Chelsea aftermath

[Kenneth]

I know I know...it's eating me up but there's no point in dwelling on it. Get on with it - there's **** all any of us can do and there are many more positives than negatives to be taken from today and our start in general - especially when you consider United's appalling start.

Yeah but, but

i want to rant and rave a bit more. Can I have another 30 mins?

[Johnny]

especially when you consider United's appalling start.

Tee-hee.

[Kaip]

If we perform week in and week out like we did today we will be serious challengers. We made Chelsea look ordinary today. Only one of the worst ref decisions I've seen cost us the 3 points.

[kurtangle01]

I thought we were excellent today. It will have given the players the belief that we can challenge. No doubt about it. We win our game in hand and we are level with Chelski and 5 ahead of Manure. Usually the season is all but over by now.

I don't know about the players but it's certainly given me the belief!

[AFII]

Chelsea wolf bites Red Riding Hood

Chelsea wolf bites Red Riding Hood
Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1
Oliver Kay, Anfield

It started as a fairytale afternoon for Liverpool’s new darling, slowly turned into a nightmare for the referee as Chelsea fought back and ended, amid plenty of mud-slinging afterwards, with Rafael BenÍtez talking about Little Red Riding Hood. If this is a sign of things to come in the Barclays Premier League title race, it promises to be a season full of twists, turns and a taste of the bizarre.

Frank Lampard’s second-half penalty earned Chelsea a draw that they will treasure after falling behind to an early goal from Fernando Torres, on his Anfield debut, but that does not begin to describe the events of a quite breathless afternoon.

Throw in the hugely controversial nature of that penalty, nine bookings – or ten if you include the rogue second yellow card that Rob Styles, the referee, brandished to Michael Essien during a tense second period – some spiky postmatch comments and, lest it gets overlooked, some good football from both teams, and you start to get the picture.

Little Red Riding Hood? That cropped up in the postmatch press conference when BenÍtez, the Liverpool manager, was informed that José Mourinho had responded to Steven Gerrard’s criticism of Chelsea by painting a picture of an angelic, or at least “naive”, team. BenÍtez smirked. “Then I am Little Red Riding Hood,” he said. “Look at their team and ask yourself how many times their players do the things they say they don’t do. Their players talk to the referee all the time.”

And they do, as Sir Alex Ferguson, among others, has observed in the past. Mourinho expressed outrage at such accusations in the postmatch press conference, but, if ever – perish the thought – a team was to harangue a referee in the hope of planting a seed that might later come to fruition, it was here. Only Styles knows why he awarded Chelsea a penalty in the 62nd minute, when Steve Finnan and Florent Malouda were involved in an entirely inoccuous collision, and only he knows why he opted to wave a second yellow card at Essien soon afterwards if, as he claims, he was not booking the player.

Both BenÍtez and Gerrard, his captain, sounded sick at the award of the penalty and it was hard not to sympathise. Liverpool, to borrow BenÍtez’s favourite phrase, had been in control of the game for the first 45 minutes and had taken a deserved lead through Torres, their club record signing from Atlético Madrid.

Chelsea got a foothold earlier in the second half, after replacing Salomon Kalou with Claudio Pizarro, but it still took a remarkable intervention from Styles to change the complexion of the game – or at least to give Lampard the opportunity to do so, which he duly took.

Mourinho said that he felt it was a fair result. Perhaps in one sense, if one looks beyond the injustice of the penalty, it was. Even Chelsea’s most unedifying quality, the one that sees John Terry and Co swarming around the referee any time a decision goes against them, is a manifestation of the mentality that Mourinho has instilled in his team. Three times in as many matches this season they have conceded the first goal – and doubtless this will be a source of concern to the Portuguese perfectionist after an otherwise productive first week of the campaign – but on each occasion they have fought back strongly. And yesterday’s point, gained at the expense of Liverpool, could in some way prove as precious as the three they won against Birmingham City and Reading.

But, no matter what other conclusions Mourinho might draw from this game, he is likely to have departed Merseyside in the knowledge that Liverpool are capable of posing a serious threat in the title race this season. Their first-half performance was highly impressive, with Gerrard and Xabi Alonso pulling the strings – the former with the benefit of a painkilling injection after sustaining a broken toe that is likely to keep him out of England’s match against Germany on Wednesday – Jermaine Pennant a menace on the right wing and, significantly, Torres showing signs of quality in attack.

Recent history carries a few cautionary tales for Liverpool’s supporters – Nigel Clough, Stan Collymore and even El-Hadji Diouf scored on their Anfield debuts – but Torres appears to have something about him. He is no great physical specimen – witness the number of times he hit the deck in the first half, with Terry imploring the referee to book the forward for diving – but his goal in the sixteenth minute as, having been sent clear by Gerrard, he bamboozled Tal Ben Haim before stroking the ball past Petr Cech, was a moment of genuine class. Anfield has a new hero.

Torres also appears to have brought a slickness to Liverpool’s play, one that could have reaped dividends in the second half, as some impressive moves resulted in chances for John Arne Riise and Dirk Kuyt, but Chelsea remain a fearsome proposition.

