FA Cup Final Preview
Ahead of the 2012 FA Cup Final between Liverpool and Chelsea at Wembley here are a number of players who may have split loyalties watching the game on Saturday.
Glen Johnson
The England right back became Chelsea’s first signing of the ‘Abramovich Era’ when he joined for a fee of £6m in 2003.
At the tender age of nineteen, he was largely used as a squad player during his first two seasons at Chelsea. He won two league titles win the club in 2004-5 and 2005-6, but at the beginning of the following season the signing of Paulo Ferreira significantly lowered the number of appearances he was able to make.
Johnson played just one game for the Blues in 2006-7 before deciding to gain extra first team appearances by joining Portsmouth on loan for the remainder of the season.
On transfer deadline day in August 2007, Johnson signed for Pompey on a permanent basis for a fee of around £4m. He helped the club win the FA Cup in 2008, and won Goal of the Season with a thirty-yard volleyed strike against Hull City. Johnson was included in the PFA Team of the Year in 2008 despite Portsmouth’s poor performances, and in 2009 he was on the move to Liverpool.
Despite interest from Manchester City and former club Chelsea, Johnson chose to join Liverpool for a fee of around £17.5m. He has been deployed at left or right back during his time as a Liverpool player, and started the majority of Fabio Capello’s games as England’s right back.
Nicolas Anelka
French striker Nicolas Anelka is not far detached from his most recent spell with either club, having moved from Chelsea to Shanghai Shenhua in January 2012. The 33-year old striker decided to make a move to China after falling out of favour under former coach Andres Villas-Boas.
Not unfamiliar to personal issues, Anelka joined Liverpool on loan in 2001 after a fall-out with then coach Luis Fernandez. He signed on a short spell under Gerard Houllier and contributed to Liverpool’s late charge into second place in the Premier League. Liverpool’s management decided not to offer Anelka a permanent contract at the end of the season, and the striker moved to Man City for a fee of £13m. A spell at Fenerbahce followed before a transfer to his fourth English club, Bolton Wanderers.
His performances for the Lancashire club in spite of their struggles proved he still had abilities to perform at the top level and he was signed by Chelsea in January 2008 for £15m.
Anelka played as Chelsea lost the Champions League Final to Manchester United but won the Golden Boot a season later after scoring nineteen goals in his first full season. The French striker played a role as Chelsea won the Premiership in 2010, and he became only the third player to win the Premier League with two different clubs.
In late 2011 it was confirmed that Anelka, unhappy at his lack of playing time, had submitted a written transfer request and was allowed to leave the club. He chose to join Shanghai Shenhua of the Chinese League and is currently part of the coaching staff working alongside Jean Tigana.
Fernando Torres
Chelsea forward Fernando Torres is likely to play a role in the 2012 FA Cup final for his current employers against his former ones after a £50m move saw him from north to south in January 2011.
Torres moved from his boyhood club Atletico Madrid to Merseyside in 2007 and was an immediate hit. He scored a goal in his Premier League home debut against Chelsea, and went on to become the first Liverpool player to score twenty goals in a season since Robbie Fowler.
The Spanish international helped Liverpool back into the Champions League in 2008, and was named in the PFA Team of the Year. He ended a terrific debut season by helping Spain to win the European Championship, and scored the winning goal in the final against Germany.
Injuries prevented Torres from creating a huge impact the following year, though he still scored 22 goals in 32 games. In 2010-11 after Rafa Benitez left as manager their was much speculation that Torres would be sold. Roy Hodgson, the club’s new manager did his best to curtail the supporters fears, but it became apparent that Chelsea were willing to spend big to secure his signature.
The Blues has a £40m bid rejected before Torres handed in an official transfer request, and the following day Chelsea secured his signature with a fee of £50 m. Torres has struggled somewhat to re-create the form he showed in his opening two seasons as a Liverpool player. He scored his first goal for Chelsea in a 3-0 victory over West Ham ending a run of 903 minutes without a goal.
Since then performances from Torres have improved but the form of Didier Drogba and a succession of injuries have prevented him performing to his full potential at Stamford Bridge.
Yossi Benayoun
Currently on loan at Arsenal, Israeli international midfielder Yossi Benayoun is coming towards the end of a successful playing career.
Arriving at West Ham from Racing Santander, Pardew decided to bring the Israeli to England, paying £2.5m for his services. He played for the Hammers until 2007 when he decided to go back on a move to sign a contract extension in East London, and instead move to Anfield.
