After round 11 of the Premier league, Liverpool FC and Chelsea FC have polar opposite goals.
Chelsea FC has to continue the way they are playing while Liverpool FC has to stop the way they are playing. Situation could not have been more different than the last time when these two met in the Premier League. Last season Liverpool FC were mowing down opposition with their attacking play and had a deadly striking partnership, while this season the team looks disjointed and they have striker who is starting to look like a liability than a bargain buy. The season began with lot of optimism after extensive rebuilding of the squad post departure of Suarez to Barcelona but the experiment hasnai??i??t worked so far and Liverpool FC have succumbed to their third defeat in last 10 days. Chelsea on the other end moved quickly and bought players who have moved in the squad seamlessly and added a new dimension to the squad. There is a talk of this squad remaining unbeaten till the end of the season and the team looks united in their aim to conquer everyone they face.
Chelsea 2014 is Chelsea 2004 v2.0
The current team is like the first Chelsea FC team under Mourinho back in 2004 in terms of players, mentality and tactics. A young goalkeeper replacing the established one and performing admirably even though the tactic would have been questioned by many at the beginning. Back then a young Cech displaced an established Cudicini and this season Courtois has displaced Cech. A solid defensive partnership which rarely concedes goals (Terry and Carvalho back in 2004-05 and Terry and Cahill in 2014-15). Makelele and Lampard have been replaced by Matic and Fabregas in similar roles. Two wide players who like to cut inside (Duff and Robben in 2004-05 and Oscar and Hazard in 2014-15). A big powerful striker up front who is not afraid of bullying defenders is a description that suits both Drogba of 2004-05 and Costa of 2014-15. As we saw during the match and mentioned during post-match interview by Azpilicueta and Mourinho, the seasonai??i??s magnificent display is due the strong mentality of this team that allows them to fight as a single unit and everyone knows their respective roles. Ai??Back in 2004-05 the team lost just 1 match in the entire domestic season and the current team looks set to better that.
Rodgers let down by selection and summer signings
The post Suarez era transition has not been a smooth one for Liverpool FC. The money received has been spent on new recruits who have not gelled properly with the team. Balotelli has been a failure so far and Lovren has been a shadow of himself since leaving Southampton. In this game both players continued their lackluster performance and one wonders why they have featured in so many games this season. For Balotelli it can be explained as a case of being fortunate since Sturridge has been sidelined by injury and Borini lacks the quality to lead the line alone. The selection of Lovren is even more baffling as Kolo Toure did well against Madrid and deserved a place in this team for this match. Many a Liverpool FC fans may be wondering what has gone wrong this season. One can attribute it to extensive level of rebuilding and failed summer signings. Balotelli and Lovren have been serial offenders and Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert have been peripheral. The only standout buys this season have been Alberto Moreno and to some extent Emre Can.
In this match Chelsea FC crowded the midfield whenever Gerrard had the ball and allowed him very little freedom. His pain of losing this game must have been exacerbated by the chants from Chelsea fans about the infamous slip against Chelsea FC that led to Liverpool FC losing the title race last season. Sterlingai??i??s threat was minimized to an extent by addition of Ramires to the starting lineup. Defensively the team was driven to the ropes after Chelsea FC started exerting influence on the game after first 20 minutes or so. Mignolet was also to be blamed for his poor distribution which brought the team under unnecessary pressure. Henderson has failed to show his potential this season and his has been the case going one step forward and two backwards. Only standout performers of this game for Liverpool FC were Moreno who had to deal with Ramires, Oscar, Hazard and Ivanovic at various stages of the game, Sterling with his good play in both attack and defense, Can for his goal and his work rate.
Selection wise there were 7 changes to the team that played against Madrid meaning this game was priority. Even though a total of 19 different players played in these two games the total points earned were zero. Considering this match was priority whatever plan Rodgers had in mind before this game started has failed. With Suarez gone not only have they lost goals but also the psychological effect he had on opponents.
Matic proving to be the most irreplaceable Chelsea FC player
During this game Matic had 72 touches, made 53 passes (out of which 42 were successful), 7 tackles, 3 clearances and 3 blocks and also an assist. Those are the figures which show how soon he has become the mainstay of this team. While Costa might be scoring goals, Fabregas providing the assists and Hazard and Oscar dazzling opponents, itai??i??s Matic who allows them the freedom to their jobs well through his complete game. While Chelsea FC has competent replacement for all the above mentioned players they do not have any one who can replace Matic. He was one of the main reasons Liverpool FC remained pinned to their own half and Mignolet had ball coming at him at regular intervals. He has proved be a real bargain buy since arrival from Benfica in January, 2014.
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