27 February 2005.

Although it is the lowest cup competition in English football, the impact of this game is not low. Not because of the League Cup, but because the two teams that reached the League Cup final have a lot of attention in European football.

One is the Premier League nouveau riche, and the upstart that has stirred up European football.

From the nineties to the beginning of the twenty-first century, the transfer market in European football was mainly driven by Serie A and Premier League teams. Why Serie A has become a "mini World Cup", many people can cite a lot of reasons. But in the final analysis, there is actually one reason, and that is that Serie A spent money at that time.

The so-called seven sisters of Serie A have only one reason for their success, that is, their boss is rich, and their boss dares to spend money. It is because their owners are willing to spend money that they buy a whole bunch of good players. There is only one reason for the decline of the seven sisters of Serie A, that is, the boss is short of money, or the boss does not want to invest money. As a result, except for Juventus, Milan, and Inter, the other Serie A powerhouses are falling apart and their strength is declining rapidly. It can even only sell players to maintain daily expenses.

It's the same in the Premier League.

After the Heysel tragedy, English football was banned. When English football returned to European football, it was found that English football had fallen behind. Premier League teams are starting to develop again, what do they rely on to get back to the top of European football? It's all about money.

Starting from Blackburn Rovers in the early years, and later Manchester United, Chelsea, and Leeds United, none of them rose by waving money. Of course, the owner of Blackburn is addicted, and after Blackburn wins the Premier League title, he will no longer invest money. Leeds United is a typical example of addiction to death, now mixed up in the lower leagues, and is in danger of bankruptcy.

It wasn't until 2002 and 2003 that the European football transfer market began to become sluggish. It should be said that around 2003, the investment in the transfer market of Serie A and the Premier League slowly weakened, so that the investment in the entire European football world began to weaken.

If it weren't for Florentino becoming the president of Real Madrid, starting the superstar policy and stirring up the European football transfer market, the transfer market in European football would inevitably fall into a trough. And now the transfer market in European football has suddenly started to develop in a big way, and the reason is the arrival of Roman Abramovich.

When he arrived at Chelsea, he immediately energized the European football transfer market.

After all, he had just arrived at Chelsea and had spent €200 million in just two seasons. Real money flowed into the transfer market, which immediately stimulated the transfer market and made European football prosperous. The first to be stimulated were clubs that received huge transfer fees from Chelsea and immediately used the money to buy other players. This stimulates clubs that sell players, and they continue to buy players when they have money. Chelsea's €200 million transfer fee flowed into the transfer market, resulting in hundreds of millions of euros in transfers. This is the same result as in the financial market, when the central bank decides to increase the supply of base money, resulting in a large increase in liquid money.

Then the stimulated teams are the Premier League powerhouses.

After all, Chelsea spends a lot of money to improve its strength, of course, to stimulate the Premier League powerhouses. Even if they don't want to spend money, they have to spend it, or they will be suppressed by Chelsea. As a result, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Liverpool, who have always been stingy, have all started to spend money.

It has driven the Premier League transfer market and the European football transfer market. Coupled with Jose Mourinho, a young coach who has won the Champions League and is open-mouthed, has made Chelsea get a lot of attention. Since Roman Abramovich's arrival, Chelsea have quickly become one of the most talked-about clubs in European football.

Originally, if it was just that, this game would not have attracted so much attention. But Chelsea's opponent in this game was West Ham, so the game was immediately different. West Ham are the Premier League promoted team this season and are creating a miracle for the promoted team to win the title.

Both of these teams are currently the most talked-about teams in European football. As a result, the English League Cup final was attended by a lot of FIFA and UEFA officials, as well as a lot of European football celebrities, and a lot of stars.

The special guest was FIFA President Sepp Blatter. Blatter came to see a Carabao Cup match in person and met with players from both teams before the game.

In addition to Blatter, the president of the English Football Association, the president of the Premier League, and football legends from Chelsea and West Ham were all on hand. Of course, in addition to them, many big-name celebrity fans also came to the scene.

Chelsea fans, famous English playwright and actor Will Farrell, and 72-year-old Michael Kane, also came to the scene. Of course, West Ham don't look at the historical results, West Ham also has a lot of star fans.

It's not just England stars, but some Hollywood stars too. For example, the heroine of Pirates of the Caribbean, Keira Knightley, is a fan, and a West Ham fan. This time Chelsea and West Ham match, these stars also came a lot.

The stadium boxes at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff are heavily ordered by these people.

