Pass & Move – Mourinho Gets Klopped, A Tale of Two Managers
Chelsea 1-3 Liverpool
Long before a ball had been kicked this one was a fascinatingly imbalanced prospect. Liverpool with their new manager and Chelsea with their old one. Mourinho desperate to find a few elusive wins as he continues his combative/obnoxious media campaign, while Jurgen Klopp had just had his first win in English football (midweek in the League Cup) and the skeleton of what he’s trying to build here is starting to emerge. As for Chelsea it’s like the skeleton’s crumbled to dust, the defensive surety and midfield toughness replaced by errors and frailty. There were all sorts of reasons to take note here but mostly this one was about the managers.
Even in their pre-match interviews, the managers struck a complete contrast. Jose is so defiant, so antagonistic (and occasionally dismissive) in his answers. Jürgen is so relaxed and amiable, always ready to laugh. It’s hard not to root for a guy like that. Not that Jose Mourinho cares one little bit about whether people like him or not, he’s perfectly happy to play the villain, but he’s never faced pressure like this before. People are calling for his job and it’s not because of the usual clash of personalities – it’s because of results. It’s unprecedented. Chelsea are already beyond the point where no team has ever qualified for the Champions League after such a start, though, as Mou himself said, his Chelsea team have broken plenty of new ground in the past.
Jon Obi Mikel came in to midfield after a strong performance midweek against Stoke, Mourinho highlighting this as a specific reward as he grasps for form among his best players. Ramires joined him after similarly decent efforts recently with Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic both left on the bench. Kurt Zouma holds his right back gig with Terry and Cahill both good to go. Pedro was still out injured, though Diego Costa was available to start. Eden Hazard lined up too, looking to make amends for his decisive shootout miss in the Stoke game.
For Liverpool the immediate eye-catcher was Roberto Firmino named to start as striker. Divock Origi not required in this one, Christian Benteke ready to come off the bench as an impact player. Firmino is a player that has looked promising all season but never got going under Brendan Rodgers. He already looks a more effective player under Klopp. He’d play as something like a false nine, meaning plenty of midfield runners to keep the Blues on their toes. The back five is as we’re becoming accustomed to, the midfield close to that as well (though Milner played deeper than shown here, a 3-2 midfield rather than a 2-3).
Liverpool kicked off and set about passing it around, using the full width, and keeping the ball off the home team with casual ease for about 50 seconds. And then when Chelsea finally had it, Ramires was mobbed off the ball by a couple Reds, who immediately gushed forward, ending in a Firmino shot dragged wide. Early indications maybe? It was certainly some vintage Kloppery. Yet within three and a half minutes, it was the home side that took the lead.
With a few guys committed down the left flank, Azpilicueta was able to beat the challenge of James Milner on the overlap and his ball to the far post was headed low and hard into the rustling net by Ramires, catching him right on the end of his run. Mignolet got a solid had to it but couldn’t keep it out. Moreno’s absolute unawareness of Ramires’ run looking damning on replay.
And then, as if we’d gone back in time by 12 months, the crowd was bouncing and Chelsea were looking up for it. A loud chorus of “Hey Gerrard, Gerrarrd!” broke out. A quality ball in from a Willian free kick nearly doubled their lead with Mikel hovering just behind the ball back across though the flag was up anyway. That kick was for a Lucas foul on Willian. A couple minutes afterwards he sliced down Costa for another dangerous ball into the box, Sakho rising to clear it. Eden Hazard also misplayed a three on three counter, wanting to go himself before finally feeding Oscar out wide but dragging him back with an average ball, the danger soon dealt with.
What changed for Liverpool was about 15 minutes in when they were able to get Coutinho on the ball. He was able to throw a few jukes and jives in the attacking third without getting disrupted. He found teammates with passes, playing through the middle and linking the sides of the field. With Firmino drifting wherever he felt (which was his job), that was crucial. Chelsea had begun with a bit of force but soon settled into having ten men behind the ball.
The key to Firmino’s drifting was that they had three other attacking midfielders hovering around, almost like a cycle, to fill in the areas that needed filling in. Firmino might find himself out wide on one side and there’d still be Coutinho and Milner in the box with Lallana not far behind. Throwing numbers forward is not something Chelsea were interested in, especially after the early lead. Even Diego Costa was barely seen in the box. Not a hint of overcommitting.
