Topic: Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool - Post match discussion, match reports, questions etc....

[hoonin]

Think I'll steer clear of this one

[COR]

Yeah, it's fucking disgraceful that we lost to chelsea who are unbeaten, have only let in one goal all season and just demolished the european champions during the week.

I know it's only post match frustration but we played alot better today than we did against oly or utd. I don't buy this tactics bullshit either, I honestly don't think we would have beaten Chelsea if we'd played two up front. Two goals conceded in 10 matches tells it all.

It's one thing to be optimistic about winning a game but to build it up to dillusional heights is another thing. Lets take baby steps.

[Graeme]

Overall today our performance was not that bad - certainly much better than midweek.

I dont think their goal was down to the back line of four - even though they were totally static.  The players in front of them did not move quickly enough and we were punished.  We have to defend set pieces better or we are looking at a mid-table finish.

Traore did well today, but I thought Salif was shocking.  It amazes me how he got a start today ahead of Hamann.  Not going to slam Xabi but three or four very poor free kicks there today.

A win would have put us 4th in the table today, it would have been nice to have an easier fixture than Chelsea away and be able to get us up to 4th.  At the end of the day not many teams will get any kind of result at Stamford Bridge.

Looking at our forthcoming games, we have got games agasint Fulham, Charlton, Blackburn, Birmingham, Middlesbrough and Palace and those should be an opportunity to get a good run of form going - lets hope so anyway.

[Cardie]

You have to expect to lose but hope to pick up the points against the top 3 when you play them away.

I'm more interested in how we perform against the likes of Birmingham, Middlesbrough, and Villa's where we should be expecting to win home and away.

[coltmanaman]

I'm not too disheartened by losing to Chelsea (who are afterall still unbeaten) BUT despite it being a slightly better perfromance than some of our previous away games i'm still very disappointed by the seemingly lack of ambition about our play.  Chelsea's defence is excellent but we never tested them - when we got into the final third we either lacked ideas or options ('possiblitites' in Rafa language).   

[Drobs]

Defensively looked more solid today but the overriding fact is that goals win games - away from home we don't look capable of any or even like we want to score any.

[AS]

Could be worse lads, down here in the bottom 4 !

You're missing Gerrard but you'll be OK when Owen comes back   

just noticed my Blackburn Rovers avatar isn't there

[Fairytale of 2005]

I thought Kirkland was much more comfortable than Dudek & Traore had a decent game. Was also slightly better than midweek. That's the positives out of the game for me.

On the negative side of things, Garcia & Alonso continue to be poor away from home. I'm not sure why people are raving about Josemi, IMO he's dodgy & he dives in way too much & gets skinned. Salif Diao is surely top of the list for the exit door, he offers nothing, even as a squad player. I'd rather see Potter or Welsh given a chance.

We simply are not a threat in anyway shape or form. Cisse was marginally better today, but Owen is sadly missed. Baros just isn't gonna score a lot of goals & Kewell is a non entity.

This is gonna take a long time. We are so far behind the top 2 it's disturbing & we could finish even more than 30 points behind them this season & before anyone slams that comment, we are already 12 & 10 points behind them.

 

[hoonin]

We were beaten 1-0 and we certainly werent embarrassed, but then thats not saying much as Chelsea are not up to much either really. Still, they'll be laughin at these 1-0 wins if it keeps them up at there with Arsenal.

Have no idea why we look so dfferent away from home. Not looking forward to Fulham away right now

[Filler.]

Looking at our forthcoming games, we have got games agasint Fulham, Charlton, Blackburn, Birmingham, Middlesbrough and Palace and those should be an opportunity to get a good run of form going - lets hope so anyway.

