Only a short preview today. Chelsea take on Liverpool today. The clash of No.1 and No.2 in the league is always going to be something special. Back in 06-07, Man Utd were in roaring form while Chelsea were just about catching them with winning from last minute efforts with undying spirit. Man Utd went on to win the league that season. This season, Chelsea and Liverpool are more like the Man Utd and Chelsea of 06/07, respectively.
A win here would be one of the biggest wins of this decade for various reasons. One is they can let others know that they’re rather serious about their title challenge and have a genuine chance this time. Another is, Chelsea have not been beaten in Stamford Bridge for many many seasons. It has even withstood the Avram Grant management. To get such a historic win would put them on cloud nine. So these mean that Rafa would go for a win? Not quite sure. I’ve never understood Rafa. If he thinks like me, he can go for the kill, make an announcement. Alternatively, he can get a single point and hope for Chelsea to lose points elsewhere for Liverpool to climb up.
If you think he would go for a draw given his injury situation, think again. After all, Torres, Keane etc could all be fit and all this injury noise could turn out ot be some old trick. The last time they played at Stamford Bridge, they had Torres and there were beaten fair and square, despite even a brilliant Torres goal. I would be certainly relieved if Torres does not play but if he plays, I won’t be too worried too. And I’m almost sure that Gerrard would play. If you notice, ahead of every single big match, there would always be a rumour that Gerrard wouldn’t play. Just ignore. Let them play with their best team, let them even play Alan Hansen, no worries.
Liverpool this season have won five times coming back from deficits, which includes wins against Man Utd, Man City, Marseille etc. Chelsea too have this ‘comeback kings’ tag. And Chelsea are not Man Utd, Man City and Marseille when it comes to protecting the lead. So if Chelsea scores first, Liverpool will have it really tough. So I guess they’re going to have it tough. I’m sure we’ll play out 4-1-4-1 with the regulars. Good that Cech, Carvalho and Deco would be able to start.
Running out of time. So my quick prediction is 2-1 for Chelsea. And then we stay on top of the table with some clear daylight between us and Liverpool in the last two columns in the league table.
Sorry for the delay guys! Last few days (incl weekends) have been quite busy at office (day job . . salary . . livelihood . . ?). It’s so busy that I thought I might not even watch this match today, luckily I think I should be able to see. The next few weeks would also be a bit busy, but the blog will be fine.
Keep the BlueChampions blog flying high ;-)
@BC
Happy Diwali n i hope chelsea win this match
these are the games, as a fan, that u live for=)
its time fo the big boys to step up to their A-games.
hope JT n co keep an eye on Dirk Kuyt, dat fella is a sneaky. I witout torres I cant se how pool gonna score against us.
I predict 2-0 4 chelsea, wit anelka and deco scorrin.
/go chelsea
======Cech======
Bosingwa=Terry=Carvalho=Bridge
Lampard=Mikel=Deco
Kalou=Anelka=Malouda
Best of lucks to you BC with your job…i still really do envy you and wonder how you cope…but its all good…we’re here to keep the Blog Alive okay…i cant wait for the match to start because i want us to show this suckers what we’re truly made of….i predict a 2 – 0 win for us and i hope arsenal drop poinnts just like Man Utd did…sorry for Juande Ramos…heard he just got replaced by Harry RedKnapp….i dont know why Good Old Harry would leave Pompy…Maybe he wants a new Challenge or something..
KTBFFH…(KEEP THE BLUE FLAG FLYING HIGH)
KTBCBFH(KEEP THE BLUE CHAMPIONS BLOG FLYING HIGH)
i hope joe and ashley cole come back to our squad.
OKAY OKAY…. we have a great team , and im sure we can get a good result.
I think chelsea will play very well better that man utd match , so , its better for Rafa to get a draw at stamford bridge.
if they decide to attack ! and playing attacking football , so this is what we want .. more spaces and better goal oppo ,,, Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool or in better condition Chelsea 3-1 Liverpool
Oh God . Not to liverpool .. 1-0
Rafa team has been the most luckiest this season..
