First off congratulations on the title and yes it’s only a matter of time although I hope from a selfish point it isn’t sorted out before you are due to play next!
Having read a few, not all I admit, comments on here some are really quite strange
First off from a Chelsea perspective let’s deal with VAR.
Sterling was very very lucky that his yellow wasn’t a red. His studs were showing and probably 8/10 times that the ref would be sent to the monitor if it wasn’t given on the field had it been he certainly wouldn’t have been asked to review his decision
The first penalty was harsh but as we hear time after time you can’t get close to anyone in the box. So yep no complaints . Thank you Augero
The second one looked like a penalty but Taylor ,who has an awful record against us , probably from his angle wasn’t 100% sure and VAR didnt think there was a clear and obvious error, thankfully for us, but I would have gone mad if the roles had been reversed.
On to team selections.
When I looked at your team selection prior to kick off I too thought the number of changes looked extreme but come off it it’s not as if Pep pulled in 9 supporters and asked if they fancied a game.Its not as if you had a 19 year old rookie playing a pivotal role in midfield was it !
Of course we went stronger based on last games selections but Tunchal said something in the build up when he talked about the Fa cup game and how he thought you looked leggy having played a day later, having to travel to London etc. That said Tunchal still went strong and my guess is he was hoping for a draw at best but hoping of course for a win but having seen how Pep set you up and of course aided by losing 1-0 at half time he realised he had to get Alonso and James further forward and to be honest it worked a great.Well agin for us
Players everywhere are starting to be impacted by the efforts they have put into the season to date. Lots of players need rest but at the same time they need to keep match fitness so it’s a fine balance but for me if I were in Pepe’s shoes I would have wanted the league done and dusted so why did he make so many changes ?
Was it he expected us to write off the game so expected Tuchal to make even more changes ?
Was it he is worried about the players being in the “red zone” ?
Was it he overates the depth of your squad ?
or
Was it something else?
Most cup finals are held at the end of the season at a time when players are shattered both physically and mentally.
End of season create a completely different challenge meaning anything can happen. Of course you will be expected to win but just like you in this competition we have beaten everything that’s been put in front of us to get to the final so we are there on merit .
We will present a challenge to whoever Pep selects but if your players go into the game with the same mindset some on here seem to have then it could get messy
Confidence is one thing arrogance is another !