Telegraph:

Woodgate winner signals Spurs' new dawn
By Henry Winter at Wembley Stadium

Tottenham Hotspur 2 Chelsea 1
Aet 1-1

Jonathan Woodgate should be able to climb on to the London property
ladder now. In the house of the rising sums, the £757 million Wembley
residence that is the symbol of an exorbitant market that has so
shocked Woodgate, the new arrival from Middlesbrough surely earned the
deposit for a 'des res' in the capital.

Having surprised many with his comments about how even wealthy
footballers found London expensive, Woodgate will not be short of
offers of spare rooms in the Tottenham area. Goals pay the rent and
match-winning headers like Woodgate's are priceless.

To Woodgate the spoils, to Avram Grant the brickbats. Like a
profligate heir, Grant has now squandered half the family silver he
inherited from Jose Mourinho. Like a startled fawn, Chelsea's manager
failed to react when the team cried out for guidance, for inspiration.
Steve Clarke delivered the rallying cry before extra-time. Grant
listened.

A manager who never lost a cup final in England, Mourinho would have
raged against the dying of the light, exhorting his players to find
something extra, enacting one of his substitute master-strokes to vary
Chelsea's danger. The Blues' huge army of support, who became so used
to trophies under Mourinho, deserve better than Grant.

An authority figure? No chance. When Michael Ballack, Didier Drogba,
Petr Cech and John Terry lost it with the excellent referee, Mark
Halsey, at the final whistle, Grant froze again.

Only a timely run from his assistant, Henk Ten Cate, defused the
tension. For all the recent eulogies to Grant about his being a
high-class manager, even a worthy successor to Mourinho, the
Far-From-Special One has faltered when the pressure has been most
intense. Grant's decision to start Frank Lampard ahead of the fitter
Michael Ballack certainly backfired. Lampard is a magnificent
thoroughbred, but he needed a few more runs on the gallops before such
a demanding race as this.

Grant's tactics were patently flawed. It is hard to believe Nicolas
Anelka joined from Bolton simply to mark Alan Hutton, the Spurs
right-back. Anelka is an exceptional attacking talent, capable of
destroying opposing defences when unleashed through the middle but he
was allowed to support Drogba properly only after Spurs made it 2-1.
Juande Ramos promptly introduced another defensive sentry in Younes
Kaboul to help weather the long-ball storm.

With the quality of personnel at his disposal, Grant should be
reaching finals. So he has failed his first big test. He was also
asked by Roman Abramovich to make Chelsea more entertaining but there
is a joylessness about Grant's teams, a machine-like quality that will
never endear Chelsea to neutrals or purists.

Unlike Spurs. Yesterday was a fabulous day for football, one that
those onlookers whose pulses are quickened by vibrant attacking should
mark in their diaries and celebrate every year. Spurs, the team with
the more constructive intentions, went home rewarded with the ultimate
in footballing 'bling', winners' medals dangling around their necks.
The players who finished with champagne poured over their
sweat-stained features were entertainers like Jermaine Jenas, Aaron
Lennon, Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov. Good. Here was football in
keeping with the Tottenham tradition, that Bill Nicholson would have
approved of, that Glenn Hoddle, Ossie Ardiles and Danny Blanchflower,
would recognise. Until the final passage of play, when even the
back-tracking Berbatov proved you can be famous defensively for 15
minutes, Spurs brimmed with attacking desire.

Even Ramos' defenders exuded adventure at times. Hutton looked to give
Spurs some much-needed width. Ledley King, comfortably the man of the
match for a series of immaculate interceptions, also stepped into
midfield. Woodgate scored. Pascal Chimbonda clipped the bar with an
early header.

Enterprise ruled. Anchorman Didier Zokora also moved to an upbeat
tempo, although the club should write into his contract that he must
lay the ball off the moment he crosses halfway. Some of Zokora's
shooting was a danger to traffic on the North Circular. Yet his
willingness to race between boxes encapsulated the reality that Spurs
wanted victory more. So did the tears cascading down Keane's face. The
chants emanating from the Spurs faithful were almost visceral in their
intensity. One club, one hunger. Spurs craved this chance to escape
the shadows of Arsenal and Chelsea lengthening across the London
skyline.

