Morning:
8°c
Chelsea's pulsating win over Manchester United takes the Premier League race down to the wire. But, of course, it's still United's to lose because of their much superior goal difference.
To some this victory, and hopefully another one tonight, begs the question, why is Avram Grant under so much pressure inside and outside the club when Chelsea's end-of-season surge is so potent?
It's because the real issue is, with the markedly superior resources at their disposal, why are Chelsea still only second favourites for the Premier League?
Sir Alex Ferguson took a gamble last Saturday resting key players because he felt he had to. Grant didn't because, unlike United, Chelsea have at least two top-class internationals for every position.
Ferguson doesn't even have a target-man, while Grant has two, Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka. Three if you still count Andriy Shevchenko, whose signing was an even grosser bit of Roman Abramovich-inspired idiocy than appointing Grant.
Frank Lampard couldn't play, so Grant fields the Germany captain alongside 2005 French player of the year Michael Essien, both seasoned professionals at or near their peak.
Poor Ferguson ends up with little Nani, second-rate Darren Fletcher and bumbling Michael Carrick, whose needless handball caused the decisive penalty.
So the simple answer to the question, why are Chelsea's players now performing better than Arsenal's or Manchester United's, is that they are less exhausted because there are a lot more of them possessing top quality.
Which brings us face to face with another myth. We keep hearing the Bridge is a fortress because Chelsea haven't lost in the League for four seasons. But not losing isn't the right test. Winning is the real thing, and Chelsea have drawn six home Premier League games against United's one.
Which is why Chelsea end up chasing United, not the other way around. Chelsea played wonderfully well, especially in the first half, but most of this season they haven't, and even when they have won, they've won uncomfortably. Poor preparation has a lot to do with that, and even on Saturday there was still evidence of it.
Ballack and Drogba almost came to blows over who should take a free-kick. Proper coaches sort that out beforehand.
Good players can get a sloppy manager out of a hole, and that's what happened last Saturday. And it may do again tonight but I wouldn't bet the ranch on it because, while he's a pussycat in the Premier League, on European nights Rafael Benitez really gets his players going.
Grant can't do that. So if Chelsea do win tonight it will be the players' triumph and they'll do it despite Grant, not because of him.
Now can we come back from Russia with love?
The Premier League finally came of age last night, with veteran Paul Scholes's 14th-minute goal setting up the first ever all-English Champions League final.
But for long stretches of both legs, Barcelona, despite a disappointing season and having won only one of their last eight matches, dominated, which sets up the next challenge.
Having got to Moscow, will United and either Chelsea or Liverpool be able to demonstrate the Premier League is not just about money, but fine, flowing football as well?
Sadly both will arrive in Russia exhausted after an English season far more demanding than anywhere else. But the benefits to the Premier League as a whole are obvious. There are no shortage of critics who delight in contending that the League is a brand, but not top class technically.
Moscow is a glorious opportunity to prove them wrong. On 21 May, England expects!
Pat Lampard - she will be sorely missed
Pat Lampard's death breaks up the tightest family unit in football. I sit in the same block as Pat and Frank Snr at the Bridge and can testify to their closeness and total commitment to their son.
She will be much missed by more than just her immediate family. Last week I was critical of Frank's performance against Liverpool. I shouldn't have been and I deeply regret it. The wonder is the boy was prepared to play at all and it's even more to his credit that he's back in training for tonight.
Whether he should be allowed to start with some of his mind inevitably elsewhere is quite another thing.
Pardew dodges the axe
Some people are amazed when managers are put under pressure, but I'm invariably more astonished when they're not.
I mean, why is Charlton's Alan Pardew not dreading every minute of every day that the trapdoor beckons?
Charlton are probably the best resourced side in the Championship, what with the Premier League parachute money, and that £16.5million steal for Darren Bent. Yet on Saturday they were stuffed 3-0 by lowly Barnsley, and have slumped to 12th place, way behind minnows like Bristol City, Hull, and even little Plymouth.
It's hard to think of another example of a well-supported, financially strong club, who have performed so badly after relegation.
Loyalty is a virtue the Charlton directors seem determined to turn into a vice.
Stars deaf to wise words
Chris Powell, chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association, has called on his fellow pros to clean up their act, and stop harassing and abusing referees. Great, but fine words butter no parsnips, and what will Powell do to ensure his members act on it? My suspicion is, in the immortal words of Paul Daniels, not a lot.
Rio may suffer kickback
All this stuff about Rio Ferdinand for England captain baffles me.
