‘The Rival Perspective’ 5 Things I noticed – Chelsea v Liverpool

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1. Preamble

As it happens I somehow contrived to miss the Wolves game and lo and behold, our unbeaten run was broken and I was unable to cover it in blog form, so to make amends I decided to cover the Chelsea v Liverpool game and give my objective take on it and write about what we can take from the game as United fans, and hopefully its also just an enjoyable insightful piece for fans of the teams in question.

Just to mention briefly the context of the game in question, Fernando Torres left the Merseyside club on the last day of the transfer window for their rivals down South for a fee of £50 million and I’m sure Liverpool fans would agree with me on this, he hasn’t shut up about it since.. making constant digs about how he was joining a team on the up. Anyway he was further joined by the Brazilian defensive recruit named David Luiz (from Benfica for £21.3 million) in a bid to freshen up the Chelsea defence and provide the silk to their back line that Carvalho was responsible for. As for Liverpool, they used up most of the money from selling their prize asset and invested in 2 relatively untested strikers who have shown a great deal of potential in their very short careers thus far.. in the hope they’ve found the new Rush and Dalglish. Unfortunately we were denied a look at them today, but the match still threw up its fair share of talking points and some of particular interest to United fans.

2. Torres Watch

Torres Statistics: (9/13 successful passes, 0 Shots on target (1 blocked, 1 off target))

So I bet you’re looking at Torres’ form for this season in particular and thinking, wait a minute.. he’s been pretty awful this year, yet he’s still comfortably ahead of Rooney in the goalscoring stakes. Well yeah, I guess Wayne really has been that bad this season, but then you have to take into account we have other strikers who are still doing the business even if our supposed talisman isn’t up to it which is what you need when you’re going for trophies.

As for his performance today, as you can tell from his stats on today’s game – he was pretty non-existent despite playing up front for a team which is reknowned for keeping the ball well especially at home. We know he is not a ‘get involved’ sort of striker, his passing stats in games are notoriously pretty low but even by his standards, today was just a no-show especially for a guy you’d think would bust a gut on his debut.

Memorable moments today included a massively mishit shot which sailed over the bar and being clotheslined by former team mate Daniel Agger. On a positive note for Blues fans he managed to get in a one v one situation with countryman Pepe Reina before his shot was blocked by the effervescent indefatigable Jamie Carragher. For me he just didn’t look in the right frame of mind today and he appeared rather glum, as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders or perhaps that massive transfer fee.

Tactically how Torres fits in with the likes of Drogba and Anelka, will be of concern to Ancellotti but what an enviable concern to have, three of the Leagues greatest forwards competing to make the starting lineup. Problem is they were already struggling with keeping one striker out in their preferred 4-3-3 set up, how they intend on keeping them all sweet and playing to the sides natural strengths I really don’t know. I personally think its too early to tell whether Torres can be a success at Chelsea, he was just about refinding his form at Anfield and now this major move has happened(of his own doing of course) and it’ll take a while to readjust. The issue I do feel confident on addressing is whether Torres is the player to bring the glory days (in terms of steam rollering opponents like the Jose era) back to Chelsea, I don’t think  he alone is capable of doing that.. there are deeper fundamental flaws in this side which still need to be addressed…

3. The Midfield Battle

Liverpool Midfield Stats:  Lucas (40/45 successful passes, 5 interceptions, 7/13 tackles made, 1 clearance, 1 block), Meireles (1 goal, 31/37 passes, 2 interceptions, 2/3 tackles made, 1 block) Maxi (32/36 passes, 4 interceptions, 2 tackles, Gerrard (36/54 passes, 3 interceptions, 4/9 tackles made)

Chelsea Midfield Stats: Mikel (52/55 successful passes, 1 interception, 1 tackle, 3 clearances), Essien (86/100 passes, 1 interception, 6/9 tackles, 1 block), Lampard (44/56 passes, 4 interceptions, 1 clearance) Anelka (36/47 passes, 2/4 tackles made)

For those who have regularly read my stuff on United, these stats should be abit of an eye opener considering the calibre of opponents both sides were up against and the heated nature of the game. The passing stats are pretty remarkable from both sides considering it wasn’t a very attractive spectacle for the neutral. Essien and Obi Mikel, not to mention Lucas ( excellent today) kept the ball exceptionally well and in comparison to the dearth of midfield talent we have at United, its pretty striking when you consider these are not even teams in form and they seem to keep the ball pretty effortlessly, like its second nature. If you’re asking why are these teams below us in the table etc well the crux of the matter is this, we have a superior manager/defence/wide players/forward line/golden oldie factor and so it should hit home, that we have all these strengths that disguise our relative midfield weaknesses, whereas these two sides have no real issues in midfield (compared to us) and instead have various flaws across the pitch.

Whilst that may be true, lets just have a deeper look at both their midfields and see where their strengths lie and what areas are in need of some work. Starting with Liverpool, I must admit I’ve never been a big fan of Lucas… I’ve always considered him technically pretty gifted, great engine but I’ve questioned his drive and his personality, did he have the cajones.. to take charge of a game and be positive with his passing. Already under Dalglish, I sense a change in this lads approach to the game, he’s more likely to advance the game with a long range pass or spread the play (imposing himself) rather than play the percentage pass. His defensive game is also becoming more robust with increasing physical maturity, 5 interceptions and 7 tackles… very impressive.  As for Meireles, I think he’s an underrated talent, he rarely gives the ball away, is capable of making match-winning contributions as evidenced by his 4 goals/3 assists thus far this season and like Maxi, not afraid now to stick his foot in. Gerrard for me was sloppy today, but his mere presence still energises Liverpool and he still remains Liverpools creative heartbeat, the one who will try to pull something out the locker. I think he’s fading though as a player and if Liverpool still have any cash remaining for the summer and beyond, it’ll be signing a true creative midfielder to replace him which will truely test Kenny’s ability to bring Liverpool up to the level they were once accustomed to.

