Chelsea - Liverpool Postgame

Chelsea is very much deservedly on to Moscow with a 3-2 win over Liverpool. The Blues were clearly the better squad throughout, only allowing Liverpool back into the game in the second half when they stopped pressing the ball and tried to play defensively. The shock is that it looks as if Avram Grant out-managed the great knockout artist Rafa Benitez. Why Fernando Torres came off, and for Ryan Babel no less, was unclear. However for me, the class of the Chelsea players clearly were the story. Chelsea had at least the five best players, with Terry, Essien, Ballack, Makelele, and Drogba making larger impacts than any of the Reds. Gerard was completely shut down by Makelele [again] and Torres was his normal invisible self punctuated with a couple moments of genius.

The problem with this game from me, is that I was actually rooting for Chelsea. I know that I like both of these teams, but I thought that Spanish contingent would have me pulling for Liverpool. I cannot describe why, but I actually did a fist pump when Chelsea scored in Extra Time. What makes an observer with no ties to either team pull for one over the other? Is it that I really like Essien as a player and the fact that he randomly appears in Hollywood movies [Nurse Betty, Charlie’s Angels]? This seems pretty cool to me, added to the fact that he was dominant in the African Cup of Nations means that I follow him pretty closely.

As good as Essien was, Drogba was the obvious man of the match. While El Niño has the same talent, he has never had the motor and desire in either Liverpool or at Atletico. Drogba was outstanding, and there were few players in the world who would have made both those strikes, in addition to his constantly being a thorn in the side of the Reds’ defense. The fact that I cannot stand the man makes these words that much harder to type. The constant whining, the obvious diving, the arguing with his teammates, the egocentric narcissism that he displays in every game makes me sick. If you noticed when he scored his first goal, he did the head first slide, and instead of waiting for his teammates to mob him, he felt the need to try the need slide in the rain by himself to draw more attention. I am torn about whether I want Madrid to sign him; can I root for that man? I had the same feelings for Van Nistelrooy, Beckham, and Robben prior to coming to Madrid, and the first of those three totally turned my mind around with their hustle and determination. Not sure that Drogba can hustle enough for me to turn around my opinion, even if he signs for the merengues. However during today’s game, he was man of the match and Chelsea are well-deserved Champions League finalists.