Carling Cup News Archives

Michael Ballack has said that Chelsea’s stars have to reach the Champions League semi-finals to make up for their self-inflicted misery in the FA and League Cups.

Chelsea face Fenerbahce tonight after trailing 2-1 from last week’s away game in Istanbul. Although Chelsea are only 3 points behind Manchester United with the champions still to travel to Stamford Bridge in the league, the season has been a difficult one for new manager Avram Grant who has been barracked by fans and press for his lack of prior credentials and his un-Mourinhoness.

Michael Ballack (on the Carling Cup and FA Cup defeats):

“We lost because we didn’t play well in those two games. We went to a final and we shouldn’t lose a final. It was our fault. It was not that Tottenham played fantastic football. And even against Barnsley, it was our fault.

We saw it in the first leg against Fenerbahce. It was our fault. When we play our best football we can win every competition. We didn’t do that in two competitions this year. Everybody knows that and it is our motivation.

We have a strong team with a lot of experience. We know the situation when you go to a quarter-final and have to win. We have showed this many times in the past. I have confidence we can win the game but in the first game after 45 minutes we thought it would be an easy win, then the game changes.

It shouldn’t happen again. We will prepare well to make sure it doesn’t.

We play at home and we have a fantastic record at home. But they have nothing to lose and that makes it very dangerous.”"

While Ballack is focusing on the performance of his teammates, the axe is more likely to fall on the manager’s head rather than the players. But Grant has handled the pressure (and abuse) well so far, and even without Mourinho at the helm Chelsea are the side more likely to progress to the Champions League semifinals.

Every year, the Premier League plays on when major leagues across Europe pack it in for a winter break. We’ve talked about the need (or lack thereof) of a winter break in the Premier League before, with medical opinion supporting the case for a short break in December and January.

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“If the FA Cup final is football’s Ascot, then the League Cup final is its Derby Day.” – Alan Hardaker

Now that the euphoria over my beloved Spurs’ Carling Cup win has abated somewhat, I thought it might be a good time to voice an idea as to how to salvage the dignity of a competition for which the general media, big clubs, fans of big clubs, and even some players (David James) have about as much respect as for the average fat paper-boy.

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There were some beautiful scenes at Wembley yesterday as Tottenham lifted the Carling Cup. Essien and Zokora shaking hands as the Chelsea man made his way off the pitch, the delight on Woodagte’s face after he scored what turned out the winner and, most of all, the tears (or what looked like tears anyway) in Keane’s eyes after the final whistle went. Among the great things that happened on the pitch yesterday was a performance which deserved a man of the match award from the man in green.

In over 120 minutes of football I counted 2 mistakes by Mr. Halsey. Maybe there were more but in any case, he did better that any one referee in any one matched so far this season. But before I go any further I want to highlight that the penalty decision, which I found rather dubious, was given by the assistant referee after Halsey waved play on.

Okay, so onto the actual match and the two mistakes I found:

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Chelsea v Tottenham threatened to be a goal-fest what with Tottenham’s attacking prowess and weak defence. However, with Woodgate and King starting for Tottenham (and Kaboul joining them late on), this Tottenham side finally learned to defend and not just defend but defend with poise.

The game will go down in history as one of the better Carling Cup finals in recent memory (4-0 drubbings and mass brawls hardly do justice to the stage) and while some thrill-seekers will rue the lack of ‘excitement’ (i.e. goals), this was an excellent game of football with intricate battles and tactics from both Grant and Ramos.

That Ramos won and Grant lost will have more to do with the self-belief and self-confidence showed by the Tottenham players than any tactical errors on Grant’s side.

You can read the detailed match coverage here.

The goals:

Tottenham 0-1 Chelsea (Drogba)
Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea (Berbatov)
Tottenham 2-1 Chelsea (Woodgate)

Tottenham come back from a goal down to win in extra time against Chelsea in a gripping Carling Cup Final. Match report follows.

Chelsea 1-2 Tottenham - Carling Cup Final - Goal Videos

Tottenham attacked from the start, as we knew they would. Chelsea soaked it up and retaliated with a fine goal, although by this time Tottenham had missed a couple of great chances to go in front. It would be half-way into the second half before we saw the next goal, but when it came, my word, how it breathed life into the game. More than the goal, more than the eruption from the Tottenham of the crowd, more than anything else it was Dimitar Berbatov’s celebration that sparked life into Tottenham’s game.