The reasons to be cheerful here contained additional verses. Sharing
the silverware around is healthy for football. For those who admire
Paul Robinson as a person and as a keeper, who respect the
professional way he has focused on rebuilding his career after
setbacks for club and country, the sight of him making some fine saves
was uplifting

But when Chelsea took the lead seven minutes from half-time,
exploiting Robinson's solitary mistake, romantics and Spurs lovers
feared the worst. As cleverly as Drogba disguised his intentions, as
swiftly as he placed the ball around the wall, the goal could have
been prevented. Keane leapt across, unintentionally freeing up some
space for the ball to carry through. Robinson also went to his right,
and was caught flat-footed as Drogba's strike curled into the other
corner: 1-0.

Spurs players, thrillingly, were certainly prepared to stand up and be
counted. Tom Huddlestone arrived to bring better distribution into
midfield. Chimbonda, shamefully, walked slowly off and disappeared
straight down the tunnel. When Chimbonda learned the English language,
he must have missed the lesson teaching words like loyalty, team-work
and grace.

With Malbanque now left-back, Ramos' change worked. Lennon sprang to
life, running at Chelsea's defence far more potently. Cutting in from
the left after 70 minutes, Lennon lifted the ball across to
Huddlestone. In a whirl of limbs, Wayne Bridge handled, his offence
spotted by the alert linesman, Martin Yerby. Terry ranted away but
Halsey was not for turning. And Berbatov was not for failing. The
Bulgarian seems to play the game at his own speed, and this penalty
was no exception. Berbatov moved in slowly, waiting for Cech to commit
himself, and then sweeping the dead-ball the other side: 1-1.

Zokora should really have settled the final during normal time, but
never exuded confidence when released through by Keane, allowing Cech
to save superbly. Zokora, following up waywardly, accidentally caught
the keeper, who required smelling salts.

Whether Cech was still groggy four minutes into the additional period
remains a matter of conjecture. What is certain is that one of the
world's most respected keepers was strangely uncertain as Jenas'
free-kick swerved across. Cech was beaten by Woodgate, whose eventual
house-warming promises to be some party.

Man of the match
Jonatahan Woodgate (Tottenham)
• 3 shots, one winning goal
• 89 per cent pass accuracy

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The Times
February 25, 2008

Jonathan Woodgate displays a nose for success
Tottenham 2 Chelsea 1 (aet: 1-1 after 90min)

Martin Samuel, Chief Football Correspondent, at Wembley

Jonathan Woodgate may not be able to find a house in London, but he
will always have a home at Wembley after this. A winning goal in extra
time to deliver the first trophy for Tottenham Hotspur this century
should ensure that next time he searches for accommodation in the
capital, the northern suburbs hold particular appeal.

Woodgate was widely ridiculed last week for complaining that London
property prices were exorbitant, even on £65,000 a week, so his estate
agent will be hoping that he is also eligible for a trophy, a win or
at least a goal bonus, having seen his client qualify for all three in
one match.

Woodgate was slightly lucky to score in the third minute of extra time
yesterday, the final touch that sent the ball into Chelsea's net
coming off his nose rather than his forehead, but it was no more than
Tottenham deserved, having been considerably the better side for
almost all of the 120 minutes. Even Chelsea's first-half lead came
against the run of play.

If this was a triumph for Woodgate, Tottenham and Juande Ramos, their
head coach – who has been at White Hart Lane less than four months –
it was a catastrophe for Chelsea's regime under Avram Grant. There was
nothing to suggest that Grant has advanced the club one iota since the
departure of José Mourinho, who, Chelsea fans will recall, never lost
a final in three seasons. Grant's team bore more than a passing
resemblance to the one that got Mourinho the sack in September. They
played dull, direct football, with their most inventive player, Joe
Cole, stranded on the sidelines. And they lost. This is what happens
when an owner phones a friend instead of a manager with vision, which
is what Tottenham sought once it had been decided that Martin Jol was
not the man for the job.

In Ramos, they have secured an experienced coach at the peak of his
powers, and with a place in the last 16 of the Uefa Cup already safe –
albeit with a difficult tie against PSV Eindhoven, the best team in
the Netherlands to come next month – who knows what will have been
achieved by the end of his first season?

Tottenham are the most improved team in the country under his
stewardship and on this evidence will clearly be stalking the top four
next season.

They snuffed out Chelsea defensively and overran them in midfield, and
it was only in the final 15 minutes that Grant's players came to life.
Between Didier Drogba's goal in the 38th minute and a free kick from
an acute angle by Frank Lampard nine minutes into injury time, Chelsea
offered nothing. As Drogba's goal was a dead ball, too, in terms of
memorable chances from open play, Chelsea had none between the 22nd
second of the match proper, when Juliano Belletti had a shot
deflected, and the 112th minute when Paul Robinson, the Tottenham
goalkeeper, saved at the feet of Salomon Kalou, a substitute.

