The Soccer Blog: On Liverpool: Tactics, Torres, Dalglish, and Luiz

Monday, 7 February 2011

On Liverpool: Tactics, Torres, Dalglish, and Luiz

By: Devin | February 7th, 2011
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Admittedly, I’m not over this one yet. The wound continues to smart the day after the wreckage, and I’m left with a sense of grief and despair. Grief over the notion that we’ve now lost twice to those Northerners, and despair over how porous of a performance we displayed given our newfound reinforcements and ‘momentum’. Jack’s summed it up rather succinctly in his Match Recap below. We were just not good enough, and it’s time to make way for players that are willing to give it all up for the shirt instead of loaf around half-heartedly.

There is work to be done.

Maybe I’m venting. Maybe I’m overreacting. But if you watched this match, you couldn’t help but feel as though we were a squad going through the motions, expecting Torres to offer a moment of inspiration. Anelka, so good against Sunderland, was inept. Drogba was wholly disinterested on this day, and I can’t say I saw anything from our midfield trio of Lamps, Essien, and Mikel that warranted a guaranteed starting berth for the lot. For all our efforts, and there were few genuine ones mind you, we once again failed to link play between the midfield and our striking contingent.

Now, credit has to be given where it’s due. I know I know, we’re Chelsea supporters, so the mere notion of offering Liverpool praise for anything makes me vomit in my mouth. But alas, the facts are what they are, and on this particular night, Dalglish outmaneuvered Carletto. For a man to be out of the game for ten plus seasons, it’s been a rather remarkable feat watching him adapt his squad to the current landscape. For all his strengths, Carlo has been a pretty poor tactician this season, often refusing to adjust the formation or bringing on questionable substitutions in critical situations. Granted, he gets paid the big bucks for a reason, but I think as fans we’re starting to grow impatient with his decisions.

But in truth, yesterday’s match was just a microcosm of the past week. The glorious highs and despondent lows of being a supporter. We capture two world-class footballers, and then lay an egg in the hotly-anticipated rubber match over the weekend. Any other club would let this one roll off their back and move on to the next one. But we can’t seem to shake the vitriol from Liverpool supporters, and no doubt the media will be branding Torres as a 50m flop now that he failed to score a goal in his 60-minute cameo in Blue.

The good news? David Luiz looked fantastic. Like a young Riccy bounding up the pitch, hair in tow. My, the boy is athletic. It will be interesting to see how he is integrated into the squad, and whether or not his arrival will precipitate the disappearance of Bosingwa from the starting XI. Call me crazy, or what have you, but I was more excited watching Luiz forage into the attack yesterday, make critical blocks, and use his size to impede the progress of Liverpool players than at any point during Torres’ performance. When he entered the match, he brought with himself a sense of purpose and energy. As if he was determined to make an impact on the pitch, for better or worse. The same can’t be said for anyone else in Blue. Credit to Luiz. Also, Taxi for Bosingwa, por favor. And oh by the way, I think we’ve found Paulo’s new calling: translator between Paul Clement and David Luiz.

Here’s a recent excerpt from Mr. Luiz interview with the CFC Press:

‘I am a quiet guy, this is very different from when I am on the field,’ he explains. ‘Outside the field I am a “take it easy” guy, I have a simple life. Inside the field my personality changes because I am tough when I play, but I like to stay at home, I have my family in Brazil, and the simple things make me happy.”

So where do we go from here? Conventional wisdom suggests we can only get better after failing to offer anything tangible on the pitch yesterday. I’d agree in this context. Players need time to adjust and develop chemistry before they can seamlessly slot into position. Expectations will always be high for a club of our stature, so it’s no surprise many of us are disappointed with what we witnessed. But with time, and the right amount of tinkering, this can be a squad that goes on a rampage. Patience is the key, but more than that, it will come down to Carletto’s ability to distinguish talent from ego, and therefore devise a formation that is suited to our abilities rather than the names on the back of our kits.

For now, I’d like everyone to relax, breathe, and remember that it’s just one game. We’ll be back in seven days to try again. KTBFFH!

