FA Cup Final: Picture Special

Time for a game of 'Spot the Chelsea Fan' (Click to enlarge)

While Chelsea may have been victorious on the pitch in the 2009 FA Cup Final, I think it was clear who won the vocal battle between the two sets of fans. The Blue half of merseyside hit London in force and throughout the game kept up an epic noise level, even after going a goal down they were still admirably roaring their team forward, and it is a shame that such superb support could not have been rewarded with a victory.

When Everton overcame United in the semi-final it was suggested that they created the best atmosphere that the new Wembley has yet seen and probably surpassed that yesterday, to the point where Setanta’s post match interview with Frank Lampard was almost drowned out by the defiant Evertonians. My correspondants at the game said before the match that it was a sea of Evertonains and that the Chelsea fans were hard to spot, and in that sense I think this photo sums it up. I can only find one Chelsea fan in there, let me know if you find more!

So here’s to Evertonains, the fans who deserved to win the cup, and the best fans in the world.

Ps. For my full match reaction, see the previous post.

FA Cup Final: Reaction

It started so well for Everton and Hibbert (right) as Saha (left) gave them an early lead, but it wasn't to be.

I’m man enough to admit that Everton didn’t do enough to win the Cup Final. It hurts me to say that, and I’m incredibly proud to be an Evertonian all the same, because after the season we’ve had, it’s miraculous that we made the final at all. We got the perfect start, but if anything that possibly cost us as it got Chelsea going from the off, whereas had we frustrated them from the off and snuck one later on, we may have hung on.

I hope that that admittance will help to show that in my following complaints about Howard Webb I’m not being bitter and making excuses for our defeat: we weren’t the best team and so we didn’t win, simple as that. No, my complaint of Howard Webb is rather that he ruined the game completely and absolutely for Tony Hibbert. Hibbert, our longest serving player, a born and bred Evertonian was playing in the biggest game of his career and fulfilling his boyhood dream, but Webb completely spoilt it for him, and I think that is tragic.

FA Cup Final: Preview

One thing's for sure, the ribbons on the Cup will be blue and white...

It’s Cup Final Day. I’ve always loved Cup final day, it always gives me a bit of a tingly feeling, even though this is only the second time that Everton have been involved in it in my twenty years of life so far. It is just so steeped in tradition, it’s the oldest competition in football, and it’s just so iconic. Winning the FA Cup is a big thing, and even though people have talked about it being devalued in recent years, that’s rubbish. The whole world will watch the Cup Final, and that means something.

I’d intended on writing a proper, full prediction for the game today, in a similar vein to my Semi-Final previews, but to be honest, I don’t think I could. I’m just so hyped up, there’s no way I could write objectively because there’s no way on today of all days, that I can suppress my massive desire for Everton to win the Cup. I was six years old last time we were in this position, and yet that still stands as my greatest footballing memory.

Third Choice or Number Three?

Three number threes, but who's number one?

In all the talk of relegation last weekend, and then later in the week, lost amongst all the anticipation and reaction to the Champions League final, it was easy to miss the fact that Fabio Capello announced his England squad for the qualifiers with Kazakhstan and Andorra. However, I did see the squad and despite focusing on the above mentioned issues, made myself a mental note to come back and address an issue I have with it, which I shall now do.

Mr. Capello has, in general, been a breath of fresh air for England, and his squad and team selections have, on the whole, been good and most importantly a fair reflection of form. However, on occasion, he does seem to fall into the age-old trap of picking those players of bigger reputation ahead of those in the best form, especially in defence. My point today can be adequately summed up as follows: “why the hell isn’t Leighton Baines in the England squad?!”

Guest Blog: Tabloid Dramatisation

Evening all. It’s 11.35pm and I’m pretty exhausted. For some reason though, I didn’t fancy going to bed and so I’ve just written a guest blog over at Soccer Fan Base, inspired by a couple of absolutely nonsensical rumours I’ve picked up over the last day or so.

I will concede that it turned into a little bit of a rant, but I think I make some valid points along the way, and so if you’re fed up of the constant over reaction of the media with regard to any little fraction of a story, have a read and you might find something you can agree with. Of course, I run the obvious risk of over-reacting myself, though if someone tried to turn the tables on me and suggest that I was “over reacting media”, I’d probably just be flattered to be called “media”.

It’s certainly not my best post ever, but it is my third of the day (inc. one that one be published until Monday, in Salient), so consider it a bonus. You know what they say, it’s all about quantity, not quality…

Click through to have a read.

Champions League Final: Reaction

Carlos "the hedge" Puyol holds ol' big ears triumphantly aloft.

