. He clearly is a talented 'keeper but the pressure robs him of that talent. I think his tourettes gets through - the reports are that he was twitching badly during the game. It can't be good for him and it may be better that he plays at a club where the pressure isn't as high.

I think Alex is already looking for a new 'keeper. Neither Howard nor Carroll are up to Champions League standards.

[Sharpieman]

There was talk that Fergie was going to go after Fulham's Van der Sar, but I guess Edwin has just signed a new contract.