Chelsea Blues: Could FA Cup Final Foreshadow Champions League Final Troubles?

It's hard to pick out any negatives from the glory of an FA Cup final victory, especially one that sees your club win their fourth such trophy in six seasons.

However, as it is not the biggest match of Chelsea's season, these are clearly extenuating circumstances.

Now, there are clearly many fantastic positives that came out of the final victory that translate well to the Champions League final that almost go without saying.

After all, outplaying your opponent and scoring a victory in a tournament final must bode well for a tournament final.

There is also, though, one glaring negative that could prove to be an ominous sign heading into the Munich final.

This, of course, is the impact Andy Carroll had on Saturday.

Carroll came off the bench in the 55th minute and had an immediate and lasting effect on the match.

As is always the case with the Liverpool striker, Carroll's size and heading ability were the key to his contributions.

This description rings true of Mario Gomez, the striker for Bayern Munich, Chelsea's opponent in the Champions League final.

Gomez is, in fact, the greatest such poacher in the world right now, seemingly using his size and ability to be in the right place at the right time to have 26 league and 12 Champions League goals.

Carroll, on the other hand, has been out of form all season, with just four league goals.

Within eight minutes of his arrival on the pitch, Carroll's impact was felt, as a mistake by the Chelsea defense gifted him the ball in the box.

After holding off John Terry and wrong-footing him, Carroll blasted a left-footed shot into the roof of the net.

Later in the match, Carroll got behind the defense and produced a vicious header straight at the net that was only kept out by Petr Cech producing one of, if not the, most incredible saves in FA Cup final history.

Now, Carroll's impact may be down to many factors.

Perhaps Carroll was a striker busting out of his funk.

Perhaps he felt he had something to prove to the Liverpool world.

Perhaps he just randomly found incredibly inspired form.

Perhaps Chelsea were just caught out and were found unprepared for the style of the English striker.

Perhaps it was merely a mirage.

Or, of course, it's a combination of all of these.

But one thing bears thinking about: If Carroll could do that, what will Gomez be able to do on his home ground?

Here's hoping Cech finds the same form he had on Saturday.