Yep... the result today was expected really... didn't understand our starting line up at all after SpanishRed's sauce... (why do I still beleive these sources!!?    ) ...but there you go. Djimi and Diao were patchy at best for me - Xabi's 3 delivery's which were, lets face it our only hope of a goal were disastrously bad, but he'll know it too tonight. Carra was top notch for me, and Josemi got eaten alive by Duff who was the MOTM for me. Well worked goal by Chelsea, but the link between midfield and Cisse was non existent, but thats what you get sometimes against a team who've let ONE goal in in the league, and even that Beattie goal came completely out of the blue.

A better away performance tho - we win the game in hand and we're fourth... heads up all - as Graeme said, time to get a run going and possibly bury the November hoo-do?


Ah bollocks.. off to bed for a kip.

[Hugh]

Ratings:

Kirkland - Not very confidence inspiring but could do nothing about the goal. Perhaps lacking match practice. Will surely improve. 6

Josemi - On his own defensively down the right and coped well with Duff for the most part. 7

Hyypia - Solid enough. 7

Carra - MOTM. Won every tackle, fought for every ball and showed the attitude of a captain. Deserves the armband IMO. 8

Traore - Linked well down the left with Riise. No complaints. 7

Luis Garcia - Needs to be more simple in his passing and play away from home. 6

Alonso - Dire. Not every week will be Norwich but it certainly better not be that shite. 5

Diao - Not good enough. Simple as. 5

Riise - Did well down the left, won the ball well but can't be a winger with no right foot. 6.5

Kewell - A little better than has been previously. 6.5

Cisse - Threatened and showed good pace on his own. Not too discouraging. 6.5

Subs:

Finnan - Would have been interesting to see how he'd have done for the whole game. n/a

Hamann - Likewise. n/a

Baros - Should have started. 7

Overall we were as someone said better than previously away from home but we didn't win and offered nothing going forward. The break gives Benitez time to think about how to conquer these away day blues (excuse pun). Will hope for better at Fulham in two weeks.

[realtarragona]

Have no idea why we look so dfferent away from home. Not looking forward to Fulham away right now

We've played three sides who'll be in the bottom five at home in the league this year. Away from home, we've played two of the top three and pretty good Bolton and Tottenham sides. There's the difference right there. I'd prefer to wait and see how we do against better opposition at Anfield before I wonder if there is a huge gulf in quality in our home and away matches.

[Filler.]

Not looking forward to Fulham away right now

I am!.. we'll have 'em  ... when tho was the last time we won before an international break?... I fucking hate these fortnights.

[Derzyjudek]

 i thought traore was excellent...him and carra by far our best today.

[COR]

There's no doubt about it, we're missing Steven Gerrard and we can't expect Alonso to fill his boots after only a month at the club.

Positives:

-Djimi, Hyypia and Carra all looked solid
-Kirkland has come in and done good
-Cisse looked alot more determined today and had he had better support we could have capatilized

Negatives:

-Set Pieces, no more comment.
-Our midfielders never got into the game, I'd have to say Diao was the best of them and he played badly himself.
-No link from midfield to attack, no threat

And please god don't jump on the kewell bandwagon because he wasn't our worst player today and it's not his fault the midfield didn't show up.

[rob1966]

Same as Cardie, hoped we might snatch something today, but didn't expect to get anything.It's no good winning at the likes of Chelsea and the Mancs, if you then go and lose to the likes of Palace,Norwich,West Brom etc.

It's still early days yet, players will move in/out in January.It will take time for it to all gel. We could do without these frigging International breaks tho...

[Walton_Gary]

Thought we had hard look today, we are making progress and we have to be patient!

In Rafa we trust

[Jimmy10Men]

Yeah we've not played anyone decent at home, no Champions League runners up or anything like that.

