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The last dance of the season, of every season, the FA Cup Final is the jewel in the English Football Crown. Last year’s final between&nbsp;Cardiff and Portsmouth&nbsp;was arguably the exception, but this year’s certainly isn’t:
Underdogs Everton come into the final for the first time in 14 years, since Joe Royle’s infamous ‘dogs of war’ – led by the terrifying Duncan Ferguson – beat Manchester United in a final that was described by many as “rubbish”. This is David Moyes’ first appearance in an English&nbsp;FA Cup Final, as either a player or manger, but with the experienced Phil Neville leading the side, there is no shortage of big match experience. Neville himself&nbsp;is going for his&nbsp;fourth FA Cup triumph, after wins in 1996, 1999 and 2004 with Manchester United. A crucial penalty&nbsp;in the semi final against his former club, he says,&nbsp;was the first time that he&nbsp;really&nbsp;“felt like an Everton player” despite being captain for two years. Hmmm. Unfortunately,&nbsp;talented centre&nbsp;half&nbsp;Phil Jagielka misses out on the Wembley&nbsp;showpiece with a knee&nbsp;injury sustained in a game against Manchester City on 25th April. Nigerian Joseph Yobo is likely to take his place in the back four.
Favourites Chelsea&nbsp;bid a fond&nbsp;farewell to Guus Hiddink on Saturday, after the dutchman guided the Blues to third position in the league and a European Cup semi final, as well as tomorrow’s FA Cup Final. Midfield maestro Frank Lampard&nbsp;has been passed fit to play as Chelsea are&nbsp;bidding to add to their FA Cup haul of&nbsp;four, the last of those being in 2007, where a Didier Drogba goal in extra time saw off league&nbsp;champions&nbsp;Manchester United. Like Moyes, this is&nbsp;Hiddink’s first taste of&nbsp;an&nbsp;English FA Cup Final, but as a European Cup winner with PSV in 1988, he is no stranger to success and the battle of wits between the Scot and the Dutchman could be where this game could be decided.
You better<a href="http:\/\/epltalk.com/fa-cup-final-live-blog-everton-v-chelsea/7961"> add this to your favourites </a>before you go to bed because&nbsp;&nbsp;it’s an early start American viewers, so bring your coffee and join me at around 9.30 EDT (2.30pm GMT, so not that early my fellow Brits) for this season’s denouement. Should be a good one. Maybe. <a href="http:\/\/www.coveritlive.com/index.php?option=com_altcaster&amp;task=siteviewaltcast&amp;altcast_code=ec1d6fab63&amp;height=550&amp;width=470" target="_blank">Click Here</a> for the live blog.
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Editor’s Note: During the FA Cup Final live blog/chat experience on EPL Talk today, host Michael Scallon will be awarding an official EPL Talk T-Shirt to one lucky winner. Log in to find out how to win.