So we lock the record at 86 home games…
it was bad, really bad.
Chelsea 0 – Liverpool 1
Even Avram Grant did a better job in maintaining the undefeat record at home..
It was all over. 4 years 8 months and over.
If us losing our home record wipes out all feelings of complacency, then so be it. I’d accept defeat and keep our chins up. Our next test will be against Arsenal.
dont panic it had to end one day come on blues dont blame scolari .all records are broken eventually .we badly missed drogba and essien today
@ 11.
i seriously hope you arent doubting scolari now because of a loss. comparing him to avram grant is complete stupidity. maybe grant was able to keep the record going but in my opinion the league is much more competative than last year. scolari is a great manager and just because the home record is lost doesnt mean this season is gone. its still WAY to early for any kind of prediction. now we can only hope we can go to anfield to return the favor. keep your chins up guys
drogba will beat arsenal and he will beat liverpool at anfield cheer up guys we will have essien also at anfield we will beat manu at oldtrafford .now just thrash hull on wednesday
CHELSEA MUST PAY FOR THIS DEFEAT AT ANFIELD.
i know scolari is a wonderful manager, but he still has to prove against top teams. we drew with manures and today lost with scousers. He better win against Arse-anal, and pick up points against manures and scousers at their homes now….
Looserpools on the other hand have won against the both, so Chelsea gotta be more careful now on…
franco di santo looked good today didnt he
@ 14 great said. all records are broken. im fvckin pissed off dough. i want to break a liverpool neck or something. dont doubt scolari. he has done a great job so far. im proud of our home record and we still have the record. i think this season chelsea was scared off losing at home thats why they havnt played so good at the bridge. now maybe they can play better. we need to get a striker that can finish a job. anelka REALLY SUCKS HARD D1CK. we missed drogba and essien so badlyeven balack. we diddnt have good offensive sub.
im glad that we finally lost this record because this record has given our players a burden and have pressurised them. Dont worry guys this record will forever live as the best ever.
really sad……………..
@ 18. why we have a hard time beating the big teams is cause they have better defenders than small teams. they dont let our midfield move forward. the small teams our midfield can eat for breakfast. we need drogba so he can kill the defenders
we need to bounce back against Hull City…thanks god man ure dropped 2 points
Hi Guys,
86 games unbeaten at a stretch..4 years & 8 months without losing a league game..The players, staff,fans..everyone associated with Chelsea can be proud of that record…Because thats a record that will stand FOREVER…
However, talking about today’s game..No complaints about losing..We were the home team & we didn’t even trouble Reina..We had the possession & they had all the better chances..We were simply out thought by Liverpool..We couldn’t carve a decent opening..Our players were closed down well n their defence played like their lives depended on it..Rafa got his tactics spot on..People can go on & on about our squad and say we have the best back up n stuff..The truth is we have good cover for our GK, our defenders and to some extent for our Midfielders, But not for our strikers.
We lack pace & drive up front..Our attack is the WEAKEST among the top four..the sooner the management realizes this fact, the better for the team.
Whats done is done..We have another tough game at Hull in a couple of days..I hope our good away form continues..We need to get back to winning ways quickly..
Cmon CHELSEA
oh yea, now the words are coming, “we were out thought by looserpools”, that just reminded me of the comment i had made during start of the season, scolari has no plan B!!!!! and today i´m hating him for it. his games are all plan A. if it works, it works really good. and if it doesn´t, he really sucks….he cannot think spot on and make changes, introduce a new tactic, and change the course of the game. i remember everything right from that germany vs portugal game, its the same when we are at the losing side, he cannot change the f**king tactic, much like Arsene whenger, both a same plan B, and its plan A. they just switch the players and try the same thing!!! be prepared next time scolari…. after eating a goal today, we looked more vulnerable, and we were no match to looserpools today, despite having that massive possession.
lets take this lost and turn it into a massacre against every other team we play. home or away
By far our problem was a strong forward. Anelka played behind our midfielders for most of the game, allowing the Liverpool defenders to push up for counter attacks. Liverpool wasn’t really threatened until Di Santo came on and offered up a few good passes, but no one was there to pull the trigger.