Some Related Chelsea Posts:Chelsea Tactics: The Torres effectPL Recap: Chelsea 0-1 LiverpoolRant Box: Chelsea v. LiverpoolRant Box: Liverpool v. ChelseaMotM Poll: Chelsea 0-1 Liverpool

Category: Chelsea Team News, Opinion, Papers, Premiership

Tags: Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea Team News, David Luiz, Fernando Torres, Kenny Dalglish, LIverpool, Opinion, Papers, Premiership
Tweet « PL Recap: Chelsea 0-1 Liverpool | Home | BarzSit back, for just a moment, imagine the following, and try to grasp the nearly surreal irony, and ultimate poetic justice involved if Chelsea FC , and their newest rent-boy, "El Foldo", were to finish in fifth place this season. Unless you are completely devoid of any sense of humor, you HAVE to admit...THAT would be funny!matt smashit wouldn't be funny and it won't happen.MarkhahArmsDanOne swallow does not a summer make! Glass half empty or half full? There is a certain type of supporter who think they know more about football (the game) than those who actually run and play it. Perhaps young Devin here believes that by watching a favourite television station, he could run it better and get immediate gratification from his programming?
Its a game you twat! We win some we lose some - as always.
Maybe we didn't play well, were nervous, had an off day, the ref was against us, the scousers wanted it more, the Special One isn't back yet, it was fixed, etc etc. Do you seriously think that any Chelsea player in the First team, on the day, doesn't want to win, isn't trying, or is just going through the motions"?
Twat!JackDisagree, fine. But to harshly attack a fellow supporter? Why?DevinHysterical stuff. Tell me, are you therefore not inclined to have an opinion on any subject provided someone else performs the task in question? At what point did I suggest I could do a better job than Carlo? I didn't. If you'd read what I wrote instead of mouthing off and calling me a twat you'd realize that I was commenting on what I saw as a dismal performance. Nothing more.

Also, twat? Seriously? A contrarian opinion to your clearly superior notions earns me the label of a twat? Child please.JulesAt what point you thought your statement would amount to hyperbole, I don't know. Nonetheless, Ancelotti is not up to the task and it would appear from the core players' performances, they are aging and disinterested.

As you rightly say, you hope players will be bought who play for the shirt, however, huge money players - such as all but the longest in the tooth of Chelsea's players, are mercenary, and will jump ship should Chelsea fail to compete at the very highest level - despite the fact that it is the big money players who lose interest first and in turn, add to the decline of the team, whom they then slate for lack of ambition as a passing shot on their way out of the club (e.g. Torres).

If I were you, by which I mean a Chelsea fan, I'd be very concerned about the future. The heart of the team are past their peak and the lure of Barca, the money of Man City and the continued success of Man Utd will get first pick of the best young talent. The situation is exacerbated further still by the new UEFA financial rules. Look what happened to Arsenal since the last of their "Invincibles" retired - they've won nothing in six years.

There's an enormous rebuild required at Chelsea, and I don't think Torres is going to kick start it, or Ancelotti is going to make it happen.DevinAll good points Jules. I'd agree the long-term concern is our aging core. But the short-term focus is going to be on getting results with this nucleus, and whether or not Carlo is the man that can make it happen.SharinganfxI noticed that Terry didn't bomb forward like he has done in previous games against Liverpool. He took responsibility and made the team charge forward against Sunderland but it seemed he wanted to just sit back on Sunday, much like the rest of the team. I know this is probably due to the overcrowded midfield impeding his runs, but it seems that we tend to press harder when Terry makes his run...I want to see some anger and rage when we're losing to push us forward.JackI think it had a lot to do with our formation, and the fact that Liverpool's made easy work of it. When we went 4-3-3 during the second half, it was Luiz not Terry who was allowed to do all that forward work.DevinAgreed, he wasn't getting up the pitch as we've come to expect. I think a lot of that had to due with the defensive responsibilities and clearly the cluster in the midfield. But I agree that we seem to play with more of a chip on our shoulder when the skip is leading from the back.blog comments powered by Disqus