vs. Chelsea (N) (FA Cup Final) - Sat 19/05/18 17:15 GMT

[Stew1980]

Bantz.

[Rustin Cohle]

www.football365.com/news/big-weekend-chelsea-mourinho-lukaku-cahill-smalling

Big Weekend: Chelsea, Mourinho, Lukaku, Cahill, Smalling

Game to watch – Chelsea vs Manchester United
A season to be saved and a reputation to be redeemed. If Manchester United know only victory will do at Wembley, Antonio Conte faces the scenario of winning the FA Cup and immediately leaving Chelsea.

It would be a little odd, should that happen. Conte would have won the Premier League title and the FA Cup, and be allowed to leave Chelsea, possibly even sacked. Mourinho would have won a Europa League trophy and the League Cup after receiving greater backing in the transfer market at Manchester United, and have been handed a bumper new contract. Funny ol’ game.

Given what is at stake for both managers, how much they care about their lasting reputations and the public spats between the two this season, it’s hard to sell this game as much other than Conte vs Mourinho. Memories of the last FA Cup final between these two clubs, the miserable visual fare of 2007, lingers. So too does the fact that three of the last 13 meetings between these two teams have contained more than two goals. It is optimistic to predict a classic.

But that does not mean that it won’t be absorbing. It has actually become unusual for the FA Cup final to be between two top-six teams. In 2016 we had Crystal Palace, 2015 had Aston Villa, 2014 had Hull City, 2013 had Wigan, 2011 had Stoke and 2010 had Portsmouth. Even if the excitement might be lacking, when the result matters this much to two massive teams and managers, the process demands your viewing. What else are you going to do – watch the live reaction to a man marrying a woman?

Player to watch – Romelu Lukaku
One of a few Manchester United players to come out of this season with plenty of credit. That’s not to say Lukaku has not come in for fierce criticism at stages of the campaign, but his 27 goals in all competitions have been achieved in spite of United’s creativity, not because of it. In the Premier League, United created almost 70 fewer chances than any other top-six team.

Now, United are reliant on Lukaku regaining his fitness for Saturday’s final. Without him, options suddenly look very short. Neither Marcus Rashford nor Anthony Martial took their chance as a striker in his absence, and felt the full force of Mourinho’s public censure.

Being injured is not something Lukaku is used to. Only one Premier League player has managed more outfield minutes in the last four seasons, sensational given that he has usually played as a lone striker expected to harry and hassle defenders as well as possess the explosive pace to burst past defenders. Hitting the ground running after recovery is not easy for a striker; Lukaku must achieve it.

All the signs point to Lukaku being fit, but this will be another test of his reputation. The questions about big-game performance don’t go away, but there would be no better way to sign off the season than by winning his team a trophy at the expense of the club that let him go. Before scoring a hat-trick to knock England out of the World Cup group stage, of course.

Manager to watch – Jose Mourinho
Jose Mourinho is a winner. In an ideal Mourinho world, nobody would care about style, only who won what. Every manager would hold up fingers at the end of the season to show how many trophies they had won.

Unfortunately, style does matter, and it matters an awful lot more when you don’t win. Win and you can point at the silver. Had United finished two or three points behind Manchester City and played as they have, there would be no criticism. Had United finished 19 points behind Manchester City but played with an attacking vibrancy that made progress easy to see, there would be less criticism. As it is, criticism is deserved.

After all, this is the great Mourinho paradox. A man who is so obsessed with winning that it defines each of his relationships within the game also cannot bear that he is renowned as a defensive manager. That his style of winning could ever be considered of less value than anyone else’s gnaws away at his ego.

This is why Mourinho is a man of finals, and why he has won 14 of 18 since becoming a manager. On these occasions, style does not matter. Nobody remembers how you played in an FA Cup final, only who won. Style is nothing. Winning is everything.

