Liverpool Still In The Hunt For The Title? Chelsea Back To Their Best?

Super Sunday saw a devastating Chelsea side put Liverpool to the sword in their impressive victory at Stamford Bridge, but the outcome from the media this week wasn't to applaud the performance of Carlo Ancelotti's men but more to the point exploit Rafa Benetiz's ability to manage such a squad.

This is a side that came so close to knocking Manchester United off it's perch last season with an impressive display in the final run-in that showed determination and grit from key players which led to the media confessing that maybe Liverpool could be potential contenders for the league next season. However with three defeats in eight games life at Anfield looks bleak for Benitez and with two fairly critical owners in George Gillet and Tom Hicks things really couldn't be any worse. Liverpool in my opinion have suffered due to the loss of Xabi Alonso and the ability to purchase a player that is fit enough to start the season; Rafa is taking a huge gamble with Alberto Aqualanni and the fact that Liverpool have had such a bad start increases the pressure on the young Italian being their saviour.

Ancelotti did in one game what Luiz Felipe Scolari couldn't acheive in his short spell at the bridge last season, and that was to defeat a top four side. Chelsea looked immacualte all over the field this weekend, with Essien in the holding role Gerrard was kept quiet and Fernando Torres was shut out by an impressive duo display from Carvalho and Terry and also highlighted that Petr Cech could have a contender for his first team place in Henrique Hilario who excelled in every attribute and looked comfortable for most of the game.

Is a Diamond Chelsea's best friend or is it really for Carlo's Missus?

The diamond formation (pretty self explanatory it’s a diamond but for those who don’t understand read on) is a tactical mindset that consists of four defenders, one defensive midfielder, two wide midfielders, one attacking midfielder and two strikers. Chelsea over the past four seasons have used a system that’s objective is to attack the opposition from the flanks (4-3-3) however with the lack of financial funds being dispersed by Senor Roman Chelsea have seen their dominance in world football take a slight detour.

I was always taught that when you discuss an argument always include both positive and negative factors to show the reader that I am on his/her side and I will stick to my promise.

One factor that Carlo will have to come to terms with is that this isn’t Serie ‘A’ where you might encounter a few tough fixtures and then take advantage of lesser opposition. This is the crème de le crème of football where every fixture will be as challenging as the next; Secondly, Chelsea are renowned for possessing in my opinion the best midfield in world football and two men stand out in particular for me; Michael Essien and Frank Lampard. Essien can in my opinion play in two positions; Central Midfield and the holding role he cannot however be positioned on the right flank where brute force is not needed, his game consists of strength and his ability to keep the ball. Lampard for the last five seasons has scored twenty goals in all competitions and personally over the last two games I can’t see him continuing this incredible achievement; at the tip of the diamond you are reduced to a small amount of time on the ball because you are playing behind both strikers and timing is essential to Lampard’s game whether it be to find a through ball or take a strike at goal from 25 yards, it also narrows the play in which Chelsea over the years have been so used to spreading the ball wide.

Now fear not I have composed two positive factors for you to enjoy; we all know that Chelsea have been constantly robbed of Champions League silverware for years but fear not the Godfather has arrived and his jewel of a formation will deliver success to John Terry and his merry men. With only potentially four English teams participating in the tournament other teams across Europe will possess the same formation but with a less educated midfield that in my opinion will lead Chelsea to success. The last point that I would like to focus on is the partnership that has finally been created of Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba; two powerhouses that can change a game with their pace and power. Carlo along with his holding midfielder will be hoping that these two can shine for Chelsea and fire his team to success and secure him a long term future in England.

Sympathy for Referees

On Saturday I was asked to referee a game between the students and parents of one of my former schools; I was also told that I would be payed for this task so I decided to accept the offer however when I arrived at the game I was told that it wasn't students versus parents but it was in fact teachers versus parents which had I known beforehand I would of declined the offer and let someone else take the job.

The point of this blog is that I now fully understand the skill level of what it takes to be a referee and that the amount of abuse they receive is oblivious to a spectator of the sport such as myself. To make matters worse I had no assistance as the game was played with no linesman and you have two sets of teams that will constantly believe that every ball that goes out of play is theirs. To sum things up I ended up getting into a scrap with a player who told me to shut up so basically i'll leave the refereeing to someone else however did manage to get paid 25 quid for hours work so not too bad.