Bridging the Gap

Firstly let me dal with some serious business. Our glorious leader Bill Shankly was once asked if football was a matter of life and death, with his quick Ayrshire wit he retorted, 'Its more important than that'. Sadly this oft quoted piece of Liverpool lore rings particularly hollow this week.With the passing of Brad Jones' 6 year-old son Luca, this week after a battle with Leukemia. Clearly a reminder that its just a game no matter how passionately and important it seems to us. 

Thankfully all our squad returned from the the monthly FIFA circus of qualifiers/play-off/friendlies unscathed. Most significantly Suarez who netted all 4 in a thrashing of Chile. He picked up a slight back strain and was sensibly rested for their other qualifier. Other notable performances Kelly on target twice for England's U21 against Iceland and Belgium. Henderson looked good against the Scandanavians but didn't have the same impact against Belgium. If he isnt outstanding at that level he cant expect to start for us. He has even fallen behind Jack Rodwell who played for the senior England team.

Danny Wilson played in a great performance by Scotland U21's who beat Holland 2-1 in their own back yard, a great result and they could have had more.Charlie Adam played for Scotland in rank improving friendly win against Cyprus.  Even Big Dan Agger was netting for Denmark. Downing  and Johnson played well against Sweden. With the latter also putting an excellent shift in against Spain. That game really upset me. The amount of current ex-Pool player on the pitch was maddening more so because most of them were playing for Spain, the World Champions! Like Villa we seem to be providing bigger clubs with talent, I have to be honest dont mind if tehy go to Madrid or Barca, that has to be the ultimale compliment.

Great team selection by King Kenny today. Donkey Carroll left out. Unleashing Suarez and Bellamy instead. They made Chelski's life a particular misery in the 1st half. We were aidied by some schoolboy stuff from the Blue Scum at the back. Although David Luiz has the nickname 'Sideshow Bob' due to his frizzy barnet, his performance today was more Krusty the Clown! He was appalling against QPR the other week but for some reason he is still keeping Alex and even Ivanovic out of the centreback position. I dont know how,he thinks he is Lionel Messi! 

Maxi provided a freshness and added solidity to our left side. Nothing against Downing, but with him having played twice for England in the last week probably needed a rest. Bellamy also was fresh and confident after his great performance for Wales, scoring 1 and making 2 in their 4-1 win over Norway.

Maxi drifted infield when appropriate to either press the ball and make the extra man or indeed to make himself available  as an option. We pressed Chelski high up the pitch which was easy as they were playing a highline. A ploy they have fallen foul of against Arsenal and they shipped 5 that day. Had our final ball been slightly better we could have pierced this shield much more effectively than we did. Still as it was we looked dangerous whenever we had the ball. As I have mentioned previously we need to make better decisions in the final third and improve our ruthlesness.

It was only right we went ahead. What Cech was thinking when rolled out the goalkick to Mikel, God only knows. Suarez and Bellamy were already making it impossible for Mikel to use Terry or Luiz as options and with his back to play it should have bee na firm pass straight back to Cech. He dallied as he always does, looking like a Rhino in possesion rather than a Gazelle, Adam pounced nicked the ball off him and fed Bellamy. A neat 1-2 with Suarez and it looked like Bellers was going to pull the trigger but thankfully he spotted Maxi in a better position. Maxi didnt disappoint and calmly slotted over Cech.

Halftime was reached without too many traumas Chelski's only threat was a Drogba freekick which fooled most people into thinking it was in despite hitting the back stantion. The other a Mata cross shot which he should have done better with.

They had to make a change and cumbersome oafish Mikel was withdrawn. I don't understand why ManUre and Chelski went to court to settle who owned this donkey. He isn't a Premier League player and would probably struggle in the Championship. He cant pass,tackle or read the game something required for the role. Sturridge was introduced and he made a difference with Mata playing more centrally. Suddenly Chelski were finding space between our defensive lines and Malouda in particular causing mayhem down the left.

We didn't help ourselves by dropping deeper and deeper which allowed Lampard and Ramires to start picking passes. Johnson looked woefully out of his depth when faced with this threat. Malouda and Mata running past him with ease. He doesn't know how to jockey, block or show someone the line. Several times when he slid to block the cross he was using his left foot???? He is right footed you always use that as if means you are better balanced. For me his winning goal sums up exactly why we should use him as a winger. A fulback he ain't. His pace and control and his willingness to cut inside and shoot with his left are an asset and he generally does cross well when he goes on the outside. He made Ashley Cole look very average as he ghosted past him and was extremely composed when he pased it into the far corner.

It only took 9 minutes of this type for pressure for us to fold. Sturridge drifting in off the far post with no-one near him to tap in. at that stage we were looking very ragged and almost conceced a 2nd within a few minutes when a Drogba freekick was flicked on by Ivanovic  only for Pepe to pull off a Worldy low to his left on the line.

Unfortunately this didnt jerk us out of our defensive ways and I thought they were going to run riot. Fortunately they didnt do much else. Throwing on Meireles and Torres with just 9 minutes to go was clearly too little too late. Our changes were better. Bellamy had worked his socks off Henderson provided the extra body in midfield we needed. Bringing on Downing for Maxi again a good choice for the opposite reason. IE it gave us someone else with pace to break.

Overall I think we were probably lucky to sneak it but as seems to be the case, when its a 'BIG' game we turn up. Lets hope we can replicate that next week against City. Pity we cant do it at home against Sunderland,Swansea and Norwich. I dont think 4-4-2 with Carrol helps as all to often we lump it or he end up out wide when he should be in the box and let the others  build up play. A draw would be a good result with the way they are playing.  


YNWA

P.S. Possible European Championships draw - Spain,Italy,Greece and Ireland - The Group of Debt? 

P.P.S - looks like we will getting knocked out fo League Cup with only 1 day between our game with City and a return to Bridge, King Kenny has told the faithful not to bother travelling Well done to Sky for actually robbing the viewing and paying public of a cracking tie. Why isn't the Man City v Arsenal game  on Tuesday and ours on Wednesday, that would make more sense seeing as they both play on Saturday. Idiots.