{"id":299,"date":"2015-11-02T18:26:39","date_gmt":"2015-11-02T18:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/?p=299"},"modified":"2015-11-02T18:26:39","modified_gmt":"2015-11-02T18:26:39","slug":"chelsea-1-liverpool-3-an-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/chelsea-1-liverpool-3-an-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea 1 &#8211; Liverpool 3: An Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The majority of the first half felt like it was a reflection of a life watching Liverpool over the past 18 months: a mental switch off followed by a defensive error; plenty of sterile domination but no decisiveness in the final third; industry without accomplishment. Chelsea were meant to be like a wounded animal, ready to strike at an old foe in a very modern rivalry. After a good opening 10 or so from the home side, though, they looked to be there for the taking but Liverpool didn\u2019t know how to deliver any kind of killer blow.<\/p>\n<p>On the stroke of half time, though, it seemed as if the winds of change decided to blow through Stamford Bridge. Chelsea\u2019s previously reliable defence crumbled; Phil Coutinho\u2019s often wayward shooting found more definition with glorious accuracy; Liverpool overcame adversity for the first time in what felt like forever.<\/p>\n<p>Here we\u2019ll be looking back at the Reds\u2019 win over Chelsea and analysing the main talking points from the match. As always if you disagree with something we\u2019ve said or think we\u2019ve missed something huge then do let us know. We love it when our readers get involved and you can do so either via the comments section or else by tweeting us. For now, though, shall we revel in what could turn out to be a very important win?<\/p>\n<h2>Maybe Coutinho Just Needed A Goal<\/h2>\n<p>Let\u2019s be honest, Phil hasn\u2019t been great lately. His performances have been mediocre at best, really quite poor at worst. He\u2019s been inconsistent, lacking in movement and had nowhere near the attacking prowess we\u2019ve come to know and love him for. He has been, to be polite, out of sorts. How many of us wouldn\u2019t have been overly disappointed if he hadn\u2019t been in the starting line up at Stamford Bridge? And, once he was, were you one of those people thinking he should get the hook at half time? We all were in the And Could He Play office.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Benteke for Coutinho half time<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 mikejgirling (@mikejgirling) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mikejgirling\/status\/660449259318300672\">October 31, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Then he went and scored THAT equalising goal. Sufficed to say we decided to give him the benefit of the doubt after that.<\/p>\n<p>In the second half the old, dominating Philippe Coutinho that we remember lighting up Anfield in 2013-2014 was back. He began strutting around the pitch again, finding nice little through balls and enjoying his silky smooth touch once more. It was a remarkable transformation for a player that seemed to be lacking in confidence and intelligence just moments before striking a beautiful left footed shot past Asmir Begovic on the stroke of half time.<\/p>\n<p>In recent games Coutinho has looked like a player who has forgotten what made him such an exciting talent in seasons gone by. It\u2019s fair to say that he hasn\u2019t had the same attacking options in front of him over the past 18 months as he did in the 18 months that came before them, but he\u2019s also seemed to have been stuck in a rut of shooting from 30 yards every time he fancies it, regardless of who\u2019s in front of him on the pitch.<\/p>\n<p>Coutinho can score brilliant goals, we all know that. But in recent times he seems to have forgotten how to do that and has instead figured that if he just has a go from anywhere the ball will fly into the net. Meanwhile the only time he\u2019s scored &#8211; or even looked like scoring &#8211; was in the opening day of the season versus Stoke. Fantasy Football managers everywhere thought he was likely to be the perfect attacking option of a Liverpool player, only to sit there pulling their hair out with us every time he smashed a ball into the back of an opposition defender or each time he ran over to take a corner only to hit it straight into the first man.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_174\" style=\"width: 586px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-174\" class=\"size-large wp-image-174\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Philippe-Coutinho-of-Liverpool-FC_EUO_photofriday-shutterstock-576x400.jpg\" alt=\"photofriday \/ shutterstock.com\" width=\"576\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Philippe-Coutinho-of-Liverpool-FC_EUO_photofriday-shutterstock-576x400.jpg 576w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Philippe-Coutinho-of-Liverpool-FC_EUO_photofriday-shutterstock-288x200.jpg 288w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Philippe-Coutinho-of-Liverpool-FC_EUO_photofriday-shutterstock.