Every other time Mourinho’s back has been against the wall, he has done the necessary. The archetypal winner has found a way to win. But this might be his biggest knife edge yet. Should United beat Chelsea, whatever it takes, Mourinho will puff out his chest and talk up his achievement. Should Mourinho lose to his old employers, it will only add to the suspicion that what progress has been achieved is coming too slowly for a club that expected him to win the title inside his first three seasons.

One-on-one battle to watch – Gary Cahill vs Chris Smalling
Not a direct battle, clearly, but the announcement of England’s World Cup squad creates an interesting opportunity for comparison on Saturday.

Three months ago, neither Cahill nor Smalling were going to the World Cup. Gareth Southgate had expressed concerns about Smalling’s distribution (most notably the worry that under pressure he tended to send the ball long), while Cahill was omitted from the squad because he had been dropped by Chelsea.

That all changed with Cahill’s re-introduction to Antonio Conte’s team. Coinciding with the decision to leave out the experienced Joe Hart from the squad to Russia, Cahill was back in the fold and could even start England’s first match.

Smalling might reasonably claim that he has been slightly hard done to. He has started plenty of games under Mourinho, who knows how to organise a defence, and if the doubts surround his passing then that is hardly Cahill’s forte either.

On Saturday, every Manchester United player will be determined to win the FA Cup to add some gloss to a season with very little shine. But Smalling might have more reason than most to perform. Sticking two fingers up at the watching Southgate would be a nice way to sign off the campaign.

[Sméagol]

[WhatsTheMata]

Mourinho was asked if Carrick would get an emotional appearance at Wembley and he simply replied "no"

Good.

[WhatsTheMata]

"I think the winning mentality doesn't have a lot to do with a history in finals, what we did in the past has nothing to do with tomorrow. It's 11v11 and everyone trying to give their best."

Oh you, stop or I might end up like Karma.

[Deleted]

May 18, 2018 12:11:23 GMT WhatsTheMata said:

Mourinho was asked if Carrick would get an emotional appearance at Wembley and he simply replied "no"

Good.

Nasty bitch

[WhatsTheMata]

May 18, 2018 12:16:07 GMT Paul said:

May 18, 2018 12:11:23 GMT WhatsTheMata said:

Mourinho was asked if Carrick would get an emotional appearance at Wembley and he simply replied "no"

Good.

Nasty bitch

Good morning to you too!

[Deleted]

May 18, 2018 12:16:39 GMT WhatsTheMata said:

May 18, 2018 12:16:07 GMT Paul said:

Nasty bitch

Good morning to you too!

Technically its afternoon but I'm rough today so I'll allow it

[WhatsTheMata]

May 18, 2018 12:19:50 GMT Paul said:

May 18, 2018 12:16:39 GMT WhatsTheMata said:

Good morning to you too!

Technically its afternoon but I'm rough today so I'll allow it

I am the queen of the world so all time zones work according to my mood.

[Deleted]

May 18, 2018 12:31:08 GMT WhatsTheMata said:

May 18, 2018 12:19:50 GMT Paul said:

Technically its afternoon but I'm rough today so I'll allow it

I am the queen of the world so all time zones work according to my mood.

But your bitch mood never changes

[WhatsTheMata]

May 18, 2018 12:35:05 GMT Paul said:

May 18, 2018 12:31:08 GMT WhatsTheMata said:

I am the queen of the world so all time zones work according to my mood.

But your bitch mood never changes

[Sméagol]

[.]

Here's what was happening on the United coach after beating Chelsea in the 1994 cup final. Notice the cans of Budweiser! 😂

[Chris]

FA cup final day boys and birds! Probably the best football day of the year!

Fucking smash em!!!

Golf with the society this afternoon and straight back for the game.


Come on boys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[stonecarver2]

I'm working today, so will will miss the match. Probably won't get radio reception for the full match either........so I'll have to be content with it all recorded. Think I'll try and avoid the result and then take in the whole match build up and everything after work. Hope to see a United victory with some style and verve (2nd half against spurs for example).

Have a good match day peeps !