Chelsea 2, Liverpool FC 0: Still time for a Reds title charge

05 October 2009 05:50
HE asked his players to give him a headache, to provide him with a set of problems with which he would have to juggle for the remainder of the campaign. Rafa Benitez used his pre-match press conference as a vehicle to motivate his players into getting a victory that would send expectations soaring. Unfortunately for the Liverpool manager, the headache he is now trying to soothe is the one that he wanted the least. Irked by a chastening Champions League experience in Florence five days earlier, Benitez had challenged his players to get the kind of victory against Chelsea that would put the momentum back in their campaign and leave him 'trying to manage' expectations. Today, however, he is faced with the task of raising morale; while there was nothing wrong with Liverpool's effort or application at Stamford Bridge, they find themselves being written of as title challengers once again after slipping to a 2-0 defeat. Now that we have reached the first weekend in October with Liverpool having lost more games already than they did in the whole of the most recent campaign, it is inevitable that a wider audience will already be writing them off as also-rans. True, it is going to be difficult to peg back a Chelsea team that had more nous in one or two areas but to say Liverpool are dead and buried after losing here would be as wide of the mark as it would have been to proclaim them as kings in waiting had they won. There are, remember, 30 games still to play between now and next May; Chelsea still have to come to Anfield, Arsenal must be played home and away, as must both clubs from Manchester - there is ample time to build up a head of steam. That said, Benitez will know - as will his players - that the small details in the fixtures that matter must be improved upon, otherwise the dreams of capturing that elusive 19th championship will end up being tossed and blown away. Chelsea have been lauded since Carlo Ancelotti took over and there is no disputing that they do have some outstanding players but were they honestly streets ahead of Liverpool? Only the most blinkered would say 'yes'. As is so often the case in games of this magnitude, the opening exchanges were played out with the kind of deliberation and care that you would associate with a chess match, each side plotted and schemed, trying to find the slightest sign of an opening. That Chelsea were unable to chisel a way through was down to the fact that the man often referred to as 'The Little Chief' was at his scampering, scurrying best, a figure of perpetual motion snuffing out danger at the first possible moment. Some may rightly have questioned Javier Mascherano's form in the opening weeks of the campaign, wondering what impact a summer transfer saga with Barcelona and Argentina's laboured efforts to qualify for the World Cup have had on him.

Source: Liverpool_Echo