Your Shout - Chelsea tractor isn’t really up to speed - Are Chelsea the best team in London? - your views
Bruce MacRae’s Shout last week declared Chelsea as London’s team of the decade.
Boy did it strike a nerve…
I NOTICED Chelsea have been declared the capitals top team of the last decade.
The basis of the argument being that they have been in, and lost, more Champion’s League semi-finals than any other London team. This is a pants system to decide such a prestigious honour.
What about Tottenham? They have never played in the Champions league, how can they compete with Chelsea’s semi-final loses?
What about Arsenal’s 2003/2004 ‘Invincibles’ season, now that is an achievement. In years to come I’ll smile and say, “I remember that, good times”.
I’m searching for what impact Chelsea really made over the decade.
What will be remembered? Jose (is that a dog in your suitcase) Mourinho? A bunch of Russian tanks scatter-firing £50 notes? John Terry booing like a baby?
A bunch of semi-final loses?
We can all have a bit of a giggle at Tottenham, but I put them ahead of Chelsea. They regularly beat them in the derbies, play good entertaining football and made a major impact in the noughties.
If the capitals top team is decided on style, achievement and class it has to be The Arsenal.
We might be in a transitional period, but going unbeaten for a whole season is a feat that Chelsea can only dream about.
NICK CLARIDGE
BRUCE MacRae talks about Chelsea as the team of the decade based on an edited recollection of their performances (with so many mindlessly dull matches to recall, who can blame him).
Having parked his Chelsea tractor in NW3, Bruce uses statistics “as a drunken man uses lamp-posts – for support rather than for illumination,” to quote Scottish writer Andrew Lang.
Perhaps this is down to a heady cocktail of morning dips in Hampstead ponds combined with one too many Irish cream liqueurs?
While contending with the seasonal hazards of breaking the ice before taking the plunge, Bruce could do worse than divert his eyes from Hampstead Heath to the Emirates Stadium, home to a team breathing down the neck of their west London rivals.
Arsene Wenger has once again showed true vision in adopting a full-length padded jacket in place of south European finery. Carlo Ancelotti’s tailored suits offer little protection from the realities and chilled winds facing a fading Chelsea side in 2010.
HAL CURREY
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