When i saw the starting line up I almost fainted:
Defence: central defence is ok with Biscan and Hypia. But Henchoz
at right back and Traore at left back is hardly the best
combination around.
Midfield: GH played 5 with Murphy and Haaman in the middle while
Diouf and Kewell plyed the wings and the other midfielder was
Cheyrou whom I tot was such a bad choice for such an impt
game.
Striker: Heskey. What should I say. I love him and i think he is
better than what he is being said to be but yet we all can see his
inconsistency.
All in all, everything points to a Liverpool defeat. But alas,
Liverpool once again proves to me why I still love this team for
the last 20 years or so: its resilience and passion.
Traore and Henchoz while not an attacking force to be reckoned
with, were frustrating the chelsea's wing attacks and rendered them
useless most of the times. The central pairing of Biscan and Hypia
is growing in stature. Overall, the defence is so tight that
Chelsea hardly had a sniff at it albeit a few scares.
The midfield, well simply put, worked hard. They do not have Gerrad
and Smicer to run but Murphy and Hamann prove to be strongmen in
the center. While Diouf and Kewell, though not with much
contributions, ran their hearts out. Sadly though, Diouf was sent
off with a hugely controversial second yellow card. And what can we
say about Cheyrou. Just his first start in the Premiership this
season and he scores the winning goal. It was a beautiful goal, to
say the least, with a pass from defence, headed down by Heskey and
a pass back to the flanks to Heskey by Cheyrou, who then made the
run down the middle. Heskey put in a wonderful cross and BANG!,
Cheyrou scores.
Heskey played well throughout the game and I dare say he was the
man of the match for me. He showed that other than scoring, he can
create, defend as well. Unfortunately, strikers would always be
judged on their scoring prowess than any other things.
It was a wonderful Liverpool performance away from home. It was
even more daunting considering that they never won in Stamford
Bridge for 7 consecutive outings. And with Chelsea such a strong
force and for Liverpool, who is without Owen again, Gerrard, Baros,
Smicer, Pongolle and Carragher, a win in Liverpool is no short of a
trademark game of the resilient and passionate Liverpool
Tradition.
You will never walk alone: I am beginning to believe in it again. I
hope it continues.
