Chelsea Match Review
Chelsea vs Liverpool I Premier League I 7/5/2018
Match Overview
It is a 5th straight win for Chelsea in all competitions and a vital one at that as it means Chelsea are still in contention for a Champions League spot. Chelsea now sit 5th in the Premier League table with 4th placed Tottenham on 71 points and 3rd place Liverpool on 72 points although Liverpool already have played an extra match. Even then, Liverpool holds a 15-goal advantage over Chelsea which, let’s face it, is an enormous goal difference to overturn.
Liverpool maintained most of the possession at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea eager to soak in the pressure. However, once with the ball Chelsea were great in their movement and wise in their decision making. Overall, it is Chelsea’s organised system that ultimately kept Liverpool’s fearsome attacking machine at bay. After Giroud’s goal, it is only a matter of maintaining discipline and patiently waiting for the opportunity to strike. It was a tremendous team effort, in particular, credits are due for Bakayoko who played a greatly improved game today.
Liverpool came attacking from the get-go and thereafter dominated the proceedings in terms of possession. Chelsea rarely pressed but instead, invited the pressure and tried to restrict the spaces to pass and shoot. In doing so, they were compact and limited Liverpool to weak shots from afar which were easily dealt with by Courtois. Despite Liverpool’s dominance, it is actually Chelsea that seemingly have the upper hand as the chances created by Chelsea looked the more dangerous.
The attack, as had been the past couple of game was fantastic. Hazard was his usual brilliant self, and the Chelsea players that get involved with the attack really made an impact. In one particular instance, Victor Moses, always a beast when he comes hurtling at opponent’s defences, took on a defender and managed to cross an exquisite ball into a dangerous position. Sure, it took a slight deflection, but Giroud was there to anticipate the cross and the head-master from France duly headed to the top right corner of Karius’s goal. 1 – 0 Chelsea.
It is a 5th straight win for Chelsea in all competitions and a vital one at that as it means Chelsea are still in contention for a Champions League spot. Chelsea now sit 5th in the Premier League table with 4th placed Tottenham on 71 points and 3rd place Liverpool on 72 points although Liverpool already have played an extra match. Even then, Liverpool holds a 15-goal advantage over Chelsea which, let’s face it, is an enormous goal difference to overturn.
Liverpool maintained most of the possession at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea eager to soak in the pressure. However, once with the ball Chelsea were great in their movement and wise in their decision making. Overall, it is Chelsea’s organised system that ultimately kept Liverpool’s fearsome attacking machine at bay. After Giroud’s goal, it is only a matter of maintaining discipline and patiently waiting for the opportunity to strike. It was a tremendous team effort, in particular, credits are due for Bakayoko who played a greatly improved game today.
Liverpool came attacking from the get-go and thereafter dominated the proceedings in terms of possession. Chelsea rarely pressed but instead, invited the pressure and tried to restrict the spaces to pass and shoot. In doing so, they were compact and limited Liverpool to weak shots from afar which were easily dealt with by Courtois. Despite Liverpool’s dominance, it is actually Chelsea that seemingly have the upper hand as the chances created by Chelsea looked the more dangerous.
The attack, as had been the past couple of game was fantastic. Hazard was his usual brilliant self, and the Chelsea players that get involved with the attack really made an impact. In one particular instance, Victor Moses, always a beast when he comes hurtling at opponent’s defences, took on a defender and managed to cross an exquisite ball into a dangerous position. Sure, it took a slight deflection, but Giroud was there to anticipate the cross and the head-master from France duly headed to the top right corner of Karius’s goal. 1 – 0 Chelsea.
Olivier Giroud 32’
Cesc Fabregas shot a ball across goal, unable to curl it in
and players such as Bakayoko and Kante also had shots at goal. Liverpool were
menacing at the counter and attack at pace. It is really impossible to stave
off an attack like Liverpool’s whose attacking players utilise their superior
speed to penetrate defences, but Chelsea did.
First Half: 1-0
The second half was very much the same, with tellingly
similar tempo and stories as the first. Both sides had chances to score but
they were not significant enough. Despite the overall statistics favouring
Liverpool as the better team, the way the team performed, Chelsea can be
considered deserving winners for the day.
Full-time: 1-0
Match Highlight
Chelsea played with a 3-5-1-1, in a similar shape as the game against Swansea. Courtois remained as Keeper, as he has been for Premier League games, the defence is marshalled by Cahill and Azpilicueta and Rudiger by his sides. There is a change in wingbacks with the re-introduction of Marcos Alonso at LWB and Victor Moses retained his RWB position. The midfield is packed with the same midfield trio of Kante, Bakayoko and Fabregas. The attack is helmed by Giroud in attack with Hazard playing as a second striker, although during the matches, Hazard can often be found ahead of Giroud.
Chelsea played with a 3-5-1-1, in a similar shape as the game against Swansea. Courtois remained as Keeper, as he has been for Premier League games, the defence is marshalled by Cahill and Azpilicueta and Rudiger by his sides. There is a change in wingbacks with the re-introduction of Marcos Alonso at LWB and Victor Moses retained his RWB position. The midfield is packed with the same midfield trio of Kante, Bakayoko and Fabregas. The attack is helmed by Giroud in attack with Hazard playing as a second striker, although during the matches, Hazard can often be found ahead of Giroud.
This formation has been a go-to formation for Antonio Conte
since the start of the 2017/2018 season and as Conte has modelled it to do, the
structure do stifle the attacking prowess of relatively superior attacking
teams such as Liverpool and Manchester City.
