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Originally Posted by hanuma
He's the sort of player we normally give just enough rope to to hang themselves with.
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Well he didn't hang himself but he did the next best thing, giving the illusion of penetration, and with the exception of his one shot on goal he passed the ball backwards or to us, a useful outlet for us as much as Liverpool.
Ignoring MUFC and Jlae's fundamentalist sillyness for a moment, I can understand the perspective of Liverpool fans thinking they deserved the win and neutrals not being interested in the game. But I think there are greater depths to this game that aren't being acknowledged.
No, it wasn't a feast of free flowing football, but when you have two teams with three central midfielders of superb quality matching man for man you have an intense battle that isn't condusive to opening any space up. All 6 ran for miles and miles, literally. Without space you cannot play and I think I saw one passing move from Liverpool all game and three from Chelsea in the second half that ended in good saves or good diving blocks.
These games are for purists, not thrill seekers, or people wanting both teams to somehow lose and half their players to get injured (don't deny it Utd fans).
Better wingers for both sides might have made a difference, but not much, because with better wingers logically comes more caution. Anyone else wonder what Joe Cole was thinking with that big first half chance? Bruce Lee wannabe.
From a Chelsea perspective:
Drogba was isolated too much once again, we never seem to learn that whilst he causes all sorts of trouble he'll rarely be enough on his own to bully Liverpool into major mistakes. The same might be said of Torres, but Liverpool don't have an Anelka wasting away on the bench and wasn't it him waiting for that cross if Riise hadn't so beautifully finished it off himself?!
If Liverpool had won I couldn't complain too strongly, but it wasn't a reflection of Liverpool being the better side on the night, just making fewer mistakes and taking their chance(s). Whilst they had more possession, they rarely managed to sustain pressure in Chelsea's half, something Chelsea were more capable of thanks to Drogba and clever support play from Lampard (who actually had one of his worse days despite some lovely touches).
Essien coming back (in current form) might make a difference to the midfield battle for the second leg, even if he plays wide right, just tipping the balance in our favour and allowing our counter attacks more potency.
Liverpool seemed much cooler, with Riise the aberration, in both penalty areas. In these games they always have cold blood and we have boiling blood....I don't know why.
NJ:
I thought Gerrard and Alonso both had much better games than usual against us, no inch was given and when they did have space they used it well. I don't think Gerrard can be blamed for staying forward too much, it was what he was told to do and it didn't exactly cost you anything. He managed to open our defence up twice with his passing, just like Lampard did with Liverpool.
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