Jose come back and Martin who – Juande are you a genius and Avram are you a Muppet…A tale of four managers was played out at Wembley Stadium as the seasons first piece of silverware, the Carling Cup, was up for grabs on Sunday.

 

At the end of 120 absorbing and at times pulsating minutes, Tottenham won their first trophy since the 1999 League Cup and I was left with four questions.

 

1. What would Jose Mourinho have done?
2. Would Martin Jol even have been there?
3. Is Juande Ramos a Cup specialist?
4. Has Avram Grant been found out?

 

1. Jose Mourinho has been to seven Cup finals as a manager of FC Porto and Chelsea. His record is played seven, won seven. The reason for this success was a single-mindedness to win the trophy regardless of players and his relationship to them. If he had been coaching Chelsea on Sunday with a one goal lead and twenty minutes left to play the Blues would’ve won their third League Cup in four years. He would’ve made his team feel like giants instead they looked like mere mortals.
2. ‘Mr. Dead Man Walking’ himself, Martin Jol must be experiencing conflicting emotions. The team that ran out onto Wembley was pretty much his bar for Jonathan Woodgate and Alan Hutton. The likes of Dimitar Berbatov, Ledley King and Robbie Keane could only get the Dutchman fifth in the Premiership though and for a traditional cup team like Spurs, finals were nothing but a distant dream. The answer has to be No.
3. In two-and-a-half seasons of Spanish and English football, Juande Ramos has won six, I repeat six trophies and every one of them has been a Cup competition. Two UEFA Cups, the UEFA Sup Cup, The Copa Del Rey, the Spanish Super Cup and now the Carling Cup. If that’s not a Cup specialist I don’t know what is. Perhaps it’s some Spanish trait that us English don’t know about - just look at Rafa Benitez at Liverpool. Whatever the answer is, Ramos has beaten in successive cup matches, Arsenal and Chelsea. Prior to this, Spurs combined record versus these two clubs in all competitions was a paltry six wins in their last 74 attempts. Genius or Cup specialist – you decide.
4. Avram Grant inherited a squad with experience, talent and know-how. Avram Grant inherited possibly the best squad in the world. Avram Grant has lost the three big games where coaching matters. He has lost to United and Arsenal in the Premier League derailing their hopes of regaining the title and now he’s lost in his first final. Why play Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka together when they’ve never worked together before. Does Anelka look like a wide man – no? Why leave Michael Ballack rotting on the bench for 88 minutes when Frank Lampard is having his usual Wembley stinker and replace Michael Essien. Why didn’t you start with Joe Cole, Chelsea’s most effective player all season? Avram Grant, you have been found out.

 

At the end of the day though the final question should be…’Did Tottenham deserve to win the Carling Cup’

 

The answer is a resounding YES.

 

From the opening whistle they played like they believed that this was going to be their day. So often in Cup Finals we see a cagey start but not this time as Spurs tore into Chelsea. I thought that Didier Zakora was excellent and completely over shadowed his like-for-like opponent John Obi Mikel. Woodgate and King were tremendous when Chelsea finally started exerting some pressure and I’m delighted for Paul Robinson. The Spurs keeper has been slaughtered recently for some terrible performances and rightly so however Ramos believed in him after a lengthy eleven matches out and was repaid with super saves from Cole and Salomon Kalou. Keane was commitment personified and have you ever seen a cooler penalty at Wembley as Berbatov sent the Petr Cech the wrong way for the equalizer. For Woodgate to then pop up in only his fourth Tottenham game to score the winner was pure fantasy.

 

Chelsea huffed, puffed and tried to squeeze the life out of the game but Spurs wouldn’t let them. If I’m honest the only time they looked like a Mourinho team was at the final whistle when they surrounded referee Mark Halsey. What a bunch of babies – you lost…deal with it and go home to West London.

 

Over in North London, Juande Ramos has the backing of the Spurs board and cash to play with. His Iberian counterpart, Jose Mourinho, used the Carling Cup as the springboard to further Chelsea success perhaps Tottenham can now have the belief to challenge the ‘big four’.

 

Until then, get the beers in.

The English Premier League super scheduling computer often throws up mouthwatering match-ups but rarely has it allowed the ‘fantastic four’ Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal or more appropriately the managers Jose Mourinho, Rafa Benitez, Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger to collide on the same day with so much at stake.

With the phrase ‘must win’ being tossed around like dice at a Las Vegas craps table for the Gunners and the Reds in their respective road trips to Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge, you knew that goals would be at a premium – however pride, power and passion, the intangibles of football would be the key factors and so it proved in 180 minutes of compelling, absorbing and utterly fascinating Sunday morning action.

