Chelsea vs Liverpool Post Match Thread

[PTP]

That Standford Bridge page is giving me some good reading. Check this out



****ing desperate isnt it

lol - i had a look on the cfcnet forum yesterday and there was a fella there who was disgusted with how chelsea 'pr' has been done - he said he was a season ticket hokder for 30 years and apart from about a 12000 'hardcore' group of fans that have always been there the rest were cunts - appatently they have had all kinds of schemes ones that we know off, like the plastic flags, and then other things like 'create a song or banner comps' etc etc all designed to turn stamford bridge into anfield - it seems that ever since they turned up at anfield for the first champions league semi and mourinho said he wasn't worried about the atmosphere and they all believed him - only to get completley blwon away - they are doing everythig they can to replicate it....as this fella said, it's just giving all the other clubs easy targets for piss taking

[Redspin]

Hansen wasn't an out and out defensive defender and time has changed. When they played they wasn't up against the type of foreign players that play in the league now. Better pitches also means that you need defenders with very good technique.

I looked at the chalkboard and it wasn't a surprise to see that most of our attacks was down our left side, the Agger and Johnson side. The defenders that is excellent with the ball. The right side isn't close to be as good with the ball, Carra and Kelly.

Neither Hansen nor Lawrenson were out and out defenders - anything but. Both were supremely confident on the ball and liked to bring the ball out of defence and link with more attacking players. Agger is pretty good at this but it's completely opposite to how Carragher plays

[kop-al-74]

I still can't get over the fact that the idiots used our banner. You literally can't make it up. Surely it was an undercover LFC fan? Nobody is that stupid to copy it, let alone leave the Shankly gates on it

Tbh mate,I bet theres many Liverpool fans who hadn't even realised that they were the Shankly gates so for a Chelsea fan to have realised it would have been quite something.

[Fosterbloke]

Was a beautifully taken goal, a real quality strike taken at height while almost jumping to strike the ball, lovely technique from Meireles there, and great composure too.

I still don't know how he got it in! I want one of those super slow motion vids.

[Fosterbloke]

Chelsea have a 'hardcore' group of 12,000 fans that have always been there and the rest are cunts.

That's better!

[barnes10]

Neither Hansen nor Lawrenson were out and out defenders - anything but. Both were supremely confident on the ball and liked to bring the ball out of defence and link with more attacking players. Agger is pretty good at this but it's completely opposite to how Carragher plays

never could understand how carra doesnt play like this. and why he hoofs.

he was a striker and a DM before full back so surely he is good on the ball and can pass. the DM role is all about moving the ball, on the deck, from the back. if anyone should be great at it, its carra. dont get it

[kris90210]

I don't rely on stats mate, but when you watch the game live you miss a lot, especially when it is one that is very emotionally charged one as RedReet I'm sure can testify too.

Yes they could have cost us, but they didn't. Any time you give the ball away it can cost you though, every time you miss a shot it can be costly.

I do agree with you. And stats are a great way analysing games. But I feel that there are intricacies within the game that stats fail to pick up on. Perhaps statistically Maxi was among the top players on the pitch. But watching the game, with those two errors, I would say he was one of our poorest performers.

At the end of the day, football is all about key incidents. He could have missplaced 10 passes further up the pitch and (collectively) it wouldn't have been as grave an error as the one he made to gift Torres with possession. It didn't cost uss, but **** me, it was so, so bad. Without doubt, one of the worst passes I've ever seen. And he followed that up with one of the worst misses I've ever seen.

Of course, missing chances can be costly. But chances like that... they should be put away. And I would argue that there are various categories of missplaced passes. Some aren't dangerous. Then at the opposite end of the scale, some are suicidal. Maxi's was the latter. But in the stats, it's just a 'missplaced pass +1.'

Anyway. Done now, and it's turned out to be no big deal. But if we'd have drawn or lost that game we'd be looking back at those two incidents in a different light in my opinion.

Maxi's a good, generally, solid player. But I hope the majority of our summer budget goes on players that will effectively consign him to being a squad player for us.

[kris90210]

never could understand how carra doesnt play like this. and why he hoofs.

he was a striker and a DM before full back so surely he is good on the ball and can pass. the DM role is all about moving the ball, on the deck, from the back. if anyone should be great at it, its carra. dont get it

I think thats the problem. I think he thinks he can play these 40 yard passes, when in reality, 1 in 10 seem to come off. Hopefully Dalglish can make him realise that he's conceding possession for us a lot of the time. The most frustrating thing is that when he does his little hop, skip 'passes,' there are normally midfielders near him - so it's unecessary

He had an absolute stormer on the weekend though. If he can play to his strengths I don't see why he can't be a valuable part of the team / squad for another couple of years.

