Chelsea arrived on Merseyside with a dual agenda, and whilst their FA Cup 4th round resolution with Everton will have to wait for ten days, the negotiations for Liverpool’s Fernando Torres will need to be conducted with more urgency and aplomb than they showed across Stanley Park.
The cup holders needed a Salomon Kalou equaliser and a pair of fine Petr Cech saves to keep a grip on the trophy they have won for the past two seasons. A draw may have been the fairest result all round but if any side did deserve to wrap it up without a replay - it was definately the hosts.
Given the proximity to Anfield and the transfer deadline, it was unsurprising that so much pre-match talk time was given to the Blues pursuit of the Spanish striker. indeed the travelling support were in jovial spirits and have even concocted their own pre-emptive version of ‘Chelsea’s number nine.”
The two clubs are at the familiar pistols drawn stage, with the Kop hierarchy insistent their star turn remains, whilst the Londoners are increasingly keen to take the World Cup winner down south. After turning down a £35m bid and a transfer request before the weekend, Chelsea are expected to further test Liverpool’s resolve with an improved offer before the transfer deadline at 11pm on monday.
Publicly Liverpool have tried to save face by flatly rejecting Chelsea’s tentative opening bid, but following the players admission he would like to quit Anfield, it is widely expected a deal would be done for somewhere in the vicinity of £50m, either with or without a player makeweight.
After Carlo Ancelotti’s men laboured through their 4th round clash at Goodison, it is easy to see why a player of Torres’s calibre is being sought by Roman Abramovich and/or Ancelotti. Once again the ailing champions failed to impress, and were well outplayed during the second half of the tie with Louis Saha and Kalou trading goals to take matters back to Stamford Bridge.
Barring Nicolas Anelka spurning a one-on-one in the first half, Chelsea failed to create any clear cut chances until the equaliser, lacking any threat or penetration against an energetic Everton.
However, their problems appear to stem from midfield where ponderous and erratic use of the ball meant the forward players of Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda and Anelka were denied any quality of service to test the hosts rearguard.
Undoubtedly, the signing of Torres would be a profitable acquisition with Chelsea in full flow, but many of his most derided performances in a Liverpool shirt this season have come when he’s been ploughing a lone furrow up front, with the supply line cut. The derby at Goodison being one example.
The signing of Torres would improve chelsea’s forward line but for him to have any real benefit, the rest of the team must either be re-shaped or re-stocked to restore them towards something near their best.
Regardless of how good any player is, they can only do so much from so little, and Chelsea’s problem at present is not that their strikers are misfiring, it’s the the fact they aren’t being given the opportunities to misfire.
No comments:
Post a Comment