League Cup special

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Sunday sees Chelsea and Spurs fight it out for the first piece of silverware of the season.  This will be the second time that these two London rivals have met in the final, the last occasion in 2008 it was the North London club who took the spoils with a 2-1 win over the Blues.

A Didier Drogba 39th minute strike gave Chelsea the lead at Wembley that day but a Dimitar Berbatov penalty was enough to take the game to extra time where finally it was settled by a Johnathan Woodgate in the 4th minute of extended time.  It meant that the Blues were unable to retain the trophy they had won against Arsenal the  previous year.


Both Sunday's teams have won this competition 4 times each.

Tottenham in 1971, 1973, 1999 and 2008.

Spurs have been runners up on 3 other occasions, 1982 against Liverpool, 2002 to Blackburn Rovers and 2008 to Manchester United.

Chelsea's 4 wins came against Leicester City in a two legged final in 1965, 1998 against Middlesbrough, 2005 against Liverpool and in 2007 in the last final played at the Millennium Stadium against Arsenal.

Chelsea have been runners up twice in 1972 and 2008.

I am finding it hard to pick a winner in this game, both teams will have an array of talent on show on Sunday afternoon and on paper it looks like it might go all the way.

Both teams have top players in all positions over the pitch.  From the goalkeepers, through the defence and midfield and to the front line their are match ups throughout.

The biggest of these will be in midfield and the contest between Christian Eriksen and Eden Hazard.  One of these two players may hold the key to unlock the opposition defence which will ultimately win their side the game.

Hazard v Eriksen

The other heavyweight clash will be between the strikers.

Harry Kane is having a wonderful début season and leads the scoring charts in all competitions, his counterpart Diego Costa has also been enjoying his first season in the Premier league and he is joint top at the top of the League scorers table with Man City's Sergio Aguero on 17 goals apiece.

Costa v Kane

Spurs come into this final having recently beaten their rivals in the league by 5 goals to 3 in a thrilling match at White Hart Lane on New Years Day.

Chelsea will be looking to get revenge for that latest defeat and personally I think Jose Mourinho will come into this game totally focussed on getting the job done.

It is certainly going to be a close game and hopefully it will be a good one.

My prediction is a 3-2 win after extra time to Chelsea, with Eriksen  scoring a late equaliser in normal time to take us all the way.



The league cup has thrown up some great finals in the past with some surprising results.  Here are 3 of my favourites.

West Ham United v Liverpool 1981

This was the first ever league cup final I watched.  The final at Wembley finished in a 1-1 draw, both goals were scored in extra time.  Liverpool took the lead on 118 minutes, just 2 minutes from time with a controversial Alan Kennedy strike.  When the Reds left back let fly with his shot, midfielder Sammy Lee was in an offside position, however the diminutive chubby youngster laid on the floor as the shot passed over him showing the ref and all around that although he was offside he was not interfering with play.   Back in those days if you were offside you were offside so for the goal to stand at all was a brave decision from referee Clive Thomas, one that was greeted with disbelief and anger from the west Ham players and supporters alike.  Ironically Sammy Lee had had a fantastic free-kick goal disallowed for a similar offside decision in the first half.

Alan Kennedy's controversial goal.

The Hammers equalised with almost the last kick of the game, Ray Stewart converted a penalty after Terry Mcdermott handled an Alvin Martin header on the line.  These days Mcdermott would have seen red, I'm not even sure he received a yellow for the offence, I think a penalty kick was deemed as punishment enough back in those days.

Liverpool won the replay at Villa Park just over two weeks later.  Goals from Dalglish and Hansen cancelled out an early opener for the Hammers through Paul Goddard.  This result meant Liverpool lifted the trophy for the very first team,  This would be the first of four League cup final wins in a row for the reds.

http://youtu.be/UtFfkuCrD84  1981 final

http://youtu.be/OVHA12O9DEQ 1981 final replay

Oxford United v QPR 1986

A game between two teams that you would never think would contest a major cup final.  After beating Liverpool in the two legged semi final it was QPR who started this final as slight favourites.

