Its all psychological.
Let Man Utd have their day thinking that their penalty win over Chelsea 'made up' for the double loss in May. Let them have it. Cos if they do, Man Utd will be in for a surprise.
If a Chelsea team, bereft of Terry, Drogba, Makelele plus, Sheva, Ballack, Kalou, Robben and have TWO goalkeepers named (Cudicini and Hilario) on the subs bench with one kid Harry Worley who turned out for Charlton Athletic as a sub the previous day at The Valley, let Man Utd have their moment. Let 'em!!
But any Man Utd fan who reads this - just remind your starlet Wayne Rooney ' forget the ssssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhh!' (and who pays his money). Who were the first fans to applaud you off the pitch when your foot was broken at Stamford Bridge in an accidental challenge with Paulo Ferreira that really and truly destroyed England's World Cup dreams - yeah the fans in Blue and White - forget the 'fat bastard' chants, just remember who supported you and worried about you that day!!
Anyway to all the Chelsea fans that have moaned about Chelsea's pre-season being tough. I think you may have a point. No World Cup to recover from, no Euro Championship to recover from. Chelsea reported back on a Monday and flew out to LA on a Tuesday. Two weeks of 'double' training sessions and three games. Fly back on a Sunday and play in Holland on a Wednesday, then in Scotland on Saturday and Denmark on a Tuesday, prior to this Sunday's Community Shield. There was certainly no time for rest!!!
From a fan's point of view I think the schedule was too much. Last season's pre-season schedule 'didn't exist' compared to this one and with Asia on the cards for next pre-season, how many more casualties will the team have to sustain?
No wonder Frank looked knackered when taking his penalty yesterday and I am not talking about his football, cos his football has stunk for a long time now. Come to think of it since his 'Las Vegas nothing happened' story came to light and his long-standing contract talks seem to have taken an eternity to resolve and the constant speculation about Barcelona and today's newspaper revelations that Ellen could be walking out of the door, no wonder Frank's suffering!!!
Anyway enough of yesterday, how about a bit of quirkiness. A mate of mine at work plays semi-pro football for about £30 a game. On Saturday he played against Maidstone United in a pre-season friendly and Maidstone play a couple of divisions higher than his team VCD who play in the Kent League. VCD lost 1-0 against a team who beat Dagenham & Redbridge, newly promoted to League Two of the Coca-Cola Football League a few days earlier.
Why am I mentioning it to you. Well yesterday at Wembley we had 'stars' on exceedingly exorbitant amount of money every week, expecting to perform like robots in unbearable temperatures, whereas my mate and his team mates and opponents were given every opportunity by the referee to stop and take on lots and lots of water to avoid dehydration.
And by the way - these players maybe semi-professional footballers and some are very good - they also hold down regular 9 to 5 jobs too!!
My mate even said that the heat of the day from the pitch could be felt through the soles of his boots.
So before you kick off about your favourite team or player, spare a thought for those who play for 'almost love' but would love to make it to the big-time and be part of your abuse and criticism!!!
KTBFFH