Premiership preview: Liverpool v. Chelsea
Former prime minister Harold Wilson once said, “A week is a long time in politics.”
Indeed, as we have seen with Chelsea’s current political wranglings, much can change in seven days.
Prior to last weekend’s trouncing of Wigan at Stamford Bridge, Jose Mourinho declared his love for Chelsea after numerous newspaper reports told of internal disputes; post game he hinted at differences of opinion with both the board and Roman Abramovich.
The press had a field day. All manner of reports about “civil war” at the club were forthcoming; Mourinho had added fuel to the fire and journalists were determined to fan the flames.
Yesterday chief executive Peter Kenyon did his best to extinguish the inferno.
At the launch of the club’s Corporate Social Responsibility Report in the House of Commons, Kenyon told the BBC that Mourinho has the full support of both the board and Abramovich.
“The board and the owner fully support Jose and Jose is fully on board in looking to achieve more success on the field,” he said.
“There’s not a lot I can do about speculation. We are very confident that both the manager and the board are together on how we make Chelsea even more successful.
“He’s got a contract to 2010 and wants to finish what we started when we brought him in. That was a long-term plan for Chelsea being successful on the field.”
Cynics will tell you that Kenyon is just doing his job, keeping the ship afloat until the summer when certain members of the crew will jump or be pushed overboard.
But most fans will just be pleased to hear that the club is pulling in the same direction ahead of this vital game against despised rivals Liverpool.
Away from the boardroom, Mourinho will not have let his differences with Abramovich affect the players and their preparations.
Andriy Shevchenko, the player the newspapers erroneously placed at the centre of the apparent crisis, returned to full training this week after ten days on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.
In the Times yesterday the Ukranian was forthright in his denial of any special relationship with Abramovich.
But rumours suggest Mourinho will still overlook him and field Arjen Robben and either Shaun Wright-Phillips or Salomon Kalou up front with Didier Drogba, Liverpool’s nemesis, in a 4-3-3 formation.
Michael Essien is expected to replace the suspended Claude Makelele in the holding midfield role, which would leave a substantial hole in the centre of defence. Whether John Terry is fit enough to fill said hole is as yet unknown.
Petr Cech was given the all-clear earlier this week and could take his place in goal wearing special protective headgear, but is more likely to start on the bench.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is without Luis Garcia, Harry Kewell, Momo Sissoko and Mark Gonzalez. He is expected to make several changes to his line-up and revert to a more defensive formation from the 3-4-3 he successfully experimented with at Watford last weekend.
The Reds’ last two games at Anfield ended in humiliation when they lost 1-3 and 3-6 to Arsenal in the FA and League cup respectively.
Both Mourinho and Benitez celebrate their 100th Premiership game in charge. Mourinho has won all five games against Benitez since his arrival at the Bridge in 2004.
Related links
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- Posted at 03:33 PM · Permalink · Print · 2197 views · Last indexed by Google on the 16th May 2008
- Tags: Andriy Shevchenko, Anfield, Arjen Robben, Arsenal, Chelsea, Claude Makelele, Didier Drogba, John Terry, Jon Obi Mikel, Jose Mourinho, Liverpool, Matches, Peter Kenyon, Premiership, Rafael Benitez, Roman Abramovich, Salomon Kalou, Shaun Wright-Phillips
Many Sites are saying JT is out ive read a few chelsea ones they say hes in, any word on if he is in or out?
and i think cech will start?
Terry is still unavailable.
Cech is fit but Mourinho hasn’t told him or Cudicini which of them will start.
Obi Mikel will replace Makelele, with Essien continuing in the centre of defence.
Bridge has a knee injury and will be out for at least two weeks.
I still have the feeling that Essien’s going to stay at centre-back tomorrow, so it seems like Mikel will definitely be coming in the midfield somewhere for a 433. 442 with Robben and Kalou on the wings and Lampard and Ballack in the middle with Sheva and Drogba up front could work otherwise…
Robben has to be accomodated: We need at least one good winger! Tomorrow will be extremely interesting, as we will get a hint at the outcome of the rest of the big teams’ seasons as well as ours. (Well, I exclude Liverpool: they are thankfully looking highly unlikely to reach any semi-final and knock us out!)
This is one of the few matches I have approached with trepidation in a while. I hope to God we win.
Thanks, Nick… Hmm, Obi-John better be good with his tackling tomorrow: we can’t afford to give any stupid freekicks or corners away when Daddy Longlegs is dancing around.