FA Cup Final Live Blog: Everton v Chelsea - World Soccer Talk

FA Cup Final Live Blog: Everton v Chelsea

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When the final whistle went and those West Ham fans who’d spent most of Saturdays game against Chelsea abusing former old boys, Frank Lampard and John Terry, had disappeared to the pubs around and about, I bet they never thought they’d ever see either player back at Upton Park that soon. Obviously they were unaware that both players have agreed in principle to play for West Ham in a testimonial match for the Hammers’ academy director, Tony Carr as a celebration of his 36 years working for West Ham.
Now the West Ham fans have to swallow their pride after Saturday and think about how their actions toward those two former players reflects on Tony Carr’s night. Here’s a guy who’s given years of service to West Ham United and brought through countless players since he took over the role as Director Of Youth Development in 1973.There’s no doubt if Chelsea had played anywhere that weekend, they’d have got a lot of stick, especially Lampard and Terry and the<a href="http:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2344512.ece" target="_blank"> chants weren’t that bad in the context</a> of some of the things that are sung at football matches.
Yet, Lampard hasn’t helped himself before, with some comments about how his time was at West Ham, that he didn’t enjoy it as well, his family was badly treated by the club, he also said in a Chelsea supporters meeting he’d love to score the goal that sent West Ham down as well as the allegation that when he broke his leg playing for West Ham, some fans were cheering. I’d hate to think that was true, in fact I find it very hard to believe that West Ham fans would do that at all.So the abuse he got on Saturday was to be expected really.
People forget that Lampard has a history of slating West Ham whenever he seems to be interviewed but to say Lampard had a tough week last week would be an understatement, with the anniversary of his mothers death, <a href="http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/8017816.stm" target="_blank">an on air argument with a sad little shock jock </a>and then the gauntlet of abuse he ran at Upton Park.
West Ham fans didn’t sing anything about his mother, but they did about the rant with the DJ and splitting up with his girlfriend, Terry got the same about his mother’s shopping indiscretion. That’s what happens at football matches, away players get rude songs sang at them, always have done, always will do. Some of the criticism the West Ham fans have received seems to be rather calculated in my opinion and I don;t think the stick they got was any worse than they would have received at Arsenal, Tottenham and Fulham.
I’m sure the majority of&nbsp; West Ham fans that attend Tony Carr’s testimonial remember it’s a celebration of someone that has brought through the calibre of&nbsp; Joe Cole, Lampard, Carrick, The Ferdinand brothers, Glen Johnson, Mark Noble,Tony Cottee, Paul Ince and the latest batch of Collinson, Tomkins, Sears and Stanislas. Let’s hope the minority don’t spoil a celebration of a man who would bleed claret and blue if you cut him, a more humble and proud Hammers fan you’d be hard pressed to find. Save all your singing for the next time you play Chelsea and give them the stick you feel they deserve, just don’t overstep the mark or spoil Tony Carr’s night.

West Ham Fans To Get A Surprise - World Soccer Talk

West Ham Fans To Get A Surprise

If today’s PFA Player of the Year shortlist shows us anything, announcing the player of the year with almost 6 weeks of the season left looks a stupid decision. With only Steven Gerrard not from Manchester United on the six player shortlist, it just shows how quickly things in football can change. What if Frank Lampards goals fire Chelsea to a treble this season? What if Arsenal win the Champions League? Could Manchester United miss out on the Premiership, F.A. Cup and Champions League yet have a player win the PFA award?
Has Edwin Van Der Saar really been the best Premiership goalkeeper this season? Surely Mark Schwarzer’s contribution for Fulham has been more important between the sticks, as perhaps Shay Given at Newcastle and Manchester City this season can claim too. Manchester United could play a snowman in goal sometimes and no-one would notice.
Liverpool have now only got one chance of silverware after Wednesdays classic Champions League Quarter Final say Chelsea edge them out, with Lampard once again dragging the Blues through. Lampard has now scored 19 goals in all competitions, 2 less than Gerrard and Ronaldo but has set up more goals for his team mates than those two put together.Ferdinand has been superb all season, Vidic has seen his form drift away since February.
I don’t understand why the PFA awards have to be announced so soon and the voting to be concluded before all the major trophies are handed out. Last season, it was obvious that Ronaldo was head and shoulders ahead of anyone else, won all the domestic player awards and then failed to deliver once again for Portugal, spent all Summer flirting with Real Madrid and then missed the beginning of the season through injury and still won the World Player of&nbsp; The Year Award.
This year, there is no stand out candidate, but for Lampard to be omitted is beyond a joke. During the final weeks of Scolari’s reign at Stamford Bridge, Lampard carried them single handed it seemed to try and keep them in as many competitions as possible, showing&nbsp; guts and determination throughout the chaos that seemed to be going on all around him. Are professional players that daft that they couldn’t see that?
The Young Player of the Year award seems even more ludicrous, only 3 of the candidates have truly played well all season. Ireland, Rafael and Lennon have been head and shoulders above the other 3 candidates, with Ireland being the stand out nomination. Of the other 3, Agbonlahor has scored 3 goals since Christmas, has Jonny Evans been that good all season&nbsp; and Ashley Young has been so inconsistent as to be almost laughable to be included in the final six.
How two Aston Villa players could be included when they’ve won 3 games out of their last 15 matches makes me think that the nominations must have been done on New Years Eve because Villa have fallen away so far and are in danger of finishing 6th when they had a good chance of finishing 3rd. Are there so few young players kicking around? Where’s Jack Rodwell? Mark Noble and Jack Collinson from West Ham have both had excellent seasons yet don’t feature at all.
Hopefully Ferdinand and Ireland will win the awards, but the nominations themselves just don’t make any sense at all. It’s time to move them to the end of the season when it actually matters.

