Liverpool FC vs Chelsea FC (A) - post-match thread

[cream]

Fabulous stuff from Glen, i imagine he really enjoyed that against his former club, i hope he can maintain his fitness because when he first signed he was in superb form and if he reaches that, he just brings a whole other dimension to our play!

Hendo was good when he came on, thats what i'd like to see more from him, nutmegging one and knocking it around the other, he has the ability to be a great all-round player, just needs to be a wee bit more consistent in his attacking play.

i hope the players get to keep their places for next weekend because they deserve it, especially skrtel/agger/bellamy/maxi

Glen is our best attacking player after Suarez, on form he will make a big difference to the way we attack teams. I said before, there are many full-backs that can get forward like Glen, but there aren't many who can score like him. Beautiful finish.

[ronanm]

Glen is our best attacking player after Suarez, on form he will make a big difference to the way we attack teams. I said before, there are many full-backs that can get forward like Glen, but there aren't many who can score like him. Beautiful finish.

Would still like to see him played at RM at some stage. Thought we were very dangerous in the first half - some great stuff from Adam. Suarez is a great player but a little wasteful at times. Joint best defence in the PL which isn't bad. Add a couple of more players in the transfer window and we'll push on. Chelsea on the slide.

[RedReet]

Some really interesting points made by zonal marking:

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/11/20/chelsea-1-2-liverpool-johnson-tactics/

I found the part about practised attacking moves particularly interesting, especially after Hodgson was attacked for having that as a big part of his approach.

Why, what did Hodgson do and who attacked him?

''Kuyt’s move from right to left shortly before Adam’s excellent pass, which probably contributed to Terry’s poor positioning.''

Made a similar point myself after watching MOTD2. I thought Kuyt was pretty poor yesterday, but watching the highlights he was involved in quite a few of the good things we did that largly go unnoticed when watching live.

[cream]

Would still like to see him played at RM at some stage. Thought we were very dangerous in the first half - some great stuff from Adam. Suarez is a great player but a little wasteful at times. Joint best defence in the PL which isn't bad. Add a couple of more players in the transfer window and we'll push on. Chelsea on the slide.

I don't want us to play with wingers, more attacking full-backs like we did yesterday. I'd like us to sign a top striker and have Suarez, Gerrard and someone Silva (maybe Gotze) playing behind the striker. No wingers please, although he could be an option with Kelly behind him if we decide to play that way.

[Lecter]

Skrtel and Agger is our best CB pairing for me. They're both mobile and quick enough that they dont need the midfield sitting on top of them to cover for a lack of pace. This means we can pressing higher up the pitch, which was a big factor in the game today. We are an excellent side when we press as we did today.

They played well yesterday no doubt about that

[dww]

Why, what did Hodgson do and who attacked him.

''Kuyt’s move from right to left shortly before Adam’s excellent pass, which probably contributed to Terry’s poor positioning.''

Made a similar point myself after watching MOTD2. I thought Kuyt was pretty poor yesterday, but watching the highlights he was involved in quite a few of the good things we did that largly go unnoticed when watching live.

Lots of people criticised him for not knowing what he was doing and relying on set moves for attacks as far as I remember. I think Lecter was one of those who was particularly vociferous. Obviously there is a difference in using something as only part of your plan and as the central plank (as it was alleged that Roy did). It just seems contrary to the prevailing wisdom that attacking play is all about improvisation and hard to plan. I guess I tend to think that too most of the time.

I thought the movement of Kuyt and Maxi was excellent yesterday. Bellamy too, particularly first half. Partly the tactical changes made by both teams but also fitness seemed to play a part in the latter pair fading from the game after half time I thought. Kuyt though just keeps on going.

[Lecter]

Luiz is a dire defender. Always good for at least one clanger of a mistake per game.

Good footballer, rubbish defender.

Agreed

Luiz is atrocious as a defender

Positionally hes all over the shop and you can see its affecting the game (and positional play) of those around him

Because his teammates consider him to be "unreliable" you can see them over-compensating for his potential errors and this is often leaving them in no mans land

Dont get me wrong Terry is not the player he was but having Luiz alongside him is only magnifying Terry's weakening game

[Lecter]

Lots of people criticised him for not knowing what he was doing and relying on set moves for attacks as far as I remember. I think Lecter was one of those who was particularly vociferous. Obviously there is a difference in using something as only part of your plan and as the central plank (as it was alleged that Roy did). It just seems contrary to the prevailing wisdom that attacking play is all about improvisation and hard to plan. I guess I tend to think that too most of the time.