[ic843]

We played okay, still some questions about the Spanish lads in particular away, but im confident in them as I think Benitez wont make mistakes about big playes. Obviously another set piece, very hard to defend against that kind of class touch. At least we're not losing them to open play goals, in fact we havent conceded in open play thankfully, bar defoe, which is a good sign, set pieces are easier to put right than defensive frailties. And sweet child of mine, i think we know hat Xabi's gonna be practising on Monday. Drogba is the most overrated player since C.Ronaldo, so i was content with him and i thought Joe COle would give his problems. At least the problems are quite obvious and can be fixed with a few million.
Step forward Mr. Moores 

[Frank82]

Can we anything out of the fact that we only lost 4 of the 5 games 1-0 and the other 2-1.... or does that make it worse? 

[realtarragona]

Yeah we've not played anyone decent at home, no Champions League runners up or anything like that.

One game, that's all, against a side who have changed considerably since last year and were without their two main strikers. It was a good win but there's a clear difference in the quality of teams we've faced home and away.

[Craig Mac]

At home we play some great,exciting,attacking football but away from home he goes all defensive.I think Rafa should just treat every match as if it were a home game and just attack every team.I don't care whether its at Old Trafford or Selhurst Park we should just attack every side.Look at Arsenal - they attack other teams on their away games too.There an old proverb Rafa should learn which says: "Attack is the best form of defence".
Believe me,this is what we need to cure these away form problems.Just treat every match as a home game and don't change the style. I mean, we may leak more goals at the back, but 5-0 and 1-0, they are both still loses

[docker]

one shot, we were poor, feel sorry for rafa, hes got some job on his hands, he needs players but he will not be getting a lot of money, 4th or 5th were miles away from the top 3.

[COR]

I don't think we set out to play defensively today, we were more or lessed forced into it.

[DonkeyWan]

Ratings:

Kirkland - Not very confidence inspiring but could do nothing about the goal. Perhaps lacking match practice. Will surely improve. 6

Disagree, thought Kirkland did well and looked more confident an in control than Dudek -7

Josemi - On his own defensively down the right and coped well with Duff for the most part. 7

Disagree, thought he looked slow, dived in and was skinned by Duff - 5

Hyypia - Solid enough. 7

Looks ropey at times to me, today was in no mans lands at times - 6

Carra - MOTM. Won every tackle, fought for every ball and showed the attitude of a captain. Deserves the armband IMO. 8

Agree, great game.

Traore - Linked well down the left with Riise. No complaints. 7

Disagree, thought he was clueless when he went forward, let players beat him too much and his distribution was poor. Two saving tackles, but any idiot can throw himself in front of a ball - 5

Luis Garcia - Needs to be more simple in his passing and play away from home. 6

Agree ineffective and hardly in the game - 5

Alonso - Dire. Not every week will be Norwich but it certainly better not be that shite. 5

Disagree, thought he provided a lot of link play but his passing was off at times - 6

Diao - Not good enough. Simple as. 5

Agree - 5

Riise - Did well down the left, won the ball well but can't be a winger with no right foot. 6.5

Disagree, got back well, but offered nothing going forward - 5

Kewell - A little better than has been previously. 6.5

in and out of the game, feel he should have been left, Garcia behind Cisse and Riise left back - 6

Cisse - Threatened and showed good pace on his own. Not too discouraging. 6.5

Agree

Subs:

Finnan - Would have been interesting to see how he'd have done for the whole game. n/a

Hamann - Likewise. n/a

Baros - Should have started. 7

Overall we were as someone said better than previously away from home but we didn't win and offered nothing going forward. The break gives Benitez time to think about how to conquer these away day blues (excuse pun). Will hope for better at Fulham in two weeks.

Overall we gave a better account of ourselves against a very tough, negative side (same as us 4 years ago, isn't it?). Felt when we conceded we had lost, and I think thats how the players felt too. Felt Benitez got a some decisions wrong (Diao and Traore) but hasn't a lot of options with the squad he inherited. Not too concerned, we'll get a better idea of our team by X-mas and have to expect a lot more tough days ahead in this season.

[Red Lozza]

Impressed with Traore. I'd keep him at left-back for the next game, ahead of Riise.

