chelsea - the poster child of arrogance

Hmm. Chelsea 1-1 Barcalona. Barcalona go through to the UEFA Finals on their away goal.

Major controversy. Is it a conspiracy? Perhaps.

But.

All the Chelsea fans are banging on about how shit the ref (Tom Henning Ovrebo) was. And how he denied their 4 penalty appeals. And how he ruined their UEFA hopes. And how he should be killed.

Yes, he was shit. But it wasn't like he was discriminating against Chelsea in particular. If he wanted Barcalona to win full-out, surely he wouldn't have sent off a Barcalona player, leaving Barca with 10 men. If he wanted the Spanish to win, he would've sent off a Chelsea player, even if he didn't have a reason to.

Everybody's so focused on the rejected penalties, but let's not forget to credit Barcalona for never giving up, despite going down so early in the game. When Ovrebo wrongly sent off Abidal, already 1 goal down, Barca could've been heavily disspirited. But they kept fighting, and kept going till the final 3 minutes. So props must go to them.

Now back to Chelsea. Did they have the right to be disappointed? Absolutely! I feel very, very sorry for Chelsea, for going out because of such a crap ref. But the Chelsea camp, fans included, have supported the players' reactions, saying that "adrenaline and emotion" makes this all acceptable. No it doesn't! It's an absolute disgrace when footballers surround the ref and bully them. Again, I emphasise that I do think the ref made some terrible calls. But does that give you the reason to crowd around the ref and attack him? Let UEFA deal with him. If they don't do anything, then make some noise. But for the time being, talk as much as you want. Say "fucking disgrace" amongst yourselves. Chelsea had every right to do so. And not at a camera, may I add, Drogba.

On that note, Drogba, stay on your feet a bit more. All those Chelsea fans must be going "Well Manchester United have Cristiano Ronaldo, who has his share of diving". Hey, at least our boy delivers goals. Those 2 crackers against Arsenal, all the other goals that have catapulted us and saved us several times. I'm not saying he's the best player anymore, but at least he does stuff. He shows results. Drogba? Go to acting. Really. I think you might win an Oscar. We should begin a tally of how many times he's feigned injuries. He was "injured" and got substituted, yet when the final whistle went, he miraculously could jump around and skip beside the ref, hurling abuse. Wow, what injury? Was it that serious? Just shut up Drogba and do something. Score goals. Do your job. What about that shot when you were 1v1 against the keeper?

And maybe Chelsea, you guys should have done a bit more in the first leg. It was only 1-1 here. They didn't technically win the game. They merely got that vital away goal. Maybe instead of playing defensive football, they should've avoided playing that boring game. That would've made a difference, as shown in this very match.

And why is Terry the English captain again? His behaviour is far from graceful and decent. Not the first time his antics have been disappointing. What about dancing with girls on the table when he had a "knee injury"? What about those twins and your wife at home? Hmm... Terry, you're a cunt.

So yes, Ovrebo should be banned from reffing huge matches. But Chelsea, you guys shot yourselves in the foot many times as well. 1-0 up in the first half, playing against a 10-men team, at home. On paper, everything was in your favour. Bad refereeing did some obvious, serious damage, and I sympathise with that. But get over your arrogant behaviour of blaming everybody around you, and act like professionals rather than little children in the playground.