Thursday, 1 May 2008

Liverpool vs Chelsea...As the clock ticks

I start this entry at the 40th min. i warn you. This gonna be a long one. Why am i not concentrating on the match? Liverpool is disappoiting me and many of their fans. One even texted me and said " they are playing without soul". That sums it up i guess.

Very, very poor first half. Worst 1st half display for some time. 11 players per team but honestly i did not see any of team out there. Poor performance all round. There is an apparent lack of ideas. I even find myself channel surfing. Kuyt oh kuyt, i will never like thee. I dont think he contributes anything to the team. He doesnt add anything to the team. Hard work yeah, but its blind hard work.

Pitch was cut up due to the rain. This makes it even worse for Liverpool because they have 'heavy' players. Heavy meaning slow, not light on their feet, not athletic. For example, Kuyt and Alonso. They will struggle on the pitch. 'Light' players are the likes of Kalou, Benayoun.(Ref blew half time whistle!)

Chelsea deserved the goal. They were 1st to the ball, much more movement by the front 3. And if the defence arent careful, Liverpool might get a good ol drubbing.
2, 3 nil maybe? Anyways, a big Bart Simpson's HAHA to rafael benitez, courtesy of horse-face Drogba. Boy did he take that goal well. (wondered if reina could cover his angles better)

Now what can Liverpool do in the 2nd half. 2 subs left. Babel? Crouch? Pennant? Lucas? Most probably Babel and Crouch for me. Will It be changed to 4-4-2? Crouch must get in if by 60 mins, nothing changes in terms of performance. Torres is too isolated up front. Babel hasnt been playing games so i expect him to come on. For Kuyt maybe? sacrifice alonso (hes gonna get tired) and put gerrard in centre midfield? Many possible ways to change it. But, expect status quo for at least the 1st 15 mins of the half. HAHA. just got another text, a fellow Kopite has given up. He's going to sleep.

The stats came up. 6 shots to 1 for Chelsea. Now, who needs to win this game again?? I am not giving up....YET...but its a damn big ask. Okay i am off to the loo now...

Ref blows for the start of 2nd half. Ah great, weather has worsened. Liverpool will tire first i bet.

Two good chances but again the lack of finishing ability of Kuyt. Andy Gray mentioned left foot? I was thinking of the same thing. Will we get another chance?

Freekick to Chelsea. 50th min. Went long.

55th min. Slightly better i guess. Slightly. Lots of balls played over large distances. Yes, just a fancy phrase for the long ball. That could be a way to eliminate the poor pitch from the equation. Urgh, Kuyt again. (Poor control this time). It strikes me that Liverpool are looking better beacause Chelsea is sitting back. Lots of direct balls to Drogba to be expected now.

javier had a good run and crosses. No one in there! As i type, Andy gray comments the same thing. Aint it clear enough? Crouch!!! And maybe not even Babel. He might struggle on this pitch. Pennant for his crosses. Crouch for the extra man in the box.
Argh, again Kuyt with the nonsense control.

63/64th min. Torres!!!!!!!!. Good work by Yossi. Good finish by torres. Terry was dragged to the ball. That was the only reason torres got the space he got. Strangely enough, i didnt even celebrate. Deep inside, i know its not over. mainly, because they havent done much to show they can win. Still strongly feel Kuyt shld take his leave.

70th min. Chelsea to make the first change as gerrard shoots over. Wish gerrard takes more pot shots on goal. Kalou off, Malouda on. This guy is great on his day. Could be the ace up Avram's sleeve. But then again, there is another, Nicolas Anelka. Crap!

"Sprung away from Dirk Kuyt" How many freaking times has that happened!

1-1 on 75th min. Dont think crouchie is getting on now. Rafa will want to keep it this way and trust his players to keep it tight. Chelsea growing in dominance. Monster run by Essien. Wonder how it would be like if he was employed in central midfield.

Pennant strips off and WHAT THE FREAKING HELL!! YOSSI GOES OFF???? HOW ABOUT KUYT???!!!! breathe....breathe...let us see...

83rd min. At this point, if liverpool were to lose this one, Please let it be on penalties instead of goal in regulation/extra time. But then again, i could get to sleep. hmmmmm...hahaha

Extra time looming as Rosetti blows. Who has more legs now? Liverpool had thier rotation during the weekend. Chelsea had Man Utd. Will it or does it really come to play. I figured these players must be running on adrenaline at this stage. As i sit here knowing theres at least 30 more agonising minutes, i repeat, at least lose on penalties. 1-1 is a good result after 90 mins. If only, the first leg ended diffrently.

Anelka on for the absent Joe Cole. Crap Crap Crap for liverpool. Anelka's pace! Didnt play much against Man Utd. Former Liverpool player. It all points to tmr morning's headlines doesnt it. Here we go. I am standing all the way for this one.

Goal disallowed. Penalty. Lampard scores. Thats game over for me. Torres off????!!!!!

F rafa...hes done in my books as i have said in the past in this blog. why the f do u take off ur top scorer and put inept kuyt to lead the line. He hardly is a threat or a presence. WTF. Rafa will be skewed unless in the next 19 mins, liverpool can score.

OOOhhh...now that was a goal. 3-1 to Chelsea. Devils agst Blues for sure now in Moscow. Torres off...i am still shaking my head.

Now was that a penalty when hyppia fell by Drogba. As andy gray says it, whistle up then down. Two penalties in extra time. Unlikely.

I text 5 of my fellow liverpool fans asking, "still wanna back rafa?" 4 out of 5 said no. Okay i am gonna end this entry on the 115th min. Good try but werent good enough on the day and rafa, dont bother. Chelsea vs Man Utd. Moscow.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Rafa was showing his confused side! and in the process left many fans confused too (and sleepless? haha)

why did he change too much at one go? why remove the scorer and the provider? why did he remove his best chance when he knew they needed to score? has he got no sense of flow in his tactics? the one who hasn't got the flow was Kuyt.

well, only rafa's got the answers

to me, the players fought hard, but they (or should i say, their gameplan) weren't good enough last night. It's all in the game.