Woodgate caps brilliant Spurs fightback in Carling Cup Final
If Jonathan Woodgate moaned about the cost of houses in the south last week, he is unlikely to have too many complaints about London's most expensive property. Woodgate made Wembley his home yesterday, scoring the goal that not only secured a much deserved victory for Tottenham but proved there is method in the apparent madness of Juande Ramos.
It pays not to eat ketchup and mayonnaise, Tottenham's players must now appreciate, and not just in the pounds they shed but in the currency of trophies.
Thanks to Ramos and the strict diet he has imposed on his squad, those who have lost weight made Chelsea look like lightweights in this final. They out-thought, out-fought and out-ran their much-fancied opponents, restricting them to so few chances that it was only in extra-time that they forced Paul Robinson to make a save from open play.
How much did they say Roman Abramovich had spent on Chelsea? Perhaps it was not the best week to be revealing such figures.
Their performance yesterday would suggest you do not get much for £578million these days (don't tell Woodgate but that is £200m less than the cost of the stadium he now adores), just as it demonstrated that it is better to spend £5m a year on a Jose Mourinho than the £3m salary they now pay Avram Grant.
If Grant deserves credit for the way he stabilised Chelsea in the wake of Mourinho's sudden departure in September, his deficiencies were horribly exposed on this occasion.
His team selection revealed a degree of weakness, his substitutions betrayed an alarming lack of tactical nous and his failure even to engage with his players during the brief interval between normal and extra-time was just embarrassing. It was Steve Clarke who delivered the rousing team talk. Not 'the manager'.
It was coach Henk Ten Cate who sprinted on to the pitch the moment this encounter ended and positioned himself between referee Martin Halsey and an incensed Didier Drogba.
The Chelsea striker was less than impressed with the official's decision to blow the final whistle when his team were on the offensive, having failed to realise that it was only because Tottenham's defenders were starting to celebrate that Salomon Kalou suddenly found himself with only Robinson to beat. As Halsey, and indeed Ten Cate, no doubt pointed out, Kalou missed anyway, driving his shot against the post.
Drogba would have been better off channelling his aggression in the direction of Grant. He, after all, is the player who has objected most to the departure of Mourinho and here was all the ammunition he needed.
Was Grant simply afraid to leave out John Terry and Frank Lampard when the latter, quite clearly, was not fit enough to make the runs that have long been his trademark? Did he not realise that the deployment of Nicolas Anelka to the left of Drogba, with Shaun Wright-Phillips to the right, just was not working?
Joe Cole should have been in this side and the fact that he had to wait until the 99th minute before he was allowed to leave the bench is one of the many charges that will be levelled against Grant. Mourinho, who won all three of the domestic finals he contested as Chelsea manager, would have made such a change after 30 minutes. Not midway through the first half of extra-time.
It was not the way to beat Ramos when five trophies in two years at Sevilla suggested he is something of a master when it comes to cup competitions. When he has instilled so much belief in these players, inspiring them to follow that 5-1 demolition of Arsenal in the semifinal with a victory that meant so much to players like Ledley King and Robbie Keane — not to mention supporters so often left disillusioned by a club who flirt with success but too often fall short.
From the very start yesterday, Tottenham possessed the ambition Chelsea so obviously lacked. They passed with more fluency, attacked with more urgency and dominated possession. In a first half that ended with a 1-0 advantage for Chelsea, Spurs enjoyed 60 per cent of the ball.
Tottenham had the chances that Chelsea simply could not create, but when the otherwise excellent Didier Zokora needlessly chopped down Drogba in the 39th minute, the Ivory Coast striker made him pay. It was a sweetly struck freekick, even if Robinson did make himself look a little foolish by moving the wrong way.
Ramos did not rush into making a response, eventually sending on Tom Huddlestone as a replacement for Pascal Chimbonda, who not only chose to walk rather than run off the pitch but then disappeared straight down the tunnel. Not for the first time, he has revealed himself to be as self-indulgent as he is petulant. Not someone, presumably, Ramos will tolerate for too long.
In his absence, Tottenham continued to battle and eventually earned the breakthrough their industry deserved when Aaron Lennon made a darting run down the left in the 70th minute and crossed a ball that fell to Huddlestone. He was met by Wayne Bridge who, with arms like a Harry Enfield Scouser, contrived to handle the ball not once but twice. Penalty to Tottenham and, thanks to Dimitar Berbatov, game back on.
Their fitness, and indeed their hunger, suggested extra-time would suit Tottenham more than it would Chelsea and so it proved when a tired Drogba failed to track Woodgate as he rose to meet a Jermaine Jenas free-kick.
