Walking the Line
Posted by Zeno in Chelsea, Liverpool | 6 February 2006
When watching the game yesterday, I was irresistibly reminded of the match at old Trafford toward the end of last season. Nothing to do with the style of play, of course.
In both cases, the was more (and less) than Premiership standing at stake. Be honest: who really expected Liverpool to overhaul Chelsea this season? Two games in hand, the fans said. Yet two more games in an already crowded fixture list for a team that had 3 weeks less holiday than everyone else, we thought. And with Chelsea's well-known predilection of dropping crucial points and doing foolish things under Jose Mourinho, surely the outcome of the League wans't in question here.
No, it was the opportunity for a supposed challenger to Chelsea's dominance to make a statement of intent. And in both cases, the challenger was put firmly in their place by a Chelsea side who seem to respond to adversity in much the same way that lions respond to zebras. Don't look half so clever with 600 kilos of predator hanging off your backside, do you?
So we had the early period of flux - known around Stamford Bridge as the "flattering to deceive" bit - in which Liverpool passed and Chelsea puffed, Lampard and Gallas mis-hit passes, Crespo strayed offside... uhm, once or twice... and Harry Kewell reminded us, for a second or two, that he was a half-decent winger once.
One goal against the run of play, and I can't think of many people who would have backed Liverpool to win it. It wasn't quite the one-way traffic we saw when United capitulated so tamely in front of the Stretford End last year, but Chelsea playing on the break are always a tough proposition. For a team who recently welcomed a 30-year-old has-been landlord back into their ranks as though he's the answer to all their striking problems, it's tougher than a 44-letter Countdown conundrum.
Rafael Benitez will huff and puff about his goalkeeper's dismissal and Robben's play-acting. The level of bluster will be a direct reflection of how painful the lesson was. Liverpool aren't a million miles behind Chelsea in terms of how they play their football. But consistency, finishing and character all elude them in the League. Yet again.
Comments
Great article mate, hit the nail on the head. I'll be coming back to this website often, keep it up!