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-174\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">photofriday \/ shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Maybe, just maybe, what he needed was a goal to get him out of his current malaise. What was so wonderful to watch about his first goal at the weekend wasn\u2019t so much the net ruffling as the ball struck the back of it, but rather the composure with which the magical Brazilian went about getting himself into the right position for the goal. No more rushing, no more smashing it as soon as he had half an inch worth of space; just intelligent and opportunism combining with skill to do something audacious.<\/p>\n<p>That he went on and scored a second later on in the game didn\u2019t cause such a surprise after the performance he\u2019d put in during the second half. He went from being a player who seemed to want to run everywhere and do everything but with little useful outcome to someone who could pause, wait and find the perfect moment to deliver a killer blow. Whatever Jurgen Klopp\u2019s been asking him to do he should tell him to keep doing it. If we see more of the calm and composed Brazilian maestro moving forward then Liverpool Football Club will be much the better for it.<\/p>\n<h2>James Milner Needs A Rest<\/h2>\n<p>Bless Jimmy Milner, but he\u2019s not playing well. He was, to coin a phrase, stinking the place out at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. He gave the sort of performance that was reminiscent of the kid at school who tries really hard but just doesn\u2019t know how to play football. In contrast to Lucas Leiva, who seems to be a man revived under the new manager, Milner seems to be an ageing warrior who would love to relive past glories but whose legs aren\u2019t doing what they\u2019re told.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_77\" style=\"width: 690px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-77\" class=\"size-full wp-image-77\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/JamesMilner_Editorial-Use-Only_Photo-Works-shutterstock.jpg\" alt=\"James Milner\" width=\"680\" height=\"391\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/JamesMilner_Editorial-Use-Only_Photo-Works-shutterstock.jpg 680w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/JamesMilner_Editorial-Use-Only_Photo-Works-shutterstock-300x173.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-77\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo-Works \/ shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In the summer most of the ACHP team honestly thought that Milner might prove to be the signing of the season. He is an intelligent, hard working and honest football who can not only put a shift in but also has the experience of winning the league with Manchester City. He arrived on Merseyside not only with the pedigree of a champion, but also with the reputation of someone who had changed the game a number of times for his former club when they faced his new one.<\/p>\n<p>There are rumours aplenty that one of the chief reasons Milny decided to move to Merseyside was that Brendan Rodgers promised him he could play in the middle &#8211; his favourite position. When Jurgen Klopp came in and realised that he was going to be better off with an engine room that consists of a revitalised Lucas Leiva and the ever running, Duracell Bunny that is Emre Can it was inevitable that promises made to Milner under the old regime would have to be broken.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps, then, this shift from where he wanted to play out to where Klopp needs him to play is the cause of his recent poor form. Maybe it\u2019s because he was running further, harder and faster than any other Liverpool player even before the new manager arrived with his talk of geggenpressing. Or it could just be that he\u2019s not sure what\u2019s being asked of him. Whatever the cause of his current displays there can be no question that he\u2019s not playing well enough.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_281\" style=\"width: 543px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-281\" class=\"size-large wp-image-281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Milner-Sakho-and-Moreno-Get-Ready-533x400.jpg\" alt=\"James Milner with Moreno &amp; Sakho\" width=\"533\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Milner-Sakho-and-Moreno-Get-Ready-533x400.jpg 533w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Milner-Sakho-and-Moreno-Get-Ready-267x200.jpg 267w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Milner-Sakho-and-Moreno-Get-Ready-65x50.jpg 65w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 533px) 100vw, 533px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-281\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">James Milner with Moreno &amp; Sakho<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In the absence of Jordan Henderson the stand in captain is having to do too many jobs at once. Talk everyone else through the matches, for example. Lead by example, talk to the referee, check how the younger players are doing and be the link between the manager and some of the players also being things that he\u2019s having to do. It\u2019s also fair to say that, regardless of how much Lucas has improved under Klopp, Milner\u2019s midfield partners don\u2019t seem to have the same drive and running ability as he does. It will inevitably lead him to do more work than is ideal, leaving him tired when it comes to doing basic things like controlling and kicking the football.