Not that the situation in Chelsea's goalmouth was exactly a siege, but
Tottenham demonstrated greater ambition, created better chances and
could have wrapped the game up without the additional 30 minutes had
Didier Zokora not missed the chance of the game with ten minutes
remaining, when set clear by Robbie Keane. With Chelsea's defence
horribly square, Zokora had only Petr Cech, the goalkeeper, to beat,
but his hesitation belied a man gripped by fear and he blasted the
ball directly at Cech, striking him in the face before sending the
rebound soaring high and wide.

At other times, there were opportunities for Pascal Chimbonda, Dimitar
Berbatov twice, Woodgate and Steed Malbranque. Cech was called into
action on three occasions while, at the other end, Robinson, who is
plainly still vulnerable after a traumatic season, was scarcely
troubled. Had Chelsea demonstrated more purpose, it could have been
interesting because, despite good reaction saves, there was frailty in
the performance of the England man. There is a trend to pick at every
goal Robinson concedes, yet questions deserve to be asked about the
way Chelsea took the lead.

Zokora fouled Drogba roughly 20 yards out, but the sight of goal he
was given from the free kick was laughable. Keane tucked in on the end
of the wall as the kick was being taken, leaving Robinson's left side
exposed, and the goalkeeper had positioned himself behind his wall,
which seemed bizarre. The result was a huge unguarded target and
Drogba could as good as side-foot the ball into the net, with power,
and did. There followed a dismal passage of play in which Chelsea were
content to bore their way to victory and Tottenham appeared incapable
of stopping them, until Wayne Bridge, the defender, handed them a
lifeline.

Bridge, whose previous start at Wembley was a dismal performance in
the European Championship qualifying group defeat by Croatia, did not
so much stop the ball with his hands in the 68th minute as juggle it
in a tussle with Tom Huddlestone and the resulting penalty was
feathered to Cech's right by Berbatov, a fine display of bravado that
gave Tottenham deserved equality. Still, Chelsea did not awake from
slumber and when Woodgate won the game in the 93rd minute, the
pleasure was not so much in seeing one of the elite cartel vanquished,
but of justice being done.

Jermaine Jenas slung a deep free kick into the penalty area, Woodgate
lost his marker, Belletti, and got to the ball before the advancing
Cech. His header struck the goalkeeper, but it rebounded, hit Woodgate
and dropped into the Chelsea net. By the time Chelsea became alert to
the crisis, it was too late. Joe Cole was introduced in the 98th
minute and made a difference, but Chelsea's frantic urgency was in
stark contrast to the somnambulant performance that had gone before.

At the end, John Terry and Drogba had to be pulled away from Mark
Halsey, the referee, claiming that he had blown the final whistle with
Chelsea on the attack through Kalou. The point was moot. Chelsea had
two hours to do that and chose not to; anyway, Kalou's shot hit a
post.

No worthier was Chimbonda, the Tottenham defender, who went down the
tunnel in a huff having been substituted in the 60th minute for
Huddlestone. He returned for the celebrations after the final whistle,
as if team spirit can be switched on and off like a tap, an
incongruous William Gallas figure on a day of celebration.

Referee M Halsey

Attendance 87,660

Petr Cech 6

Having come for free kick that led to second goal, should have made
sure he took the ball.

Juliano Belletti 5

Uncertain and slipshod, easily beaten three times early on. Offered
nothing going forward.

Ricardo Carvalho 5

Hesitation and uncertainty led to some confusion with his partner at
centre back.

John Terry 6

Strong and resolute but showed signs of rustiness after an extended period out.

Wayne Bridge 6

Allowed Lennon little space but handled to give away the equalising penalty.

Frank Lampard 5

Largely quiet. On his only opportunity to drive forward from midfield,
blazed over.

Michael Essien 6

Superb pass late on to Drogba. Was his usual bossy, imposing self in midfield.

John Obi Mikel 5

Powerful but not very mobile, influential or adventurous. Booked for a
block on Jenas.

Shaun Wright-Phillips 5

One low cross apart, was as anonymous and uninventive as his teammates.

Didier Drogba 6

Rarely escaped the shackles of Woodgate, though scored from direct free kick.