The PFA Player Of The Year Shortlists Are A Joke - World Soccer Talk

The PFA Player Of The Year Shortlists Are A Joke

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So Chelsea have one foot in the semi-finals of the Champions League after the marvellous 3-1 win at Anfield last week and Saturdays 4-3 win against Bolton was probably the kick up the backside the Blues needed. It’s easy to fall for the fallacy that Liverpool can’t overturn the deficit that they’ve given themselves from the first leg.
For me, there are 3 teams in Europe that you should never bet against overturning improbable results, Liverpool, Manchester United and Barcelona. Liverpool, especially in Europe have a history of doing the impossible, not just in 2005, but throughout their European campaigns going back to the 1960’s. Manchester United can always dig their way out of most holes and Barca have always had a player or two that can turn any game on it’s head but for Liverpool to pull this back would be a footballing miracle.
Hiddink’s been saying the right things since Saturday’s scare against Bolton, he knows that the worst thing for his players to think tonight is that they’re already in the semi-finals. That would play straight into Liverpool’s hands, though the fact Gerrard isn’t fit enough to even make the bench shows the size of the task ahead of them, yet with a player of Torres’ abilities and explosive finishing, an early goal could cause shock waves through Stamford Bridge.
Look at both of Torres’ goals on Saturday against Blackburn, the first an inspired half volley, the second was a towering header that saw him out jump the man mountain of Christoph Samba. Both finishes oozed class and panache and those goals will have shown Hiddink and his players that they cannot take the result for granted tonight.Torres can destroy Chelsea’s dreams if he gets any space at all.
Yet, let’s not do Chelsea down, they were magnificent at Anfield, Essien and Lampard inspired in midfield and Drogba was back to his bustling busy self. Hell, Hiddink’s even got Malouda playing somewhere near the form he showed for Lyon for so long. Lucky Guus, as his odd nickname in Holland shows, has been around far too long for him to take anything for granted. He’s shown throughout his career an ability to create sides that were much better than the sum of their parts, from PSV in the 80’s to Holland at France 98, South Korea in the 2002 World Cup and finally got Australia back to a World Cup after nearly 40 years.
He thrives on upsetting apple carts and throwing curve balls to the opposition and he has an eye on the prize of the glamour tie against Barcelona, who face a similar battle against complacency in Munich tonight. He knows that to get there, they have to navigate this tie tonight and he will have instilled in his team the need to keep fighting as if the game was 0-0. Nothing derails tactics more than a team thinking about the game after the one they are playing and that is the only thing that can stop the Blues taking their place in the semi-finals.
Liverpool have to come and go for it, they have nothing to lose and need to either win by 3 goals or score at least 4 with a 2 goal margin of victory. The task facing Liverpool is enormous but Hiddink will take nothing for granted. Let’s just hope it’s a cracking match and may the best team take the spoils.

