We love a good midweek match now and then and Liverpool v. Chelsea was the record put on repeat as the Reds met up with the Blues for their requisite Champions League match for the season.  While not a league game, it may as well have been, if not for the evening kickoff and painfully overplayed Champions League anthem, while the pride of England stood proud at Anfield.

Well, the game ended with Chelsea thumping the hosts for three, throwing a serious damper on hot Liverpool, at least in the Big Cup.  That’s not really the story though.

If anyone saw John Terry moaning after the match about Liverpool players hounding the ref for the yellow card that ultimately benches him next week, don’t tell me your jaw didn’t drop when you heard the drivel coming out of his mouth.

I was just saying to Stevie (Gerrard) that it’s disappointing to see  his teammates sort of surrounding the referee demanding a yellow card.  I felt is (sic) I went for the ball; that’s all I ever do as a player.  I spoke to (Pepe) Reina, he said that it wasn’t a yellow card.  He knew I was on a yellow, and he was asking for it . . . . It’s just disappointing when fellow professionals ask for the yellow card.

Before you Blues fans go nuts and threaten to stand up for JT’s honor by meeting me at some junior high school parking lot late at night, you have to admit you had to cringe a bit when you heard this.  Really, JT?  This from the guy on that certain London team with players who love surrounding the ref when a foul’s been committed, whether culprit or victim.  Did he not grab a yellow out of a ref’s hand a while back?

We know it’s a charged atmosphere in a match, and players are genuinely the victim of harsh calls at times.  But you know you’re on a yellow.  You know everyone else knows you’re one a yellow.  Of course Stevie G’s colleagues are going to try and get you sent off.  They’re all from the continent, that Liverpool side, so one can expect them  to border on the dramatic when it comes to getting stuck into, particularly when the challenge is clumsy.

The point is, stop the crying.  So you’re suspended for the next match.  In a competition you lead 3-1 and are finishing at home. To not make it through to the next round, where you’ll play, by the way, would be a colossal collapse on your team’s part, like, say, letting a center-back take one of the first penalties in the Champions League final, but that’s another story. If Chelsea can’t advance, even without their captain, they certainly don’t deserve to.

The brave Captain Enger-land shouldn’t groan about his suspension after watching a reserve defender slot in two against one of the hottest teams in the toughest league.  Especially over something he’s done himself in the past.  JT, if I was your friend on Facebook, I’d send you some virtual tissues or something similarly absorbent to soak up those tears.

[Guardian, Who Ate All the Pies?]