Chelsea vs Liverpool

An interesting article by Tony Barrett, a correspondent for the Liverpool Echo
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According to French statisticians, Liverpool only have a 23 per cent of making it through to the Champions League final in Moscow.

But then, when did anyone at Anfield take any notice of what French statisticians have to say? Those experts at L'Equipe may be able to rate Liverpool's chances by going through every single European Cup semi-final since 1971. And they may even be justified in making Chelsea statistical favourites to go through on Wednesday night. But one thing they could never factor into their complicated equations is that mythical factor that Liverpool are at their best in Europe when their backs are against the wall. Is a club which has come back from the dead in Istanbul, which has won twice at the Nou Camp, which has defied logic against the likes of St Etienne, Olympiakos and, more recently, Arsenal really going to be cowed at the prospect of "only" having 90 minutes to score a single goal away at Chelsea? Will a club that once won a European Cup against AS Roma in their own backyard with all its hostility be afraid of the blue and white chequered flags which will be unfurled at Stamford Bridge? Not a chance. This is Liverpool's stage, not Chelsea's.

Had those French statisticians also bothered to look at European Cup finals since 1971 they would have discovered that Chelsea have not appeared in a single one of them. In the same period of time, Liverpool have appeared in seven and, in my book at least, that makes them favourites. Forget that 95th minute equaliser at Anfield last week and focus on almost every single one of the 94 minutes that preceded it. Liverpool were comfortably the better side and had it not been for the excellence of Petr Cech would be heading into the second leg with the kind of lead that even miracles cannot overcome. Pepe Reina, by contrast, was hardly tested and there were times when the Spanish keeper must have been tempted to join in with the Kop as they did the Torres bounce just to keep himself warm. Yes, John Arne Riise's own goal did shift the balance of the tie because it gave Chelsea that crucial away strike and yes, Liverpool could have done without conceding. But all they have to do to cancel it out is score a single goal at Stamford Bridge and the tie will be back in their hands.

A legend will be created tomorrow. Someone will carve his name on Liverpool's unique European history alongside the likes of Dalglish, Smith, Rush, McDermott, Keegan, Fairclough, Garcia and Gerrard. One player dressed in red will seize the moment and give the travelling Kop a moment they will treasure until their dying day. The stage is set for a hero to emerge and open up a path to Moscow. No one will care if it's Torres, Gerrard, Kuyt, Carragher or Skrtel, just as long as someone does it. Liverpool have nothing to fear from Chelsea. What is their to fear from the functional or the perfunctory? This is not the Real Madrid of Figo and Zidane, the Milan of Van Basten, Baresi and Gullit, the Barcelona of Stoichkov, Romario and Koeman or even the Man United of Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez. It is the Chelsea of the eternally balance-challenged Didier Drogba, the vastly over rated Ashley Cole and the perennially weak Paulo Ferreira. And what's more, they're even fighting among themselves if Saturday's embarrassing squabble over whether Drogba or Michael Ballack took a free kick is anything to go by. ! Throw into the mix the fact that Avram Grant is totally untested at this level and is no doubt currently fretting about whether he should stick or twist and all of a sudden all those doubts and fears which followed Riise's unfortunate intervention are rendered almost meaningless. If roles could be reversed and it was Liverpool who had the away draw with a second leg to come at Anfield but you had to have Grant in charge rather than Rafa Benitez, would you take it?

I didn't think so.

Benitez is an arch alchemist in the rarified atmosphere of the Champions League and he will be heading to Stamford Bridge with the kind of battle plan Napoleon would have been proud of. Every eventuality will have been considered, all strengths and weaknesses assessed and a tactical masterplan will be implemented which will give Liverpool every chance of getting the result they need. We know this is the case because we have seen it so many times over the last four years. We have seen it against Arsenal, Inter Milan and Juventus. And we have seen it against Chelsea. Twice. The Spaniard will be relishing the opportunity of going into the Londoners' own backyard and making it a hat-trick. He won't see his team as the underdogs and he certainly won't be afraid. As is the case for his team, this is Benitez's stage, a place where he is rarely found wanting. Chelsea, by contrast, have been to the Champions League semi-finals on three separate occasions and are still to make it to a single final. To borrow a phrase from bookmaking parlance, the Londoners do not have course and distance. They do have an away goal to their name, but it is only one. Liverpool now know exactly what they have to do and every single Liverpool fan should today be believing that they will do it. It is they who have history on their side no matter what those French statisticians might say.