I think that Mikel has looked ok in the last couple of games and is growing in confidence.
I hope he plays in Maka’s role at the back of the midfield, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Jose pulls a surprise and starts with Sheva, who scored against the Scousers at Cardiff in the Charity Shield.
This weekend will decide whether we are in the race or not…..Looking forward to only being 3 points behind by Sunday night.
Personally I’d love to see Sheva play, considering he has a score to settle (i.e., Milan’s defeat in Istanbul). A Sheva’s hat trick would be nice! :-)
I’m missing the match tomorrow, while it’s on at least.
A fellow Blue’s agreed to a social situation that he now can’t pull out of, so instead of me enjoying the game on my own and him suffering on his own, we’re both going to go out and bear it together, have it taped then sit and watch afterwards.
I’ll be plugging my ears between 1 and 3 hoping I hear nothing (nothing negative anyway).
The mobile will be off all day, I can say that at least.
Cheer us on through the sun and rain, and all that.
The first 20 minutes were a disaster and the news that Riccy was out another dagger in the heart of retaining the PL. After the first 20 we looked OK, but to be honest nowhere near as good as Arsenal did the other week, nor anywhere near as hungry or sharp as Liverpool. Even the 2nd hald where we looked sharper was still not as good as them
Full marks to Liverpool, they fully deserved this win aginst a team sorely missing Joe Cole, Terry, Carvalho and Robben. We were lucky if we’re truthful that it was only 2-0 because the shots stats weigh heavily in favour of Liverpool.
Great to see Cech back and he couldn’t have done anything for either strike, nor had Riise’s gone in would have got near that. JM has some thinking to do, but be honest - if Man utd win tomorrow against Arsenal then to all intents and purposes our grip on the Title has been lost for this season.
Maybe the CL or one fo the domestic cups will have to do. One thing, we can’t even be sure of 2nd place though unless the “old” Chelsea returns from last year.
I’ve been a Chelsea supporter for nearly forty years but I’m still confused about a couple of things.Firstly is Steve Clarke registered to play and secondly is there a Premiership cash payout for the team who finishes the season with the smallest squad?I find it hard to believe that a team like Chelsea would rather sacrifice the title than admit that certain people have made and are currently making bad decisions.We would understand if teams with far less buying power than us,were going into a crucial match without a regular cetre half.Not only that we have also lost Wayne Bridge and possibly Arjen Robben to injury.When will the penny finally drop that the squad is far too small to challenge for four trophies.I feel sorry for the players who are expected to churn out impressive displays while the team changes constantly.Hopefully we can salvage something from a season which threatens to turn sour.It’s all very well the Chelsea experts telling us we’re in four competitions and things could be worse,what will the excuses be if we finish with nothing.
Hear hear Lynn - well said. I’ve alluded in the past in my prevous articles to whether JM has shown wisdom in thinning the squad. Letting Gallas and Huth go, with WG going on the last day does look poor judgement now. Look at the first 10 minutes and we looked like getting pumped today, hence why I said 2-0 flatters us a little. In my heart of hearts I think its too late for us to salvage the PL, 3 on the trot was always a big challenge anyway, but we have until late Feb to get the squad up to the remaing cups and CL challenge. SWP, surprisingly played well today and we aren’t in a strong enough position squad-wise to move him on. but Kalou is not good enough for this level yet - he needs a run in the reserves or maybe a loan to get him to the right level. Mikel, however , I am prepared to eat humble pie on becuase he has improved every game. Ballack simply remains an enigma - the free kick debacle between him and Drogs was plain embarassing and we’re lucky it didn’t lead to a goal for the Scousers.
Robbens prone to injury and thats a worry because we’re pinning so much on him. He doesn’t seem to like playing Liverpool does he? Ferreira is not a centre back, not even a reasonable stop-gap. Right back or nothing for him. We need to get a centre back in to cover us in situations like today, otherwise we’re in danger of imitating the walking wounded excuse of Newcastle. But, finally I think its clear that Joe Cole is an irreplaceable presence, not only for his skill and ability, but for the buzz he gives the team. When he plays everyone seems to want to be part of the picture. A sore miss and someone I’m not even sure can be replaced.