Liverpool shaded the opening half for sure. They didn’t come up with the clear-cut chances to make it count but at the same time there wasn’t that familiar blunted feeling about it. Chelsea were defending fine. Not overly well but good enough. Until this happened:
First of all, it came 22 seconds after the allotted (minimum of) two added minutes, so you knew what Mourinho would be focussing on. Still, this was a deserving goal for the team showing far more enterprise, regardless of the referee’s time-keeping prerogative (they always say you play to the whistle, you know?). Chelsea’s goal was their only shot of the half and they had 36% of possession. You cannot expect a team low on confidence to hold a 1-0 lead for 86 minutes without accepting that the ol’ moment of genius may come along. And anyway, he doesn’t get the shot away without Ramires getting blown away by that sweet little roll of the ankle. The finish was sublime.
The players’ average positions in that first half tell an honest story.
Conceding right on the break is such a morale killer coz by that time you’ve already started settling for the score line as it is and people in general don’t tend to respond well to having their equilibrium rocked. And when you’re as low on belief as this Chelsea team seem to be, you only really need that one set back before the panic puts itself in park.
There were a few signs that Chelsea were capable of chasing the game after the half, though. They tried to drag the game into the Liverpool half, creating one great chance as Willian dispossessed Sakho from a blind spot, giving Costa all sorts of room to run into and yet Mikel’s first time, opportunistic pass was completely over-hit. Over-hit to the point where it didn’t even feel like a chance, but man if this ends up at his feet, this is a goal scoring opportunity.
The thing is, it’s hard to press forward when your team is set so deep. It’s even harder when there isn’t that much pace in the side, especially at the back. So when they were able to throw guys up top they opened themselves up on the break at the same time. Eden Hazard was subbed off after only 58 minutes, Kenedy on in his place. Yet another quiet game from the reigning Player of the Year.
Kenedy, though. He was able to make an immediate impact as he linked with Oscar to whip a shot wide into the side-netting (their second attempt of the game). The young Brazilian’s been a bit of a spanner player, chucked in whatever position needs help. His introduction was good for a five minute spark or so but Skrtel and Sakho and co. were able to stay tight and deny any attempts through the middle. Diego Costa was a lucky boy when the ref missed a kick out at Martin Skrtel, not the kind of man you’d wanna tempt in a bar fight, that’s for sure.
It’s a bit crazy to say this but Liverpool, when looking for some thrust off the bench, were able to actually add something valuable, bringing on Benteke for Milner (Firmino moving wide). From somewhere this team has found depth. They still need to chuck a couple kids on the bench every week thanks to injurie, granted. Chelsea, meanwhile, were preparing Cesc Fabregas.
The 68th minute, the game still tied 1-1 and with Chelsea starting to regain a foothold on attack, and there was a moment of controversy. Lucas Leiva stepping across Ramires and bringing him down to calls and whistles from the crowd (and the Chelsea players, naturally) for a second yellow. The ref chose a stern talking to instead. Lucas had been walking a tightrope with his challenges all day, he gave up 6 separate fouls in this one. Definitely a stroke of fortune for the Brazilian… but then you can say the same for his ex-compatriot Costa. Fabregas came on for Mikel.
Willian threatened on the break as he burst through with clear pastures in front of him only for Moreno to poke a foot in, hunting him down with superior pace. Then seconds later Oscar spotted Mignolet off his line and so nearly beat him from 45 yards, Migs stumbling and fumbling backwards to push the ball wide. Costa then got into the box. He lost control. Chelsea were searching…
… but it was Chelsea that conceded. A Sakho long ball to Benteke, CB too strong for Azpi as he nodded the ball down to Lallana. The Englishman missed it with Fabregas bearing down (not hard enough though, or he might have been able to clear it) however he sucked in enough attention for Coutinho to run onto it with room before him. He cuts inside. He shoots. He scores. 2-1 to Liverpool.
With the game slipping away, Falcao came on for Azpilicueta. Jordan Ibe replaced Firmino for Liverpool.
And then Benteke scored. Only John Terry even tried to close him down and he was so lead-footed about it that he got sold twice. There would be no more twists in this one, the knife was in too deep.
11 points from their last 11 games for the defending champions. Every week this feels like a bad dream that they’ll wake up from with a 4-0 pasting of some poor battler and yet the nightmare continues. Week after week, setback after setback. This is insane. No Premier League team has ever had a worse start to a title defence.
They were outworked though. Liverpool ran further, faster and with more purpose. Positions were fluid and players did their bit for each other. They’re already starting to build this one-touch passing attack that’s kinda similar to what Arsenal are capable of, which depends on good touches, awareness and movement off the ball – all things that Klopp seems to be impressing upon them. Chelsea just don’t seem to have the same idea of what to do on attack. Missing Pedro is a problem because he was bought to help this, but he won’t solve it all.