This was to be QPR's second league cup final, the R's had previously won the cup in their only other appearance in the first final played at Wembley Stadium in 1967, they beat West Bromwich Albion by 3-2, it was first time the final hadn't been played over two legs.

In the end though it was the relegation struggling Oxford United who raised their game to take the big prize.  The U's managed by Jim Smith dominated the game and hardly gave their opponents a sniff, they took the lead late in the first half through former Southampton youngster Trevor Hebberd.
Oxford added a second goal through Ray Houghton early in the second half before experienced Welsh international Jeremy Charles pounced on  a rebounded John Aldridge shot to put the result beyond doubt with only four minutes remaining.

Man of the match Trevor Hebberd.

 It turned out to be a great season for Oxford who managed to also beat the drop as they finished the season in 18th position on 42 points.

http://youtu.be/5t5BKIlw8TU  1986 Milk Cup Final

Luton Town v Arsenal  1988

If Oxford beating QPR had been a shock 2 years earlier Luton Town beating the then holders Arsenal has to be the biggest League cup shock ever.

Arsenal were massive favourites, holders of the cup having comeback from a goal down to beat Liverpool the year before thanks to Charlie Nicholas' and Perry Groves' heroics, it looked like there was only to be one winner.

Although Luton took quite an early lead in the first half through Brian Stein the holders who may have been rocked but spent the rest ofthe half and much of the second half dominating the game.  Two quick goals in the 71st and 74th minute from sub Martin Hayes and then top scorer Alan Smith gave the Gunners a 2-1 lead with only 15 minutes to play.  The game could have been secured moments later when a blatant dive by David Rocastle resulted in a penalty which unfortunately for Arsenal Nigel Winterburn missed.  Luton goalkeeper Andy Dibble dived to his left to deny the young full back what would have surely been the winning goal.

Somehow in the very next attack Luton were level.  An untimely stumble by Gunners centre back Gus Ceaser caused confusion in the Arsenal box and Danny Wilson was the right man in the right place to keep his head in the ensuing chaos to tap home and give the Hatters an unexpected equaliser. With the game now somehow heading toward extra time there was still time for Arsenal to receive one more and final hammer blow.  A free kick was pumped into the box and eventually it fell to Brian Stein who made no mistake, scored his second goal and made history by giving the League cup to Luton Town for the first and only time in their history to date.

Steve Foster, Andy Dibble and two goal Brian Stein celebrate an amazing Luton victory.

Luton Town finished this season in  a very credible 9th position this season, Arsenal finished only 2 places and 2points above them in 7th, however the very next season George Graham's men went onto win the first division title at the expense of Liverpool with a last minute winner from Michael Thomas.

http://youtu.be/5t5BKIlw8TU 1988 Littlewood's Cup Final

Here's hoping Sunday's game is as good as anyone of these 3.

Enjoy the football.

It's all about partnerships..

Since  the 1-0 defeat away to Northampton the Daggers have drawn 2 and won 2, scoring 6 goals in the process and only conceding twice.  That means we have only lost one game in in the last eight.

In my last post I eluded to the fact that I thought Daggers were starting to get it right in certain areas of the pitch, especially at the back and that it was only a matter of time before we started scoring goals.

A 3-1 win at home against Cheltenham followed by a 2-0 away win at York showed that the boys certainly knew where the net was.  Don't get me wrong we are not the finished article just yet but the signs  are very positive.

Jamie Cureton scores his 2nd goal against York.

It was good yesterday to see an interview with Wayne Burnett where the manager looked more comfortable and looked as though he was enjoying his role at the club for the first time in what seems like a hell of a long time.   It was also nice to walk to a Tuesday night game with a bit of confidence last night.

Nice to see you smile Wayne!!