Nicolas Anelka 5

Looked anonymous and lost on left wing. Subdued even when he moved to centre.

Substitutes S Kalou (for Wright-Phillips, 72min), M Ballack (for
Essien, 88), J Cole (for Obi Mikel, 99).

Not used: C Cudicini, Alex.

Booked: Mikel, Carvalho, Cech.

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Indy:

Chelsea 1 Tottenham Hotspur 2 : Woodgate flies high as Spurs' new
regime dares to conquer

By Sam Wallace
Monday, 25 February 2008


The wonder of Juande. It has taken Tottenham's new manager just four
months to end his club's nine-year wait for a trophy but for Spurs
yesterday at Wembley it was about a whole lot more than just winning
the Carling Cup.

This was the proof that Spurs, and their inspired manager Juande
Ramos, can do more than just mix it with the big beasts of the Premier
League. They can conquer them too.

The Football League's cheap fizzy lager trophy served up another
champagne English cup final yesterday, in every one of the tense 120
minutes, that was decided by Jonathan Woodgate's winner in the first
half of extra time. But it meant so much more to Spurs, because this
was not the Arsenal kids or a half-interested Manchester United they
beat, it was the full might of Chelsea. Ramos was tactically perfect
and his players delivered in style.

For his Chelsea counterpart, Avram Grant, this was the defeat that not
even his relative success in the Premier League will erase quickly.
Tactically, he was slower to react than Ramos, even once Didier Drogba
had given Chelsea a first-half lead, although this was no ordinary
Chelsea performance. Frank Lampard was outstanding, John Terry too.
Chelsea had the players to win but their formation was fundamentally
ill conceived. Stuck out on the left wing, Nicolas Anelka was
anonymous.

Grant deferred to Steve Clarke for the team talk after full-time and
scratched his head while Terry did the same 15 minutes later – this
was not the Israeli's finest hour. For Ramos, however, it was business
as usual – this was the former Seville manager's sixth knockout trophy
in the space of 21 months. Six minutes before Dimitar Berbatov's
penalty brought Spurs back into the game, their manager made the
switch that changed his team and, ultimately, the course of the game.

Audere est Facere as they say at White Hart Lane – or, to your average
bloke on the Tottenham High Road, "To dare is to do". Yesterday Ramos
took the old club motto literally. With a two-man attack of Robbie
Keane and Berbatov it was the Spurs' manager's triumph of belief that
his team could take the game to Chelsea. As the club's owner, Roman
Abramovich, will have learnt yesterday, £578m buys a lot, but it does
not necessarily include the courage to make difficult decisions in
critical moments.

Never in recent memory has the Carling Cup made a group of supporters
so absurdly happy as it did Tottenham's yesterday. This, they had to
hope, was the start of something new and exciting even if their team,
at times, took them to the brink of all that they could bear. His knee
may be giving way beneath him but Ledley King, back for the first time
since the Arsenal semi-final second leg, was commanding. Woodgate too.
And Jermaine Jenas looked as much like an international midfielder as
Lampard or Michael Essien.

But this final will be remembered for the change Ramos made after the
hour that turned the game. His team were a goal down to Chelsea and it
had reached the stage when the ruthless blue machine looked liable to
squeeze the life from Spurs and close out the match in that
remorseless style of theirs. Ramos summoned Tom Huddlestone from the
bench, moved Steed Malbranque to left-back and switched Aaron Lennon
to the left where he at last came alive.

The man to depart was Pascal Chimbonda, who proved himself again to be
a charmless character by stalking straight down the tunnel. No prizes
for guessing who was at the centre of the celebrations come the end of
the game.

The substitution gave Tottenham fresh impetus, Lennon took the right
side of Chelsea's defence by storm and Huddlestone won them a penalty.
Grant froze. By the time he did the smart thing – got Joe Cole on and
switched to 4-4-2 – his team were a goal behind and losing the battle.

The opening 30 minutes were cagey, but Spurs looked the more
ambitious. Chimbonda's header struck the bar before Drogba's goal six
minutes before half-time set them the sternest of challenges. The man
at fault when Drogba stroked home a free-kick from 25 yards? Paul
Robinson once again. The reinstated Tottenham goalkeeper made some
heroic saves in the closing stages but again the lingering fear was
that when it comes to the basic principles of goalkeeping he makes
basic mistakes.

