Ultimately, you win nothing for close. Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, as the old saying goes.
Seven finals at Wembley since 2018. Seven defeats. All by either one goal, or penalties. Some thanks to refereeing decisions. Some thanks to luck. Some thanks to goalkeeper shenanigans. Some thanks to a “1-in-100 goal” from Antoine Semenyo. All thanks to Chelsea scoring just one (1) goal in total in those one hundred seven games.
None remembered for too long, as the losers are quickly
forgotten. Except of course by the losers themselves.
“We held the line really well. Semenyo goes into an offside position, the ball is meant for him [but] Haaland reads it, gets onto the ball; we make him play an awkward right foot cross under pressure. Semenyo finishes from outside the line of the front post under pressure. So for me it’s a 1 in 100 goal; it’s a really low xG goal. So for me, there’s not much more we could defend in that moment better.”
-Calum McFarlane; source: Football.London
McFarlane isn’t necessarily wrong, but then again, we were more disappointed than angry with the result yesterday. Winning is a habit, but so is the opposite. And unlike the winning habit, the latter kind is very easy to maintain. And once you’re used to it, it’s a very hard habit to change.
We have to cling to the positives of course. City didn’t wipe us off the pitch, unlike in our last meeting in the league. We almost scored that one goal! And maybe if Darren England doesn’t screw over City as the VAR in the Arsenal vs. Fulham match the other day, maybe he doesn’t overcompensate in this one as the on-pitch referee turning a blind eye to some very giveable penalties in favor of the Blues — the Jorrel Hato incident standing out from the couple other shouts as likely candidate for a future apology from The FA and PGMOL. Maybe we can put that in the trophy cabinet; it’s not like anything else is going in there anytime soon.
“I thought it was an even game, I thought both teams had moments of control, both teams had momentum at different times. […] Disappointing result but a very evenly matched game. In terms of the penalty incidents, I thought they’re tough calls but for me the Jorrel Hato and Khusanov collision in the box is a penalty. Jorrel gets in front and it’s a collision in the back; if that’s anywhere else on the pitch it’s a foul.”
“[But] I felt we went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the world and I thought there was very little between the sides. And in those sort of games against a really good side when you have momentum […] if you get that moment of quality and you get yourself in front it makes the game very different and we didn’t manage to do that. We know what this team’s capable of [but we] need to produce that on a more consistent basis.
“It’s a really talented group, lots of quality in that group, the fight and heart has been questioned at times but the last two performances I don’t think you can question that, I think they gave everything today to try and win that trophy for the club.
-Calum McFarlane; source: Football.London
The boys gave everything. Put that on our gravestone.
So, another season trophy-less, and quite likely without any sort of European football. Perhaps that will be a blessing in disguise for incoming manager (though not yet officially), Xabi Alonso, who will have a massive job on his hands to try to help fashion us into a proper football club once again. It’s all about the positives.
