Chelsea lifted the FA Cup on the 5th of May and had to deal with a late Liverpool onslaught in the final 30-minutes of the match, but was Andy Carroll’s introduction the key factor or http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jay-Spearing-c18106’s removal?
Kenny Dalglish was left with plenty to think about after being outclassed by an experienced, well drilled and lethal Chelsea side in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday. The Liverpool manager may choose to look at positives yet he will be left reflecting one key thought, and that was why Andy Carroll was introduced into the match earlier.
The former Newcastle United striker came on just after the 50-minute mark and changed the complexion of the game completely. Chelsea went from being comfortable and in control to seeing their penalty area laid siege to by the 10 Red shirts.
Chelsea took the lead within 10-minutes after a mistake by Jay Spearing led to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Didier-Drogba-c11044 in the second half as Liverpool looked as likely to score as, well let’s just leave it at that.
Spearing seemed to be able to do nothing but pass the ball along sideways or backwards to the defenders every time he was on the ball. On the defensive side, the Liverpool player may have made one solid tackle otherwise he was running around like a headless chicken most of the time.
However, the blame cannot be placed on his shoulders entirely, the player is still young and this was his first FA Cup final against experienced veterans such as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/John-Terry-c18895 and Didier Drogba.
So when he was taken off, Liverpool seemed to get their shape and their act together, mostly because the rest of the team was not trying to cover up for, what in Spearing’s case, was a liability on the pitch.
The players had more confidence to move forward and this was helped by Andy Carroll’s presence on the ball and his ability to harass defenders every time the ball was in the air.
Carroll scored an extremely well taken goal with a rather emphatic finish and felt hard done by when one of his efforts was ruled to have not crossed the line. TV replays remain inconclusive yet the striker remains adamant that the ball crossed the line.
Liverpool continued to pressurise the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 side and kept them pinned to their own half for the final 30-minutes of the match. It came to nothing though as Chelsea held on to lift the FA Cup come the final whistle.
Yet one has to ask the question, was it Carroll’s introduction or Jay Spearing’s removal that changed the game. The answer is not a simple one as Carroll brought the fight and desire that replaced Spearing’s awe and lack of confidence but at the same time if anyone else had been playing in Spearing’s place to start with the match may have gone very differently.
In retrospect many http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Dirk-Kuyt-c11348 starting in place of Spearing could have sure up the side and not exposed a weakness in the heart of Liverpool’s midfield.
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