Recaps

Rich may have some quality observations in the morning, but I just wanted to rip apart something I read about the match.

The lede in the Guardian’s (awful) recap:

André Villas-Boas’s selection may suggest the Carling Cup is of minor importance but after his 10-man team won this entertaining tie on the penalty shoot-out, courtesy of Bryan Ruiz’s missed fifth kick that smacked the crossbar and bounced close to the goalline, he will be content.

Right, a starting XI featuring Kalou, Alex, Cech, Sturridge and Luiz–all proven players–coupled with a bench consisting of Turnbull, Terry, Bosingwa, Lampard, Mikel, Didier Drogba, Mata really shows this competition was of minor importance.

Especially when compared to a Fulham lineup where about 75% of the team were handed debuts or had under 5 first team appearances each. And whose only regular starter was their goalie. And a bench whose combined cost equals maybe that of Mata’s deal alone.

In a match that gradually caught fire Villa-Boas’s team dominated as it moved into extra-time, but continued their frustrating dance of normal play when chances could not be finished.

Um, pretty certain it was end-to-end and no one team dominated until Alex got sent off. Oh, okay, if you consider “dominated” meaning playing 9 proven internationals behind the ball and hoping to score on the counter, fine; Chelsea sure whipped our asses!

From the side that were beaten 3-1 at Manchester United on Sunday, the Portuguese had retained only Cech and Sturridge. Oriol Romeu, Romelu Lukaku and Ryan Bertrand were handed full debuts,

Again, as compared to three Fulham players that were handed their debuts, two others that saw just their second starts ever, and another that has played as many first XI minutes domestically as the entire match saw. Plus a bench consisting of two players that have never, played for the club, and another who’s just recently returned from the witness protection program.

I could go on, but as Project Pat once sang, Good Googly Moogly.