Good Game Bad Game [vs Chelsea]

Playing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge is never an easy task; doing so after a confidence crushing defeat makes it that little bit harder. Despite the protestations that the defeat at Fiorentina had been archived and forgotten, that clearly wasn’t the case as Liverpool looked to avoid getting hurt first and foremost.

It was a tactic that, for the most, worked even if it meant that with Javier Mascherano and Lucas playing quite deep Chelsea themselves could defend with a fair bit of ease.

Then, out of nothing, Mascherano got caught out of possession and a few instances later Chelsea were 1-0 up. It is the way such games go: you make one mistake and get punished for it.

Now, as Benitez said, focus has to shift on the next game. Chelsea’s own defeat at Wigan and Manchester United’s draw at Sunderland highlight that the top teams are likely to drop points against the lower ones this season. Despite the gap, therefore, Liverpool are still very much in it, conscious however that no more mistakes can be made in the coming weeks.

Good Game
Not at fault at any of the two goals, Pepe Reina was always ready when Chelsea tried their luck with shots from the distance and commanded his defence with the usual authority. Similarly, no fault can be place on Martin Skrtel and Jamie Carragher’s feet on this occasion as they both had very good games. In particular, it was nice to see how Skrtel handled Didier Drogba given how he’s struggled with him in the past, even if the Ivorian did create both of Chelsea’s goals.

The two full-backs, Glen Johnson and Emiliano Insua were just as diligent. Both clearly had instructions to pay attention to their defending and did that well. With Liverpool chasing the game Johnson started getting forward with greater intent, something that we haven’t seen much of in recent games, and he can cause problems with his running. Sadly, he couldn’t force the breakthrough here.

It seems that there are many out there willing Lucas to have a bad game so that they can criticise him (and having a bad game is optional). This season he hasn’t been that accommodating, certainly not on this occasion as he did an excellent job of tidying up in midfield. Nothing spectacular but the sort of performance the team needs in games like this.

The biggest difference between this game and the Fiorentina was the presence of Javier Mascherano who worked tirelessly in shielding the defence. It was unfortunate that he made the mistake which led to Chelsea’s first goal but that doesn’t detract from an otherwise impeccable game. My man of the match.

Steven Gerrard wasn’t his usual self today – and he should really stop taking corners – but when the team needed him they found him ready which, for me, means that he did his job.

Bad Game
Having Albert Riera missing against Fiorentina was something of a surprise but you would have thought that he would be more than eager to prove that it was a bad decision today. That wasn’t the case as he went missing more often than not. It was also a bad game for Dirk Kuyt who hasn’t really excelled so far this season. He was as willing as always but rarely did anything that he touched come off.

It could be argued that Fernando Torres didn’t have good enough service today and it would be right. Then again, he failed to take the chances that he did have which, at the end of the day, results in a bad game for him.

Substitutes
The introduction of Yossi Benayoun gave Liverpool another dimension as his creativity and link-up play was very difficult for Chelsea to mark. It wouldn’t have made any difference, but he really ought to have scored with that chance at the death. In theory, Ryan Babel was supposed to come on and trouble the Chelsea defence by running at them. That, however, didn’t work out as Babel either ended up going down blind alleys or else losing the ball cheaply. Fabio Aurelio’s late introduction was in all likelihood intended to stretch Chelsea that little bit more given his ability to act as an added left sided midfielder.

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