<\/p>\n<p>The Chelsea game was, arguably, his worst performance yet in a red shirt. His touch was dreadful, his passing was all over the place and his tackling was just abysmal. If he knew how to tackle properly then it is unlikely that Cesar Azpilicueta would have scored the opening goal for Chelsea. It was Milner\u2019s bizarre and useless lunge that allowed the Spaniard to escape down the home team\u2019s left flank before putting a dangerous ball in across Liverpool\u2019s box.<\/p>\n<p>With games coming up against Rubin Kazan and Crystal Palace there\u2019s a small window of opportunity for Klopp to rest the try-hard midfielder before more important and tricky games come up over the horizon. It would be great to say that he can play himself back in to form, but his performances have been getting gradually worse since he first played for the Reds and made such a good initial impression. Milner could still be a great signing for Liverpool and an incredibly influential player, especially if the Reds can get themselves involved in things at the top end of the table before they\u2019re cast too far adrift. For now, though, he\u2019s not fun to watch and rather than being reliable is more like a liability &#8211; not something anyone wants to see.<\/p>\n<h2>Overcoming Adversity<\/h2>\n<p>Going in to the game the stats weren\u2019t good: The Reds had only found the net in 6 of their last 18 Premier League matches at Stamford Bridge. In the last 20 league visits to Chelsea they had only scored more than once once before. Whilst the Blues have been in poor form of late, they conceded just nine goals at home in the whole of last season. Liverpool\u2019s last eleven games had finished 1-1, 1-1, 1-1. 3-2, 1-1, 1-1, 0-0, 1-1, 1-1 and 1-0. The Reds hadn\u2019t won at Stamford Bridge for 4 years. In short, it wasn\u2019t likely to be a high scoring game before a ball was even kicked, and it was even less likely to be a positive result for Liverpool if history was anything to go by.<\/p>\n<p>When Chelsea scored their opening goal after just 3 minutes the odds slipped even further away from Liverpool. The last time they had come from behind to win any game in any competition was on Valentine\u2019s Day this year &#8211; almost nine months previous. Liverpool have only once beaten Chelsea in the Premier League if they\u2019ve gone behind, and that was in November of 1994 and the game was at Anfield. Since the start of last season Liverpool have conceded first in a match 13 times, winning just one of those games, drawing one and losing eleven of them. Sufficed to say the smart money was on Chelsea winning comfortably after they went ahead.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_257\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-257\" class=\"size-large wp-image-257\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/the-coach-of-the-football-team-Borussia_EUO_360b-shutterstock-600x400.jpg\" alt=\"360b \/ shutterstock.com\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/the-coach-of-the-football-team-Borussia_EUO_360b-shutterstock-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/the-coach-of-the-football-team-Borussia_EUO_360b-shutterstock-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/the-coach-of-the-football-team-Borussia_EUO_360b-shutterstock.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-257\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">360b \/ shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The winds of change we mentioned before aren\u2019t just taking place in the dugout, though. Jurgen Klopp\u2019s first job when he arrived at Anfield was to make Liverpool harder to beat. His second was to make the Reds more mentality resilient. He said in the aftermath of the game against Southampton at Anfield that it seemed as though the players thought the world had ended when the Saints scored an equaliser. At Stamford Bridge it certainly looked as though the players were slightly shell shocked from their old foe taking the lead. For the first ten minutes of the match Liverpool really struggled to get themselves into the game. What would they do about being behind? Were they going to lose? Or would they be able to once again stumble to a 1-1 draw?<\/p>\n<p>Slowly but surely the players rallied themselves. They knew that Chelsea were a wounded animal but they also discovered that they hadn\u2019t come out swinging like a cornered beast tends to do. Rumours of a senior player in the Stamford Bridge dressing room admitting that he\u2019d rather \u2018lose than win\u2019 for Mourinho seemed to have some substance. Liverpool controlled the game well after their initial setback, pushing and probing and asking questions of Mourinho\u2019s men that they weren\u2019t all that keen to answer.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_276\" style=\"width: 543px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-276\" class=\"size-large wp-image-276\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Liverpools-Players-In-A-Pre-Match-Huddle-533x400.jpg\" alt=\"Togetherness\" width=\"533\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Liverpools-Players-In-A-Pre-Match-Huddle-533x400.jpg 533w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Liverpools-Players-In-A-Pre-Match-Huddle-267x200.jpg 267w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Liverpools-Players-In-A-Pre-Match-Huddle-65x50.jpg 65w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 533px) 100vw, 533px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-276\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Togetherness<\/p><\/div>\n<p>If the Portuguese maestro is currently a portent of disaster and doom, his German counterpart is enjoying life and relishing the challenge that lies in front of him. Chelsea\u2019s players are looking to their manager and seeing a man consumed by anger and hatred, whilst Liverpool\u2019s lads can see a man who has a spring in his step and belief in his charges. If anyone on the pitch was going to feel as if they could come back from a setback and roar on forwards it was only ever going to be Liverpool\u2019s players. The defence is a little more solid, the mentality suggests they know they can comeback from a bad situation. Now we just need the attack to click regularly and we could yet see Liverpool making a decent go of things before the season runs out of steam.