Their second-half fightback was strong, with Pizarro narrowly missing with a far-post ahead two minutes after his introduction, and it was the Peru forward who set up the move that culminated the equaliser, releasing Shaun Wright-Phillips, whose cross resulted in that infamous collision between Finnan and Malouda. A “phantom penalty” to go alongside Luis GarcÍa’s “phantom goal” for Liverpool in the 2005 European Cup semi-final second leg at Anfield. Inevitably, Mourinho mentioned that goal last night. And if he cannot give it up after yesterday, he never will.

Liverpool 1 Torres 16
Chelsea 1 Lampard 62 (pen)

How they rated

Liverpool 4-4-2 J M Reina Y 6 S Finnan 7 J Carragher 7 D Agger 8 Á Arbeloa 7 J Pennant Y 7 X Alonso 7 S Gerrard Y 8 J A Riise 6 F Torres 7 D Kuyt Y 7 Substitutes R Babel (for Pennant, 76min), P Crouch (for Riise, 83) Not used C Itandje, S Hyypia, J Mascherano

Chelsea 4-4-2 P Cech 7 M Essien Y 5 T Ben Haim Y 5 J Terry Y 7 A Cole Y 6 S Wright-Phillips 6 J O Mikel 6 F Lampard Y 6 F Malouda 6 S Kalou 5 D Drogba 6 Substitutes C Pizarro 6 (for Kalou, 46min), J Cole (for Wright-Phillips, 77), Alex (for Malouda, 85) Not used C Cudicini, C Makelele

Referee R Styles
Attendance 43,924

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle2289187.ece

[thesilverfoxlfc]

Im absolutely gutted we drew that.

We were robbed

[AFII]

At least the papers and the rest of the media is now getting tired of Chelsea bullying the ref in every game.

[El Jefecito]

Im absolutely gutted we drew that.

We were robbed

[thesilverfoxlfc]

Beating them today would of sent out a clear intent that we are serious about winning this league and im sure the league has stood up this season and looked at us a serious title contenders.........

.....you could see by Stevie G today especially in the first half he was a man on a mission and put in a great performance today really showed Fat Frank for the overrated player he is. He didnt get a touch on the first half and compare them two player together you'd say Fat Frank won a prize for a local pub team to play in a Prem match.............out classed by Stevie

[Joe King]

Everyone has picked up on referees being picked on by the players. Surely refs and the FA should intervene and ban players or even dock points because for a club like Chelsea a fine is nothing!

[Aus_LFC]

Aren't they supposed to be able to do that if the ref is bullied by the players ? Some sort of post match review would sort it out. Then they can post match book most of the Chelsea team, and then they can get the ref to explain why he awarded two yellow cards for Essien and did not send him off, the penalty decision, the list goes on and on ......

Someone in authority has to stand up and call it low, ****ty and illegal game play by Chelsea, and really **** referring by Styles (who does not deserve to ref in the Sunday leagues let alone the EPL) !

[Nicey]

Chelsea wolf bites Red Riding Hood
Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1
Oliver Kay, Anfield

It started as a fairytale afternoon for Liverpool’s new darling, slowly turned into a nightmare for the referee as Chelsea fought back and ended, amid plenty of mud-slinging afterwards, with Rafael BenÍtez talking about Little Red Riding Hood. If this is a sign of things to come in the Barclays Premier League title race, it promises to be a season full of twists, turns and a taste of the bizarre.

Frank Lampard’s second-half penalty earned Chelsea a draw that they will treasure after falling behind to an early goal from Fernando Torres, on his Anfield debut, but that does not begin to describe the events of a quite breathless afternoon.

Throw in the hugely controversial nature of that penalty, nine bookings – or ten if you include the rogue second yellow card that Rob Styles, the referee, brandished to Michael Essien during a tense second period – some spiky postmatch comments and, lest it gets overlooked, some good football from both teams, and you start to get the picture.

Little Red Riding Hood? That cropped up in the postmatch press conference when BenÍtez, the Liverpool manager, was informed that José Mourinho had responded to Steven Gerrard’s criticism of Chelsea by painting a picture of an angelic, or at least “naive”, team. BenÍtez smirked. “Then I am Little Red Riding Hood,” he said. “Look at their team and ask yourself how many times their players do the things they say they don’t do. Their players talk to the referee all the time.”

And they do, as Sir Alex Ferguson, among others, has observed in the past. Mourinho expressed outrage at such accusations in the postmatch press conference, but, if ever – perish the thought – a team was to harangue a referee in the hope of planting a seed that might later come to fruition, it was here. Only Styles knows why he awarded Chelsea a penalty in the 62nd minute, when Steve Finnan and Florent Malouda were involved in an entirely inoccuous collision, and only he knows why he opted to wave a second yellow card at Essien soon afterwards if, as he claims, he was not booking the player.

