When Chelsea’s Nicolas Anelka entered the match against Manchester United during the Champions League final, scores of fans believed it was a wise move by Avram Grant. Little did everyone know that when Anelka strolled towards the penalty spot to take the seventh and final kick for Chelsea, his beleaguered thoughts were resigned to frustration, angst, malcontent and a horrid lack of confidence. His penalty was blocked. But don’t think for once that Anelka believes it was his fault. He’s equipped with more excuses than a politician caught in a prostitution ring.

Anelka said: “I did not think for a moment I was going to come on. “I had remained sitting on the bench and suddenly they asked me to play — not
even a minute after sending me to warm up.

“I do not know if that has happened before in a Champions League Final, in a match of such intensity, that a player is sent onto the pitch without having warmed up.

“When you come on you should at least be ready to make some runs.

They asked me to be in the first five penalty takers. I said: ‘Out of the question. I have come on almost as a right-back and you want me to take a penalty.’

In the end I had to go for it in seventh position. I decided to put my shot where I did and Van der Sar saved it. All the better for him. That is the game.”

It is the game. But excuses don’t go over with fans who love the game. A concise, “I tried my best and we’ll get him next year” will, at the very least, lift the spirits of Chelsea fans who are still drinking away their sorrows.

I didn’t want to take a penalty, insists Chelsea striker Anelka [Daily Mail]
Image [Daily Mail]