With Fabio Capello in the stands, Robinson was positioned directly
behind the defensive wall with no sight of the kick Drogba struck with
his instep to curl the ball into the bottom left-hand corner of Spurs'
goal. It felt like the softest of goals to give away and the
powerhouses in the centre of Chelsea's midfield were beginning to tell
on Jenas and Didier Zokora until Ramos made his crucial changes just
after the hour. Then Spurs were unleashed.

Moments before Spurs' equaliser, a saving challenge by King on Anelka
after Lampard played him in kept the game alive. Then, from the left,
Lennon hit a cross toward the far side of the area where Huddlestone
and Wayne Bridge contested the ball at chest height. Trapped between
the two players the ball ricocheted off both but, critically, struck
Bridge on the arm. The referee, Mark Halsey, relied on the judgement
of the linesman Martin Yerby, who called it correctly.

Berbatov put the penalty away without blinking. Nine minutes left and
Tottenham broke clean through on Chelsea's goal – a shame for their
fans it was Zokora in possession. His first shot was saved by Petr
Cech, he struck the rebound wide and it seemed that with that chance
Spurs' opportunity to win had been squandered.

Instead their moment came four minutes into extra time. Jenas struck a
free-kick from the left and Woodgate arrived before Cech to head the
ball – it cannoned off the Chelsea goalkeeper, back off the defender's
head and in. Spurs held on and when the dust settled it was not Grant
who was emulating Jose Mourinho's first trophy victory in 2005. It was
Ramos.

Goals: Drogba (39) 1-0; Berbatov pen (70) 1-1; Woodgate (94) 1-2

Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Belletti, Carvalho, Terry, Bridge; Mikel (J
Cole, 99); Wright-Phillips (Kalou, 72), Essien (Ballack, 88), Lampard,
Anelka; Drogba. Substitutes not used: Cudicini (gk), Alex.

Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2): Robinson; Hutton, Woodgate, King, Chimbonda
(Huddlestone, 62); Lennon, Jenas, Zokora, Malbranque (Tanio, 75);
Keane (Kaboul, 103), Berbatov. Substitutes not used: Cerny (gk), Bent.

Referee: M Halsey (Lancashire).

Booked: Chelsea: Mikel, Carvalho Tottenham: Zokora, Tainio, Lennon, Jenas.

Attendance: 87,660.

Ramos reigns in cup competitions

Juande Ramos has added to his run of success in cup competitions.
Since joining Seville in 2005, he has picked up a remarkable haul of
silverware – winning the Uefa Cup twice, the Copa del Rey, the
European Super Cup and the Spanish Super Cup, and now the Carling Cup
with Tottenham.

Man of the match

Jermaine Jenas just edges out Ledley King because the midfielder held
his own despite the extra man in the Chelsea midfield. Just got
stronger and stronger and kept his side ticking over.

....

Grant's silence is deafening as Ramos outwits 'Puzzled One'
By Jason Burt at Wembley
Monday, 25 February 2008


A figure in the background until earlier this season, Avram Grant was
once again a marginal presence yesterday. It was not just that the
Chelsea manager was outwitted, out-thought and eventually beaten by
his more seasoned and undeniably astute opponent, Juande Ramos, it is
just that he simply did not cut it on the sidelines.

Images from this Cup final will include the sight of Paul Robinson
rooted to the spot as Didier Drogba gave Spurs the lead. Then there
was the panic in Wayne Bridge's eyes as he handled to concede the
equalising penalty and the determination in Jonathan Woodgate's as he
attacked the ball to head the winner.

But there was also the vision of Grant, during the brief break before
the vital final 15 minutes of extratime, with his team losing,
scratching his head, walking behind John Terry as the captain
suspiciously appeared to be giving the last team-talk. It wasn't just
then. Before extra-time started Grant had also appeared silent, and a
little bemused, as his assistant, Steve Clarke, geed up the players in
their huddle.

Too much can be read into such moments but it didn't appear to be the
case yesterday. By the side of the pitch Grant stood, almost
motionless, hunched, while Ramos issued detailed, precise
instructions. He's not Jose Mourinho – and in many ways that's a
compliment – but he is certainly not the Special One either. The
Silent One? Exactly.

Fortune should favour the brave rather than just those backed with an
outrageous fortune and, for Spurs, it did. Their victory was founded
on a willingness of their coach to make changes, and of his players to
quickly adapt – Chelsea's defeat was rooted in the failure of theirs
to do so.

A contest in which the Cup holders' power and strength appeared, for a
while, undeniable was lost.