Disappointed with today but it was still better than Olympiakos. We've got the Chelsea and ManU away games out of the way and I'm confident we'll start picking up points away from home soon. Patience is needed, although results like that are always painful. 

[JonnyS]

thought we played alot better today than we did in the week but still didn't create enough chances. however i'm sure things will get alot better and i fully trust rafa. also, i know the away record looks shite but we've played some good teams with only bolton being the real dissapointment. if we keep winning the home games and beating teams we should we'll be fine. 

[realtarragona]

There were a few positives I thought. Carragher had an excellent game, completely faultless. Cissé look much better, running at players, showing neat touches and just generally looking much sharper and was our only real threat I thought. Traore do, had another good game. I say 'another' because he's performed practically every time he's been brought in during the last year but he still hasn't escaped the scapegoat tag that was put on him for some mistakes he made 2-3 years ago.

[Dan The Man]

Thought we looked a pretty ordinary team today without stevie. We definetley lacked his presence in midfield as Diao is not a patch on him. One thing that is really startin to piss me off is there are not even any chances being created. Harry Kewell is so fustrating and I think hes been pretty poor now for a long time. Ciise is not looking like a 15 million pound striker, he doesent seem to be in the box at all and all he seems to do is run around the pitch for 90 minutes half assed. I think were definetly in need of a striker, someone who can actually cause a threat to goal and im dissapointed that the only two shots we had on goal were ciise's and finnans, 91st minute to get a shot on target is frankly abysmal. Ciise just looks totally disintrested and we need someone who can get into the box and prove a threat on goal.

[KiNki]

what a simplistic view of the game.

Perhaps it has less to do with the tactics and more to do with the personel.

Take carra for example - he's more confident at home to push our defenders out to the half way line and condense the play in the oppositions half at home. He just doesnt do this away from home - he and sami hyypia are far more comfatable defending ten yards out side their own penalty box. (Probably cos they wont get exposed for pace.)

We probably concede a few more freekicks away from home too - specially when collina is having a mare and take the old trafford game where freekicks were given for nothing challenges.

This leads to more balls being put into our penalty area and more pressure on our defence.

Obviously the reason for beni going for traore and diao and playing riise left mid today.

To be honest it worked ok for nearly all the corners and freekicks they got. Except from the one they scored from.

Attack isn't always the best form of defence. A great defence is the best form of defence - a great midfield is the best form of defence - a great forward line is the best form of defence - and obviously attack.

We simply lack a great defence - a great midfield(specially without gerrard) and a great attacking line up.....at the moment.

[Paul Tomkins]

I'm not too despondent. We did okay, and they scored against the run of play from a well-worked low free-kick - otherwise we defended free-kicks and corners brilliantly.

Baros baffles me, as he can look so good at times and poor on others - he was good in midweek and whenever he comes on as sub he injects something into our play. The trouble with Cisse is not all down to the Frenchman himself - we're not finding him with the right service yet. Kewell won six or seven flick-ons, but Cisse didn't read them (never easy, and it takes time to build up an understanding).

Was pleased with Kirkland. As was noted elsewhere, he charges out at players when they are about to shoot, making himself a bigger barrier by narrowing the angle and putting them off - the problem will be when a striker squares it as Kirky will be stranded. But I like his pro-active style - he takes control. Maybe he was trying a little too hard, as he feels he has to force his way into the side and keep his place in it. Carra and Sami were solid, and Traore looked good. Was disappointed with Riise - helped keep the side solid, but little idea going forward.

The Spanish lads are all struggling away from home, but those are the tougher games - and it will take them a while to get used to it. Luis Garcia is anonymous away from home - hopefully that will change.

Finally, not sure what Diao was doing on the pitch - some good tackles but gave the ball away too often. There's no point winning the ball just to give it away again. I'd like to see what Rafa sees in him, but at least the lad gave all the effort he could.

[hoonin]

Lets be brutally honest here, we're not Arsenal. It took Wenger several years to get his team playing that way. Rafa has been with us for less than a dozen games.

