As a life-long Blue, who only began to truly cheer for the club after Roman’s petrodollars came in, I must admit it was painful watching Chelsea struggle to come to terms with the level of opposition Blackpool offered them throughout the 90 minutes.
The pre-game atmosphere was steeped in awkwardness as Blackpool captain Charlie Adam recalled how pleasantly surprised he was to receive a message of support from Frank Lampard; only to be crushed when he later received a naughty picture of Ashley Cole sent to his cell phone by Ashley Cole himself. Chelsea’s public relations office later confirmed, much to the relief of Adam, that the photo was only intended for Adam’s wife.
All that was soon forgotten as the Seasiders mocked the rapidly aging products of Stamford Bridge’s Milan lab, with some lazy football and shoulder-shrugs on display everytime the Blues scored. As Saloman Kalou wheeled away, having scored the first goal, he looked pleadingly at Blackpool captain Charlie Adam for approval. The young 24 year-old skipper merely yawned, and looked away.
Didier Drogba : Panic Attack
By choosing to retain Mikel on the field, Carlo sent a strong signal that he would rather lose the game playing Mikel than have to endure sitting next to him on the bench. The game ended with honors even, and Chelsea holding on to register a 4-0 embarrassment.
The much-awaited tie against Citeh
Bookmakers immediately slashed the odds of Manchester City defeating Chelsea by a margin of half-a-dozen goals or more. Roberto Mancini will undeniably be pleased, at the forecasts, considering his career and life are in extreme danger of coming to a premature end. Mancini has been told by his club’s owners that anything short of a victory will result in his scarf turning into a noose. It is understood that Mancini has already been sending out feelers to Ancelotti, in the form of an exorbitantly high offer for goalkeeper Hilario as Joe Hart’s backup. For his part, Ancelotti has confirmed the offer is high enough to raise his eyebrows.