Lets take the smack like adults, applaud Liverpool for a hungry and efficient display on a day when they WERE the better team FOR ONCE. JM should give the players a few days at La Manga to rest and recover. and a chance for them to relax as a team to try for at least one of the other 3 trophies. What worries me is that any competition that is knockout is based on luck, and that certain Lady seems to have packed her bags and deserted Stamford Bridge in a right old huff.
I’m afraid there will be no chance to rest and recover Tony,we are playing against Wycombe on Tuesday.What the team will be is anyones guess.Also Paulo Ferreira is suspended next week in the FA Cup.How long has this farcical situation to go on before someone does something to strengthen a squad which badly needs re-inforcing.
Had forgotten about that, ta. Just goes to show that the Wigan game really didn’t tell us much at all as they were so poor that day.
We desperately need to return to Jose’s original formula of a squad of 22 with 2 players for every position.
As much as we miss JT, we also miss Joey Cole terribly. You mention the buzz, but what he really provides is options as he can play equally well as, winger, front man or behind the front man/men.
Liverpool deserved the win because they had a cutting edge that we have not possessed all year.
Pleased to see Mikel play well again, and I wholeheartedly agree with your comments on Kalou. He is not providing anything at all.
SWP looked interested, and played probably his best game I can recall for the Blues. He won’t leave now, with Robben injured aain, but he will not be the answer either, unless he remembers how to beat people, rather than running into them.
Sheva was anonymous in his 15 minute run. I don’t actually think he touched the ball , but I may be wrong. I like the bloke, and I think his comments in the week, denying a relationship with RA, and mentioning his respect for JM showed he is true class. I really hope he comes good, but it is very difficult to turn bad form around when the team is playing so poorly.
My summation sounds very negative, and so it should because we were simply neverb at the races, but to be fair, we had half a side and Liverpool are the form side in the division ( cup games aside).
I really hope we beat Wycombe, but I’m not as confident as I should be …..given that we are the Premiership Champions and they are in Division 2!
I do not think signing new players (center back and a striker) would help us at all. You need to look at why we have so many injuries and suspensions in the first place. It’s unfortunate I have to heap more blame on JM cause his 411112-formation has done us. It leaves the wing backs exposed, then you have a situation where our center backs have to do an extra mile and tear an extra muscle. It’s for the same reason we get many cautions with players trying to get the ball out of danger.
Suspensions so far; Drogba, Ballack, Obi, Makelele, Calvaho, Ferreira, Cole. Essien and SWP are next. This is probably more suspensions than we’ve had for the last 2 seasons.
Some see a new forward as another solution. Rubbish! Yjou don’t just bring Baros without addressing the problems hampering Sheva(Crespo). They need supply, through passes not Fat Lamps’ long passes. I lost count of his long passes to nobody. He’s one person I am happy to blame for taking Ballack and Sheva out of the game.
My prediction is that as soon as we get all our players fit again JM will revert to 411112 and they will immidiately pick up more injuries and suspensions.
After reading Peter Kenyon’s comments regarding”healthy tension in the club”I checked a dictionary for a correct term for tension.This is it”a strained relationship between individuals, groups, nations, etc.”
How anyone can say a strained relationship is healthy really baffles me.I just get the feeling that certain people are making things as difficult as possible for the manager in the hope that he decides that enough is enough and packs his bags and jets off to a new club.
Henry I’m afraid I don’t agree with your comments about not signing any players.What if JT is unable to play again this season and we lose Robben or god forbid Drogba for a lengthy period,what would your options be then?You criticise Lampard but without his contribution we would be in a far worse league position than we are at the moment.I hate to say it but Ballack and Sevchenko have been the catalyst for our poor performances.I feel really sorry for Sevchenko,if a couple of chances had gone in at the start of the season he could be a different player now.I have little sympathy for Ballack I’m afraid,can anyone tell me what he contributes to a game and how he justifies a constant starting place.
I suppose Chelsea tv will disagree with anyone who dares to say anything which may cause offence to Mr.Barnett,I much prefer to see Kerry Dixon,Tommy Langley or Jason Cundy.At least they express the same opinions as the supporters and don’t try gloss over things which many of us feel so passionately about.
The way things are going at the moment,it’s not inconceivable for us to get knocked out of both cups in the coming weeks.I know in a perfect world this would not happen but as we all know things are far from perfect at Stamford Bridge at the moment.
To Henry,
There is something in what you are saying here. We did not play the ball at all. Mostly long passes and mostly to noone. This is true.