Cole Pleads For Cup Final Place Against Spurs Midfielder Joe Cole has pleaded with boss Avram Grant to be in the team that faces bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur in Sunday抯 Carling Cup final.
Cole, a Chelsea fan since boyhood, understands the intense competition between the clubs. He wants to make sure that the Blues have long term bragging rights thanks to a famous Wembley win.
The England star has started in 29 Chelsea matches in all competitions this season. That抯 more than any other Chelsea player but Cole fears he might not feature in the cup clash if manager Avram Grant insists on the squad rotation he believes will keep his players fresh.
Having missed the FA Cup quarter-final win over Spurs last year through injury, Cole dreads missing out again.
"As a Chelsea boy I'd love to play them," the 26 year old admitted. "The cup ties last season were cracking games and they always seem to be when the two teams meet, even when I was a kid and watching them on TV. I'm really excited about the game and with me missing the Carling Cup final last season I'm desperate to be involved.
"I know the rivalry well, I grew up with it, and a lot of Chelsea fans have come up to me this week and said 'We have to beat them.'
"It's a big game at any level but a cup final increases it even further. Whoever wins this one will have bragging rights for a long time to come. I've got mates who are Spurs fans and I know from them about the feeling as well.
Cole knows that Chelsea start as favourites for the final. The Blues are better placed in the Premiership and have had had two extra days to plan for the contest after their Champions League match against Olympiakos on Tuesday. Spurs were in action just last night, beating Slavia Prague on aggregate in the Uefa Cup.
Chelsea are competing in our ninth cup final in 11 years and third League Cup final in four seasons.
Tottenham are appearing in their first final tie in six years.
It is 18 years and 43 games since Tottenham last beat an 11-man Chelsea.It was in February 1990 at Stamford Bridge when Gary Lineker and DavidHowells scored for the visitors to secure a 2-1 victory. John Bumsteadreplied for the Blues. Bobby Campbell and Terry Venables managed theteams.
Chelsea are unbeaten in 16 (12 wins and four draws) since our defeat at the Emirates before Christmas.
Our North London rivals have not been given any clues of what ourline up might be at Wembley. We lined up against Huddersfield lastSaturday and Olympiacos on Tuesday with two completely different starting elevens.
Chelsea have been beaten twice (Man Utd and Arsenal away) in 34 games in all competitions under Avram Grant in a run that has seen 24 wins and 22 clean sheets.
We are unbeaten in the last 52 games in all competitions when scoring the opening goal - 48 wins, four draws. The last occasion was at Tottenham in November 2006.
Chelsea have not lost with Ricardo Carvalho in the side since that November 2006 Tottenham defeat - a total of 58 game
Chelsea's top scorers are Frank Lampard 11 including two penalties and Didier Drogba nine.
We say hello again to Gus Poyet:2cool:, one of our most outstanding midfielders. In four successful years at Stamford Bridge he won the 1998 European Cup Winners Cup and UEFA Super Cup and the 2000 FA Cup and Charity Shield. He scored 49 goals in 110+35 appearances.
There are no suspensions on either side.
Chelsea have Alex, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard and John Terryone yellow card away from a one-match ban for reaching five bookings.They will miss our FA Cup clash at Barnsley if they receive a cautionagainst Tottenham. This game is the last one where five cautions willresult in a ban. Players will receive only a warning after the end ofFebru
Here's a table of which teams Frank Lampard scored his 101 goals against:
Seven goals
Blackburn Rovers
Six goals
Bolton Wanderers
Fulham
Tottenham Hotspur
Five goals
Aston Villa
Everton
Southampton
Four goals
Newcastle United
Portsmouth
Three goals
Arsenal
Barcelona
Bayern Munich
Charlton Athletic
Leicester City
Liverpool
Macclesfield Town
Manchester City
West Bromwich Albion
Wigan Athletic
Two goals
Huddersfield Town
Lazio
Manchester United
Norwich City
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wycombe Wanderers
One goal
Anderlecht
Crystal Palace
Leeds United
Levski Sofia
Monaco
Reading
Sheffield United
Sunderland
Viking Stavanger
Watford
West Ham United
Chelsea: Petr Cech; Juliano Belletti, Ricardo Carvalho, John Terry, Ashley Cole; Michael Essien, Claude Makelele, Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard; Joe Cole, Didier Drogba
Tottenham Hotspur: Paul Robinson or Radek Cerny; Alan Hutton, Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate, Pascal Chimbonda; Aaron Lennon, Tom Huddlestone, Jermaine Jenas, Steed Malbranque; Robbie Keane, Dimitar Berbatov
imbas kembali CC final last year dimane boboi2 dah kalah x tentu psl hangin2 3 negro kene buang padang .. trmsk 1 negro celsi hahaha ..
x dpt la celsi mblasah boboi2 ini lg .. spurs la mangsenye esok
Originally posted by tuan_hakim at 22-2-2008 12:12 PM
apasal tak sebut nama naraa..???
macam dah ada yg booking je..
chelsea ngan chelsea tak leh... takde variasi n dua2 angin nanti, tak caya tanya abe stats, tu pasal dia cari owang umah dari italy. kalu ecah takpe, dia lebih kepada real
Post time 22-2-2008 04:40 PM
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