[hooded claw]

Thought we looked a pretty ordinary team today without stevie. We definetley lacked his presence in midfield as Diao is not a patch on him.

Ok but...........
can you name any team in world football that wouldn't miss a player like Gerrard?

I am taking this season as  a building period. As long as we requalify for the CL I'm not that bothered about the various cups. We could do with a massive cash injection but either way there is bound to be an influx of players in Jan and over the summer.If we 're still playing like that in a year, I'll be very worried. But I don't for one minute think we will.

[Guz-kop]

Didnt see the game but not too down after what I've read/heard to be honest

We wanted a revolution, we're getting one. Things take time. Stick with it and the rewards will be great.

Walk On

[Guz-kop]

Lets be brutally honest here, we're not Arsenal. It took Wenger several years to get his team playing that way. Rafa has been with us for less than a dozen games.

Yes but who cares about facts? Any idea where the "Attack" and "Win" buttons are at Melwood that apparently Benitez just has to walk upto and press for things to click?

[Drobs]

Agree in parts but we HAVE to show more intent. We are going away from home and struggling to get any efforts at goal, any we do have are speculative long range efforts. I am one of these who just loves all the tactical elements of the game but at the minute tactically away from home we are going about things in the wrong way because we are not playing to our strengths.

Disturbingly we had more of the ball today! 52% apparently which further drills home the fact we are not doing enough with it in advanced positions. I love the free flowing play we are showing at home, yes its been against lesser teams but they still had to be opened up - we have done this well, yet when it comes to away days there is an over-reliance on solid defending in my opinion. Attack is the best form of defense they say, well one thing is for certain, more attacking from us means more defending for the opposition. We are giving teams too much of an easy time of it in that respect.

[Gus 1855]

The way i see it is much the same as Paul, just got back from the game and i think we did reasonably.

The main factor to take into account is that our losses have been away at two of the big boys. Beating the small fry is always going to be the easy bit with the quality of players that we now have. Against teams like ManU and Chelsea away we need those players to knit together, and that does not happen over night.

The main factor that concerns me is the lack of a natural partnership up front. With Owen and Heskey we had a good team up top, yet people moaned because they were not favourites in their own right. The opposite is now true.

[COR]

Yeah! We should definitely go for a "try and put the ball from your foot into the opponents net" tactic, I think that's what wenger tells his players to do.

[Paul Tomkins]

The main factor that concerns me is the lack of a natural partnership up front. With Owen and Heskey we had a good team up top, yet people moaned because they were not favourites in their own right. The opposite is now true.

We're trying to build a team now, and get away from hitting the big man early (and from deep) for the little man to run onto. That only gets you so far - it is effective, but only up to a point. We need to build a footballing team, and to do so without a settled regular goalscorer (Owen) and our best player (Gerrard). If we still had Heskey and Owen and with GH in charge, we might be higher up the league. But we'd never get good enough to challenge. Now it's backward steps as we re-adjust to make bigger forward steps.

The old style has been scrapped, and we're starting afresh. It will take time to find the consistency - when we're good, we're great, but when we've been beaten it's been by a single-goal margin. No one has humbled us - Man U threatended to, but we fought back and were much better in the second half. When GH started out in sole charge, as he tried to sort things, we lost quite heavily on occasions. It will take time to get us to the level Rafa wants.

Rafa has had far more problems so far than Mourinho inherited - JM gained loads of players, while we've lost our best two (Owen, and then Gerrard to injury). They were far ahead of us last year, and spent more this summer. Same with Man U - spent much more than us, and yet if we win our game in hand we go above them.

[Ian-TN]

Look at Arsenal - they attack other teams on their away games too.

Yer don't watch them that closely then do yer? They do exactly what we did today. 2 banks of 4 and attack on the break. Only difference being personal. And also the fact Wenger and Benny have had slightly different amount of time at each club.