I agree with #23, we needed Drogba to open up space in the defense so our midfielders can do their work. With Drogba, it’s like playing with 12 players because defenders typically double team him, easing pressure from the other players. In this case, Anelka isn’t even considered a threat…
Oh well, hopefully this loss will make us play more aggressively at home and go for wins instead of ties. After all, a win and a loss is much better than two defensive ties anyway!
@28 oops I meant our problem is the LACK of a strong forward. Hopefully we buy one during the upcoming transfer…
What we needed most today was Essien- we needed a man who could open that gridlock with sheer speed and power- that was the missing link. Even Drogs would have struggled because of the compact and tight game liverpool played. all in all, CHIN UP blues- its just a temporary set back- Scolari has no plan B? Even Jose the man with lots of options was out thought by Rafa more than once- at least today our consolation was that our bench was depleted and bid Phil had little option. A shame both Kalou and Louda were off colour today. Anelka’s work rate depends largely on the performance of those wide men and the thro balls from the mid fielders and those were not happening today cos RaFA’a boys were supremely motivated and played an absolutely cagey game throughout. But we shall bounce back with vengeance starting from wednesday.
i just wonder how many decent shots on target we had today? even one would be too much to say….
i don´t know why, i feel lost today by 3 goals……feeling terrible…..not coz´we lost home after 86 games, but because of the way we lost.
BULL SHIT….OUR BENCH WAS THE WEAK LINK….
A quote from the baseball pitcher Jim “Catfish” Hunter: “The sun doesn’t shine on the same dog’s buttocks everyday.” Yeah, a healthy Drogba or Essien could have made the difference. But, the Red’s didn’t have Torres healthy either. Lord knows the thought of losing to Liverpool is sickening. It could have been worse. It could have been Man United with Ronaldive scoring the winning goal. Or Man City with Robinbrat as their hero. Or, God Forbid, Spurs!
I’m gad that Di Santos got time in on this one. Now he has tasted a big time loss. I expect he and the team will exact revenge on the poor souls that Chelsea will play next.
PRAYING FOR THE QUADRUPLE!
only one mourinho
jose mourinho…..jose mourinho….jose mourinho. ad nauseam. best manager ever!!!
27. BlueFan #1 …. aggree with you man !! all other teams must die…. this really show up our weak attacking options!!I know for sure that THE DROG would have been more difficult to handle! anelka is just a different kinda player not his fault. i cant count a good shot on goal!!!… can any of you…. wow deco really had a poor game….. I missed ballack!! we need a killer striker!! we Must go into the transfer market. our bench was weak.. yes…thats why he should have tried Stoch….. and bring on Kalou at some point, stats have proven that he runs better at opponents coming from the bench. this is just a wake up call, im not upset that we lost the home recored….. cause i think its a mental block for the players…. now they can express themselves more at home, last season we were more deadly on the road so im not really surprise when we play piss poor at home, hopefully now that will change.
not when we won the titles we were good both home and away
trust me guys we wont loose for a very long time to come especially at home! and we will have more wins than draws (home record had quite alot of draws)
benzema, Arshavin anyone?? lets swap out Deco for Diego? i have always said t Deco …. a good player… but we need youth Diego is the perfect creative mid right now plus he is Brazilian!!! come on scolari get him!!
WHAT A SAD DAY FOR ALL OF THE CHELSEA FANS . I WILL FORGIVE CHELSEA PLAYERS IF THEY DEFEAT LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER AT THEIR HOME . the whole team was crap today except MIKEL.
