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

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


7 responses to “‘The Rival Perspective’ 5 Things I noticed – Chelsea v Liverpool”

  1. Will says:

    Well written.

  2. ross says:

    As a Liverpool fan, I enjoyed reading that. Great to see the internet used to share some honest and non-biased opinions rather than the bile that is usually spewed out by fans of every club. I agree about Lampard, hes not the same player and if Chelsea want to start winning titles again, I think they need to be looking for a world-class replacement.

  3. RoyK says:

    Enjoyed most of it, except 1 part… Man U had had a midfield problem where as all other areas are covered, n Liverpool have the midfield sorted out where as have a problem every where else? Imagine what would have happened if King Kenny had taken charge at the start of the season in stead of Fergie’s bosom pal Woy!!!!

  4. Jim says:

    Excellent, well written post by a rival supporter! Good to see an honest and balanced piece on the web rather than the usual vitriolic diatribe that normally goes up. I (a Liverpool supporter) will look out for your posts more in the future mate!!

  5. Jacques says:

    Liverpool fan via NewsNow, and I enjoyed reading this article. When I say the URL, I was worried, but this was execellent and unbiased. It had nice statistical touches but not so much that it became like a spreadsheet.

    Just like to point out something: Lucas was excellent again as you say but I think neutral (though in spite of your lack of bias here, I’m not sure you could ever call a United fan ‘neutral’ when discussing Liverpool and vice versa :p) fans would be shocked at how good Lucas has been this season. It is funny you call his personality and cojones into question, since this area is one in which he excels. He came under a lot of criticism from our own fans (culminating in the embarassing booing of him) though I’m smug to say I’ve always defended him and he just keeps getting better. He is more willing to clatter people in those 50/50s and in the big games, he always delivers (he was my man of the match yesterday and was universally made man of the match against Chelsea at Anfield even though Torres got 2). You as a United fan may remember his perfomance against you when Alonso didn’t play in 2008/9. He’s back in the Brazil starting lineup and I’d fancy him as a future captain since the current Brazil manager made Lucas captain at only 19 at Gremio.

    You make a good point about Ancelotti too. I think he can be a bit hands off; look at Milan when he seemed more intent on European success and maintaining his aging stars rather than building a Fergie style legacy. Then again, Roman hasn’t been spending the money for a few years now and I would suspect that some youth talent has probably slipped through the cracks or gone unfulfilled due to the turnover of managers in recent years.

    Best thing about this article though: saying we’ve got a bright future! If United fans are getting in on the Kenny love-in, it must be true! We’ll win the league next season!

    • RedRae7 (Rae M) says:

      Hi Jacques, thanks for your informative reply and to all the others too.

      I must say you make a good point about the lads character, which I have mistakenly underrated,which is that even from the viewpoint of the neutral its pretty clear that this lad has recieved a heck of alot of stick from his own fans, and opposition fans alike and its been like water of a ducks back. He’s not been phased by it and has continued going about his business and trying hard, whereas mentally weaker players would’ve felt demoralised. My point on his cajones and drive, was more in context of his style of play on the pitch as in for a lad of his talent, he was content to just stick with the conservative option and not really endeavour to have an assertive impact on a game, whether this was the lads own style of play or a tactical instruction, I’m not too sure.. but with Kenny in charge, I can’t see this lad going back to his old ways and he will certainly become a more ‘go to’ player under the scots leadership.

      I do genuinely think the futures bright for you, but that is only if Dalglish can remain at the helm for a prolonged period and his heart stay in it, he’s not one for long managerial reigns and for your sake I hope its not a short-lived false dawn.

  6. Bob says:

    Nice to see the criminally underrated Lucas Leiva getting some much deserved credit.

    The lad has been playing consistently well all season, and finally people outside of Liverpool are noticing. He is the pivotal player in Dalglish’s system, and our team. Without him, like in the recent Fulham game, we just cannot dominate the midfield. Very valuable player for us, albeit doing the unseen work essential to the team.

    Lucas will be a great player on his current improvement trajectory, as he is still young and improving quickly. The value he places on possession and picking the ‘right’ pass, along with his vastly improved defensive skills should serve LFC for a long time to come. Very intelligent player as well.

    Well in Lucas lad