Although the home game with Portsmouth last night only ended in a goalless draw there were plenty of positives to take from it.  All over the pitch there were good performances and was in evidence were the little partnerships that were developing.  The best examples of these were the two in midfield.  I like many others thought that Andre Boucaud and Billy Bingham couldn't play as a pair in the centre of midfield as they were similar players but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised last night to see them compliment each other so well in the middle of the pitch.  The other partnership's that are starting to progress are the obvious one of Ayo and Scotty Doe at the back which surely is the main reason for the few number of goals conceded but also there is another partnership on the pitch between Joe Widdowson and Ashley Hemmings down the left hand side which is coming along rather nicely.  I wasn't sure about Widdowson at first but after the last couple of home games it looks as though him and Hemmings have got a good understanding and work well together, all though its early days this good be the best partnership down the left hand side since Griffiths and Ritchie.

Murphy may have left but Ayo is here to the end of the season.

At the moment there seems to be a good balance to the side and every where you look there seems to be another positive.

Up front there is still a slight concern as we haven't found the perfect partnership yet.  When Murphy was up front with Cureton I thought it was only a matter of time before they clicked but with the exit in the transfer window of Rhys it means we have to try something different.. At the moment Alex Jakubiak is partnering Jamie Cureton and a couple of times last night but for a an under hit pass or a bit too much holding on to the ball it may of come off.  The thing is we have options, last night Daniel Carr came on as sub, by all accounts he has been really lively in training and maybe a pairing of him and Cureton may bare fruit.  For me Jakubiak seems to play better as an impact sub, but who knows maybe given time and a run of a few games this partnership may come good.

New loan signing Daniel Carr.

One thing is for sure though the more that Abu Ogogo plays at right back the better, Wayne knows that now is not the time to break up the midfield and I reckon after a few more games there it will all come flooding back to him and yet another partnership this time between Abs and Howell down the right hand side will start to flourish.

In my last post I mentioned about how we are set up on the pitch and on the bench with personnel and how easyit is to make a transition from one formation to another without having to make many substitutes. this is going to become more evident in the upcoming weeks and was shown last night when Jodi Jones came on for Jakubiak and gave the 17 year old his debut making him Dagenham and Redbrige's youngest ever player, we changed our formation and went 4-5-1 with two wingers and one up top.  This change is going to be a more regular thing and the good thing about it is that both the wingers can play with both feet so the option of them switching from each flank during games is a mouthwatering prospect.  It brings to mind another partnership between Sam Saunders and Matt Ritchie, they certainly kept opposition full backs guessing that season.

Some people might think that Jodi Jones isn't ready for the first team and maybe should be put out on loan, I don't agree I think this boy is something special and I think he will get his opportunity to show what he can do in the remainder of the season.  He will be an impact sub for the most part and will be used carefully from the bench when the manager sees fit but I wouldn't rule out a starting place by the end of the season and if we finish this season well he could well be knocking on the door next season.

Jodi Jones.

Mark my words this boy will terrorise defences in this league once he gets used to it.  The thing is if you got something you have got something, it doesn't matter if you show it against Concord in the Essex Senior cup or if he was playing for Dagenham United over Parsloes Park if a player is head and shoulders above all else at that level he is a player.  This boy is a player, if he is managed right he will go places.

The future is looking a lot a brighter and if we carry on progressing as we are we will have a nice end to the season with no worries about relegation and hopefully with  a strong finish we can build on it next season.  We are starting to turn a corner and I really think that its going to click up front sooner rather than later and with the upcoming fixtures someone is going to be on the end of  a tonking,  I am really looking forward to Hartlepool at home.

Finally, I was a bit cautious about the game last night not because I thought we would lose but because last year there was a bit of an incident in the car park between some meathead Pompey fans and some stewards which I and my son got a bit caught up in.  It wasn't anything too serious, but a few Neanderthal fans of theirs were to busy being mindless pricks and not looking what they were doing, which was nearly knocking parents and their young kids over.  Luckily I had my son's plastic stool with me and was poking any fat twat who came anywhere near me or my son with it.  My son didn't accompany me this year as I think it shit him up a bit, but there didn't appear to be any repeat of it this time round, thankfully.  I am sure I can convince him to come next year.

http://youtu.be/ZS5jff8ojz4
Meatheads!!


