I think the point was that they are all given free plastic flags before matches to try and create atmosphere. That suggests that Chelsea officials don't think their supporters would be inclined to bring their own flags, as everyone else would.
(UEFA) Football Thread - Football not Soccer
- Thread starter Jax
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I think the point was that they are all given free plastic flags before matches to try and create atmosphere. That suggests that Chelsea officials don't think their supporters would be inclined to bring their own flags, as everyone else would.
I like Clive and his passionate/over the top style even though he is very much biased towards all English teams in Europe.
So why the plastic flags from Chelsea?
If stuff like that is paid for by the club (and I could see Chelsea doing that) it's rather embarrassing though imo.
I don't know about Chelsea, but RedACTION are an independent group.
Yes, I understood what you were saying. Don't take everything personally. 
The Chelsea flags are distributed by the club itself, not the fans. I'm surprised you haven't heard of them before - everyone else has been mocking them along the lines of "plastic club, plastic flags, plastic fans", and not just Liverpool fans.
IIRC, they first appeared in last season's semi-final second leg, when Abramovich, or whoever was in charge, wanted to create an atmosphere similar to that at Anfield on the previous two deciding legs in 2005 and 2007. They had failed to fill their allocation of seats at Anfield in the first leg, and there was a feeling that they needed to generate a more intimidating atmosphere to help win it.
IIRC, they first appeared in last season's semi-final second leg, when Abramovich, or whoever was in charge, wanted to create an atmosphere similar to that at Anfield on the previous two deciding legs in 2005 and 2007. They had failed to fill their allocation of seats at Anfield in the first leg, and there was a feeling that they needed to generate a more intimidating atmosphere to help win it.
Unlucky Monsieur Platini. Maybe next year eh?
Fuckin hell. I missed this gem live.
Reminds me of Seedorf's 100 mph screamer in Real Madrid though I think that one was about 10 or 15 yards farther out.
Reminds me of Seedorf's 100 mph screamer in Real Madrid though I think that one was about 10 or 15 yards farther out.
Third year in a row with 3 English teams in the SFs. If Chelsea knock out Barcelona then 7 of the last 10 finalists will have been English, and no English team will have been knocked out by foreign opposition for 2 years.
Even in the halcyon days of previous English, and then Italian and Spanish domination I can't remember anyone having it their own way this much.
Platini and Blatter will no doubt be spitting feathers. Look out for some hair-brained Blatter scheme to try and usurp us; "Anyone playing against English opposition automatically starts with a 2-0 headstart".....or some other such bollocks.
I had thought a Arsenal Vs Chelsea final, but now that United have edged through again I think it will be a repeat of last year's final again.
Even in the halcyon days of previous English, and then Italian and Spanish domination I can't remember anyone having it their own way this much.
Platini and Blatter will no doubt be spitting feathers. Look out for some hair-brained Blatter scheme to try and usurp us; "Anyone playing against English opposition automatically starts with a 2-0 headstart".....or some other such bollocks.
I had thought a Arsenal Vs Chelsea final, but now that United have edged through again I think it will be a repeat of last year's final again.
I don't buy that English teams, except Chelsea, are somehow so much richer than everyone else that nobody else has any good players. Foreign teams play a lot less games than us, too.
Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich etc all spend a lot of money on players yet they are out and Arsenal, who spend very little and often only take a small loss on their overall spending, are semi-finalists.
Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich etc all spend a lot of money on players yet they are out and Arsenal, who spend very little and often only take a small loss on their overall spending, are semi-finalists.
As crazy as that sounds, that isn't even far-fetched for Blatter. Although I think he only says stuff like that to distract from the real issues FIFA faces, especially corruption.Yes, the English clubs do have much more money than almost everyone else. But Porto is a better example - they really aren't that rich (in comparison), and yet the got very close to the Champion League finals again, I don't know how they do it.
Money doesn't equal success, but it's a prerequisite to success.
^And I still contend that Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan etc are not poor clubs and I'd bet their wage bills are all a lot higher than Arsenal's.
I'm sorry, but we did not have all of this trying to "fix" the game when Spanish or Italian teams were dominating. Money won't change the fact that Villarreal's defending last night was woeful and the worst of the bunch was a player who just last year received a winner's medal at Euro 2008.
The three English teams in the semi-finals deserve to be there, and if the fourth had put in a performance like they did on Tuesday night against pretty much anyone else they would have won.
I'm sorry, but we did not have all of this trying to "fix" the game when Spanish or Italian teams were dominating. Money won't change the fact that Villarreal's defending last night was woeful and the worst of the bunch was a player who just last year received a winner's medal at Euro 2008.
The three English teams in the semi-finals deserve to be there, and if the fourth had put in a performance like they did on Tuesday night against pretty much anyone else they would have won.
Did I ever say anything to the contrary?
No, but that's the overall impression I get from UEFA these days.