The club announced his signature for a fee of £5m in July, and Benayoun was immediately in action helping Liverpool secure Champions League qualification against Toulouse. He remained at Anfield for three seasons, playing a regular part in their efforts to win the Premiership before Chelsea agreed to sign him for £5.5m in the summer of 2010.
He scored his first league goal for the blues in a 6-0 win against Wigan during August, but two games later he then ruptured his achilles in a League Cup tie and remained sidelined for seven months. The Israeli returned to action in April 2011, but the signing of Juan Mata and the emergence of Daniel Sturridge limited his first team opportunities.
Benayoun joined Arsenal on a one-year loan deal during the summer transfer window, and his permanent future is as yet undecided.
Joe Cole
The midfielder decided to leave West Ham United after their relegation from the Premiership in 2003. Plenty of opportunities lay in front of him, but Cole decided to stay in London and move to Chelsea. Opportunities were limited in his first season, and despite the influx of talents such as Damien Duff and Arjen Robben, Cole made himself an established member of the team which won the Premier League in 2004-5.
He helped score one of three goals against Manchester United which sealed the title for Chelsea in the following season, and he was subsequently named in the PFA’s team of the season. Cole scored a spectacular goal for England in the 2006 World Cup for England, but just weeks after returning from Germany, Cole suffered a stress fracture in his foot and was unable to return to the second half of the season.
Cole participated as Chelsea won the 2007 FA Cup final, and went on to play as the club lost to Manchester United in the Champions League Final. The midfielder continued to be a regular for Chelsea until his contract expired in 2010.
As the club wavered in deciding whether to offer him a new contract, Cole decided that he wanted to join Liverpool as a free agent. He made his debut in the Europa League as the reds won 2-0 against Rabotnicki, but in his Premier League home debut he suffered a nightmare start after being sent off against Arsenal. In his next game for the club, Cole missed a penalty against Trabzonspor and had to wait until September to score his first Liverpool goal, and until January 2011 to score his first in the Premier League.
Injury and poor form cost Cole a regular place in the England team, and also in the Liverpool side. In August 2011 on the final day of the transfer window, Cole signed for Lille OSC in Ligue 1 on a season long loan. He remains in France until the end of the campaign, and the club have made it clear that they hope to sign him on a permanent basis.
The England right back became Chelsea’s first signing of the ‘Abramovich Era’ when he joined for a fee of £6m in 2003.
At the tender age of nineteen, he was largely used as a squad player during his first two seasons at Chelsea. He won two league titles win the club in 2004-5 and 2005-6, but at the beginning of the following season the signing of Paulo Ferreira significantly lowered the number of appearances he was able to make.
Johnson played just one game for the Blues in 2006-7 before deciding to gain extra first team appearances by joining Portsmouth on loan for the remainder of the season.
On transfer deadline day in August 2007, Johnson signed for Pompey on a permanent basis for a fee of around £4m. He helped the club win the FA Cup in 2008, and won Goal of the Season with a thirty-yard volleyed strike against Hull City. Johnson was included in the PFA Team of the Year in 2008 despite Portsmouth’s poor performances, and in 2009 he was on the move to Liverpool.
Despite interest from Manchester City and former club Chelsea, Johnson chose to join Liverpool for a fee of around £17.5m. He has been deployed at left or right back during his time as a Liverpool player, and started the majority of Fabio Capello’s games as England’s right back.
Nicolas Anelka
French striker Nicolas Anelka is not far detached from his most recent spell with either club, having moved from Chelsea to Shanghai Shenhua in January 2012. The 33-year old striker decided to make a move to China after falling out of favour under former coach Andres Villas-Boas.
Not unfamiliar to personal issues, Anelka joined Liverpool on loan in 2001 after a fall-out with then coach Luis Fernandez. He signed on a short spell under Gerard Houllier and contributed to Liverpool’s late charge into second place in the Premier League. Liverpool’s management decided not to offer Anelka a permanent contract at the end of the season, and the striker moved to Man City for a fee of £13m. A spell at Fenerbahce followed before a transfer to his fourth English club, Bolton Wanderers.
His performances for the Lancashire club in spite of their struggles proved he still had abilities to perform at the top level and he was signed by Chelsea in January 2008 for £15m.
Anelka played as Chelsea lost the Champions League Final to Manchester United but won the Golden Boot a season later after scoring nineteen goals in his first full season. The French striker played a role as Chelsea won the Premiership in 2010, and he became only the third player to win the Premier League with two different clubs.