On to Morecambe on Sunday and hopefully another 3 points although I would take a draw.

Come on you Daggers!!

Derby weekend.

Since the first week of January when the transfer window opened Sky Sports have been working us all up into a frenzy about transfer deadline day.  For weeks we have been shown clips of Jim White getting ready for the big day putting on his yellow tie.

The truth is Sky built all this up and fuck all happened.

Manchester United were not going to do any business nor were Liverpool.  Arsenal had got their South American defender plenty of time before the window closed.  Moneybags Chelsea and Manchester City identified who they wanted and done their business and bought the players they wanted with no fuss, so it left on the final day was the bottom clubs to do some business.  A bit of excitement their you would think, surely 'Arry and QPR will do some business.  Alas no, not even a famous wound down window from the most famous deadline day manager of all just a 2 minute interview about how poor 'Arry had been working on bringing players in all day and found it too difficult.

After all the swearing and dildo wielding from the last transfer deadline day in August there were no supporters hanging about with the Sky reporters this time round so no excitement there either.

Not even the late night shenanigans of Adebayor will he wont he join West Ham or the story of Carlton Cole pen in hand ready to sign for West Brom only to have it colliboshed at the last minute could save the day, nor could West Ham's chairman David Gold's tweet that had urged hammers fans not to go to bed, insinuating that there would be some big deadline day business for the East London club.  As it topped up a later tweet was read out saying that West Ham had failed in attempts to sign no fewer than 8 players.

Instead Sky tried to make a big thing about two players who had made their loan deals permanent.
Big fucking whoop!!

So in the end all the fuss and all the big hoo ha ended up being a big noise about nothing.

What a load of old bollocks!!

I suppose the whole thing was aptly brought to an end when the following day Mr deadline day Harry Redknapp resigned as QPR manager.  'Arry put his decision down to medical reasons put lets be honest the writing had been on the wall for some time and after such a shit deadline day were his club failed to bring in a single player, whether a knee operation was the real reason or not, you can't blame the fella for walking away.


After what had to be the most uneventful transfer deadline day in living history its back to the football this weekend and two massive Derbies.

Saturday afternoon sees Liverpool travel to Goodison Park to take on their Merseyside rivals Everton.

Liverpool come into this game off the back of a late FA cup win against Bolton in midweek.  The Reds will no doubt in confident mood and looking to continue their recent form with a massive derby win against their old enemies.

There have been many memorable games between the two teams including a 5-0 drubbing for the Toffees in November 1982.

http://youtu.be/dwyN9__not4

This was back in the day when Liverpool where the best football team around, they tore teams to pieces for fun.

The Reds team that day was packed full of quality, from Grobbelaar in goal through Hansen in defence, Souness in midfield and Dalglish and Rush up front.

Although tomorrow's game should be a great game I doubt it will be as good as this one was, for Liverpool at least.

www.11v11.com/.../everton-v-liverpool-06-november-1982-86385/

Four goals for Ian Rush in this game ensured he became the first player to score a hat trick in this fixture since 1935,  Mark Lawrenson scored the other Liverpool goal in his famous number 10 shirt???

On Sunday afternoon Arsenal travel to White Hart Lane to face their North London foes Tottenham.

In April 1983 an Arsenal team boosting the talents of such players as Alan Sunderland, Tony Woodcock, Graham Rix, David O'leary and Kenny Sansom visited the Lane and left the victims of a 5-0 drubbing.

A brace each from Mark Falco and defender Chris Hughton and a strike from former Ipswich man Alan Brazil was enough to put the Gunneras to the sword.

http://youtu.be/vtZIYjhNCCU

Here is Alan brazil's opening goal from that game.

http://youtu.be/bRVxw9mfZR4

And here is a sweet volley from Mark Falco from the same game.

