Chelsea: Tammy Abraham has the confidence Twitter dolts will never know

We all love having someone to blame. It helps us get over pain and annoyance. The problem is that some Chelsea fans couldn’t be any more off target with their scapegoating.

I should put “being a Chelsea fan” as work experience. The only worse time to go on Chelsea Twitter than after a win is after a defeat. Admittedly, on my list of Chelsea strikers, Tammy Abraham is not at the top. But someone had to take the fifth penalty, Tammy Abraham stepped up, and he missed.

Football fans in general often judge decisions based on their outcomes. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that. Good thing Frank Lampard could see the future, but then you have to wonder why he still allowed Abraham to take the fifth penalty.

Let’s get some context. Romelu Lukaku once missed a penalty for Chelsea. He has since played for Manchester United and now Inter Milan, not exactly relegation fodder teams.

John Terry missed a penalty for Chelsea in a Champions League final. He went on to win it four years later.

Lionel Messi has missed penalties for both club and country. He has five Ballon d’Ors.

Who has never missed a penalty or had one saved? It’s tautological that someone has to miss a penalty or have one saved for shoot-outs to be decided. Should we burn that person alive because they did, or fault their coach for somehow knowing and not preventing the outcome? Either way, let’s be sure to only focus on that one moment and nothing that happened in the preceding 120 minutes.

Against my better judgment I scrolled through Chelsea Twitter after the game, and saw nothing but takes on Abraham’s miss. Some went as far as saying he didn’t look confident. Of course you can say that – you have the benefit of knowing what happened after he stepped up to the ball.

Some people went even more global in their keen insights, saying Abraham lacks confidence overall. Did no one else notice that Abraham was almost stumbling away in jubilation only to realise it didn’t go in? That’s actual confidence.

That he even stepped up to take it says everything we need to know about his confidence. It is genuinely absurd to think he cost Chelsea the Super Cup. Adrian went the wrong way only to save it with his leg. That could have easily been a goal.

If you thought the above takes are silly, wait till you hear the “but where was the captain? Why didn’t HE step up to take the fifth penalty? Why was it left to a kid?” takes.

First of all, in the Champions League final I mentioned earlier, the captain did step up. And missed.

Since some people have even shorter memories, I’ll refresh things for you. In the Europa League semifinal match against Eintracht Frankfurt, the captain, Cesar Azpilicueta, stepped up. And missed.

Even more recently, Sergio Aguero, a very clinical finisher and one of the best strikers in the game, took a penalty against West Ham in Manchester City’s Premier Leaguer opener. He missed (although VAR granted him a retake, unlike Tammy Abraham who had no such chance at redemption).

Abraham did not miss the penalty because he lacked confidence. He took the penalty because he had confidence. He did not miss it because he is a kid. Senior players miss penalties, too. It was not a bad idea to leave the fifth penalty to him because “but the captain!” Captains have missed penalties, too. He did not miss it because he is an average or bad player. Elite strikers and Ballon d’Or winners have missed penalties too.

He missed the penalty because misses happen and it’s part of the game.

In every penalty shootout, someone will miss. Stop picking on the lad because he had the courage to take the penalty in the first place. That’s the stuff of weaklings.