only me » Thu Apr 24, 2014 8:39 am wrote:ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Thu Apr 24, 2014 7:31 am wrote:Just heard on the radio that Abramovitch has told Mourinho he can pick any side he wants for the game at Anfield, if Mourinho thinks he has to play a weakened side Sunday to give Chelsea the best chance of winning the CL then the Russian is fine with that.
This is all a big smokescreen IMO, no club would throw 8 months hard work down the pan when they still have a chance of winning the title, teams play on a Sunday and a Wednesday all the time.
He'll turn up with his best side Sunday and all the press will be hailing him as a master of mind games.
It's not totally correct. Chelsea needs Liverpool and City to lose at least twice to have a chance winning this ,compared to a unique opportunity to reach the CL finals.
It's a calculated risk that they have to take risking further injuries to their starters.
If they beat us at Anfield and we draw our next game away at Palace (which is not beyond the realms of possibility) they would be behind us only on goal difference going into the last game of the season, anything could happen then.
Palace may even beat us, they've beaten Chelsea and Everton (at goodison) recently and that's an Everton side that have tonked Arsenal and United in the last few weeks.
League titles are often decided in the last few games and more often than not there's a twist in the tale in there as well.
One of the most famous was when we won the double in 86, Everton led the table basically all season and when they brushed aside the other top teams in head to head games it looked like they had the title sewn up, then with 2 games to go they lost to an already relegated Oxford. Gary Lineker famously wore a new pair of boots for that game instead of the ones he'd been wearing all season and missed a string of absolute sitters.
If I was in Chelsea's position I certainly wouldn't be throwing in the towel.