HAVE LIVERPOOL BLOWN THEIR BIG CHANCE?

D. Ray Morton, 27th April 2014.

 Demba Ba scores Chelsea's opener capitalising on Gerrard's mistake

Sunday's Premier League action saw Chelsea defeat Liverpool 2-0 at Anfield as Manchester City later put two past Crystal Palace on their travels to add yet another twist to this incredible title race.  City have three remaining matches and barring an unlikely turnaround of their goal difference advantage, a trifecta of victories will hand them the championship crown.

Manchester City's destiny is now in their own hands
 

Liverpool's horror afternoon was largely due to the poor performance of their captain, Steven Gerrard, whose erroneous slip cost them Demba Ba's opener. Chelsea sat very deep with the second string side Jose Mourinho had warned he would field in order to rest players for their second leg Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid in mid-week. The underdog mind game comment worked a treat.

 

 Captain Gerrard's performance was poor at the time they needed him the most

Gerrard's game was panicked and he wasted possession several times with speculative long shots. Reds' talismanic striker Luis Suarez struggled to make an impact and was marshalled effectively by rookie defender Tomas Kalac.  Daniel Sturridge couldn't find spaces and his dismal showing lead to Chelsea's second when substitute Fernando Torres combined with Willian on the counter who walked it into an empty goal.

Willian had all the time in the world after he broke free with Torres during a late counter attack
 

Liverpool will take part in the Champions League next season and it should be interesting to see how they will deal with the busier schedule. Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal are used to that situation but Brendan Rodgers' squad will have to be strengthened in the summer. Mourinho's Chelsea will be very strong as soon as they sign a world class striker, most likely Atletico's Diego Costa. City will spend too. Manchester United, Tottenham and Everton will also do their best to improve.
 

The chance of winning a title for Liverpool doesn't come along too often and there is now a sinking feeling about this season and that maybe the talk of it being their year had been too premature.

PRAGMATIC CHELSEA ADVANCE AND COULD WELL WIN IT

PRAGMATIC CHELSEA ADVANCE AND COULD WELL WIN IT

D. Ray Morton, 9th March 2014.

There was an air of inevitability about Demba Ba's late strike at Stamford Bridge last night, the same inevitability that haunted Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi two seasons ago at the same ground, albeit representing Napoli and not Paris St. Germain. José Mourinho had promised beforehand that Chelsea would progress. He was confident that his side would outscore the Parisians on the night and record the sufficient victory to guide them to the Champions League semi-finals.

They'll be an exceedingly tough nut to crack. With Liverpool and Manchester City pulling away in the Premier League to form their own two-horse, "Champions League-less" Premier League title race, the Portuguese has chosen his words very carefully over the past few months. He had warned Chelsea fans that, this season, it wasn't possible to win the league with the players at his disposal. The Champions League, however, is a very a different kettle of fish. A kettle of fish José knows like the back of his hand.

Barcelona and Manchester United, tonight, travel to Atlético Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively hoping to join Chelsea, along with Real Madrid, in that prestigious last four. Of all teams potentially left in the competition, Chelsea should fear no-one over two legs. Bayern were the football purists' darlings throughout the season but a recent slump in performances after winning their domestic league with their eyes closed has left many doubting their ability to complete back-to-back Champions League triumphs, a feat yet done in the competition's modern guise.

In a lot of ways, Chelsea are the perfect team to go on to win this tournament now. Barcelona aren't quite the Barcelona of old and even when they were, the Londoners were always a bogey team of theirs. Mourinho will not be ashamed to batten down the hatches and defend deep against any opponent should he see fit. If anything, last night's game against PSG represented "Big Money, Big Sam" tactics at their finest. A strong defensive unit, capable of dealing with a Zlatan-less side, long balls and long throws becoming their main threat once Eden Hazard was taken off injured. To watch a player like Willian scurry and track like a ball-winning midfielder was an unexpected sight and he performed in this unorthodox role admirably.

Willian was all-action, all energy last night

Indeed, the Brazilian could be vital for Chelsea with only two games between them an appearance in the lucrative final, to be played in Mourinho's native land at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon. With Juan Mata sold and Oscar starting to show signs of tiredness due to the insane amount of matches he's appeared in for club and country over the past two years, Willian is starting to look like the freshest of their attacking midfielders, finding his form at the perfect time for what might be a heroic late season surge.

They lack a striker still, obviously, but the way they're set up doesn't require a world class No. 9. Demba Ba is no Marco van Basten but he's certainly capable of troubling defenders and his impact was predictably devastating last night. Chelsea are a team of big, powerful no-nonsense men for the most part. John Terry, Gary Cahill, Branislav Ivanovic etc. They will bully teams who are not up for it. Teams that are not at 100%. Teams whose game plans aren't at their zenith. And looking across what's left to compete with, they should be quietly confident with whatever comes their way.