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Our thoughts to go Arsenal’s Eduardo da Silva, a talented young footballer who will miss the rest of the season (and maybe the rest of the year, what with rehabilitation and getting match-fit) and especially Euro 2008. Good luck with your recovery mate, get well soon. Also, props to Wenger for retracting his comments on Matt Taylor.

On to today’s round up of takeovers, turncoats, floatation devices and the maladjusted in our society. Yes, floatation devices.

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I’ve never been the most patient of individuals and on the eve of watching Tottenham Hotspur in their first cup final in six years, frankly, I’m a mess.

I’ve often heard footballers talk about how they can’t sleep the night before a big match, or how the preparation for a game is much harder than actually playing. It’s the same for us fans. Ever since the final whistle sounded at White Hart Lane on Tuesday 22 January, the night we beat Arsenal 5-1 in the League Cup semi final, second leg, my mind has been focused on nothing other than Sunday’s final. I’ll take this opportunity to apologise to my girlfriend, my family, work colleagues and friends, who have had to endure my hyperactivity and constant cup final talk ever since.

While fans of Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United are all to used to playing regularly in cup finals in recent years, for Spurs supporters, it’s a far rarer experience. Especially for the younger generation of Lilywhites, who have been brought up on the tales of the double side of ‘61, the great European nights and FA Cup triumphs, yet never experienced such success for themselves. Spurs competed in just two finals in the nineties and including Sunday, have managed only a further two in the 21st century. For that reason alone, I think my hysteria ahead of the showdown with Chelsea is fully justified.

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In a week where Mohammed Al Fayed has pointed an accusing finger at Tony Blair, the Nazis, Dracula and a crocodile, it seems odd that Richard Scudamore has emerged as football’s leading figure of fun.

When a friend told me that Scudamore planned to play a round of matches overseas, I thought it was the worst idea I’d ever heard - and I used to work in a nursery. I say ‘worked’, but it went down as ‘loitering’ on the charge sheet.

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Friday, 22 February, 2008.

A very good morning to you, dear Soccerlens readers. Got an email this morning from Hugo telling me that he was emailing a few organisations to see if he could find some slaves for us. Or something to that effect. I’m pleased, of course, but a bit concerned Hugo - are we going for this or this?

Anyway, on to the real stuff.

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Soccerlens’s Hugo Steckelmacher looks back at the week gone by in the slightly crazy and always entertaining world of football.

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The Carling Cup final is now set, and cup holders Chelsea will be getting a chance to defend their title.

Thanks to a last-minute own goal by Everton’s Joleon Lescott, Avram Grant’s side took a 2-1 lead into Goodison Park for Wednesday night’s second leg semifinal tie.

There was to be only one goal last night, and it came by virtue of a blistering finish by Joe Cole in the second half, which delivered a 1-0 win on the night, and a 3-1 aggregate win, to put the Blues into yet another cup final.

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Tottenham fans, it’s not a typo. This time, your team made sure Arsenal couldn’t do it again, and break your hearts for the umpteenth time.

A Tottenham victory over their archrivals was inevitable, but in the process of getting the long-awaited triumph, Juande Ramos’ side released years of frustration and disappointment on an Arsenal side that, truth be told, didn’t stand much of a chance of leaving White Hart Lane victorious from the kickoff.

As a result, Spurs have their first win over their nemesis since 1999, and more importantly, are in the Carling Cup final, with a chance to win their first trophy since they won this same competition in the 1998-99 season. Read the rest of this entry »

Several times over the last eight years, Tottenham have had victory against Arsenal within their grasp, only to let it slip away in the late stages.

History repeated itself at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night, as Tottenham took a first-half lead, only to see Arsenal nick a goal in the late stages again and earn a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Carling Cup semifinal encounter.

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Arsenal and Tottenham have a tough act to follow after Chelsea and Everton kicked off the Carling Cup semifinals with a thriller at Stamford Bridge.

