Barca - The Definitive Article!

What a night it was at Stamford Bridge it was an unforgettable night unfortunately not for all the right reasons.

However, the views on our players and team are really starting to get under my skin. There are a few critical things that need to be discussed regarding this game and now that some time has passed and some of the dust has settled I think it paints a clearer picture. Even though what is left to come out and decisions that will be made will continue to spark the debate and not let this game rest.

Firstly, I am not part of the group who is disgraced by our players and feels they should have the book thrown at them. I will leave it up to Hiddink to perfectly sum up my thoughts when he stated that in a perfect world you would not want that to happen but in the emotion of the game and in the heat of the moment it is understandable.

He is not crazy; he is not MAD DROGS as headlines would like to put it. The problem is they don`t know this Chelsea team like we do. They don`t know how much the Champions League has been a mission and a constant itch for this team. It is easy to look at it broadly and say Drogba and Ballack are professionals who get paid millions and should know better, but frankly that is a foolish way to look at it.

That argument doesn`t provide any context whatsoever and is a cop out of an explanation. One has to know the man, the history, what drives them, and what it means to them. Sure at the end of the day it is a game, but it is their lives and it represents much more. For Drogba football is not just a game it is a powerful tool, it is a tool that took him out of a very rough childhood and provided him and his family with all they could hope for.

Not in Drogba`s wildest dreams as a kid growing up in the Ivory Coast could he imagine this life, the answer and the key was football. As we all know Drogba is a very emotional man on the pitch but why does he get criticized for it? Why do some CFC fans turn their head at his passion and emotion and England and Manchester United supporters constantly say Rooney shouldn`t be controlled because that side of his game is essential and should be nurtured so the fire doesn`t go away?

Why can`t we see that this is what drives Drogba to do what he does week in and week out and take the punishment he does. If he needs drama to get himself more involved then that is what drives his game. Don`t applaud it when it takes you to trophies and to the finals of every competition and then turn your back on him when that very same emotion explodes when there is an injustice. Don`t love him for taking a beating and then driving on in the 90th minute to win a game but expect him not to carry that emotion when he is getting abused and getting coins thrown at him.

For Drogba football is a tool that stopped a civil war in his country it is not merely a game. For Ballack it is the same it got him out of a very poverty stricken East Germany and gave him a future. Don`t constantly berate Ballack saying he is a mercenary and he doesn`t care, all he is here for is a pay-check and then get embarrassed when he shows how much he cares. That is spineless. You have to look at the context and history to understand the emotion.

How one can`t understand Ballack`s and Chelsea player`s reactions is beyond me. Terry wanted to desperately get there to make up for his penalty slip and lead the club he has grown up with and matured at the trophy they so desire, Drogba wanted to make up for his red card and quiet performance in last year`s final and to get the only trophy that he hasn`t won, Ballack is at the tail end of a marvellous career that unfortunately hasn`t resulted in major trophies.

They are up against the best team in the world and they have shut out Barcelona for 180 minutes and dominated for 90. It is simple to say well you have to play defense, but the dedication, the mental focus, the drive to every second to defend, follow the managers plan, stop lanes, and be perfectly positioned is just as beautiful as Samba football to me. It takes so much to be able to do that especially against a team with the calibre of Barcelona and to see all of that, all of this go in a matter of seconds can`t be put into words. Ballack saw the shot go past his face and into the net.

The emotional ride is incredibly intense. In under 2 minutes Ballack and all Chelsea players had their hearts ripped out, then to pick yourself back up and try to win the game when everyone surely thought the game was over, the ball comes perfectly to you, he must have thought this is the moment, he puts a shot on target and Eto`o turns around and raises his arm and elbow to make himself bigger. All of a sudden from feeling like they have won the game, to utterly losing everything, then thinking he should have had a penalty that would win the game, how can you not scream? How can you not feel wronged? With how angry he was it is a surprise he didn`t touch the ref more than the taps that occurred. It is a build-up of emotion not only from multiple decisions that would have put the game away, but also from years of oh so close to utter disappointment that has fueled this fire.

Onto the referee and the controversy surrounding UEFA. I can`t believe the game was fixed, there is just too much that was left to chance to say that. However, I do think the game could have been intentionally influenced. To suggest it was a fix is ludicrous and won`t get support anywhere because no one could predict Essien would fluff his clearance and Iniesta would score then, no one could predict Drogba would miss and Valdes would look like a real keeper.

That is the wrong angle to take, but I think a series of occurrences are just too many to simply call them coincidences. Again you have to look at the history of the argument and put it into context. It is no secret that Platini and UEFA do not like the English dominance. It may not necessarily be an English bias but a bias for competition to be spread out, a bias against money power, a bias against unromantic football, either way it is a bias and it can`t be denied. When Platini comes out and puts specific things in order to try and curb the power of English teams it is a clear involvement in the competition.

