Part 1 Chelsea versus Liverpool tactical analysis
In a match which saw both the teams giving a new dimension to watching paint dry on the wall, Liverpool and Chelsea participated in a dull affair which resulted in a 1-0 win for http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809.
Nonetheless, it was a tactical battle between the two teams at Stamford Bridge as Kenny Dalglish’s team lined up against Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea.
Before the match there were all sorts of predictions about Fernando Torres’s inclusion in the starting lineup of Chelsea as well as Liverpool’s strategic transformation under the guidance of Dalglish.
However, as expected Ancelotti did start with Torres in his starting lineup as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Didier-Drogba-c11044 as his two front men.
In behind, Drogba and Torres, Nicolas Anelka was tasked with the responsibility of playing as a trequartista which ideally creates scoring opportunity for his team mates. Frank Lampard and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michael-Essien-c25294 made up the Chelsea midfield
two as Obi Mikel was deployed in a defensive midfield role just in front of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Branislav-Ivanovic-c7994, Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa.
The 4-1-2-1 formation works at best when full backs exhibit offensive tendencies. In theory with Chelsea, this was possible with Bosingwa at the right back position and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ashley-Cole-c6809 at the left back position. Both Cole and Bosingwa
were trusted to bomb down the wings whenever possible for the London side but this rarely happened during the match.
Therefore Chelsea lacked sufficient width against a compact Liverpool side.
Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool played with an unconventional 3-1-4-1-1 formation. Luis Suarez started from the bench as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Raul-Meireles-c30678 as their attacking midfielder whereas
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Steven-Gerrard-c34196 and Maxi Rodriguez played as central midfielders.
Interestingly, Dalglish’s team used Glen Johnson and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Daniel-Agger-c9884
and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Martin-Škrtel-c24445.
Liverpool’s strategy to use Glen Johnson and Martin Kelly as wing backs rather than full backs was a standout feature of the match. Both of these players provided Liverpool with width more often than not and thus the Reds were
successful in stretching Chelsea’s four-man defense with intelligent off the ball movement.
However, the match in general was a particularly lethargic one as both the teams were cautious rather than ambitious in their approach.
Chelsea’s fans expected http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nicolas-Anelka-c27786 to shine in his new role as he did in Chelsea’s previous encounter against Sunderland but the Frenchman failed to live up to the hype. Anelka was truly majestic against Sunderland but against
Liverpool, the ex-Real Madrid forward was kept silent due to excellent man-marking by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lucas-c22528 Leiva. The Brazilian was successful in keeping the 31-year old target man quiet throughout the encounter.
On the other hand, it appeared that everyone in the Liverpool side apart from Kuyt had a man-marking job at hand. Meireles was pressing forward to close down the space available to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/John-Obi-Mikel-c18882.
Steven Gerrard was shadowing http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Frank-Lampard-c14097 and Maxi Rodriguez was marking Michael Essien.
These defensive jobs allowed http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Glen-Johnson-c15050 and Kelly even more freedom to embark on offensive runs. Liverpool’s wingbacks dominated Bosingwa and Cole in possession as they easily fell back to make a five man defense without the
ball.
Moreover, Jose Bosingwa and Ashley Cole were woeful when they had the ball at their feet. Chelsea’s crossing on the night was absolutely dreadful as well.
The views expressed by the writer are his own and do not reflect the editorial policy of www.bettor.com
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