"This is the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and the upcoming match is the 0405 League Cup final. The match was played by London teams Chelsea and West Ham. I'm Mortenson and my partner is Gary Lineker. Katherine Jenkins finished singing the national anthem and began to leave the field, and the players from both sides began to shake hands with the referee. ”

In the League Cup final, the national anthem before the game was different from the usual game. This time it was Welsh soprano Katherine Jenkins singing the national anthem. After the national anthem was sung, the players from both sides began to shake hands.

Both sides are making final preparations. Odd books

"Let's take a look at the line-ups. Chelsea's starting line-up has changed little and their style of play remains the 4-3-3 style they are most familiar with. The goalkeeper is Cech, the backline is Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, Galla, the midfielders are Makelele, Jarosik, Lampard, the two wingers are Joe Cole, Duff, and the forward line is Drogba. ”

'West Ham are playing 4-4-2. The starting line-up was Edwin van der Sar, with Zim Bonda, Pepe, Southgate and Martin Antony at the back, Franck Ribery, Mascherano, Carrick and Arshavin in midfield and Lambert and Defoe up front. ”

"Gary, what do you think about the starting line-ups for both teams. ”

Mortenson asked Lineker.

Lineker looked at the starting lineup and immediately said: "Judging from the starting lineups of both sides, Chelsea continued the starting lineup from the game against Barcelona, and the only change was that Jarosik replaced Thiago. The starting line-up was also very much in line with Mourinho's usual style of play, with two midfielders plus a central midfielder, and a central striker and two wingers up front. Chelsea's 4-3-3 style of play is getting more mature and better. However, Chelsea's main players just finished a Champions League match in Barcelona three days ago, and the turmoil after the game was so big, I don't know if it will affect this game. ”

'As for West Ham's starting line-up, it was very different from what we expected. Originally, we thought West Ham would play with a back three, or a midfield three. However, West Ham fielded a very strong attacking line-up in this game. Lambert, Defoe, Ribery, and Arshavin are all on the field, making it really elusive what Coach Chen Ping thinks. What is more advantageous on West Ham's side is that West Ham's main players have rested for more than a week and are very full of energy. ”

Lineker analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of both sides.

In particular, Chelsea have just finished the knockout round of the Champions League, and two important games in three days are a huge test for Chelsea's main squad. In contrast, West Ham's main players rested for a long time. The first two League Cup knockout rounds were played by substitute players.

Mortenson immediately replied: "It's true that West Ham's starting line-up is completely different from what everyone expected. There is speculation that West Ham should be the same as Liverpool, fighting Chelsea for control of the midfield. But I didn't expect West Ham to put on an attacking lineup. Could it be that Coach Chen Ping is going to destroy Chelsea's defence with an attack in this game?"

West Ham's attacking style of play against weak teams, not to mention Mortensen and Lineker, they didn't expect it, and even Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho didn't expect it.

Jose Mourinho watched the West Ham and Liverpool match carefully.

The evaluation of Chen Ping is still very high. Chen Ping is very clever in covering up West Ham's weaknesses, and he is also clear about Liverpool's weaknesses. The two semi-finals with Liverpool were very dull, and I don't know how much I was criticized. But Mourinho thinks the game is very valuable.

So it's ready for a tough game.

But what is this?

In Mourinho's view, in the face of Chelsea, which is currently in great form, West Ham should be the same as Liverpool, sending the strongest midfielder to limit Chelsea's midfield. But what does that mean now?

Therefore, Mourinho couldn't help but look at Chen Ping, who was standing not far away.

Chen Ping stood there with a relaxed expression, not knowing what to say to the West Ham coach next to him. Mourinho turned his head and ignored Chen Ping, but continued to think about the game. Jose Mourinho actually liked West Ham's starting line-up.

Assault your opponent?

It's not what Mourinho does best. Jose Mourinho's favourite thing is for his opponent to come out and attack, and then Mourinho's side fight back. Defensively, on the counter-attack, Mourinho has a lot of options.

Mourinho is not afraid that you will come out, he is afraid that you will not come out.

If West Ham are the same as Liverpool, then it will be very difficult for Chelsea to find the back of the net against West Ham. Now West Ham have a starting line-up like this, which is good for Chelsea.

Because it was the League Cup final, there were a lot of activities before the game.

By the time these events were over, both players had confirmed their halfs.

"Doot-doo-"

With the referee's whistle, the League Cup final of the 0405 season officially began. ”