It will be an indictment of Grant who, still, and despite the
formidable statistical record he has accumulated during his so far
brief improbable time in charge of Chelsea, has not won any of the big
games that he has overseen. Defeats to Manchester United and Arsenal
in the Premier League, and a draw at home to Liverpool, were results
in which Grant could find mitigation. There was none yesterday.
Mourinho's reign found this competition to be the springboard. Grant
lined up on the edge of the board – and slipped off.

In bringing back Terry and Frank Lampard, Grant did what every Chelsea
fan will have regarded as the sane thing. He didn't intend to do so
earlier in the week but there are, once again, matters afoot at
Stamford Bridge. Pressure has been exerted from some quarters, whether
from the players or above, and the manager's plans were altered.

Prior to kick-off, rumour had circulated around the stadium just as
vigorously as the waving of the club flags that had been lain on seats
for that purpose. Not that either captain or vice-captain were at
fault. Indeed they were, probably, Chelsea's best performers but there
was just that feeling that the balance of the team had been tipped and
Michael Ballack, in particular, cut a disgruntled, disenchanted
presence as did Joe Cole. The exclusion of the latter, in particular,
was an indictment while the deployment of Nicolas Anelka, down one
flank and then the other, was unfathomable. Chelsea were turgid.

It is far too early to read the rites on Grant's regime but this is
Chelsea. Murmurings have already started that this may be the single
season that he is in charge, having calmed the hysteria around
Mourinho, before he is asked to return to the job he used to do – in
the shadows.
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Tottenham's triumph of tactics leaves bruised Chelsea seeing stars

Kevin McCarra
Monday February 25, 2008
The Guardian

Some victories are worth more than the trophy itself. Tottenham
Hotspur went against the standard operating procedure of English
football by coming from behind to beat the supposedly implacable
Chelsea. The losers have much left to play for in the Champions
League, FA Cup and, just conceivably, the Premier League but no one in
their camp felt last night that the Carling Cup was a cheap trinket
dangling meaninglessly from the fixture list.

This game, with its half-hour of extra-time, lasted so long that it
took on an obsessive power for both teams. The winner in the 94th
minute, from Jonathan Woodgate, came through a mistake by the Chelsea
goalkeeper, Petr Cech, but the result itself was no accident and
Tottenham earned their first trophy in nine years. They had spells,
particularly in pursuit of the equaliser, which embodied a brightness
and excitement beyond the reach of these deposed holders.
In knockout football, Juande Ramos generally ensures that it is the
opposition who wind up seeing stars. The Tottenham manager understands
how to stifle a game but here he showed how he can let talent breathe.
Chelsea, who had Avram Grant in charge for a first final with them,
did not cope with the critical passage, at the start of the second
half.

Aaron Lennon, switched to the left, then preyed on Juliano Belletti, a
full-back yearning to be a winger. Once Jermaine Jenas had hustled
Michael Essien into losing possession, Lennon crossed deep and Wayne
Bridge, harassed by the substitute Tom Huddlestone, handled the ball.
The assistant referee signalled for the offence and, despite Chelsea
claims that the contact had been accidental, a penalty was awarded by
Mark Halsey. Dimitar Berbatov slotted it away with haughty
indifference to mere goalkeepers at spot-kicks.

Tottenham did not swan off with the trophy and there were grinding
spells, but Ramos got many decisions right here. The introduction of
Huddlestone for Pascal Chimbonda was one aspect of a facility with
substitutions. Once the match is over, tactical acumen often looks
like little more than an exercise in common sense, but these
alterations have to be contemplated under a pressure that can warp a
lesser person's judgment.

By the close Ramos had made Tottenham as iron-clad as he could.
Mindful of the fitness concerns over the captain Ledley King, who was
appearing for the first time in a month, he had sent on Younes Kaboul
as an additional centre-half. The practicality, ironically, was
redolent of the modern Chelsea and in some ways the victors stole
their opponents' clothes. Tottenham were the ones who persevered to
get themselves in front and then declined to be overhauled.

The winner, it must be agreed, was absurd. Four minutes into
extra-time, Jenas sent in a free-kick from the left which brushed past
his team-mate Woodgate, only for Cech to punch the ball against the
defender's face, from where it bounced into the net.

The Chelsea goalkeeper has suffered more accidents of late than he did
formerly, but it was also he who had promised for a while to frustrate
Tottenham. When Robbie Keane, for instance, sent Didier Zokora clear
in the 81st minute, the Czech international closed on him so that the
finish cannoned off his head, with the midfielder then smashing the
rebound wide.