And anyway, 23 is a lucky number for Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. Remember Kenny Dalglish's goal to win the league at Chelsea in 1986? It was scored after exactly 23 minutes. That's fate, history and a beautiful omen. It's going to be Liverpool's night. All we have to do is believe. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A massive, massive game

First of all, I must apologise for not writing since our fantastic win against Arsenal in Anfield. No excuses really.....just been busy and lazy, I must admit.

Despite our current form, it is disappointing to approach the return leg of the Champions League semi-final in Stamford Bridge at 1-1. When Riise came on for Aurelio, I remember telling my friends at the fan club that he will be the weak link and how I hope he will not screw it up for us. So you can imagine how I felt when that equaliser was scored in extended injury time. Absolutely rubbish! We have been reading some really positive comments coming out of Anfield in the aftermath of that game but I personally believe Riise's time is up. I always believe he lacks the defensive qualities and even as an attacking left winger, he has been inconsistent over the years. It is true that he has scored some astonishing goals in the past but we are not looking at flashes of brilliance but consistency over the entire season. In this sense, he has to leave. I feel that Aurelio has matured and settled very well in the left back position and he will continue to occupy that side of the pitch. The other player that impressed me on Saturday was the youngster Emiliano Insua. Although he only played for 15mins, I saw enough to feel that he deserves to start against Chelsea. You must be thinking I am crazy? Maybe....but it's time to take a measured gamble and we have nothing to lose. Chelsea are the huge favourites and I am sure they know what Riise is capable of. They WILL attack down the right and look to fire salvo after salvo of crosses into the box, knowing fully well that Riise will probably allow them to do it with relative ease. With Insua, he will be the surprise package. It's now up to Rafa to decide if he thinks that boy is ready for the game of his life. I am quietly confident.

It's good that we have finally wrapped up our league position and secured Champions League football next season. The current fight for the league title can only work to our advantage, at least as far as the next game is concerned. Chelsea played with the entire full team and come Wed, it will be their third game in a week. Similiar to the last Arsenal game at Anfield, the final 10mins will be crucial. That's when our well rested legs will count and provide us with that extra push. Playing Babel in the second half was a master stroke by Rafa. He tormented the tired Arsenal players in the last 15mins. The same scenario can very well happen again. We have Pennant and Benayoun playing very well at the moment. Both of them can inflict serious damage if they come on as second half subs as well.

On the whole, I remain quietly confident that Stamford Bridge can crumble and collapse come Thurs morning. It is not impossible. Liverpool will need to produce one of our best performances in recent memory to make that a reality. There is still 90mins to play for and anything can still happen.

It will be a massive, massive game. Let's pray and fast for the team from today.........

God Bless Liverpool.

Another Classic European Encounter

What a game! The atmosphere at Harry's was just explosive. We were all shouting, screaming, jumping, hugging, crying, laughing..........all in unison. The experience was comparable to the Champions League final against AC Milan 3 years ago.

I mentioned in my last blog that I suspected Arsenal's players will tire toward the end of the game. I was not wrong. The only player running with fresh legs in the last 15mins was Theo Walcott. The fact that he burst past 4 Liverpool players before feeding an inch perfect pass to Adebayor says it all. On the other hand, Liverpool rested Babel and Mascherano fully on Sat. Gerard and Torres only played 20 and 1o mins respectively. Fabregas was non-existent towards the end. It was a good tactical game plan by Benitez. The employment of Crouch up front with Torres was a master-stroke. It was Crouch's flick-on header to Torres that resulted in Liverpool's second goal. Of course, with the employment of Crouch, we lost the wing play on the left and that's where I felt we could have done better. Gerard was guilty of straying into the centre too often. The only attacking option on the left was the overlapping runs provided by Aurelio from the left back position. I felt that Babel should have replaced Crouch after we went 2-1 up. That would have given us more width and it would stretch the tiring Arsenal defence further. Babel's pace and power down the left would have posed many problems. As expected, the last 2 goals by Liverpool were direct contributions from Babel. He has been exceptional thus far and is now finally showing what he is really capable of. I said previously that Benitez can even employ him as a second striker. Having said that, it is quite obvious that we need further reinforcements in summer. We need at least 2 quality wingers that are able to inter-change on either flanks. We need reinforcements at the left back position. With Skrtel and Agger in the team, the future certainly looks bright in defence. We have found able replacements for the ageing Hypia and Carragher. With the addition of another quality stiker, it will certainly enhance our challenge for the league title next season.