When you try to put in rules and guidelines that pushes weaker teams from other nations into a competition it is influencing results. He is putting these things in motion to try and cut out English dominance. He might have a very valid reason, but it doesn`t change the fact. When you see Platini hold his head in his hands and gasp when Bojan misses you can`t claim the man doesn`t care who wins.

When you hear UEFA call Chelsea the enemy of football that is unacceptable for a governing body. That combined with the fact of the stories that have come out just make it too fishy to not at least make you think. UEFA according to reports had a predicted game score that Barcelona would tie the game late and go through 1-1, they predicted Drogba, Ballack, and Alex would get a yellow card. Now that is coincidence surely, but it is only one of many.

Then when you hear that in referee counselling sessions they show referees videos of what they want to see not happen and what they want the referees to focus on and the majority of the clips and offenses are represented by Chelsea infractions and players it makes you think. It might have been an innocent coincidence but surely you wouldn`t to put across the message indirectly that Chelsea is more responsible for bad acts than other teams, and if you are showing things you don`t want to happen why are you choosing a team that is left in the competition? Then when you hear that the Norwegian referee was quoted as saying he was shocked that he and his team were handed this game it adds fuel to the fire.

When you see Arsenal and Manchester United get a much respected Italian referee, why does Chelsea get a referee who he himself never expected to be considered for this game. Is it possible that the referee was grateful to his employers for this promotion and this opportunity that he had been given? Do I think that Platini and UEFA gave specific instructions? No, but unfortunately when there are all these subliminal messages and bias towards English football and Chelsea in particular it is hard to argue that it doesn`t create a subconscious note in a person`s head that could cause a split second decision to be bias. There is no explanation for why out of 4 penalty claims that one should not be given. None!

Ultimately the game was not in Chelsea`s hands, sure if Drogba were to score it wouldn`t have been an issue, if we put on Kalou and went for it with 10 men and got the result it wouldn`t have been an issue. But the fact of the matter is when you have 30% possession chances are far and few between it means you don`t have the ball as much to create attacks. So when you factor in that Chelsea were in the penalty box 4 times and had 4 claims of a penalty that all the blame can`t be for Chelsea not winning the game. They got themselves into those positions, they were incredibly efficient with the possession they had while Barcelona was nervous and had no plan to break us down. They got themselves into scoring chances and weren`t supported by the rules of the game and the official when these opportunities were illegally taken away by Barcelona. Lampard said it best when he was asked isn`t it ultimately Chelsea`s fault for not finishing and they are to blame, he responded saying out of 4 penalty claims I`m sure we could have put away one.

There is a fundamental problem with saying mistakes are a part of the game, yes they are, but to blanket it with that leads to no progression, no solution, no way of trying to get it as close to perfect as possible. It leaves the debate dead and doesn`t evolve the game. You can`t say well sometimes they aren`t given that is football, sometimes referees make mistakes, and just wipe your hands clean of a horrible injustice. It has to be looked at and investigated, these things at this level should not happen. One decision is hard to whine about but 4 or 5 are ludicrous. That is not part of the game.

Another blanket statement that has been made and wiped clean is the ridiculous argument that "The ref was horrible for both sides, Abidal shouldn`t have been sent off". What rational human being states that 4 penalty claims that leave the striker all alone with the goalie alone is the same as 1 decision that doesn`t guarantee anything? How does that tie out? Then the argument is that they were all debatable penalties, again another ridiculous argument that ignores what happened.

I am lucky to have hindsight and the interviews, Pique himself has come out and said it touched his hand and the referee made the wrong decision but he is happy he got to the final and the decision must be respected. Abidal has come out and admitted that if he let Anelka go it would have been a one on one and he sacrificed himself. You can claim that Malouda`s foul wasn`t a penalty, but if it is a foul and it was in the box, then it has to be in the box.

The final claim of Ballack and Eto`o is I would say the most debatable one, but in all honesty you can`t say that Eto`o did not raise his arm. It did not touch his hand, but he clearly raises his arm and sticks the elbow out to make himself a bigger target. You can`t twist arguments anyway you want to make it fit; it has to have the same constant base for it to be compared against. For example deniers can`t say that Pique situation was more ball to hand then hand to ball because his arm was already up instead of his hand moving toward the ball then say that Eto`o who raised his arm towards the ball isn`t a foul.

With all that said I have never been more proud to support Chelsea and I feel this only makes the relationship with the fans and the team that much stronger. This team will get it done. I think this also brings Hiddink closer to the players, the way we went out I hope he feels a strong desire to come back and finish the job and get rid of the bitter taste. If he was having trouble leaving before this will create a much stronger bond that will hopefully make him think twice about leaving. I will finish this by saying thank you Chelsea for showing how much you care, I was incredibly gutted, but when I saw what it meant to them I was proud. Thank you Chelsea….CAREFREE!