I could not be more gutted after watching the match between between Liverpool and Chelsea. Not only was Chelsea’s anti-football tactics a disgrace to football and the English Premier League as a whole, but their blatant time wasting was shameful. But more shameful was the fact the referee Martin Atkinson did absolutely nothing to penalise them for it.
Not only that, but to hear pundits and so called ‘football experts’ praising Mourinho for his tactics was shocking. Many defended his tactics by saying Chelsea does not have attacking talent and therefore had to play defensively. This is complete and utter nonsense. Chelsea paid us over 50 million pounds for Fernando Torres, arguably the best striker in the world at the time, and turned him into a running joke. Plus, they have players like Salah, Schullre, Lampard, Willian and the like that are attacking players who can walk into the starting eleven of 99.9% of all football teams. Instead, Mourinho chose to play them defensively. For this, Mourinho was hailed as a football genius and to have ‘out thought’ Brendan Rodgers. So then, by this logic, surely Neil Adam, Gus Poyet, Paul Lambert and Tony Pulis are also geniuses, as they out thought Mourinho.
At the end of the day, getting the three points is all that matters. I agree with that. And despite my disgust at the Chelsea playing defensive, it is their choice. If their fans are willing to pay to watch that, then so be it. However, what really angers me was the blatant time wasting that was not effectively dealt with by the referee. That was completely unacceptable.
So how do we beat them?
But let’s put that behind us now, and we go again. Liverpool travel to a tricky Selhurst Park this evening and Pulis has vowed to uphold the integrity of the league by fielding his strongest team. If we win here, we will go back to the top of the league and put all the pressure on Man City to respond.
I would like to see a typical, all out attacking display by our players. Apart from one small change. Or rather a big change. I would start with Suarez on the bench. Of late, he has not been looking at his sharpest. I would start with Sturridge and Sterling in the front three, with either Aspas or Moses.
Behind them, I would go with a Gerrard, Allen and Coutinho. My back four to remain unchanged. Both Moses and Aspas are playing for the football future and believe they would have something to prove. Also, I would like to see perhaps a mentally fatigued Suarez coming on for the last thirty, thirty five minutes to run at a physically fatiguing Palace defence. Could equal a plethora a goals.
And our competitors…
On Wednesday, City are hosting Aston Villa. City are firm favourites to win this match, and I can see why. I do however, hold onto a small amount of hope after watching a not too convincing display against Everton on the weekend. A concern is that the Villains have nothing to play for, so will they really be up for this match? I hope so. Villa beat City 3-2 early this season, and it would be a great feather in Lambert's hat to get the double over the title favourites, though the recent form of Villa is unimpressive, to say the least. Three wins and six defeats in their last ten matches. Certainly not something to write home about. But hey… you never know…