[Neil Young]

never could understand how carra doesnt play like this. and why he hoofs.

he was a striker and a DM before full back so surely he is good on the ball and can pass. the DM role is all about moving the ball, on the deck, from the back. if anyone should be great at it, its carra. dont get it

I never saw him play as a striker but immediately had misgivings about him as a defensive midfielder. He could tackle but his passing was always horrible in that role. Of course it's also a role that demands experience and he was young when he played it so maybe he could have ended up doing a decent enough job but he would always have been a weak link on the ball.

[dww]

I never saw him play as a striker but immediately had misgivings about him as a defensive midfielder. He could tackle but his passing was always horrible in that role. Of course it's also a role that demands experience and he was young when he played it so maybe he could have ended up doing a decent enough job but he would always have been a weak link on the ball.

Basically he would have been a Scouse Phil Neville and nobody wanted/wants that.

[Neil Young]

I thought there were times on Sunday when Carragher had no real passing options ahead of him, especially in the second half. Teams probably sit off him (and Skrtel too) because they'd rather he had possession than someone else. Of course that is an indictment of his ability but it also calls into question the movement of other players.

It's one of those things that's hard to judge on TV so maybe I got the wrong impression. But I do wonder if he gets more than his fair share of criticism - if he hoofs because there's no pass on then it's not all his fault.

[Neil Young]

Basically he would have been a Scouse Phil Neville and nobody wanted/wants that.

What a terrible thought.

[dww]

I thought there were times on Sunday when Carragher had no real passing options ahead of him, especially in the second half. Teams probably sit off him (and Skrtel too) because they'd rather he had possession than someone else. Of course that is an indictment of his ability but it also calls into question the movement of other players.

It's one of those things that's hard to judge on TV so maybe I got the wrong impression. But I do wonder if he gets more than his fair share of criticism - if he hoofs because there's no pass on then it's not all his fault.

I think the thing is that there are at least two ways around this problem;

1/ As exemplified by Pique, Ferdinand and Agger - you can dribble out and find a better position from which to pass.

2/ The Hyypia model - have long out balls to certain areas of the pitch that you can deliver consistently with a trajectory which a receiver can control relatively easily. Players tend to run into 'the channels' any way and are even more inclined to do so if this is a regular tactic. Worst case scenario you are playing for position.

I think Carragher does get a bit too much stick but there is a kernel of truth - he too often pumps the ball out down the centre of the pitch or towards players at heights that even Zigic would struggle to control.

[Fredo]

I thought there were times on Sunday when Carragher had no real passing options ahead of him, especially in the second half. Teams probably sit off him (and Skrtel too) because they'd rather he had possession than someone else. Of course that is an indictment of his ability but it also calls into question the movement of other players.

It's one of those things that's hard to judge on TV so maybe I got the wrong impression. But I do wonder if he gets more than his fair share of criticism - if he hoofs because there's no pass on then it's not all his fault.

Distinguish his game with Agger's for example. Agger seem to always have time on the ball, doesn't rush to get rid of it, passes back then moves into space asking for it again, things we never see with Carra. I'm not criticising him, but he can't pass for the life of him and doesn't seem to have confidence in his capabilities to do so as well.

[Neil Young]

I think the thing is that there are at least two ways around this problem;

1/ As exemplified by Pique, Ferdinand and Agger - you can dribble out and find a better position from which to pass.

2/ The Hyypia model - have long out balls to certain areas of the pitch that you can deliver consistently with a trajectory which a receiver can control relatively easily. Players tend to run into 'the channels' any way and are even more inclined to do so if this is a regular tactic. Worst case scenario you are playing for position.

I think Carragher does get a bit too much stick but there is a kernel of truth - he too often pumps the ball out down the centre of the pitch or towards players at heights that even Zigic would struggle to control.

Of course. I wasn't suggesting he doesn't lump it forward at times, and more often than any of us would want. As I said, he's a weak link on the ball and that applies in defence as well as in midfield. He's never going to be a Hyypia, let alone an Agger.

My point was if you want to blame Carragher alone then there's plenty of evidence. But there's a danger of ignoring factors outside his control too.