Monday 23 April
Chelsea U19 0:3 Barcelona U19
We never really clicked in this match and lost a Uefa Youth League match for the first time since 2014.
After watching the women desert their principles and hoof it long, today we watched a Chelsea side unable to find its passing range and losing its shape. Callum Hudson-Odoi was muted by Barca pressing and marking and as a consequence, we couldn’t get going.
They scored at regular intervals and we had no answer.
The best that can be said is that this squad can reconvene on Friday and try to win the FA Youth Cup.
Tuesday 24 April
Tommy Docherty is 90 today. It is a great milestone for our former manager and the first man to lead a Chelsea side out at Wembley for an FA Cup final. The Doc got into trouble later in his career and muddied his reputation by managing a Salford based franchise with a long history of poaching our managers and players.
Meanwhile, Liverpool edged a narrow advantage over Roma, 5-2, but you know the Italians have sprung surprises on their home patch before now.
The match has been overshadowed by an attack on a Liverpool fan who is in a serious condition in hospital and two Italian fans are being charged with attempted murder. It is an incident that should remind us all that when you leave the house to watch the football you should always come home.
Blackburn won promotion back to the Championship as they matched Shrewsbury’s result. The Shrews finish third and will contest the playoffs.
Oh, and the gutless prat who knocked Juventus out of the Champions League has been rewarded for his incompetence and cowardice with the FA Cup final. Expect Michael Oliver to send off half the Chelsea team and award phantom penalties at ten-minute intervals.
Leeds United announced a post-season tour of Myanmar. Presumably, the Yorkshire side are keen to associate themselves with the butchers of the Rohingya and perhaps blood some of their youngsters. The move is so well thought through the club are advising their own fans not to travel to the matches … especially if they are Muslim.
Wednesday 25 April
Real Madrid edged Munich in the other semi-final but it is close and this Madrid side are weak at the back. Next week’s return should be an interesting watch.
Friday 27 April
FA Youth Cup final tie
Chelsea U18 3:1 Arsenal U18
It was a bit of a shock to the system to concede a goal, the first in this competition this season, but normal service resumed in the second-half as two goals from Daishawn Redan sandwiched a Marc Guehi header.
The truth be told we should have been five or six up at the break as we created chances with almost every attack. The domination was such that Arsenal’s goal was just about their only serious effort on target.
Jody Morris was beaming with pride at the end as we took a step towards equalling Manchester United’s record from the early 50s of five in a row.
Saturday 28 April
Swansea City 0:1 Chelsea
When Cesc Fabregas put us one up after a little more than a minute it looked like we would dominate but despite never looking threatened we couldn’t put his to bed and had to suffer a few near things as Swansea grew to match us in every department.
The really noticeable development is the form of Emerson who looks a really good option at left back.
Wycombe Wanderers have been promoted, along with Accrington and Luton from League Two. Passing them in the other direction are Milton Keynes and we could say plenty of hurtful things about them but we will keep it to a smug gloat as franchise FC fail to float.
Sunday 29 April
Wolfsburg 2:0 Chelsea
Beaten by Wolfsburg, again, and this will be so frustrating for the women as they didn’t play to their best in either leg, failed to take their chances and lost 5-1 on aggregate despite not being four goals worse than their opponents.
We had to go for it being 3-1 down from the first leg. Aluko, Bachmann and Kirby made an impressive fist of attacking but it was clear that we didn’t have enough to dent their defence. In the end, they hit us with a couple of sucker goals and that was three seasons in a row.
On the bright side, we progressed to our first semi-final and we know what the benchmark is for progressing. We also have the chance to win the FA Cup and the league still so it is not all doom and gloom.
Elsewhere, and Celtic managed to thrash perennial strugglers Rangers to secure their seventh title in a row. The 5-0 party piece was the next step on the road to a historic double treble as they look to repeat the feat they achieved last season of winning all the domestic trophies.
Rangers have decided to make their troubles worse by appointing Steven Gerrard as their manager direct from Liverpool’s reserves.