There had been questions about whether the temperament of the
Tottenham squad as a whole could remain intact over the course of a
final with redoubtable adversaries. Warning signs were, quite
erroneously, detected. Ramos's side, for instance, squandered openings
at the very start. Keane and King might each have scored in the first
minute and, not long afterwards, Chimbonda headed a Lennon corner-kick
against the bar.

There were further opportunities, which made it all the more ominous
when Chelsea took the lead in unsurprising manner after 37 minutes.
Zokora bumped clumsily into Didier Drogba to concede a free-kick. The
much-doubted goalkeeper Paul Robinson then organised a defensive wall
before, in effect, leaving himself immured by standing unsighted
directly behind it. Drogba was then assisted by Keane changing his
position as the Ivorian ran up and the shot flew home comfortably.

In the late panic Robinson, after 113 minutes, pulled off a
particularly good save from Salomon Kalou with his boot, but
reservations are not cancelled out so simply and there must be a high
probability that a new goalkeeper will arrive at White Hart Lane in
the summer.

Ramos has already completed important work in the transfer window and
Woodgate, purchased from Middlesbrough, was unsurpassed at Wembley. In
open play the centre-back nullified Drogba and all other threats with
his low-key authority. All the same, Chelsea will look for the deeper
causes of the defeat.

If anyone still accepted that the club had parted company with Jose
Mourinho to bring in an era of dashing football they must be seeing
the error of their ways. Pragmatism was still the dominant philosophy
at Wembley, but it no longer delivered the correct result. One weekend
newspaper report claimed that Chelsea had edited an article about
Grant in the match programme to remove references to Mourinho. Why
would they cut out mention of the greatest manager in the club's
history? Because, presumably, he is the greatest manager in the club's
history and therefore puts Grant under strain.

The Israeli had a horrid day. His tactics, with Nicolas Anelka stuck
on the left for much of the final, blunted Chelsea. Although Grant has
chances left in more prestigious competitions, the return of his squad
to almost full strength intensifies the scrutiny. Comparative
obscurity served him better and when Chelsea did begin to be studied
intensely the club had a horrible goalless draw at home to Liverpool
which checked a revival in the Premier League.

Grant now has to start all over again to vindicate his appointment.
Don't tell him the Carling Cup is an irrelevance.

Player ratings


Chelsea

Petr Cech 6 Sound handling when called upon. May have acted more
decisively when free-kick came over for Woodgate's goal

Juliano Belletti 5 Could do nothing right in the early running, from
loose passing to watching white shirts skip past him

Ricardo Carvalho 6 Read the game well but lost his way as Tottenham
rallied in the second half. Rolled too easily by Berbatov

John Terry 6 When Chelsea were on top, he called the tune but he was
exposed as Tottenham fought their way back

Wayne Bridge 6 Put forward case for extended run in the team but
blotted his copybook with needless handball for the penalty

Mikel John Obi 6 Did not stray too far from his back four and
struggled to impose himself. Shrunk as Spurs gained control

Michael Essien 6 Ceaseless running and energy levels, helped to stifle
Tottenham in key areas but did little of any creative note

Frank Lampard 7 Spread the play well and rarely wasted possession.
Moved well without the ball. One of his side's better players

Shaun Wright Phillips 6 Showed flickers of his threat with deliveries
from the right. Tireless but did not get in behind Tottenham

Didier Drogba 7 It remains bizarre to see a man of his physique
writhing on the floor but he showed his class with curling free-kick

Nicolas Anelka 5 Did not touch the ball for first 15 minutes. Was
uncomfortable in his role out wide. Largely frustrated

Ratings: David Hytner
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Woodgate caps brilliant Spurs fightback in Carling Cup Final
Chelsea 1 Tottenham 2 (After Extra Time)


By MATT LAWTON

If Jonathan Woodgate moaned about the cost of houses in the south last
week, he is unlikely to have too many complaints about London's most
expensive property. Woodgate made Wembley his home yesterday, scoring
the goal that not only secured a much deserved victory for Tottenham
but proved there is method in the apparent madness of Juande Ramos.

It pays not to eat ketchup and mayonnaise, Tottenham's players must
now appreciate, and not just in the pounds they shed but in the
currency of trophies.