Well I have to say, the game itself perhaps wasn’t the classic that everyone had hoped for. It was entertaining, don’t get me wrong, and Barcelona certainly treated the millions of viewers around the world to some delightful football, but after Samuel Eto’o put the Catalan side ahead in the tenth minute the game effectively ended as a contest. United never quite got going and in the end it was won at a canter by Barcelona, who rightly earn the right to call themselves Europe’s best team.

It was strange though, in that United started so brightly. Cristiano Ronaldo was shooting from everywhere and looking dangerous and they were playing with the speed and intensity that we expect of them. However, once Iniesta got the ball, surged through the middle of the park and slipped Eto’o through to beat Ferdinand and poke past Van Der Saar, United never recovered. They were left reeling after Barca’s first attack left them a goal down and they never got back into their stride.

Champions League Final: Allegiance & Patriotism

With the Champions League final fast approaching, there will be many neutral fans struggling to decide their allegiance for the match. I know that a lot of English fans will forsake the old fashioned notion of supporting the English team because Manchester United really aren’t very popular amongst the neutrals, and given Barcelona’s current status as the exponents of the beautiful side of the game, Man Utd fans are likely to be heavily outnumbered even in England.

However, despite myself and my ususal dislike of the Red Devils, I have to say that I’ve been overcome with a bit of national pride over the past few days, and I am tempted to support United. To make myself feel a little better about this, I’ve done a little bit of thinking and have come up with three reasons why English fans should support Manchester United against Barcelona in the Champions League Final.

They Think It’s All Over… Premier League Team of the Season

Who will make the cut? Click to find out...

Now that the season had drawn to a close, it’s time to cling on to it for as long as possible before optimistically telling ourselves that the next one isn’t too far away. With that in mind, I figured I’d put together my team of the season, a topic which inevitably always divides opinions. The PFA team of the year was frankly ridiculous in it’s pandering to the superstars, whereas I’ve tried to be more fair, in line with the reasoning I argued for when discussing the PFA awards a few weeks back.

Once again I’ve tried to restrict my Evertonian bias as far as possible, and thus will be leaving out the likes of Tim Cahill, Steven Pienaar, Joleon Lescott and Tim Howard, even though, in my heart, I would like to include them as they’ve all had stunning seasons. So without further ado, click on through to have a read of my choices and leave a comment to let me know what you think; remember, football is all about opinions.

Premiership Conclusions

Well that, as they say, is that. Survival Sunday, as it was optimistically dubbed, ended in relegation for Newcastle and Middlesbrough, while Everton held on to the ‘best of the rest’ fifth position and Fulham secured the final Europa League place. Everything else is pretty much as you were. Here are my final conclusions of the 08/09 Premier League season, I hope it’s been a good one for you and lets hope the next one rolls around quickly!

1. An Omen for Everton
Everton won against Fulham at Craven Cottage, a comfortable 2-0 victory that completely ignored the Toffee’s previous complete inability to win at the tiny London ground, where they haven’t emerged triumphant since Alan Ball scored the winner in 1966. Of course, the year 1966 means a lot to all English football fans, but to me it actually means a touch more too, and I am optimistically taking yesterday’s result to be a very good omen indeed for the Toffees.

You see, in 1966, Everton won the FA Cup (3-2 against Sheffield Wednesday). And of course, next weekend, Everton will compete against Chelsea at Wembley in the FA Cup Final, the first time they’ve reached the final of that competition for fourteen long years. As a die-hard Evertonian I’m absolutely desperate for us to beat Chelsea and finally add to out trophy cabinet. And considering the last time we won at Craven Cottage we also won the FA Cup in that same year, it could well be a positive sign. I certainly hope history can repeat itself come next Saturday. COYB.

Three more conclusions after the click including: why relegation is a bonus for Newcastle, why the final day results were fitting, why I am actually glad that Man Utd won, and why I feel rather vindicated…

Salient Article: English Premier League Review

Hi all, I’ve recently joined, in a casual capacity, the team who put together Salient, which is the student magazine affiliated with Victoria University of Wellington where I currently study. I got in touch with them to suggest, with the A-League season slowly lumbering towards us, and with it, the return to life of Wellington’s own Phoenix FC, that it might be prudent to include some articles on football to incite some support amongst the student population.

They were very keen, though naturally there is still little going on in the world of the Phoenix (apart from masses of transfer speculation, but the Yellow Fever Forums have that covered) so instead I’m doing some general football articles for the time being. Thus last Wednesday I wrote a Premier League Review for them and it has now been published on the webiste, so click the banner above to have a read.