'There is no doubt that luck plays a huge part in football at every level, or bad luck, which so often manifests itself in the shape of injuries. Chelsea have already been deprived of Arjen Robben, the dazzling Holland winger, whose absence has radically diminished the team. There seems, alas, the prospect that Damien Duff, the other splendid winger, may be forced out of the Barcelona game.
As we know, it took José Mourinho, for all his virtuosity, a little while to accept that wingers are essential to his team. After Tottenham Hotspur had forced a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge this season, he unfairly accused them of parking the team bus across the penalty box, as if visiting teams were morally obliged to give Chelsea space. Asked after Duff’s entry as substitute had given Chelsea width and menace, whether he would have started again with the team he first fielded, he predictably said no. Omniscience, however implicit, is part of the persona. Broadly speaking, like so many managers, for all his polyglot sophistication, he sees what he wants to.
At St James’ Park, his luck emphatically ran out.'
New Fanzine out Wednesday