Thanks to Ramos and the strict diet he has imposed on his squad, those
who have lost weight made Chelsea look like lightweights in this
final. They out-thought, out-fought and out-ran their much-fancied
opponents, restricting them to so few chances that it was only in
extra-time that they forced Paul Robinson to make a save from open
play.

How much did they say Roman Abramovich had spent on Chelsea? Perhaps
it was not the best week to be revealing such figures.

Their performance yesterday would suggest you do not get much for
£578million these days (don't tell Woodgate but that is £200m less
than the cost of the stadium he now adores), just as it demonstrated
that it is better to spend £5m a year on a Jose Mourinho than the £3m
salary they now pay Avram Grant.

If Grant deserves credit for the way he stabilised Chelsea in the wake
of Mourinho's sudden departure in September, his deficiencies were
horribly exposed on this occasion.

His team selection revealed a degree of weakness, his substitutions
betrayed an alarming lack of tactical nous and his failure even to
engage with his players during the brief interval between normal and
extra-time was just embarrassing. It was Steve Clarke who delivered
the rousing team talk. Not 'the manager'.

It was coach Henk Ten Cate who sprinted on to the pitch the moment
this encounter ended and positioned himself between referee Martin
Halsey and an incensed Didier Drogba.

The Chelsea striker was less than impressed with the official's
decision to blow the final whistle when his team were on the
offensive, having failed to realise that it was only because
Tottenham's defenders were starting to celebrate that Salomon Kalou
suddenly found himself with only Robinson to beat. As Halsey, and
indeed Ten Cate, no doubt pointed out, Kalou missed anyway, driving
his shot against the post.

Drogba would have been better off channelling his aggression in the
direction of Grant. He, after all, is the player who has objected most
to the departure of Mourinho and here was all the ammunition he
needed.

Was Grant simply afraid to leave out John Terry and Frank Lampard when
the latter, quite clearly, was not fit enough to make the runs that
have long been his trademark? Did he not realise that the deployment
of Nicolas Anelka to the left of Drogba, with Shaun Wright-Phillips to
the right, just was not working?

Joe Cole should have been in this side and the fact that he had to
wait until the 99th minute before he was allowed to leave the bench is
one of the many charges that will be levelled against Grant. Mourinho,
who won all three of the domestic finals he contested as Chelsea
manager, would have made such a change after 30 minutes. Not midway
through the first half of extra-time.

It was not the way to beat Ramos when five trophies in two years at
Sevilla suggested he is something of a master when it comes to cup
competitions. When he has instilled so much belief in these players,
inspiring them to follow that 5-1 demolition of Arsenal in the
semifinal with a victory that meant so much to players like Ledley
King and Robbie Keane — not to mention supporters so often left
disillusioned by a club who flirt with success but too often fall
short.

From the very start yesterday, Tottenham possessed the ambition
Chelsea so obviously lacked. They passed with more fluency, attacked
with more urgency and dominated possession. In a first half that ended
with a 1-0 advantage for Chelsea, Spurs enjoyed 60 per cent of the
ball.

Tottenham had the chances that Chelsea simply could not create, but
when the otherwise excellent Didier Zokora needlessly chopped down
Drogba in the 39th minute, the Ivory Coast striker made him pay. It
was a sweetly struck freekick, even if Robinson did make himself look
a little foolish by moving the wrong way.

Ramos did not rush into making a response, eventually sending on Tom
Huddlestone as a replacement for Pascal Chimbonda, who not only chose
to walk rather than run off the pitch but then disappeared straight
down the tunnel. Not for the first time, he has revealed himself to be
as self-indulgent as he is petulant. Not someone, presumably, Ramos
will tolerate for too long.

In his absence, Tottenham continued to battle and eventually earned
the breakthrough their industry deserved when Aaron Lennon made a
darting run down the left in the 70th minute and crossed a ball that
fell to Huddlestone. He was met by Wayne Bridge who, with arms like a
Harry Enfield Scouser, contrived to handle the ball not once but
twice. Penalty to Tottenham and, thanks to Dimitar Berbatov, game back
on.

Their fitness, and indeed their hunger, suggested extra-time would
suit Tottenham more than it would Chelsea and so it proved when a
tired Drogba failed to track Woodgate as he rose to meet a Jermaine
Jenas free-kick.

It was Petr Cech who had to make the challenge, and Cech who punched
the ball against Woodgate and then looked on as the ball bounced back
behind him and across his line.

That goal's value to Woodgate and his Tottenham team-mates? Priceless.