In many ways Chelsea’s midfield problems are similar to Liverpool yet altogether quite different in equal measure, Mikel for me is an enigma… clearly this lads got some talent, he keeps the ball effortlessly on a consistent basis, but he seems totally unwilling to break out and be more aggressive with his passing despite having the bucketloads of talent to do so, furthermore even as a purely defensive mid, he lacks a certain amount of dynamism and this is particularly prevelant in games in which Chelsea are struggling, how often do you see Jon Obi Mikel take it to the opposition and win the ball with crunching tackles or numerous interceptions, the answer is pretty rarely, the problem is his job must be made easy due to his partner being Micheal Essien. Now this guy is what you call a quality midfielder, almost twice as many passes as any other player and if thats not enough he even rivals Lucas in terms of defensive stats today, a true midfield dynamo and how United would love a player of his calibre, driving the side box to box. Where Chelsea falter though in my opinion is Frank Lampard.

Like Gerrard he is a fading force but the problem is whilst Gerrard has always been a ‘magic’ player, Lampard pretty much epitomises Chelsea in that he has always been a efficient player, grinding out goals and assists, rather than stamping his style on a game and running Chelsea with flair, as expected by a top european attacking midfielder. I think for Chelsea to progress as an outfit, I’d either utilse Malouda as this creative sort of attacking mid, as witnessed in his display against England for France in an international friendly or look to sign someone like Luka Modric in the summer.

Click here for the final part of our analysis

4. Terry v Carragher (& a word on David Luiz)

Terry Defending Stats: (55/59 successful passes, 1 interception, 3/4 tackle, 6 clearances),  Carragher Defending Stats: (23/33 passes, 3 interceptions, 1/3 tackles, 4/5 clearances,2 block).

Its hard not to admire men like Terry and Carragher for their deeds on the pitch, old school English defenders who have helped make the Premiership what it is over the past 5 years and so. Their performances against the top European teams have marked them out as some of the most resolute centre-backs in the business and its a shame that the latter of the two has never received the recognition he deserved for facing the best in the business and doing a more than respectable job.

His issue has always been and he’s been one of the first to admit this and ironically its reflected in today’s stats in a way, that whatever Carragher brings to the game of football as a defender, Terry brings it that bit more and does it with extra class. His ability in possession is far superior to that of Carragher’s, not to mention before the injuries, he always had a fair bit of pace to go with his exceptional aerial game. Carragher has had to make do with being the poorer relation in terms of the international and domestic scene, but then again he’ll always have Istanbul whereas John Terry … well he can have Moscow, no, no I insist JT.

A little word on David Luiz, whilst the aforementioned pair are coming to the end of their careers and a shadow of their peak selves, Luiz at the age of 23, has a decade at the very least to enjoy at the top of English football, the question is in what position will he make his name as?

He came on today as a defensive midfielder, a position he initially began his career in as a youngster at Vitoria before starting at left-back for a while at Benfica, before finally making himself a star at centre-back. Its perhaps prudent for now to stick him in as a defensive midfielder whilst he gets used to the pace and intensity of the league, throwing him in alongside Terry could prove counter-productive and undermine the new signings confidence before he’s had the chance to settle.

Personally I think he has a touch of class to him, that much was certainly evident today, so going forwards, as a DM he could have more to him than the likes of Ramires and Mikel who can be a tad conservative, but as for his future ambitions to be a leading centre-back and heir-apparent to Carvalho, that remains to be seen.

5. The future and what it possibly holds..

This is my chance to be Mystic Meg and hazard a guess at the future of both these sides and whether or not they will remain serious threats to our club for this season and beyond. Liverpool for me are genuinely on the up, some will have you believe its a false dawn and whilst they will undoubtedly enter poor form under Kenny this season, what with the lack of real depth in their squad, I think they’re a better team for losing Torres and Suarez/Carroll have the makings of a great partnership, not to mention I rate Dalglish highly as a manager.

As for Ancellotti, I’ve never really understood the fuss about him as a manager, never impressed me in the way Cappello, Lippi, Von Trapp have, old school Italian tacticians always looking to change and introduce their own philosophy. Carlo is too hands off for me and he takes an age to fix problems, he is content with leaving things as they are and have changes enforced upon him. Not my kind of manager and I don’t think Roman will persist with him too longer if this deep malaise continues. They need a brand new cycle of talent and I would argue they also need a new coach, one who is young, dynamic and attack-minded. Still same old Chelsea for me whereas Liverpool have finally got the right man in charge and I’d predict are headed for a pretty exciting future.

Barclays Premier League – Match Facts
Score: 0-1Venue: Stamford Bridge Date: Sunday 6th February Kick-off: 1610 GMT

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Terry, Ivanovic, Cole, Mikel, Essien, Lampard, Anelka, Drogba, Torres. Subs: Kalou, Luiz, Malouda.

Liverpool: Reina, Kelly, Carragher, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson,  Lucas, Merieles, Maxi, Gerrard, Kuyt Subs: Poulsen, Aurelio.

Referee: Marriner

Written by

Raees Mahmood follow me on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/redrae7


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