We will have a psychological edge over Chelsea in the semi-final round. Having beaten them twice in the semis over the last 3 years, they must feel the pressure to finally deliver. That can only work to our advantage. The manner in which we beat Arsenal can only boost our confidence and I honestly think the team is peaking at the right time. It will be a tough fight but like I said before, no one really wants to play us in Europe.

I have already booked my air ticket to Moscow in May. Only waiting for my match ticket now....anyone care to join me? It will be a Liverpool vs Barcelona final. :-)

Game On!!

With Fabregas playing 2 full 90mins in a span of 3 days and a huge blow to Arsenal's confidence with a well earned draw, it is certainly game on @ Anfield come Tuesday.

The title will be out of reach for Arsenal if Man U wins at the Riverside tonight. The fact that they can't break down a resilient Liverpool for 2 consecutive games will deal a huge blow to their confidence. With a precious away goal, we can afford to sit back and invite them to attack. Play the counter attacking game......and you can always rely on Torres to score from those one-on-one situations. It's certainly looking good.

The team will be very aware of Arsenal's players. The fact that Gerard only played 20mins and Torres 10mins, Mascherano and Babel totally rested, we will certainly be the fresher team. The task will rest hugely on the defence this Tuesday. Shut them out and I will be booking my air ticket to Moscow in May.....

Come on Reds.....

A crucial goal....and half a step into the semis

A crucial away goal means the onus is now on Arsenal to come out attacking in Anfield. Never a popular hunting ground for teams playing us in Europe, it should be another explosive game. The Gunners are staring at another season without a single piece of silverware. Lose to us next week and it's all over. With this thought in mind, I am sure we will be able to break more freely and hit them on the counter attack.

Torres needs to shake off the ever reliable William Gallas. His marking of Torres was exceptional and Torres must find a way past him. Perhaps the employment of a target man will solve that problem. The other thing that I was concerned about as the way we were losing ball possession. Losing possession casually will only allow Arsenal to launch another wave of attack. They are always capable of scoring and we must be at out very best defensively. If the score remains at 0-0, we will go through to the semis.

I felt Mascherano had a quiet game by his own standards. We need to see a lot more of him if we are to beat Arsenal. Like I said to some friends, this is the Champions League and it is a totally different ball game. For some strange reason, we are always able to lift ourselves for these games. With a 5 point gap for fourth place, we can afford to rest some key players for this Sat's league game. Arsenal will be looking to revive their title hopes. That will be crucial for the return leg next Tues. The team that is in the best condition come Tuesday should and will win.

After the Toffees, let's have the Gooners

It was a good win against the Toffees. I had a good feeling that we would bounce back from our humiliating defeat to Man United and secure that vital 3 points. It was perhaps a wise tactical decision to deliberately slow the game down in the second half for 2 reasons. Firstly, Everton's attacking options were limited both on the pitch and the bench. With Cahill and Johnson out injured, they never really posed a serious threat in the final third. Secondly, 3 points was all that mattered and having an eye on tonight's Champions League clash with the Gunners, Benitez obviously thought it was wiser to save the best for the next 3 matches.

It's a trilogy of games against one of the best teams in the league and perhaps one that will define the rest of our season. Although our record against them in the Emirates suck, it's afterall the first encounter against them in Europe. Premiership form will have no bearing on tonight's game. Look at our record against Chelsea in the Cup competitions. Knocked them out twice in Europe. That to me is crucial in the run-up to tonight's game. European nights in Anfield have always been special. Hold the Gunners to a draw and take the tie back to Anfield and we have all to play for. We need to stop the "rot" against Man U, Chelsea and Arsenal.

Let's pray for the best....