"CRYSTAL" PULIS MASTERMINDS LIVERPOOL COLLAPSE

D. Ray Morton, 6th May 2014.

 Dwight Gayle reels away in celebration after scoring Crystal Palace's late equaliser

The travelling Liverpool fans belted out "we're going to win the league" around Selhurst Park last night after their side had taken a commanding three goal lead against Crystal Palace. This happened before Tony Pulis' team completed the shock comeback of the season in order to crush any last hope of the Premier League title going to Merseyside. Perhaps the opportunity had already been blown but this 3-3 draw was one of the final nails in the coffin. They can still, mathematically, win the league but Manchester City would have to fail spectacularly with only Aston Villa and West Ham to play, both at the Etihad.

A true fall apart, some have described last night's action as "Istanbul in reverse". Cruising to the point where the foot was mildly off the pedal in terms of finishing, the visiting fans yelled "attack, attack, attack!" in anticipation of another high-scoring, dominant victory. Tony Pulis had other ideas, however. A good manager will still have a game plan when his side are trailing by two goals going into the last twenty minutes but rarely can a boss change things when three behind. Pulis saw a weakness in Liverpool's defence and his impact sub, Dwight Gayle, was deployed to devastating effect. The ex-Arsenal youth player, who had to drop down to non-league football at one stage, ripped The Reds' defence apart with his pace and bagged a superb brace to crush Liverpool's spirit.

Pulis deserves massive credit and should probably be awarded the Manager of the Year prize which had been booked for Brendan Rodgers had he been able to secure a long-awaited but unlikely league title win. With nothing to work with resources-wise, Pulis has turned this Palace side into one of the most stubborn in the Premier League, a complete transformation from the Ian Holloway-led relegation candidates that started out the season.

Long-ball Stoke jokes are out of fashion as Pulis demonstrates his managerial chops at Palace

Luis Suarez had to cover his face after the final whistle as captain Steven Gerrard put his arm around him and shoved cameramen away as he attempted to console the Uruguayan. Only weeks earlier, Gerrard had been kissing cameras, so optimistic was the mood around the club. We can't tell whether Suarez was even crying beneath the veil of his jersey. He could have just as easily been laughing hysterically in irony, incredulous that Liverpool could concede so many after he and strike partner Daniel Sturridge ripped apart opposition defences with their combined 52 league goals this term.

This entire whirlwind of events has left audiences puzzled, neutrals unsure how to take it all in. A month or two ago, Liverpool had become many fans' (Manchester United and Everton followers excluded) second team with their dazzling displays of attacking football. Now their defending has become so farcical that it's hard to respect their almost suicidal insistence on only attempting to outscore their opponents. The positivity has soured and hope went from cockiness to what is currently despair. On the whole, however, Liverpool should still consider this season a success looking at their improvement in league position. They would have happily taken second place when asked at the start of the campaign.

What happens next season is intriguing. Having missed out on the title, Suarez will be more tempted than ever should Real Madrid come knocking. It's a once in a lifetime chance to play at the world's most successful club and it will be very hard to keep him. The received fee could be astronomical and that would allow Brendan Rodgers to invest in some real defenders and a Suarez replacement. Someone like Juventus' Carlos Tevez would be ideal should he become available. The restructuring need not be dramatic but it will need to take place with the possibility of a resurgent Man United competing with and against City, Chelsea and Arsenal next season.

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.

MOURINHO MANUFACTURING WARS OF WORDS

Well, he's at it again, isn't he? Jose Mourinho has stirred the Premier League media pot furthermore through his latest engagement with Arsene Wenger. Responding to Wenger's claims that the league title race was "Chelsea's to lose", Mourinho has hit back with a rather acerbic assault on the Arsenal manager's achievements in the past eight years. Trophyless in that time, the Portuguese has branded his rival a "specialist in failure".

Do not for a second think that this is some kind of an outburst that lacks calculation. This is Jose going back to what Jose does best and that's rattling his opponents through the notebooks and dictaphones of journalists. He has done this time after time throughout his career, whether facing down Alex Ferguson's Manchester United in his initial spell at Chelsea, or Pep Guardiola's Barcelona during his time at both Inter Milan and Real Madrid.

