F.A Cup final-Preview
English football witnessed yet another exciting football extravaganza in the 2009/10 season. A showdown at the FA cup was what the entire audience in the English season is waiting for. As they say, the longer you wait, the sweeter it gets. One could not have imagined a better competition between two teams that were up against each others throats. Chelsea has completely changed their approach since the takeover of the club by the powerhouse Russian. After annihilating the opposition clubs for a record 4th consecutive time, the team seems to on a role. Their opponents in the final of the FA Cup were Portsmouth. It seems that both clubs are on an inversely proportional inclination to each other. The more Chelsea’s gain ground, on the other hand, Portsmouth tends to lose it. A plethora of issues have been surrounding the poor club which has gone in an unending tailspin. It feels as if the club has seen a horror movie of some sort. Financial irregularities, being penalised in terms of losing points and going down the ladder to the second division have all been a hallmark Portsmouth in this season.
The FA Cup final was in essence the clash of two totally different teams, one barely able to survive on a ventilator while the other team ruling the roost. Although the final is expected to be a walk in the park for Chelsea, Portsmouth is expected to fight with the only two things that they have - will and firepower that they were once famous for. And this is the beauty of the FA Cup which has came to the foray once again as the final was contested between two inversely proportional teams to the core. Football experts predict that Chelsea will not take the troubled club with ease and will try to inflict as much damage as they can. In essence, Chelsea’s punishment is the last thing that Portsmouth need at this delicate juncture of their football history. They need wins, brutal wins against strong or weak oppositions. Unfortunately for them, Portsmouth now forms part of the weakest clubs in England.
Chelsea’s season has gone past like a bullet train which has no breaks in it. They’ve roared like a mean machine, speeding through any obstruction that came in their way and colliding with full power against anything that tried to tie it down. At times, Chelsea went about doing their business like a bull in a china shop – smashing, kicking and moaning against weak oppositions. Drogba kicked through a smashing season with Chelsea, scoring a tally of 29 goals which included a mind-boggling hat trick. Even the roughness and toughness of Rooney was unable to stop the African forward from snatching the Golden boot away from him grasp. Such was their form in this years’ league that Chelsea have gone on to score the highest number of goals by any team. 103 goals have been scored by the blue machines, out of which, 17 goals came in the last three games.
On the contrary, the team from Portsmouth has been in disarray to say the least. Rising debts have taken the life out of the club and it is just a matter of time when their hope burns away. Due to Portsmouth’s legal and financial irregularities, the organising committee had to dock nine points from their table earnings which quickened their downfall from A-league football in England.
No matter how bad or good a particular team may be, it is the on-day performance that matters. However, the entire onus for Portsmouth lies in the key that they should forget everything that occurred to them in this season and fight it out. For Chelsea, the formula is as simple as it gets – they just have to play football, that’s enough for them to win any game in the FA Cup.
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