I thought the movement of Kuyt and Maxi was excellent yesterday. Bellamy too, particularly first half. Partly the tactical changes made by both teams but also fitness seemed to play a part in the latter pair fading from the game after half time I thought. Kuyt though just keeps on going.

There is a marked difference between any attacking routines performed under Roy and those performed under Kenny

Roy's was so fundamental - ie get the ball **** it 50 yards to Torres job done

Kenny's approach is a lot different and although moves might be practiced its things like 3rd man running which rely on a lot of improvisation, movement and cleverness to actually get right and be successful

[RedReet]

Lots of people criticised him for not knowing what he was doing and relying on set moves for attacks as far as I remember. I think Lecter was one of those who was particularly vociferous. Obviously there is a difference in using something as only part of your plan and as the central plank (as it was alleged that Roy did). It just seems contrary to the prevailing wisdom that attacking play is all about improvisation and hard to plan. I guess I tend to think that too most of the time.

I thought the movement of Kuyt and Maxi was excellent yesterday. Bellamy too, particularly first half. Partly the tactical changes made by both teams but also fitness seemed to play a part in the latter pair fading from the game after half time I thought. Kuyt though just keeps on going.

I tend to avoid the site after poor performances, so seeing as that was most weeks under Roy, I didn’t pick up on this.

Interesting to hear Garry Neville give Maxi such praise. I wonder how other FB's playing against his clever movent compared to Downing's pace.

[Mattshark]

Craig, I think you are being very disingenuous towards Rafa in quoting those stats, Chelsea were pretty much at the height of their powers during Rafa's reign, as for under Houllier, I didn't realise our record was that bad.

During the 90's up until Abramovich bought them, Chelsea never won at Anfield and we never won at Stamford Bridge.

[Vermilion]

GJ and CA post match views


Charlie Adam & Glen Johnson reaction to Liverpool's 2.1 win over Chelsea ! - YouTube

Does Charlie wear contact lenses ?

Liked his answer at the end too, when asked about how much of scalp it was beating a club like Chavski! as if they are a bigger club and we should be thankful!

[BigChief]

Was thinking of putting this in the Adam thread, but here's just as relevant. I thought this was his best all round game for us. AVB must have identified that Adam wouldn't be chasing their midfielders down like they were all holding hamburgers which led to Mikel's false sense of security.

Not to mention the Lucas / Adam sandwich (literally) that left Ramirez seeing Tweety and his cousins. It almost felt like he took one look at fat Lampard and thought f*ck that if I'm turning into him.

Dare I say it, it was a very Alonso-esque performance.

[~LFCHistory~]

Was thinking of putting this in the Adam thread, but here's just as relevant. I thought this was his best all round game for us. AVB must have identified that Adam wouldn't be chasing their midfielders down like they were all holding hamburgers which led to Mikel's false sense of security.

Not to mention the Lucas / Adam sandwich (literally) that left Ramirez seeing Tweety and his cousins. It almost felt like he took one look at fat Lampard and thought f*ck that if I'm turning into him.

Dare I say it, it was a very Alonso-esque performance.

Thought it was Adam's best performance for us too. He seemed to benefit from having quality players in front of him like Maxi and Bellamy as opposed to the likes of Downing and Carroll. Also he kept his passing short and simple most of the game, can't remember him losing the ball much which was a nice change.
Still questions about his stamina though as he did fade in the second hallf.

[yamiedo]

The first half was a joy to watch. The will to win, the desire and the constant pressing. We had 4 intelligent, hard working players up top causing problems. They did run out of steam in the second half and the change was necessary.

[danperkins]

Just an observation but, has anyone noticed that in several games this season we have dominated the first half of games (prob should have finished game off in most cases) and then we fade dramatically in the second?

As dww pointed out in another thread, opposition changing their tactics and their approach, really seems to catch us out and seems to takes us quite some time to adapt to this.