Bursting the Bubble

Liverpool 3 - 3 West Ham (aet). It was a classic cup final, and certainly the best I've seen since the 1987 final (okay, I'm biased, being a Coventry City fan). West Ham were desperately unlucky and arguably deserved to win the game. Of course, it was all down to one man: Steven Gerrard. West Ham manager Alan Pardew said in an interview with Jonathan Pearce before the game that West Ham would be favourites if they had Steven Gerrard. His dramatic injury time-equaliser was one of the sweetest strikes to adorn any FA Cup Final and from that point onwards, you just knew that Liverpool were going to snatch it. And despite West Ham missing a golden chance in extra time, the dreaded penalties beckoned. Penalty shoot-outs always guarantee chronic nail-biting (especially if you're English) and although I don't support either Liverpool or West Ham, I did want the underdogs to win it, if only to break the FA Cup dominance of the four big clubs. Sadly, it was not to be West Ham's day.

As for Gerrard, pundits are pushing the idea of Sven playing him in a more advanced role in the World Cup. Well, if he can knock in a couple like he did on Saturday, I would certainly advocate that strategy.