The Cup Final...

I watched the FA Cup Final today and these are my views...

I am a Manchester United fan and so I am gutted by the result. But this match only served to affirm several things I have been thinking all season, regarding the difference between United and Chelsea.

It is simple. Chelsea have not enjoyed success over the last couple of years because they are a great team - they are not. Well organised, yes. But as a group of players they are a bunch of moderate- to low-talented bruisers who go out to stifle games and cheat with the intention of nicking a goal somewhere near the end. This is what they do every week, and this is what they did today. John Terry is allowed to get away with absolute MURDER every game and referees turn a blind eye. Chelsea is a team full of players such as Jon Obi Mikel and Michael Essien whose only talent is to scythe into people and either come away with the ball or go down in a writhing heap. They have a striker in Didier Drogba with undoubted goal-scoring prowess, but they score most of their goals from set pieces. This isn't even sour grapes talking. When Arsenal were the dominant team in the League a few years back, I had to concede that they played the best football in the country and deserved their position. Similarly, when Liverpool were the main power in the 80s; they did it by playing good football. Chelsea have no such glowing attributes.

They are also ridiculously jammy. It is a trait Jose Mourinho has brought with him. Some people just have an unfair share of good luck, and he is one of them. They get the breaks; they got all of the referee's decisions on their side today, with a dangerous Joe Cole tackle in the first half going unpunished while the slightest contact by a United player resulted in a free kick to Chelsea. We also should have had a penalty when Giggs was brought down by Essien, but it of course was not given.

Obviously, United themselves should also carry much of the blame for this defeat. In the last eight to ten games of this season they have been lacklustre, with key players not turning up and switching from free-flowing, attacking football to overly cautious "tactics" and general lethargy. They only held on to the Premiership because Chelsea were poor, as well. Today Wayne Rooney muffed three chances by himself (meanwhile, Chelsea only had two decent efforts on goal in the whole game, one of which resulted in a goal). So it's all about taking chances, but United had more of them than Chelsea did, because Chelsea are such dullards.

In truth, neither team deserved to win. And in that situation it's always going to be Chelsea's day, because of their undefeatable combination of luck, luck and MORE LUCK.