<\/p>\n<h2>Lies, Damn Lies And Jose Mourinho<\/h2>\n<p>Jose Mourinho is an arrogant, over-hyped and disrespectful nitwit. He\u2019s rude, he\u2019s hypocritical and he gets far more respect than he\u2019s ever shown anyone else in the football world. Anyone who talks of Mourinho as the greatest manager in the game without also mentioning how much money he\u2019s spent over the years at his numerous different clubs is being disingenuous to say the least.<\/p>\n<p>Of course he knows how to win trophies, his CV says as much. But does he know how to build an empire? The evidence would suggest otherwise. The self-proclaimed \u2018Special One\u2019 spent the aftermath of the defeat to Liverpool making out as if there was an horrendous conspiracy against him. \u2018The equaliser was scored after the allotted two minutes!\u2019 he cried. \u2018Lucas Leiva should have been sent off!\u2019 he moaned. Never will he admit that anything is his fault; never will he agree that his team has its fair share of luck from the officials.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_300\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-300\" class=\"size-large wp-image-300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Manager-Jose-Mourinho-of-Chelsea_EUO_mooinblack-shutterstock-600x400.jpg\" alt=\"mooinblack \/ shutterstock.com\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Manager-Jose-Mourinho-of-Chelsea_EUO_mooinblack-shutterstock-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Manager-Jose-Mourinho-of-Chelsea_EUO_mooinblack-shutterstock-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Manager-Jose-Mourinho-of-Chelsea_EUO_mooinblack-shutterstock.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-300\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">mooinblack \/ shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Should Lucas Leiva have been sent off? It wouldn\u2019t have been overly harsh had Mark Clattenburg decided the answer to that question was yes. Yet it also seemed as if Ramires was going to ground before the Brazilian stuck his leg out, so you can see why he remained on the pitch. Should the referee have blown his whistle before Liverpool equalised? Maybe, but they were in an attacking phase of play, it was only 30 seconds over the two minute count, Mourinho wouldn\u2019t have been moaning if his team had scored, it does say \u2018a minimum of two minutes\u2019 and even five year olds are taught to play to the whistle!<\/p>\n<p>If Liverpool were fortunate, though, what of Chelsea? John Terry escaped one of the most blatant handballs you\u2019ll ever see, for example. Diego Costa got away with a very late and very naughty tackle on James Milner, too. Oh, and did we mention Diego Costa? His attempt to stamp on Martin Skrtel was beyond disgraceful. The Football Association have decided that no further action needs to be taken regarding that issue. The logic appears to be that Mark Clattenburg was looking at the incident so there\u2019s nothing they can do. He evidently didn\u2019t SEE the stamp, though, or else Costa would have walked.<\/p>\n<p>Jose Mourinho is entitled to think he\u2019s hard done by &#8211; virtually every Premier League manager would in the same situation, after all. But his wilful ignorance of the fortune his team benefits from week in week out makes him look churlish at best, pathetic at worst. That the press let him get away with such nonsense also remains a bizarre fact of life. Ever since he declared Luis Garcia\u2019s goal in the 2005 Champion\u2019s League semi-final to be a \u2019ghost goal\u2019 that shouldn\u2019t have stood and no one decided to ask him whether he\u2019d have preferred a penalty against his team and for Petr Cech to be sent off he\u2019s got away with murder. The sooner Abramovich pulls the trigger on his reign the better it will be for English football. Talented, no question, but just not a very nice man.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The majority of the first half felt like it was a reflection of a life watching Liverpool over the past 18 months: a mental switch off followed by a defensive error; plenty of sterile domination but no decisiveness in the final third; industry without accomplishment. Chelsea were meant to be like a wounded animal, ready to strike at an old foe in a very modern rivalry. After a good opening 10 or so from the home side, though, they looked to be there for the taking but Liverpool didn\u2019t know how to deliver any kind of killer blow. On the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":301,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299\/revisions\/301"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}