Two great derbies this weekend which are bound to be full of incident and hopefully full of goals.

If Aaron Lennon starts for Everton against Liverpool this Saturday he will be yet another player in quite a long list who have played in both these major derbies.

Here is a 1 to 11 of  some of the best who have so far.


1.  Ray Clemence  Goalkeeper

Played for both Liverpool and Spurs making 710 appearances in all between the two clubs.

2.  Christian Ziege   RB

Played for both Liverpool and Spurs.  I needed a right back but considering he only played 16 times for the Reds and only 47 times for Spurs he may not have played in any of the derbies.





3.  Pat Van Den Hauwe. LB

Welsh left back who played 135 times for Everton and 116 times for Tottenham.




4.  Martin Keown   CB

 Played 96 games for Everton from 1989-1993 before his move to Arsenal where he made 311 appearances.





5.  Ray Kennedy  RM  

Ray Kennedy played for Arsenal from 1968 to 1974 before moving to Liverpool he made 158 appearances for the Gunners mostly as a striker and 275 for Liverpool.  Kennedy played mainly as a midfielder for the Reds.




6.  Kolo Toure  CB.  

Central defender who played for Arsenal for 7 seasons racking up 225 appearances.  Kolo joined Liverpool from Manchester City in 2013.  He is a current Ivory Coast international who has played 112 times for his country.





7.  Mikel Arteta.  CDM

Arteta played 174 times for Everton before making the move to North London in 2011.  He is now Arsenal's club captain.  Arteta has played in Merseyside derbies, North London derbies and the Glasgow derby.  He made 50 appearances for Rangers between 2002 and 2004.




8.  Paul Gascoigne  CAM

Gazza moved to Spurs from Newcastle in 1988, he spent 4 years at White Hart Lane and played 92 times.  He left Spurs in 1992 and joined Lazio where he appeared in another local derby against Roma.  Gazza joined Everton in 2000 he was at Goodison for 2 seasons playing 32 times.




9.  Nicholas Anelka  ST

Anelka has scored in the Merseyside derby, North London derby, Manchester derby, Madrid derby and even in a Midlands derby.  Anelka signed for Arsenal as an 18 year old in 1997 he scored 23 goals in 65 games before moving to Real Madrid in 1999.  Anelka spent a year on loan at Liverpool from Paris St Germain in 2001 scoring 4 goals in 20 games.




10.  Gary Lineker  ST

Lineker scored an amazing 30 goals in just 41 appearances for Everton in the 1985/86 season.  His prolific strike rate got him a move to Barcelona where he played for 3 seasons before returning back to England 1989 where he signed for Spurs and scored 67 goals in 105 games.  Lineker has the honour of scoring for Spurs against Arsenal in a FA Cup semi final and scoring the opening goal for Everton against Liverpool in the 1986  FA cup final.  Liverpool won the game 3-1.





11.  Anders Limpar  LM

 Swedish winger Limpar signed for Arsenal in 1990 and spent 4 years at Highbury before moving to Everton in 1994.  Limpar made 96 appearances for the Gunners and played 66 times for the Toffeesbetween 94 and 1997.  He played 58 times for Sweden scoring 6 times.




Substitutes

12.  Kevin Richardson  Midfielder  Played for both Everton and Arsenal.

14.  Nicky Barmby    Midfielder  Played for both Tottenham, Everton and Liverpool.

15.  Bobby Mimms    Goalkeeper  Played for both Everton and Spurs.

16.  Alan Ball    Midfielder  Played for both Everton and Arsenal.

17.  Paul Konchesky  Defender  Played for both Spurs and Liverpool.

18.  Paul Walsh   Striker   Played for both Spurs and Liverpool.

19.  Yossi Benayoun   Midfielder  Played for Arsenal and Liverpool.