In late 2011 it was confirmed that Anelka, unhappy at his lack of playing time, had submitted a written transfer request and was allowed to leave the club. He chose to join Shanghai Shenhua of the Chinese League and is currently part of the coaching staff working alongside Jean Tigana.
Fernando Torres
Chelsea forward Fernando Torres is likely to play a role in the 2012 FA Cup final for his current employers against his former ones after a £50m move saw him from north to south in January 2011.
Torres moved from his boyhood club Atletico Madrid to Merseyside in 2007 and was an immediate hit. He scored a goal in his Premier League home debut against Chelsea, and went on to become the first Liverpool player to score twenty goals in a season since Robbie Fowler.
The Spanish international helped Liverpool back into the Champions League in 2008, and was named in the PFA Team of the Year. He ended a terrific debut season by helping Spain to win the European Championship, and scored the winning goal in the final against Germany.
Injuries prevented Torres from creating a huge impact the following year, though he still scored 22 goals in 32 games. In 2010-11 after Rafa Benitez left as manager their was much speculation that Torres would be sold. Roy Hodgson, the club’s new manager did his best to curtail the supporters fears, but it became apparent that Chelsea were willing to spend big to secure his signature.
The Blues has a £40m bid rejected before Torres handed in an official transfer request, and the following day Chelsea secured his signature with a fee of £50 m. Torres has struggled somewhat to re-create the form he showed in his opening two seasons as a Liverpool player. He scored his first goal for Chelsea in a 3-0 victory over West Ham ending a run of 903 minutes without a goal.
Since then performances from Torres have improved but the form of Didier Drogba and a succession of injuries have prevented him performing to his full potential at Stamford Bridge.
Yossi Benayoun
Currently on loan at Arsenal, Israeli international midfielder Yossi Benayoun is coming towards the end of a successful playing career.
Arriving at West Ham from Racing Santander, Pardew decided to bring the Israeli to England, paying £2.5m for his services. He played for the Hammers until 2007 when he decided to go back on a move to sign a contract extension in East London, and instead move to Anfield.
The club announced his signature for a fee of £5m in July, and Benayoun was immediately in action helping Liverpool secure Champions League qualification against Toulouse. He remained at Anfield for three seasons, playing a regular part in their efforts to win the Premiership before Chelsea agreed to sign him for £5.5m in the summer of 2010.
He scored his first league goal for the blues in a 6-0 win against Wigan during August, but two games later he then ruptured his achilles in a League Cup tie and remained sidelined for seven months. The Israeli returned to action in April 2011, but the signing of Juan Mata and the emergence of Daniel Sturridge limited his first team opportunities.
Benayoun joined Arsenal on a one-year loan deal during the summer transfer window, and his permanent future is as yet undecided.
Joe Cole
The midfielder decided to leave West Ham United after their relegation from the Premiership in 2003. Plenty of opportunities lay in front of him, but Cole decided to stay in London and move to Chelsea. Opportunities were limited in his first season, and despite the influx of talents such as Damien Duff and Arjen Robben, Cole made himself an established member of the team which won the Premier League in 2004-5.
He helped score one of three goals against Manchester United which sealed the title for Chelsea in the following season, and he was subsequently named in the PFA’s team of the season. Cole scored a spectacular goal for England in the 2006 World Cup for England, but just weeks after returning from Germany, Cole suffered a stress fracture in his foot and was unable to return to the second half of the season.
Cole participated as Chelsea won the 2007 FA Cup final, and went on to play as the club lost to Manchester United in the Champions League Final. The midfielder continued to be a regular for Chelsea until his contract expired in 2010.
As the club wavered in deciding whether to offer him a new contract, Cole decided that he wanted to join Liverpool as a free agent. He made his debut in the Europa League as the reds won 2-0 against Rabotnicki, but in his Premier League home debut he suffered a nightmare start after being sent off against Arsenal. In his next game for the club, Cole missed a penalty against Trabzonspor and had to wait until September to score his first Liverpool goal, and until January 2011 to score his first in the Premier League.
Injury and poor form cost Cole a regular place in the England team, and also in the Liverpool side. In August 2011 on the final day of the transfer window, Cole signed for Lille OSC in Ligue 1 on a season long loan. He remains in France until the end of the campaign, and the club have made it clear that they hope to sign him on a permanent basis.