Chelsea's Biggest Enemy Tonight Is Complacency - World Soccer Talk

Chelsea's Biggest Enemy Tonight Is Complacency

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Why can’t Stewart Downing show us the form that makes him such a sought after player when he pulls on the England shirt? There is no doubting that at Premier League level, Downing is one of the most dangerous and creative players in the country but after Saturdays performance against Slovakia, it’s clear to see that the lad doesn’t feel comfortable in his own skin when he’s around the England squad.
Yet, now the situation is surely set up for him to succeed on the left hand side of England’s midfield. With his main positional rival, Joe Cole, injured, he’s really got a free run to install himself in Capello’s mind and make a strong case for a run in the team. He’s no real other rivals for the left wing slot, Kieran Richardson has really fallen off the radar England wise and Ashley Young is bang out of form right now. It’s the perfect time for him to put a marker down yet he seems to be suffering from the same malaise that affected England’s best left winger of the last 25 years, John Barnes.
Barnes was <a href="http:\/\/www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzGouuyt2Cc" target="_blank">majestic for Watford and Liverpool</a> but never transferred his sublime skills to the <a href="http:\/\/www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0jdsPZmOWM" target="_blank">international arena on a consistent basis</a>. I remember watching him in the 1987-88 season destroy Sheffield Wednesday on his own at Hillsborough, even simply walking the ball at his leisure down the left flank, jinking past the full back in the blink of an eye. It became such a consistent issue, that toward the end of his England career, Barnes was booed again and again with fed up fans at a loss to explain why he simply couldn’t cut it.
Maybe it was the lack of serious continental competition that blighted his international career. With English clubs banned from 1985 until 1991, Barnes was almost 29 when he started playing regular European club football, too late to bring a change in his fortunes in the white shirt of England.&nbsp; Yet Downing doesn’t have that excuse as Middlesbrough have had several European games that he’s featured in, especially the incredible run to the UEFA Cup final of 2006 including that <a href="http:\/\/www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjDn8Hlk4BA&amp;feature=PlayList&amp;p=32D7387AE7221938&amp;playnext=1&amp;playnext_from=PL&amp;index=4" target="_blank">incredible semi-final against Steau Bucharest</a>.Downing’s deliver that game was in a class of it’s own.
Yet Saturday saw him look hurried, putting himself under pressure time and again and trying to pass the ball almost before he’d received it. Time and again his passing was way off target and he began to withdraw more and more. So what can he do to sort himself out? He needs to realise he’s in the England squad on merit, not by luck. If Fabio Capello thinks he’s good enough for the England set up, who are we to argue? That alone should show him that he deserves to be in the company of Gerrard, Beckham, Lampard et al.
I don’t think it’s got anything to do with playing for Middlesbrough as some “pundits” will have you believe, though there’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll not be there next season if Boro fall into the Championship. Downing just needs to believe in himself more when he wears the three lions otherwise he’ll see his England chances disappear, which would be a crying shame. A bit more belief would also give England another avenue of attack and one that Downing can make his own.

Nerves Will Destroy Stewart Downings England Career - World Soccer Talk

Nerves Will Destroy Stewart Downings England Career

Why is Michael Essien so underrated is a mystery to me. I must admit that I was nonplussed about him as a player, knowing next to nothing about him when he signed for Chelsea from Lyon in August 2005 for £24 million. That was in the dark days before I had Setanta and could immerse myself in French football as often as I wished. Yet, it took next to no time for me to be impressed by his dynamic style and work rate, for me he’s easily one of the best midfielders in world football and this season has shown just how important he is for Chelsea.
His performances in the three games he’s played since returning from the damaged cruciate ligament he picked up playing for Ghana against Libya have been sensational, I consider him a swashbuckling player, dynamic runs, powerful in the tackle, yet a lovely range of passing, good in the air and the positional adaptability that all managers would adore to have in their team. His goal against Juventus showed that he wasn’t held back by his injury as some players can be on their return. By throwing himself at the ball and the imposing figure of Gianluigi Buffon, without a care about his knee showed he wanted to score over anything else, he just wanted to drag his team level and also evaporate any doubts over his long term fitness.Against Manchester City yesterday, he could have had a hatrick.
Essien has shown in those games just how important he is and yet he knows he has to push the continual development of his game. When he first joined, the only thing about his game that I thought he lacked was his goalscoring, only getting two in his debut season at Chelsea. He’s certainly added that to his game since though, and his two goals in Chelsea’s last two games were massive, massive goals. The goal against Juventus, coming when it did, was such a crucial strike. If Chelsea had gone in at half time one nil down, especially scoring a goal that the referee and linesman missed, they’d be out of Europe now, no question about it. The dreadful decision would have weighed down on them and I don’t think they’d have been able to pick themselves up enough in the second half, but Essien saved the day.
His return to fitness couldn’t come at a better time for the Blues and Guus Hiddink as we reach the final furlong in European football. The Premiership is too far out of reach, regardless of Liverpool’s destruction of Manchester United on Saturday, but with Chelsea still in the F.A.Cup and Champions League, the possibility of having two cracks at silverware is tantalising close. Essien will be crucial in this run in now, his drive and effervescence, matchless in Chelsea’s engine room.
With sounds emanating from Stamford Bridge that Chelsea look likely to have a major clear out in the Summer, Essien, along with Lampard and Anelka, would be top of the list of players to keep hold of with no question of selling any of that trio and building the new Chelsea around them for a serious assault on four fronts. Essien has to be the fulcrum, the pivot that allows the team to move freely. Get that balance right and Chelsea can look to scale the heights they achieved under Mourinho once again next year.