Both BenÍtez and Gerrard, his captain, sounded sick at the award of the penalty and it was hard not to sympathise. Liverpool, to borrow BenÍtez’s favourite phrase, had been in control of the game for the first 45 minutes and had taken a deserved lead through Torres, their club record signing from Atlético Madrid.

Chelsea got a foothold earlier in the second half, after replacing Salomon Kalou with Claudio Pizarro, but it still took a remarkable intervention from Styles to change the complexion of the game – or at least to give Lampard the opportunity to do so, which he duly took.

Mourinho said that he felt it was a fair result. Perhaps in one sense, if one looks beyond the injustice of the penalty, it was. Even Chelsea’s most unedifying quality, the one that sees John Terry and Co swarming around the referee any time a decision goes against them, is a manifestation of the mentality that Mourinho has instilled in his team. Three times in as many matches this season they have conceded the first goal – and doubtless this will be a source of concern to the Portuguese perfectionist after an otherwise productive first week of the campaign – but on each occasion they have fought back strongly. And yesterday’s point, gained at the expense of Liverpool, could in some way prove as precious as the three they won against Birmingham City and Reading.

But, no matter what other conclusions Mourinho might draw from this game, he is likely to have departed Merseyside in the knowledge that Liverpool are capable of posing a serious threat in the title race this season. Their first-half performance was highly impressive, with Gerrard and Xabi Alonso pulling the strings – the former with the benefit of a painkilling injection after sustaining a broken toe that is likely to keep him out of England’s match against Germany on Wednesday – Jermaine Pennant a menace on the right wing and, significantly, Torres showing signs of quality in attack.

Recent history carries a few cautionary tales for Liverpool’s supporters – Nigel Clough, Stan Collymore and even El-Hadji Diouf scored on their Anfield debuts – but Torres appears to have something about him. He is no great physical specimen – witness the number of times he hit the deck in the first half, with Terry imploring the referee to book the forward for diving – but his goal in the sixteenth minute as, having been sent clear by Gerrard, he bamboozled Tal Ben Haim before stroking the ball past Petr Cech, was a moment of genuine class. Anfield has a new hero.

Torres also appears to have brought a slickness to Liverpool’s play, one that could have reaped dividends in the second half, as some impressive moves resulted in chances for John Arne Riise and Dirk Kuyt, but Chelsea remain a fearsome proposition.

Their second-half fightback was strong, with Pizarro narrowly missing with a far-post ahead two minutes after his introduction, and it was the Peru forward who set up the move that culminated the equaliser, releasing Shaun Wright-Phillips, whose cross resulted in that infamous collision between Finnan and Malouda. A “phantom penalty” to go alongside Luis GarcÍa’s “phantom goal” for Liverpool in the 2005 European Cup semi-final second leg at Anfield. Inevitably, Mourinho mentioned that goal last night. And if he cannot give it up after yesterday, he never will.

Liverpool 1 Torres 16
Chelsea 1 Lampard 62 (pen)

How they rated

Liverpool 4-4-2 J M Reina Y 6 S Finnan 7 J Carragher 7 D Agger 8 Á Arbeloa 7 J Pennant Y 7 X Alonso 7 S Gerrard Y 8 J A Riise 6 F Torres 7 D Kuyt Y 7 Substitutes R Babel (for Pennant, 76min), P Crouch (for Riise, 83) Not used C Itandje, S Hyypia, J Mascherano

Chelsea 4-4-2 P Cech 7 M Essien Y 5 T Ben Haim Y 5 J Terry Y 7 A Cole Y 6 S Wright-Phillips 6 J O Mikel 6 F Lampard Y 6 F Malouda 6 S Kalou 5 D Drogba 6 Substitutes C Pizarro 6 (for Kalou, 46min), J Cole (for Wright-Phillips, 77), Alex (for Malouda, 85) Not used C Cudicini, C Makelele

Referee R Styles
Attendance 43,924

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle2289187.ece

earned Chelsea a draw


A ****ing stretch if I ever read one

[Fox]

Rafa Substitutions

Lots of positives yesterday people.

Great play bar a few shots from Riise and Pennant on the wings.

Amazing CM demo from Stevie G.

Kuyt play as well as usual (but worryingly without a true goal threat)

Torres tormented them

Pepe looked solid as.

Full backs played well again


BUT.................

I was dissapointed with Rafa's subs.

Pennant should never have come off, he was having a stormer and why did ne not give Croucher longer. You could see Moureen was scared of him and bought alex on straight away, Pete should have been given 30 mins instead of Dirk.

NEver mind, but I feel Rafa got it wrong

[Shaggy]

I think Pennant came off due to him being on a yellow and he's always likely to start giving it the "hardman" act at any given moment.

[Fox]

I think Pennant came off due to him being on a yellow and he's always likely to start giving it the "hardman" act at any given moment.

maybe, yet again wuite a few had yellow and wasn't it the first half when he was acting the hard bloke, don't think he got in trouble second half.

If that goal of three volleys had some off from JAR that could have been the greatest goal of all time. JP was superb.

Crouch should have come on around 60 mins.