What a day. The Reds continued their climb up the Premier League table with a win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge for only the third time in the last 21 visits. The game was billed as the chance for Fernando Torres to make his debut against the club which he left for better opportunities to win trophies, and "fulfill his destiny" of scoring against them. Instead, Kenny Dalglish's men played a blinder, showing Nando and his team what it means to have heart, determination, and how to work for the cause. Liverpool showed more defiance, playing three central defenders at the back and a willingness to get more players forward in support.
The stark contrast between the team now and under Roy Hodgson can be seen in the effort and work rate that the team is putting in. Not just in the attacking elements with wing-backs pushing on, but in the tackling back of our forward players. It's now four consecutive clean sheets and with Stoke and Chelsea managing just two attempts on target between them in 180 minutes, it's clear that there is now fight in the team.
Since the beginning of the season Liverpool had become soft. Up front there had not been a problem getting the ball in the net but no other team had dropped more points from a leading position the the Reds. At the end of today's game Liverpool were running down the clock by pressing Chelsea in their own half right down by the corner flag. In the halcyon days of the 1980's Liverpool were famous for their passing game, but their most telling tactic was defending from the front. Today's formation of three at the back gave the Reds five players in midfield, two of them proper defenders. The ability to press high up the pitch meant that Chelsea Boswinga awith their three attackers in diamond formation had no width with which to provide the ball into the box. nd Ashley Cole couldn't get forward to provide an out ball from the central midfield. Of the three Chelsea midfielders only Lampard would be recognised as a creative player, and with Gerrard and Lucas able to snuff out his influence, Chelsea were unable to find a telling pass. On the one occasion that Drogba did manage to feed Torres, his chance was blocked by a last ditch effort by Carragher before Reina had to make a save. Chelsea's one effort on target was a near post shot from Drogba easily blocked by Reina and that with just ten minutes remaining.
The game was won of course, by Raul Meireles' fourth goal in five games and most fans would do well to remember that he is a player brought to Anfield by Roy Hodgson. The Portuguese has however, shown much greater form since the arrival of the new manager, and the freedom he's been given to play upfront has meant that the more accomplished Gerrard has been able to play from a deeper position and control more of the action, helping to break down oppostion moves as much as creating opportunities. All this was achieved with new signing Luis Suarez remaining on the bench and fresh for his first start next week against Wigan, when Liverpool will be looking for a fifth consecutive league win for the first time since the end of the 08/09 season, when we finished second in the league.
Now on to the big event of the day - the Pittsburgh Steelers bringing home the Vince Lombardi trophy to extend their record to SEVEN times.
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