Essien Returns As Chelsea's Fulcrum - World Soccer Talk

Essien Returns As Chelsea's Fulcrum

<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption alignleft">You may have scored, but the goal should have been disallowed.</div>
On Friday, during my game previews, Sam wondered how Wigan could score? Today, Chelsea gave us an answer, complacency. For much of Wigan’s trip to Stamford Bridge, it was Chelsea on the back foot.
Completely against the run of play, John Terry put Chelsea ahead twenty-five minutes in. Before that, Chelsea saw Wigan have five near misses and two saved off the line. It was definitely not the opening twenty minutes Chelsea were looking for, but it did serve as a reminder that it hasn’t been easy for the Blues since Hiddink was appointed temporary manager.
After Terry’s opener, Chelsea had plenty of first half chances to put the game away but simply didn’t do the job. The second half saw Wigan return to the ascendancy but doing very little to get the equalizer. However it was after Michael Mancienne’s substitution for Ricardo Quaresma that Wigan found an equalizer they deserved. It certainly helped that Olivier Kapo had to get past&nbsp; Anelka and that the space Mancienne was covering from his left back roll was the location Kapo ended up in, a slow roller all that was required to beat Petr Cech. It may have been the first goal Chelsea have allowed under Guus Hiddink, but Chelsea’s second half performance only matched those of the previous two outings.
Now to the big point of contention, Chelsea’s game winner. Michael Ballack’s flick on just inside the penalty area was a weak one, Lampard’s header didn’t exactly have that much pace on it. However the looking effort had just enough on it to be Chris Kirkland and the Chelsea celebrations ensued. But live something didn’t look right to the situation, replay confirmed how jobbed out Wigan can feel.
Getting a closer view of the game winner, look carefully at Frank Lampard and former Chelsea defender Mario Melchiot. There was just enough of a push to take Melchiot out of the play, and to have the goal disallowed. Yes you may argue that it was a weak push and that Melchiot should have went up stronger to head the ball clear, I’m having none of that. Letter of the law states that goal should be disallowed and Steve Bruce has every right to be upset about it.
Wigan deserved at least a share of the spoils and would have got them had Lampard’s goal been correctly disallowed. While Chelsea got three points out of this, Wigan again exposed Chelsea’s lack of a killer attitude in the second half, and it was only after Wigan equalized did they wake up and get a game winner. While all Chelsea is doing is fighting for second place, and are currently in second place, they have to start playing better football in the second half. Yes Guus has ‘just got the result’, but if Wigan could crack Chelsea’s complacency, just about anyone could.
Other Thoughts From Today’s Action 
Two jinxes couldn’t be broken today. 
1) Wenger can’t do any complaining about Fulham ‘not playing football’ because Fulham out played Arsenal full stop. Until Arsenal prove otherwise, my predictions for their games will simply be 0-0. 
2) As for Liverpool, make it eight years now they haven’t won at the Riverside. Despite the open Liverpool had, once Alonso’s own goal on the half hour they simply gave up the ghost. It was sad to see what happened to Liverpool in the second half. That said, that was a much needed three points Gareth Southgate needed and for the evening gets them out of the relegation zone.
I was simply wrong about the fight West Brom would have against Everton. However they just don’t have the class in front of goal to scare anyone. Sure Tim Howard had to do a little bit of work in the early kickoff, but he didn’t have much difficulty doing his job.

Chelsea Win Late but Far From Impressive - World Soccer Talk

Chelsea Win Late but Far From Impressive

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