Liverpool FC Forum

[metalhead]

For a couple of blissful days, the Chelsea defeat never actually happened.
 
On holiday in Barcelona - where Luis Garcia drinks sangria - I didn't have to confront English newspapers, had no access to the internet, met no one who would remind me of the result (or worse, gloat), and could try to suppress all thought of what happened once I walked out of the bar where I'd witnessed the match and into the bright Catalan sunshine.
 
But I'm back in England, and now I have to revisit the events at Anfield. 'Welcome home', indeed.
 
Due to my self-imposed media blackout (the equivalent of me putting my fingers in my ears and going 'la la la la la' for three days), I haven't read anything other than what was in the complementary newspaper on my flight home yesterday, which was basically about Sami Hyypia being ill. (There had to be a reason Didier Drogba looked good.)
 
So I'm not sure what the reaction has been. I don't expect the Chelsea manager to have been particularly humble, for a start. The reaction in the bar, which was populated mostly by Spanish Liverpool fans and a few UK tourists, was not pretty. I learned some new insulting hand gestures from the watching Catalans, all of whom had several reasons to dislike Mr Mourinho.
 
While clearly there were problems with Liverpool's performance, I didn't see much between the two sides on Sunday, in terms of quality, just as I hadn't last Wednesday. The scoreline remains a shock, and grossly unfair to my mind.
 
I actually felt that a draw would have been a fair result on Sunday - or, at the very least, had one occurred, and the game finished 2-2 as looked likely when Liverpool were pressing for the equaliser, no one would have been surprised. I don't see it as sourgrapes: in the Carling Cup final, I felt Chelsea controlled the game, despite being 1-0 down for much of it, and looked a far superior team to Liverpool.
 
I hold my hands up when Liverpool are outclassed; I just didn't see it this time.
 

On Sunday, as in the previous three encounters, I felt the Reds matched the Blues in most respects, and bettered them in others, even at 1-0 and 2-1 down. I felt we were outgunning them in midfield, and had their defence stretched at times; I always saw us getting back into the game, until the lucky break for their third goal effectively killed the match. Even then, Liverpool kept going, and the crowd sounded superb.
 
I want to say that it was just that Chelsea's finishing was better; but even that's not strictly true, given that two goals came from mis-hit shots, and another was a penalty that Reina looked to have saved.
 
It was one of those weird games where had half of Chelsea's shots on goal (and there weren't many) actually not been mis-hit, Reina might have saved them. Riise hits a glorious shot 'true' and it skims the bar, and Luis Garcia a thundering drive that is on target but blocked; Chelsea mis-hit shots that are heading for the corner flag, and score.
 
That's life. Credit the Chelsea players for following them in, but there was plenty of good fortune - the kind Chelsea invariably find in this fixture of late.
 
Liverpool have now had seven genuine penalty claims against Chelsea in 2005 - and the first genuine shout the Blues have, they get the award. Typical. It's hard enough to beat the phenomenal Peter Cech at the best of times, but when players like Tiago and Gallas can punch or volleyball-parry the ball clear, you have to wonder what you can do to score.
 
Even Cech himself was lucky to not be sent off in May, as the ref said he was going to do just that and award a penalty, but all we hear is about the goal that 'never was'. You can't have it both ways - we took the goal and never moaned about the ref. And as much as Chelsea probably feel they have gained revenge for being knocked out in that semi-final, nothing can alter what happened on May 3rd. Thank God.
 
Challenging
 
I don't wish to mask the problems that the defeat highlighted: lack of cover at the back, no wideman who can deliver a succession of dangerous crosses, and, depending on who is playing, a lack of genuine pace in most areas of the pitch (of those who started on Sunday, only Gerrard and Traore are especially quick).
 
Another area of concern is how needless individual errors are costing goals. All goals come from mistakes of one kind or another - there's nearly always something someone could have done a little better, at one stage or another. But scoring own goals, conceding penalties and dropping catches puts pressure on the team. It makes it too easy for the opposition.
 

The confidence boost from winning the Champions League has left Liverpool looking highly impressive in Europe, but it hasn't quite translated itself into the domestic campaign. As I keep saying, the first six fixtures were ones in which Liverpool traditionally struggle (in recent seasons, at least), so maybe that has skewed things.
 
There have been signs of encouragement, but also evidence of problems. But this is still a team in transition, whether people like it or not.
 
Rafa has some work to do, as the balance isn't quite right at the moment, and he will know that. He will have to decide whether to be strong and persevere with a system and formation he believes in, and with which he has achieved great success in the very recent past; or if, in doing so, he would be considered unreasonably stubborn. It may just need a little tweaking.
 
He will know that Liverpool are controlling most of the games - due to the quality in the central midfield area - but either not fashioning enough chances, or not finishing them.
 
He also has to hope to have what he would consider his strongest side available as soon as possible, and to make the most of a run of games that are all there to be won. The two toughest home games are now out of the way; and we've only played three at Anfield.
 
The impressive Sissoko is now fit again after a short absence, and Rafa must hope that Harry Kewell and Fernando Morientes finally deliver the kind of quality everyone knows they are capable of. At their best, they would definitely add extra dimensions to the team. Crucially, both have scored lots of goals at the highest level, and need to translate that to a Liverpool shirt.
 
Meanwhile, Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia have had indifferent starts to the season, and that hasn't helped. But class is permanent, and form temporary, as we all know.
 
The Reds need to work out how to get men running off Peter Crouch - whose link-up play has been exceptional, but who hasn't been supported by as many midfielders as is ideal. Perhaps Chelsea, who were playing a similar formation, succeeded on Sunday as they got one or two extra men forward on just a couple of occasions, and when the ball broke kindly, they profited. Sometimes such narrow margins can make all the difference.
 
Back to reality
 
As was the case with my attempts to get home from Istanbul, my flight back to England from Barcelona was delayed by several hours. I can honestly say that it's a lot less fun if you haven't just seen your team win the European Cup. (This time the delay was a French air traffic control strike; so very much unlike them.)
 
Back in May I had the video of the incredible final against AC Milan awaiting my return. This time, I had a video cassette which I booted down the end of the garden. I mis-hit it, and it was heading towards my neighbour's garden, until striking the fence and bouncing into my dustbin. How lucky was that?
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sorry if it is long... but i really admired paul tomkins point of views.

like to hear yours

[Ciggy]

Can we put the Chelsea game to bed now please sick of hearing about them, its a good article read it before on the offal, but we have more important things to think about now, its in the past, lets just move on from Chelsea and Michael Owen.

[metalhead]

BRING IT ON BLACKBURN!!!!


YNWA

[Ciggy]

BRING IT ON BLACKBURN!!!!


YNWA

Yer and no broken limbs this time (fingers crossed)

[stmichael]

BRING IT ON BLACKBURN!!!!


YNWA

Yer and no broken limbs this time (fingers crossed)

lets hope not.

time to bring back the old kit against blackburn

[andy_g]

tomkins was in barcelona and he never called me?? miserable git!

serves him right he missed seeing the game with a few proper liverpool supporters.

[metalhead]

if cisse starts i hope he bashes blackburn!!!!

[Lando_Griffin]

Silly-a*se International break in the meantime. F*ck you Sven.

[akumaface]

Its a good read and agreed with his point of view. Luckily, I'm over with it and sometimes sh*t happens and I will leave all my bashing until the season ends when it is more appropriate then. I'm confident we will break out in style and score bunch of goals from now on.