Liverpool
Always a threat going forward. Pace, dribbling and passing. It
is no surprise that few had kept a cleansheet against this attacking behemoth
of a team. However, as the running joke goes, Liverpool defence is really woeful
considering their attacking talent. The team employed their favoured gegenpressing
style of play with the mentality to pressure the opponent enmasse when they
have the ball into making mistakes and that includes pressing their opponents
very high up the pitch. However, with Chelsea’s players relatively stable and
fluid with the ball, and the fact that they rarely held possession of the ball,
this style of play is not very effective.
Man Of The Match
For the third match running, I have to name Eden Hazard as
the Man-Of-The-Match. It is really, I feel, not biased at all if you looked at
the game and the player. Eden Hazard is his usual brilliant confident self, the
genius player whom does tricks, takes on players (and win them) and creates
great opportunities on the attack. He is forming a great partnership with Giroud
who also deserves plaudits for his composed and world-class performance.
A special shoutout to Bakayoko, who in the first half was a
really vastly different player from the past couple of games. He rarely loses
the ball (which he used to ALWAYS do), but instead actually gets them (which he
would ALWAYS get a foul for). He also showed his attacking potential as he drove
up the defence although short of delivering shots of his own. In there, he does
not look confident to
Player Ratings
-
Goalkeeper
Thibaut Courtois 7.5
Not really much to handle. Although he faced many shots,
they were all not particularly hard to save due to Chelsea’s defence. However,
on many occasions, unlike Petr Cech when he was at Chelsea, Courtois often
choose to parry or palm the ball away to safety rather than catching them. That
may be dangerous but since that danger is not realised in this match, his
performance is viewed as brilliant. Good job, Basketballer!
-
Defenders
Gary Cahill 7.5
I read an interview article on Gary Cahill the other day and
I must say, I really do agree on the unfairness of the press in portraying Gary
Cahill as an able defender. I think he is a brilliant defender. Not world-class
like Sergio Ramos now or Umtiti, but still a very good defender who can walk
into the top teams easily. He is good in his challenges and has cut down on his
dramatic errors. Unfortunately, his performance may put Christensen out for awhile.
Cesar Azpilicueta 7.5
Is it just me or is Azpilicueta having a slight dip in form?
Sure, he still gives a standard 8/10 performance week in week out, but he does
not seem solid to say the least. Still, he is part of the amazing defence for
this game though!
Antonio Rudiger 8
Where was this guy last season? Oh yea, a virtual 76 rated unknown
in the Serie A. What a waste of talent he is over there. The hustleman is
becoming one of our favourite Chelsea players from the current crop of players.
His battling style of play and powerful accurate headers (one of which went in
but was offside) are becoming trademarks we like to see more of every week.
-
Midfielders
N’golo Kante 8
A slightly tepid performance from the every ground covered
Frenchman. But his high standards still prevail as time and time again he robbed
Liverpool off the ball. Without him, perhaps Liverpool may have 70+% possession.
Tiemoue Bakayoko 8
Screw the timid and lost Bakayoko of this whole season. This
Bakayoko was smart in his positioning and actually knew what to do with and
without the ball. He covered the spaces with N’golo Kante so effectively, the
defence had so much less problem. A particular memorable instance in the second
half was seeing both Kante and Bakayoko rushing straight at Firmino who had the
ball, forcing him to pass out wide. Brilliant performance
Cesc Fabregas 7
Never have I witnessed honestly, such a forgettable Fabregas performance. Forgettable in that I don't quite remember him playing in this match. I actually forgot to write about him when I posted this post up. Hmm, come to think of it, I do remember him narrowly scoring as his shot went right across goal, needing only a slight curl to bring it into the net.
Cesc Fabregas 7
Never have I witnessed honestly, such a forgettable Fabregas performance. Forgettable in that I don't quite remember him playing in this match. I actually forgot to write about him when I posted this post up. Hmm, come to think of it, I do remember him narrowly scoring as his shot went right across goal, needing only a slight curl to bring it into the net.
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Wingbacks
Marcos Alonso 7.5
No offence to Marcos Alonso, because it is simply his style
of play. He is adept with his dribbling, no doubt helmed from his time at Real
Madrid, and possibly the best freekick specialist out there now. But when it
comes to defending, he is not great plus he is slow to either track back or
contribute in attack. In this match, Chelsea did not get a freekick in his
desired shooting range, thus, his effectiveness in this match is limited.
Victor Moses 7.5
His style of play rather suits this match. He is quite agile
and fast in the attack but rather one dimensional in his play. His defending is
not bad, rather, more average to be precise. His cross, from one of his runs
down the right, lead to the goal.
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Forwards
Eden Hazard 8.5
World class. Brilliant. Please, Eden Hazard, do not ever
ever leave Chelsea. Screw the Garden of Eden, bring on the Pitch of Eden.
Brilliant dribbling, passing and tricks. Klopp must have wondered if only he could
add Hazard to his ranks.
Olivier Giroud 8
Although he scored a brilliant goal which not many could
have done (looking back at the angle of his heading and positional awareness),
his gameplay was rather limited. Overall, it was all the other Chelsea players
coming forward that really made the difference in attack.
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Substitutes
Zappacosta, Willian and Pedro are the substitutes you will
need to freshen the team up against a team such as Liverpool. For one, they are
the players with the most pace in the team, which is really required to match
defensively against Liverpool’s supremely pacey attack. Many team would envy
having Willian and Pedro on the bench.
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