Gallas to star in remake of Romper Stomper?
Posted by Zeno in Chelsea, Fulham | 20 March 2006
What a mess. No, not the on-pitch kerfuffle which inelegantly drew the curtain on
Sky’s coverage of the Fulham – Chelsea game yesterday, but the final third of Fulham’s pitch. Chelsea’s flurry of corners and pressure produced one or two openings, a couple of nervous moments for Fulham players and fans, but nothing to prompt a Milosevic-style myocardial infarction. Chelsea were, simply, not good enough to break down a determined team who, despite defending for much of the game, produced plenty of craft to threaten the champions.
Could have been worse, from Chelsea’s point of view. This remains, by a pretty clear margin, our worst period under Jose Mourinho. The Champions League tie aside, we’ve lost 2 out of our last 5 and, although the other 3 have been victories, only Pompey at home has been by more than a single goal. It seems a long time ago that we beat Liverpool comfortable at the Bridge. In fact, it was just 6 weeks. Tempus fugit. And we’re not having much fun.
The match was a fun one for the neutral, to be sure. End to end, with plenty of last-ditch defending and a (rightly) disallowed goal. But everyone will remember it for the flurry of handbags that criss-crossed the Craven Cottage pitch (damn, I thought and thought for a “c” word synonymous with “pitch”, just for the c-laden fun, and couldn’t) following the final whistle. Oh yes, and the transformation of William Gallas, arguably the Premiership’s most elegant defender, into stud-crazed stomper. Should he have been sent off? Probably. Certainly more so than Arjen Robben, with another match ban still to serve.
Joe Cole’s substitution after 20 minutes was timing at its worst. Just as the midfielder / winger is being lauded and massaged from all quarters for his combination of trickery and focus, so he and Shaun Wright-Phillips were ignominiously removed from the field of play before the game’s first quarter was over. The reason was a tactical one, but that didn’t stop young Joe from throwing his gym kit into the dugout with that petulant aplomb that forwards manage so well. Wouldn’t see Petr Cech behaving like that now, would we? Not any more than you’d see Frank Lampard making a last-minute back-pass to Thierry Henry, but let’s not dwell on that one.
An inglorious loss for Chelsea, and a hell of a 3 points for Fulham. And one that will almost certainly spark a flurry of … oh, wait, yes… there they are. Cough. As I was saying, will almost certainly spark a flurry of comments from the likes of Gary Neville and Steven Gerrard underlining their respective side’s commitment to catching Chelsea, and it “not being over til it’s over”. And all that.
If we lose another couple, perhaps Match of the Day and Sky will get their exciting season-end after all?
