A few links that you might enjoy:
- Feyenoord 1 – 1 Chelsea: Sky Sports News highlights – Chelsea remain unbeaten in pre-season after a feisty 1-1 draw in Rotterdam. Feyenoord scored first on the stroke of half time through Kevin Hofland – Glen Johnson and Petr Cech were at fault as the Dutchman was left unattended in the penalty area to head home a free-kick. Frank Lampard equalised after taking advantage of a poor back pass late in the second half. Carlo Cudicini made a double save from a Roy Makaay penalty, Claudio Pizarro made his Chelsea debut, and Shaun Wright-Phillips was the pick of the players – all in all another good pre-season workout.
- 50 best transfers – Not quite so many Chelsea players make this list as made the Times newspaper’s 50 worst transfers list, but Kerry Dixon (Reading to Chelsea, £150,000, 1983), Michael Essien (Lyons to Chelsea, £24 million, 2005), Gianfranco Zola (Parma to Chelsea, £4.5 million, 1996), and Petr Cech (Rennes to Chelsea, £7 million, 2004) are on it. What would Chelsea pay for a player like Zola these days?
- A fan possessed – Men are said to think about sex every six seconds. Not the BBC’s Adrian Chiles, whose waking moments are dominated by his obsession with West Bromwich Albion. In an extract from his new book published in the Guardian newspaper, he describes life in the grip of an unrelenting passion for his team.
- 50 most important goals – Another list from the Times. A countdown of 50 goals that have made a big impact on the history of football. Peter Osgood’s header versus Leeds in the 1970 FA Cup Final replay makes the list, but there’s no mention of Jesper Gronkjaer’s goal against Liverpool on the final day of the 2002/2003 season which ensured Chelsea qualified for the Champions League. Roman Abramovich’s decision to buy Chelsea was greatly influenced by the club qualifying for the 2003/2004 Champions League, so we have a lot to thank Gronkjaer for. I’d say his goal that day had a big impact on the history of football, wouldn’t you?
- Portuguese authorities investigate alleged match fixing – Portuguese authorities will file charges relating to 20 cases of alleged match-fixing in their domestic football league, including two games involving FC Porto when they were managed by Jose Mourinho. There is no suggestion that Mourinho is implicated in the allegations.
- World’s top 50 footballers – The Times’ Gabriele Marcotti picks the best players on the planet. John Terry (30), Michael Ballack (26), Andriy Shevchenko (24), Didier Drogba (22), Frank Lampard (16), Petr Cech (14), and Michael Essien (5) are included.