Wenger is not, of course, the first victim of Mourinho's mind games this season. His recent spat with Manchester City's Manuel Pellegrini is also well documented with both men exhanging swipes over their respective clubs' transfer policies. Though Pellegrini made a fine point of how Chelsea have consistently spent since Roman Abramovich's takeover, Mourinho side-stepped that jab by illustrating very clearly that City's net spending over the past twelve months is considerably higher than that of the west Londoners.

Even when he feigns sympathy or support for another club via media comments, Mourinho has an agenda. Last season, he praised Manchester United after eliminating them from the Champions League - saying the better team had lost. At that point in time, he might have been expecting a job offer from Old Trafford with his tenure at the Bernabeu obviously coming to an end. Even this season, he has repeated that Manchester United are a threat, initially refusing to rule them out of the title race and just last week claiming that they will still make it into the top four to secure that lucrative European spot. Why he should build up a rival team that are struggling makes sense. They're not in the title race and it's easier to fight a two-front war than taking on all challengers at once.

So this weekend we have a repeat of last week's Manchester City vs Chelsea match but in the form of an FA Cup tie. It should be interesting to see whether Mourinho approaches it with a carbon copy tactical setup of the three defensive minded midfielders that stifled a Fernandinho-less City. The Brazilian is still on the injury list but one feels Pellegrini might be a tad naive if he opts to field Martin Demichelis as midfield anchor man again. Regardless of who progresses in the evermore meaningless cup, there should be plenty of more fuel for the media fire.

D. Ray Morton, 14th February 2014.

MOURINHO MACHINE HALTS CITY JUGGERNAUGHT

It was all chest bumps and high fives for the Chelsea contingent when all was said and done at the Etihad last night. Jose Mourinho's men secured a massive 0-1 victory against title favourites Manchester City. A cagey game, as some had predicted, Chelsea managed to take a lead, sit on it and never gave City a true sniff. Branislav Ivanovic's left foot of all things is what gave the Londoners the lead they defended so well. Setting up with a flat back four and a lone striker, Mourinho copper-fastened his midfield by selecting a classic defensive midfielder in Nemanja Matic, a centre-back turned midfielder in David Luiz and an all-round workhorse in his Brazilian compatriot Ramires. A defensive outlook but an example of tactical mastery given City's free-scoring home form. The midfield trio bolt-locked City's possession game although a huge factor was the loss of Fernandinho to injury. Martin Demichelis had to be pushed up from defence to become a makeshift midfield partner for Yaya Toure and it never seemed to click. City saw plenty of the ball but without Fernandinho, they didn't appear to have that box-to-box movement that have made them so deadly this season.

Branislav Ivanovic celebrating Chelsea's goal versus Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on the 3rd of February, 2014

Mourinho played it cool in the aftermath. He insisted that Chelsea were not better than City as a team though they were better on the night and you could clearly see it meant so much to his players. Their squad morale will be sky high at the moment and City will look at their next six league fixtures as must-wins in order not blow what has been an incredible effort so far. Manuel Pellegrini was his usual pragmatic self in his post-match interview. A manager of high intelligence, he knows there's a long way to go in this title chase and points will be dropped along the way. Their goal difference is staggering and they are still the best side in the league at thrashing the so-called weaker opposition. One wonders how the City board would react if Pellegrini can't secure the title. He has introduced some of the most devastating attacking football ever seen in the Premier League but you have to look back at his spell at Real Madrid where he helped them secure a record 96 points only to be pipped to the La Liga post by Pep Guardiola's Barcelona, probably the greatest European side since the AC Milan sides of the late '80s and early '90s. Despite that, Real still gave him the heave-ho. The Special One, on the other hand, has no such worries. Regardless if they win the league or not, his job is secure and Abramovich will continue to pump huge sums of transfer cash into the club.

The title race gets very interesting from here on in. Chelsea, City and Arsenal are the realistic contenders right now. People are assuming the Gunners will fall away due to their lack of January signings, especially in attack, but there are many twists and turns ahead. Chelsea seem not to have a real top class striker either but Mourinho has managed to win many trophies without having to rub massive egos in his front line. We will all watch with interest as this fascinating season develops.

D. Ray Morton, 4th February 2014.