Chelsea Capitulation Comes A Few Days Too Late
It was a absolute pleasure to see Liverpool put the game to Chelsea and see the visitors, who have a Champions League final in mind, crumble so completely. You could argue that Liverpool didn’t so much play good as Chelsea were horrible in every position of the pitch, but that sells us far too short. Yes, Chelsea were horrible; but we actually were that good.
The passing was spot on. The movement was inventive. Players were fighting with the kind of spirit that we expect of our boys in Red. When Branislav Ivanovic crashed a free header against the post early in the first half, our shoulders didn’t drop. Eyes weren’t downcast. Instead of closing down, we moved the ball up the pitch. An immediate counter attack that was in such stark contrast to the sluggish buildup play we saw on Saturday, you would think we were a completely different side. In a way, we were.
Another set piece mix up allowed Ramirez — one of the few impressive players in Blue — to give the visitors a lifeline, but it wasn’t to be. A poor clearance from Ross Turnbull gifted the ball to Jonjo Shelvey who made no mistake from distance to bury his half volley into the gaping net. Even with Roman Abramovich’s deep pockets, his side couldn’t buy a goal and the proof was on the pitch when Pepe Reina denied Romelu Lukaku’s free header from only 5 yards out.
Dirk Kuyt and Raheem Sterling made brief cameo appearances to close out proceedings and the youngster came close to making it five goals from the home side with his first touch the ball. It’s been a rarity that Dalglish has been able to blood youth due to his side carrying a comfortable lead rather than as a ploy to distract from poor results, but this result — as pleasing as it is — in the end is just that: a distraction.
Truth of the matter is that this result came months, if not mere days, too late. A domestic cup double could have saved our season from the rubbish bin of forgotten campaigns. A spattering of results, or even performances, like that could have dramatically improved our league form. Thankfully, this season closes out on Sunday with a visit to Swansea and despite the uncertainty that continues to swell around not only our manager but the players themselves, it was nice to close out our Anfield season with a big old grin. Really, it’s been too long.
-steven.
Does anyone else think Florent Malouda was the architect of Chelsea’s downfall last night? His haircut, the one that makes him look like a total tool, must have been distracting. Sorry Flo, only Djibril Cisse can pull those off…
Chelsea and their millions are going to be playing in the Europa with us after Bayern bitch slap them out of Munich.
I’ve always been partial to Bayern in the Bundesliga, but now, I’m almost contemplating buying a red and white stripe shirt! Plus, Munich is a great city.
Malouda’s toolcut was his attempt to match Terry’s National Front chop and Torres’ mop of despair. Wisely, Petr Cech keeps his haircut covered.
Petr avoids criticism at all times…making fun of a dude in a helmet is never nice.