Keep your chins up guys! This loss was a wake up call for Chelsea, perhaps now that the home winning streak is over they can start trying to win, rather than trying NOT to lose.
Hopefully we get some attacking help in January because we have a weak frontline compared to other European powerhouses. Lukas Podolski anyone?
CHELSEA 4 LIFE
I really think Scolari should look to youth. Di Santo and Stoch should get thier chances cause in reality, others arnt performing. Chelsea have been brillaint this year, and Scolari a genius, however we still lack that creative spark upfront, someone to excite so give the kids a chance.
40. True Blue in L.A. a proven goal scorer Lukas Podolski !! what about Bastian Schweinsteiger!! I like malouda but Bastian is alot better!!
thats about time!!!!!!
Sack AG
I went through a whole series of emotions after the game !
KTBFFH
I have to admit that Liverpool were brilliant today. I haven’t seen them playing like this for a long. They were determined, tactically better than Chelsea, missed Torres but a bit luck helped Alonso’s goal. Carragher was outstanding; Alonso and Mascherano were doing the job in the middle. Gerrard was free to attack, Riera causing a problem for Bosingwa when he goes forward.
Our proud home record is gone. I think it took off some pressures from the player’s shoulder. Now we can start thinking about winning not defending a record. This year’s Premier League is much more competitive than previous seasons’. Chelsea and Manchester United have been dominating in PL last few seasons. This year Liverpool looks like they are capable of go all the way until May, Wenger’s kids looks promising, so energetic, creating lots of chances and playing some wonderful stuff. Of course, the champions of England, Manchester United, are so strong, Rooney is on-fire, when their mid-field forces (Scholes, Carrick, O.Hargreaves) come back from injury they are gonna become much stronger than now. Suddenly, the one with weakest bench of top four was Chelsea today. We really lacked a big, strong centre forward. I am not really convinced that Drogba can deliver his 33 goal-a season performance again. He is getting older and too often gets injured nowadays. Big Phil would sign someone in January if Drogba still gets injured. If not, we can’t win PL or Champions League this season.
Its a good thing we lost the record as this would hopefully put the players at ease and reduce pressure for the next few games. I am happy we lost the record to Liverpool and not to Manure !!!!
And in come the comments demanding 10 new superstar signings. Maybe if we had a kaka, or a benzema, robihno? beckham?
it was a sad day for all of us
but scolari shoudnt play deco,lampard ,ballack together…one of them should be benched every game…
coz then we can have something different everytime we need from d bench n currently we dont have anybody in d chelsea team who’s got pace so dat we can keep him on d bench…
i guess we made a huge mistake in delayin robinho’s transfer n now we are paying for it..
had we signed him,we would have been at a better position even after beating pool.
we want Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski both r germans and beter than ballack,malouda.j.cole and school boy anelka
God i miss essien and drogba.we need to loan out anelka,he has issues.
the game is shewd up. when it counted all the great qualities chelsea USED to be reknowned for were missing. the grit, the mental toughness, the rufusal to die(remember being 10 men down at the emirates 06/07,remember the barca game return leg…the 4-2!!!)….all these battling qualities substituted for a few fancy displays agains villa and borough!
il say it here and repeat it over and over again feel big is a fraud. why but he won wc with brasil in 02?…..please, as if the brazilians are ever underdogs at a tournament. and whats his record at portugal?…..ding dong, nothing.
and henry–49 who are these your missing? essien, drogba? no style and swagger there. just raw passion power and desire to win. again qualities the special one exemplified. are we ready for he trade in?
so the home record has tumbled so what? we can now concentrate on winning rather than not tring to lose. WHAT???? does it require TSO to see that gone with that record is ANY CLAIM TO INVINCIBILITY. that tag that followed us our whole first season that made playing chelsea such a nightmare for opposing teams ….and sure as hell manure are smelling the blood….and il bet you arsenals young guns will be raring to ave a go at the likes of deco. betya hull cityl fancy their chances.
think hard my friends…..