It was Petr Cech who had to make the challenge, and Cech who punched the ball against Woodgate and then looked on as the ball bounced back behind him and across his line.
That goal's value to Woodgate and his Tottenham team-mates? Priceless.
It pays not to eat ketchup and mayonnaise, Tottenham's players must now appreciate, and not just in the pounds they shed but in the currency of trophies.
Thanks to Ramos and the strict diet he has imposed on his squad, those who have lost weight made Chelsea look like lightweights in this final. They out-thought, out-fought and out-ran their much-fancied opponents, restricting them to so few chances that it was only in extra-time that they forced Paul Robinson to make a save from open play.
How much did they say Roman Abramovich had spent on Chelsea? Perhaps it was not the best week to be revealing such figures.
Their performance yesterday would suggest you do not get much for £578million these days (don't tell Woodgate but that is £200m less than the cost of the stadium he now adores), just as it demonstrated that it is better to spend £5m a year on a Jose Mourinho than the £3m salary they now pay Avram Grant.
If Grant deserves credit for the way he stabilised Chelsea in the wake of Mourinho's sudden departure in September, his deficiencies were horribly exposed on this occasion.
His team selection revealed a degree of weakness, his substitutions betrayed an alarming lack of tactical nous and his failure even to engage with his players during the brief interval between normal and extra-time was just embarrassing. It was Steve Clarke who delivered the rousing team talk. Not 'the manager'.
It was coach Henk Ten Cate who sprinted on to the pitch the moment this encounter ended and positioned himself between referee Martin Halsey and an incensed Didier Drogba.
The Chelsea striker was less than impressed with the official's decision to blow the final whistle when his team were on the offensive, having failed to realise that it was only because Tottenham's defenders were starting to celebrate that Salomon Kalou suddenly found himself with only Robinson to beat. As Halsey, and indeed Ten Cate, no doubt pointed out, Kalou missed anyway, driving his shot against the post.
Drogba would have been better off channelling his aggression in the direction of Grant. He, after all, is the player who has objected most to the departure of Mourinho and here was all the ammunition he needed.
Was Grant simply afraid to leave out John Terry and Frank Lampard when the latter, quite clearly, was not fit enough to make the runs that have long been his trademark? Did he not realise that the deployment of Nicolas Anelka to the left of Drogba, with Shaun Wright-Phillips to the right, just was not working?
Joe Cole should have been in this side and the fact that he had to wait until the 99th minute before he was allowed to leave the bench is one of the many charges that will be levelled against Grant. Mourinho, who won all three of the domestic finals he contested as Chelsea manager, would have made such a change after 30 minutes. Not midway through the first half of extra-time.
It was not the way to beat Ramos when five trophies in two years at Sevilla suggested he is something of a master when it comes to cup competitions. When he has instilled so much belief in these players, inspiring them to follow that 5-1 demolition of Arsenal in the semifinal with a victory that meant so much to players like Ledley King and Robbie Keane — not to mention supporters so often left disillusioned by a club who flirt with success but too often fall short.
From the very start yesterday, Tottenham possessed the ambition Chelsea so obviously lacked. They passed with more fluency, attacked with more urgency and dominated possession. In a first half that ended with a 1-0 advantage for Chelsea, Spurs enjoyed 60 per cent of the ball.
Tottenham had the chances that Chelsea simply could not create, but when the otherwise excellent Didier Zokora needlessly chopped down Drogba in the 39th minute, the Ivory Coast striker made him pay. It was a sweetly struck freekick, even if Robinson did make himself look a little foolish by moving the wrong way.
Ramos did not rush into making a response, eventually sending on Tom Huddlestone as a replacement for Pascal Chimbonda, who not only chose to walk rather than run off the pitch but then disappeared straight down the tunnel. Not for the first time, he has revealed himself to be as self-indulgent as he is petulant. Not someone, presumably, Ramos will tolerate for too long.
In his absence, Tottenham continued to battle and eventually earned the breakthrough their industry deserved when Aaron Lennon made a darting run down the left in the 70th minute and crossed a ball that fell to Huddlestone. He was met by Wayne Bridge who, with arms like a Harry Enfield Scouser, contrived to handle the ball not once but twice. Penalty to Tottenham and, thanks to Dimitar Berbatov, game back on.
Their fitness, and indeed their hunger, suggested extra-time would suit Tottenham more than it would Chelsea and so it proved when a tired Drogba failed to track Woodgate as he rose to meet a Jermaine Jenas free-kick.
It was Petr Cech who had to make the challenge, and Cech who punched the ball against Woodgate and then looked on as the ball bounced back behind him and across his line.
That goal's value to Woodgate and his Tottenham team-mates? Priceless.
posted by dgarden at 9:01 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home