On the pitch Ferdinand has great talent, but has all too often lost his concentration at crucial moments.
Off it, he can give a good interview, but sadly frequently fails to act as he speaks.
His career is littered with misjudgements, like that missed drugs test.
As for misbehaviour, if he seriously has his sights set on the England captaincy, should he really have kicked out at a wall, catching a woman steward on the leg, and then apparently gone on to kick out at a dressing room door immediately afterwards?
The maturation process seems a bit slow in Rio's case. Memo to England manager Fabio Capello: Perhaps by the time he's 60 he'll be ready, but not before.
Reader views (9)
Does this clown get paid to write this drivel? The man has absolutely nothing going for him- looks, personality, intelligence... please Mr Mellor get over yourself.
- Arnold , Plymouth
Avram Grant has more decency and honesty in his little finger than you have in your whole body David Mellor...
But hey, the proof is in the results and Grant and his Chelsea team are on their way to Moscow...
Nastrovya!
- Daniel Yefet, London England
I couldn't help but smile at your column yesterday.
Having criticised Avram Grant tirelessly since his appointment, and consistently predicted impending disaster for Chelsea, you now realise that despite your "expert" predictions, Chelsea could soon, against all odds, be crowned winners of the Premiership and Champions of Europe.
Your comments yesterday ("if Chelsea do win tonight it will be the players' triumph and they'll do it despite Grant, not because of him") smack of a rather desperate face-saving exercise.
Grant has organised and motivated a squad of players he didn't assemble, suffered lengthy injuries to key players, inconsistent performances from a number of others, and lost the likes of Essien, Drogba etc. to the African Cup of Nations.
In light of this, I think it's an astonishing achievement on his part to have made a genuine challenge for the title, and to take Chelsea to the Champions League final for the first time. Even if they win neither, he's certainly got Alex Ferguson's bum squeaking for a change.
I appreciate that you're paid to give opinions, but I think it's time you gave the man some credit, rather than steadfastly continue to paint yourself into a corner.
- Keith Hallett, Pinner, UK
Couldn't let this pass without being able to reply. Do we really need to ask David Mellor if he knows anything about Plymouth Argyle? - or the Argyle fans, he has just insulted. Frankly no. And I don't suppose he knows anything about the city, or has ever been there?
Therefore, it is just another example of assumption brought on by by a blinkered view of anything west of Bristol, and lazy journalism.
There was a time when Chelsea were playing at home to crowds far less than what Argyle get now, and that wasn't very long ago.
Though my club is established in the Championship, and improving season-by-season, it has gone as far as it can: it just does not have the clout or the money to get to where it should be.
But, as has been shown, money (lots of it) can buy success, but it also buys arrogance and the unpopularity that goes with it: no one other than the 'New Chelsea' fan will want to see them win the CL Final.
It may well be 'little ole Plymouth' to you David Mellor, but you neither know nor care about the club you are insulting. If you keep to writing about things you know about, with a bit of luck it will be the last we hear of you.
- Jp Cowling, London
'Little old Plymouth?' The table doesn't lie, we beat Charlton at the Valley, we're higher than them, therefore are currently better than them and not 'Little'. Sort your life out.
- David, Plymouth, England
Mr. Mellor, I had no idea that you still had the time to pontificate about football, but I guess your faded political career has enabled you to do that. Your parochial ramblings do you little justice, otherwise you would realise that Plymouth (a major city in it's own right)has a team on the up - a team that could soon realise it's massive potential. There is football outside London, David.
- Rich, plymouth
Could you be a bit more patronising, Mellor? We all know you love Chelsea, the tabloids have revealed that to us in far more detail than we're really want. But why don't you refrain from comment on the Championship, something you clearly know little about. 'Little Plymouth' indeed, how dare you, you smug washed-up toff.
- Andrew Holland, Plymouth, UK
The city of Plymouth is not little, certainly bigger than that council estate that is Charlton. Mr Mellor, your "real" club, Fulham get lower gates than Plymouth do at times. So who is little?
- Francis Lee, Newquay, England
So, Chelsea wins and it's down to the players, Chelsea lose it's Grant's fault. Amazing. For a team that, should they win despite him it's their own achievement, to be be blameless also should they lose.
You're a fool and a coward, because this post will never be published, and you hide behind your corner desk, chiselling away at your black rock, hoping you will find a friend like Roman. Ah well, hopefully at least this will be read before deleted - chicken coward that you are. Tyrion Lannister rings a bell loud to me.
Alex
- Alex, London, England