SHERWOOD RIGHT TO LAMBAST ABJECT SPURS

SHERWOOD RIGHT TO LAMBAST ABJECT SPURS

D. Ray Morton, 9th March 2013.

Chelsea proved they were the cream of the London crop yesterday evening with a comfortable 4-0 win that keeps fueling their Premier League title effort. Mourinho's men won convincingly thanks to goals from Samuel Eto'o, a penalty from Eden Hazard and a brace from substitute striker Demba Ba. Chelsea look as likely as anyone to top the table at the end of the season now but the focus here will be on the hopelessness of Tottenham Hotspur, manager Tim Sherwood's reaction to it and how a certain other in the media sees it.

Any 4-0 defeat makes for bad reading but, as mentioned several times this season about Spurs, the manner in which they lost was most disappointing. This wasn't Chelsea at their best. They didn't need to be. Each of the four goals could be classified as gifts. Though Spurs made themselves compact in the first half, giving away few clear cut chances and even looking like they might create a few of their own, their second half capitulation was abysmal.

Eto'o opened the scoring in the 56th minute after an error by Jan Vertonghen in what was probably his worst performance as a Spurs player. Barcelona have been sniffing around for his signature due to their need for a ball-playing defender and after such a miserable performance, Daniel Levy should consider cashing in.

The second goal came only four minutes later. Eto'o was picked out inside the penalty area, took a heavy touch and fell under the momentum of Younes Kaboul's covering run. There was very little contact and there were plenty of players around but referee Michael Oliver still felt the need to issue a red card and a penalty. I have examined the penalty/dismissal laws before but in this incident, there was nothing cynical about Kaboul's approach and the referee seemed to get it completely wrong as agreed with by Gary Neville in his Sky Sports commentary. Hazard slotted home the spot-kick and the game was over as a contest effectively.

Half an hour of Jose Mourinho smiles followed until Demba Ba, this time, was given a present by the continually struggling Vertonghen. Slipping in possession inside his own third, rather than knocking the ball out of play, he attempted a desperate pass back which Hugo Lloris couldn't reach. The Senegalese took the chance with aplomb. About a minute later, more madness from Spurs at the back. Lloris cleared away with his feet only to receive a header back from Nabil Bentaleb who must not have seen Demba Ba standing way beyond what would be the offside line. Ba competed with the French goalkeeper and slipped it past him to score the easiest of tap-ins. Tim Sherwood looked on furiously as Jose Mourinho made an early escape for the dressing room barely able to disguise his elation.

Tactically, there wasn't a whole lot that Sherwood did wrong. Jokingly nicknamed "Tactics Tim" for the perception that he doesn't like to bog down his side with the instructions that made Andre Villas Boas so unpopular with the playing staff, Spurs were set up quite well yesterday. He had fielded Kyle Walker at right midfield in order to double up on Eden Hazard and, removing individuals errors and some dodgy refereeing, it might have worked.

Sherwood went on the offensive in his post-match interview: "You can't legislate for the capitulation - you can't have that" he stated. "Lack of characters, too many of them too nice to each other and you need to show a bit more guts and not want to be someone's mate all the time. They need to drag it out of each other."

Sherwood was right. It wasn't strategies that cost them such a heavy thrashing. It was attitude. This is the same poisonous attitude that has persisted all season and resulted in two heavy defeats to Manchester City, another from Liverpool and an utterly humiliating 3-0 defeat to West Ham at home.

Glenn Hoddle, whenever there is speculation over a manager's future, again took the opportunity to criticise whilst subtly flying his kite for the Spurs job which might not necessarily go to Louis van Gaal, as expected, in the summer. In response to Sherwood's post-match views, he interjected: "I agree he was very honest but personally that's something you say in the dressing room to the players. You might come out and disguise what your feelings are." Words of wisdom from a man who lost the England job for suggesting that disabled people were being punished from "past lives".

Tottenham do deserve to be criticised publicly and Sherwood would only have been untrue to himself if he had stated otherwise. No-one expects Tottenham to get into the top four now and no-one expects Sherwood to stay on as their boss. His honesty was refreshing however and it's a shame that he's now caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to landing his next job. Primarily a coach, will he want to take that step back after being in the main hot seat? Will Spurs even want to keep him on as a coach? Regardless, the message has been clear. Tottenham have not been good enough this season and don't deserve any credit after what was a grim performance at Stamford Bridge yesterday.