Before the game started the big talk was about the guard of honour we had to embarrassingly give to the new Premier League champions. Which we did only because of the nature of our club.
The game was billed as the Premier League champions against the Champions League hopefuls. A world renowned master versus a talented apprentice with much to learn.
With Manchester United securing a hard-fought victory away to Crystal Palace yesterday we knew that anything less than a win will completely extinguish our faint dreams of the land of milk and honey.
Therefore our manager's line-up was puzzling, but not unsurprisingly so given some of his recent decisions.
The game started with Steven Gerrard chants, a couple of robust challenges from Chelsea on Philippe Coutinho and then on Sterling. The challenge by Fabregas on Sterling's ankle being very nasty indeed with Fabregas being very fortunate to stay on the pitch.
A headed goal from John Terry from a set piece was far to easy for the Premier League champions. I fail to comprehend just why we had Lambert marking Terry when Skrtel is clearly our best defender.
Chelsea's long passing looked to be a potential weapon early on and released the quick Loïc Rémy with Dejan Lovren napping. Simon Mignolet thwarted the French striker from doubling Chelsea's lead with a little over ten minutes on the clock.
Liverpool showed a bright spark on 15 minutes after Emre Can played a clever pass to Raheem Sterling, suffering no ill-effects from the early knock on his ankle from a surprisingly over-committed Cesc Fàbregas, who ran at Chelsea's defenders with space ahead of him before dragging a low shot wide of Thibaut Courtois' goal.
On 32 minutes, Henderson played an excellent through ball to Rickie Lambert who would have had a clear one-on-one with Courtois if he had the pace and the anticipation necessary to profit.
We equalised through a set-piece and another header from Steven Gerrard who temporarily silenced the taunts from the home crowd. Two in two from the captain who was unmarked at the back post. His 119th league goal for his beloved club taking him past King Kenny and Michael Owen both on 118 into 9th place on our all time league goalscorers record.
Half-time thoughts: We didn't do too badly in the first half and were competitive against the champions. The right flank was an area of concern that Chelsea attacked frequently, testing Can's positional awareness. Long-term this needs to be addressed as Can is not a defender and in big games he is constantly being exposed.
Brendan Rodgers could look to taking off Rickie Lambert for more pace in the middle to threaten John Terry and half-time substitute Gary Cahill.
Just after the restart Coutinho fired wide with Courtois beaten we had started the second half brightly. Adam Lallana scuffed his shot across goal shortly before Sterling's approach play created an opportunity for Coutinho.
Willian fizzed the ball across the goal on 55 minutes, but we were troubling Chelsea with the movement and interplay between Adam Lallana, Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling with Jordon Ibe on the bench and Lazar Marković out of the squad. Who needs Memphis Depay? The only thing missing was the final (cutting edge) ball.
Nemanja Matić's arrival on the hour mark for 19-year-old Premier League debutant Ruben Loftus-Cheek was a sign of José Mourinho's concern with 30 minutes to go.
On 67 minutes, Rodgers made the most sensible substitution available by bringing on young Jerome Sinclair for Rickie Lambert for the 18-year-old's first senior appearance in the Premier League. Jordon Ibe came on for the bright but tiring Adam Lallana. Interestingly, Chelsea took control of the midfield soon after and pressed for a goal through Eden Hazard and Fàbregas.
Lucas Leiva replaced Steven Gerrard with just over ten minutes to go. The captain was booed by the majority of the stadium but was roundly applauded by the two opposing managers. To the credit of some Chelsea supporters, they joined the away support in clapping Gerrard off when they didn't have to.
A late deflected shot from Coutinho trickled to Courtois, Henderson's snap shot from outside the area went wide, but Liverpool couldn't find a winner in a game that petered out in intensity. Jordon Ibe, who switched to the right, beat two players to get into the area but took on a third instead of finding a red shirt.
Full-time thoughts: Points shared in a solid performance that the initial line-up did not suggest, but Champions League qualification is impossible with Manchester United six points ahead with two games remaining. The sizeable goal difference gap makes it effectively seven. A win seals fifth, which Liverpool should be able to achieve. A striker remains a priority.
Man of the match - Philippe Coutinho again!
By far our best player and we are going to have to build our team around him and hope that Teixeira and Lallana can provide support when he is not available to play.
Chelsea starting XI: Courtois; Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Filipe Luis; Mikel, Loftus-Cheek; Willian, Fabregas, Hazard; Remy
Substitutes: Beeney, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Ake, Matic, Cuadrado, Drogba
Liverpool starting XI: Mignolet, Johnson, Lovren, Skrtel, Can, Gerrard, Coutinho, Henderson, Lallana, Sterling, Lambert
Substitutes: Ward, Toure, Moreno, Lucas, Allen, Ibe, Sinclair
Initial thoughts after the match:
The over-riding problem this season is that we fell short for various reasons partly because we were not good enough in the first half of this season and partly because we sold Suarez and did not replace his intensity of play and goals. Also with Sturridge being constantly out injured and Rodgers striking purchases not performing to the required level, partly because we could not perform in the really big games, so now we will need to bring in at least two top quality strikers alongside loanee Origi. if Benteke and Ings are the chosen players so be it, but we are also going to need to bring in a player that can provide drive and real quality from midfield with Gerrard's impact on our goal tally no longer being available we are going to have to also replace his goals. With potentially Montoya coming in to play on the right side of the defence, Can should now be used as a driving midfielder option rather than a right sided defender.
Manager's comments:
"I thought he was excellent, Stevie. In the last couple of games he's got the winner [against QPR] and he's got the equaliser today," he said.
"You see the importance he has to the team. He's taken a lot of stick here over numbers of years but I think the Chelsea supporters knew deep down it's only because he's a superstar player who's been a thorn in their side for many years.
"He's travelled up and down this country for 15 years and it was nice for him to get that [ovation from the Chelsea fans]."
"I’ve said before – he’s irreplaceable really, but we need to find the solutions one way or the other," he added.
"Whether it is players coming in, players that are here taking the step forward.
"That’s got to be crucial, because he’s a player that makes the big contributions when needed and has done for many years."
"I thought we started slowly and obviously we conceded a disappointing goal from a corner," he continued.
"Then we grew into the game and I think once we got the goal we started to find our passing and our rhythm much better and I thought second half we were outstanding.
"We just lacked that finishing in and around the box to get the winner which we deserved in the second half.
"That’s obviously been the issue for us this season – our lack of goals has really hurt us.
"But the players have done absolutely everything. It’s been a long season for them and we want to finish it well."
Summary
The end of season appraisal review blog by Kop post should be very interesting this year as we have not achieved any of our targets and the owners will want to know why a side that was second last year and has been provided with enough money to further improve the side fell short of the minimum requirement of qualifying again for CL football.
The answers that our manager produces for the questions from our owners will decide whether or not he is the right man for the mammoth task of producing a side to gate crash the top four at the end of next season.
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