It took more than 90 minutes to decide who would have an edge heading into the second leg, and in the end, it would be a costly mistake by an Everton defense that had been tested time and again, but were set for a passing grade until the 92nd minute, when a deserved result turned into defeat in a split second.

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Carling Cup holders Chelsea will be looking to advance to a second consecutive final and third in four years when they take on Everton in the Carling Cup semifinals next month.

Chelsea took home the cup in 2005 and 2007 under Jose Mourinho, and they’re looking to get Avram Grant his first trophy as the Blues’ touchline technician.

On the other side, the trophy case is a little lonely. Everton are looking to advance to their first League Cup final since 1984 (1-0 defeat to Liverpool in a replay) and their first final of any kind since the 1995 FA Cup final, in which they defeated Manchester United 1-0.

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If you think you’ve seen it before, indeed you have. For the second year in a row, Tottenham and Arsenal face off in the Carling Cup semifinals, with the winner going up against Chelsea or Everton in February’s final at Wembley. The first leg will be contested at the Emirates Stadium on January 8th, with the second leg being played at White Hart Lane on January 22.

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Game: Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal
Venue: Ewood Park
Competition: Carling Cup Quarterfinal
Date: Tuesday, 18 December
Kickoff: 2000 GMT

Blackburn v Arsenal preview

If their last meeting is anything to go by, this game will have plenty of kicks, scrapes and cards, and the result will be a close affair.

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Game: Manchester City v Tottenham
Venue: Eastlands
Competition: Carling Cup Quarterfinal
Date: Tuesday, 18 December
Kickoff: 1945 GMT

Manchester City v Tottenham preview

Tottenham take on high-flying Manchester City at the Eastlands in the first of two Carling Cup 07/08 quarterfinals being played tonight.

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West Ham United are safe from relegation this season and that’s something when you consider in the summer they lost their Messiah Carlos Tevez who almost single handedly rescued the West Ham ship after it had appeared to be sinking for much of the season.

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Manchester City will play Tottenham Hotspur. Incidentally, I read one of the articles from a Spurs fan on Soccernet.com very recently and it made me laugh in some respects. Undoubtedly superbly written, how hard it must be ‘to have not won a trophy since 1999’, not to mention having Arsenal as your biggest rivals as opposed to the shadow of Manchester United.

Anyhow, I digress. This is one of the ties for the Quarter-Final of the Carling Cup in December, and it’s a tie that surely captures the imagination of the public. Yet would it carry more weight as an FA Cup Quarter-Final? The obvious answer is yes. However, it also got this author thinking about the differences between the two, what started as a thought about two great FA Cup games led into a myriad of pondering about the standing, in the modern game, of the Carling Cup.

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Yesterday’s Carling Cup ties threw up a bunch of surprising moments but the end results were quite predictable:

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After the Carlin Cup 3rd round matches midweek, pundits roundly criticised Manchester United’s squad depth. I appreciate such criticism as much as anyone else, mainly because it helps us biased fans see what we might have missed otherwise - what with the rose-tinted specs and all.

So in the spirit of fighting fair, I thought I’d check up on the actual playing squads of the teams each of the top 4 had sent out on Tuesday and Wednesday. Let’s compare notes, shall we, and then you can all tell me how crap Manchester United are in the comments.

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Not much to say after Manchester United’s defeat to Coventry last night - the Red Devils lost to a better team, at home, so let’s give credit where credit is due.

There are 2 points I would raise though:

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A roundup of the midweek Carling Cup Round 3 matches:

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Fast approaching is Round 3 of the Carling Cup, which of course means that the bigger guns are about to join in. What I am to discuss here is just how important the cup competition is, if indeed at all and mainly how the big guns should treat it because it’s something opinion is largely mixed on. You get some managers who go out to win every trophy while others treat it as a learning experience for younger members of their side. It’s also treated as something of a Mickey Mouse cup by supporters, what with having to be in the shadow of the FA Cup.

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The Carling Cup 3rd Round draw was announced today, and it threw up some interesting matchups:

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The Carling Cup second round draw was announced yesterday, with ties to be played in the week starting 27th August.

Here’s a list of all the fixtures (Premiership sides in bold):

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Watched the England-Brazil friendly last night, some thoughts on the game:

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A couple of things to add from yesterday:

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