Liverpool-Chelsea: Matters Arising!

CHELSEA deservedly won 2-1 at Anfield to maintain their hold on this title race. But Liverpool would rightly feel hard done by ref Anthony Taylor and his team of officials who denied the hosts a blatant penalty so late in the game when Blues defender Gary Cahill appeared to palm away a Steven Gerrard’s goal-bound effort.

In fairness, Taylor might have been unsighted in the incident and you don’t give what you don’t see. But his assistant on the near side couldn’t have failed to spot the handball. Well he didn’t and Reds vehement appeals, led by Gerrard went agonizingly unheeded.

I said earlier that Chelsea deserved to win because they were clearly the better side and could have scored more goals but for Glen Johnson who made two excellent blocks against Edin Hazard, Simon Mignolet made a smart save from the talented Belgian too all in the first half. The Blues were stronger physically, mentally and had better playing personnel one-on-one, never mind coach for coach.

In fairness, Liverpool played arguably their best half of the season against the runaway leaders. But their penchant to play their way out of dangerous positions even when just lashing the ball up field would have made sense meant they always courted trouble against obviously better and hungrier opponents.

And it was in one of those overplay at the back by Gerrard that led to a succession of corners from which the Blues equalized through Cahill, thanks to goal line tech which showed Reds goalkeeper Simon Mignolet had carried the ball over the line.

The half ended all square, though the visitors came close to taking the lead on several occasions. Their efforts were rewarded midway into second half through Diego Costa who lashed home an unstoppable shot from close range after Mignolet had parried Caesar Azpilicueta’s  shot.

That proved the end of Liverpool’s barely visible vibrancy as their manager responded to Blues lead by introducing his two “children” Joe Allen and Fabio Borini for the Reds best players on the pitch: goal scorer Emre Can and biggest threat Coutinho respectively.

Alright, the stylish Brazilian might have been culpable for Chelsea’s second goal in the way he was done by Azpilicueta. But the fact still remained he was Liverpool’s biggest threat. Anfield faithful, ever so knowledgeable of the game, left Reds’ underfire coach Brendan Rodgers under no illusion about their thought of the double sub by jeering very loudly.

That was a strange experience for Rodgers whose decisions had never been queried by the club faithful. But of course, it was also the signs of time that the coach is now booed by his thoroughly frustrated admirers. Not least after his bold gamble to play an understrength team against Real Madrid midweek with this clash against Chelsea in mind failed spectacularly to yield anything.

Rodgers completed the misery by subbing Mario Balotelli for another summer misfit Ricky Lambert at a point the former appeared to be warming into the challenge. Liverpool’s late penalty claim notwithstanding, Chelsea were the deserving winners and opened a mammoth 15-point gap on the hosts with only 11 matches played so far.

The last time these two met at Anfield, Liverpool were playing for the title while Chelsea played merely for pride. It is the signs of how far and crucially in opposite directions the two clubs have gone that the Blues look prime for the title even at this early stage of the season while the Reds could only hope for a consolatory Top 4 finish at best.

From Saturday’s clash I reached the following conclusions:

1. Chelsea look very good for the title not because they beat Liverpool, but because they won with plenty to spare. All the characters of a championship-winning team were on display at Anfield – power, pace, guile, energy, craft, determination and desire. They didn’t have to move out of Gear 2 to beat Liverpool.
2. One major problem with the Blues, however, is that they don’t appear to know how to keep clean sheets, meaning they have to score at least twice to hope to win matches. If there is any sign they may not win the league, it’s this unusual weakness at the back, certainly not a characteristic of a typical Jose Mourinho’s side. But with holders Man City and the rest of the field struggling for form, smart money will be on a Chelsea title success this season despite this flaw.
3. Rodgers look to be losing the plot at Anfield. His midweek gamble at Santiago Bernabeu was damning and utterly unnecessary given that Liverpool had one day more to rest than Chelsea. And the fact that he lost the two clashes has made his position less tenable. Add the debilitating loss to Newcastle earlier and it’s three in a row – very unacceptable for a proud club like Liverpool with their rich history.
4. Ref Taylor appeared to over tolerate erring players on Saturday and Chelsea were the smatter to take advantage of the ref’s reluctance to enforce the rules. Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic and Raheem Sterling could have been sent to early showers for two bookable offenses each. Yes, I applaud refs who officiate with common sense.

But then smart players would ride their luck at the slightest sense of any ref’s reluctance. Costa especially could have been expelled in the first half for persistent fouls on Martin Skrtel. And Ramires could have bagged a straight red for deliberately planting his elbow on Sterling’s face when the latter upended him also in the first half. Interestingly, the Brazilian didn’t even get a verbal warning!

1. Balotelli could flourish when paired with another striker. Maybe, the imminent return of Daniel Sturridge could help bring the best out of the much maligned Italian international striker. But we’ll have to pray Rodgers have the gut to start the two in matches like he did with Luis Suarez.
2. Lambert is fast becoming another Robbie Keane – a boyhood Anfield faithful who just couldn’t deliver in Reds shirts.
3. Emre Can could yet become Rodgers best buy of the summer as the boy is fast growing into his environment. He would surely draw huge confidence from his deflected shot which led to the opening goal Saturday.
4. Rodgers needs to drop fumbling Dejan Lovren for Kolo Toure or Mamadou Sakho when he reports fit. I mean the 20 million quid signing from Southampton has been a disaster at Liverpool’s rear thus far.
5. Gerrard has become less influential in matches and it may be the right time to revise the frequency and his deployment in matches.
6. Jordan Henderson is yet to reach the heights of last season. Hence the coach should consider giving him a couple of weeks’ rest to properly recharge his battery.

These are my thoughts after last weekend’s biggest clash in England. What do you say guys?