With the smoke now clearing the battlefield it’s time to evaluate the performances and what it all means to the managers of the ‘FF’.

Chelsea & Jose Mourinho

Much was made of the ‘handshake’ row between Mourinho and Benitez before the start of this contest in the hopes of ####ing it up to Tabasco proportions – not that it needed it. My own view is that it’s a football match not an arm wrestling contest and thankfully that antagonism was put to rest in the tunnel between the two managers.

As for the Blues display it was typical Mourinho football and he summed it up perfectly in his post match comments. "Sometimes if you win with just quality, playing fantastic and scoring a lot of goals you can feel you are a great team. But you need these matches where you feel you are a team ready to fight. My players were very brave and the team fought very hard."

There was no doubt about the fight in Chelsea’s play as they had to compete for 40 minutes while playing a man down after Michael Ballack departed the pitch after a nasty and spiteful challenge on Mohammed Sissoko. With John Terry and Ricardo Carvallho  marshalling the back four in the most dominating central pairing in the Premiership, it was always going to be a long day for the visitors. The fact they didn’t create as many quality chances as Liverpool will not rankle the ‘Special One’ either especially if Didier Drogba can keep finding the net in spectacular fashion. His 41st minute strike was a goal worthy of the occasion and a fitting way to decide the destination of the points.

Liverpool & Rafa Benitez

Benitez has an abundance of riches at his disposal for the 1st time in his Anfield reign and that is his problem at the moment. I believe he doesn’t yet know who his best XI is yet. Leaving the red hot Peter Crouch on the bench seemed a waste and slap in the face to a man who is in the best form of his career while Chelsea killer, Luis Garcia didn’t even make the trip to London.

“I think that we deserved more because we created clear chances but at the end you need to score to win” he said, obviously not looking in Crouch’s direction. 
An eight point gap has now opened up between the two teams however Benitez isn’t being trapped into pushing the panic button just yet. "We need to think about the next game (Newcastle). It's a long race and the most important thing is that the team is improving. If we can win the next three points we will be closer and we will see what happens”, he said. If they don’t get the maximum against the Magpies on Wednesday that finger will start looking for that button.

Manchester United & Sir Alex Ferguson

If there is one thing in life Sir Alex Ferguson loves doing it’s beating Arsenal and in particular Arsene Wenger - their psychological battles over the years have been legendary. With Chelsea now in ascendance though the spotlight has been off the two competitors in recent seasons, however that hasn’t stopped Fergie owning the Frenchman in the Premiership in their last eight meetings.

With the chance to all but cosign Arsenal to also-rans this season the Red Devils fluffed it big time. Previous defeats of this nature have seen the Scotsman blame all and sundry and true to form he pointed to the exertions of Wednesday nights Champions League game against Celtic as the culprit for a flat performance. “With the emotions of it and the pace of the match, it was a real Scotland-England type of match with that type of tempo. It was end to end all night and that's without question one of the things I have to look at. Today we lost momentum in the second half when we stopped passing forward, and that was a sign of tiredness. It was the second-half that disappointed me. We tired as a team in the last 20 minutes.”

Perhaps Sir Alex should look to the fact that Arsenal was the first real side his club has played this year and that maybe the 100% start was a little smoke and mirrors. United is still a team in transition despite the addition of Michael Carrick who surprisingly didn’t start and was instead replaced by the limited John O’Shea. Wayne Rooney is still not match fit while the central pairing of Wes Brown and Rio Ferdinand does not fill me with any confidence.
With three relatively easy fixtures before the visit of Liverpool on October 22nd there is enough time for the Scotsman who recently stated his desire to stay at the helm for another two years to get the machine humming to the right tune.

Arsenal & Arsene Wenger

Arsene Wenger attempted to play down the importance of this match but even he would’ve been aware that if Arsenal had lost, the gap between them and United would’ve been a massive and insurmountable 13 points – but in epic fashion they did the unthinkable.

One can’t help but think that this Arsenal team is a club in transition and not capable of mounting a serious challenge for the title this season however Wenger believes differently, “transition is a word you don't want, we want to win the championship. I said it before the game and I say again afterwards this team has great potential and spirit as they have shown again today and I strongly believe in the ability of the players and the team.”

Without their talisman, Thierry Henry, I thought that the Gunners would be very lucky to escape with a point but they outplayed and outfought United in every department playing Arsenal football. It was fast, lively, and attractive and more importantly disciplined defensively – no doubt the result of the season to date.

Over the course of these two matches the ‘FF’ will have learnt more about the character of their new look teams and I’m sure come the dog days of January they’ll all be at their familiar places in the table.

Until then, get the beers in.