The biggest issue may be Diego Costa. Say what you will about Wayne Rooney’s form but Costa played 90 minutes here without a shot, giving away 4 fouls and losing the ball 11 times. His usual injuries have meant he’s been in and out of the team (suspensions too) but in 9 games he has only 2 goals, the same as Rooney (who’s played one extra game). Costa has a Premier League passing success rate of 76.7% this season averaging 1.7 shots a game. Rooney is at 81.3% and 2.2. Costa is dispossessed 2.4 times a game and has 4 unsuccessful touches (basically meaning ‘bad control’) and Rooney has 2.9 and 1.9. Costa’s always getting scrappy with markers but he doesn’t do nearly enough to make himself available, looking for the ball and all that. Plus his touch is sloppy at times and he’s nowhere near ruthless enough with the trigger. Take a pop now and then, son! This Chelsea team isn’t creating the sitters for him that they did last time and he’s not adjusting. It’s a little odd the compete backlash that Rooney gets, while it’s only Mourinho that hogs the spotlight in Chelsea.
Unfortunately now we’re in for more talk about nuclear fallouts in the Chelsea dressing room and speculation of sackings.
“We’re 100% behind him… yada yada,” monotoned John Terry before the game. Whether or not you can believe him probably has more to do with him as a person than anything, so this is really inadmissible evidence. Just like the newspaper (in the loosest sense of the word ‘news’) reports that there’s an active mutiny going on behind the scenes in which players would rather lose than win for Jose. That’s hard to believe after last season.
It’s ridiculous to look at a team with so many good players and see half of them cripplingly out of form. It’s also not nearly so hard to imagine that perhaps endearing subtlety isn’t Jose’s strong point, that he doesn’t have the same encouraging words in him as other top managers.
What may help is a change of formation. Get more guys forward, quick packing the midfield with non-ball players. Cesc Farbregas offered them much better balance as a deep CM because he was always looking to move it up and spark attacks. Unfortunately his utter lack of defensive effort meant that wasn’t sustainable. Plus their laboured defence needed more protection. Honestly, John Stones would have made such a difference and that’s a storyline in itself – who, from his list of transfer options, did Mourinho actually end up with? Obviously not enough of them, though it doesn’t help to have such an inflexible boss, one happy to offload attacking talents like Juan Mata, Kevin De Bruyne, Andre Schurrle and Juan Cuadrado. None of them were fitting in, sure. But he kicked them to the curb to build a particular squad of guys and now that’s not working and he has no other option. It’s kind of similar to Louis Van Gaal, the manager’s need for complete control meaning that unpredictable players are being discarded for safe ones.
You’d think Mourinho has more reward points built up by now than what’s being reported. You’d think he’s beyond a shotgun sacking after a couple bad months. Whoever they’d bring in to replace him is unlikely to get them into the Champions League from here so we’re talking about long term prospects and cup ties. Mourinho must be the top fella for each of those, right? Are you gonna bring back Carlo Ancelotti? Frank Lampard? Tim friggin’ Sherwood? Jose Mourinho is not being topped on the open mid-season market.
But there needs to be compromise on both sides because this just isn’t working. This team is a mess. Liverpool we can heap praise on but they’re still a work in progress and they won this game not so much because of their indomitable new style but because of a couple moments of quality and 90 full minutes of hard toil, pressure and effort. That’s hugely commendable, but it does highlight the worry that if that extra 10% can offer such a difference for Liverpool, then where did it go for Chelsea?
Man of the Match: Coutinho, what a player he can be when he’s on. He was clever with the ball and he took full advantage of anything the defence gave him. Two goals and all sorts of touches in the danger areas, exactly what you want from this guy. He will make things happen if you can get him involved.
But we also need to finish with a shout out to Mr Klopp after the result that has really announced him on this new scene. Here is a manager who players quite obviously want to play for. Here is a man with a positive tactical outlook and the faith in his players to do as he asks. A man with infectious charisma and passion. Welcome to the Premier League, Jurgen. Looks like you'll be fun to have around.
The Good
Jamie Vardy and Company – This is absolutely beyond belief now. 8 games in a row with a goal, the record is 10 set by Ruud Van Nistelelrooy. Every week you assume it’ll come to an end and every week it doesn’t. They were 1-0 down against West Brom. They came back to win 3-2, as they always seem to. The Foxes are not a team that defends well and yet they’re now third on the table with 10 of their 22 points have been recovered from losing positions. It’s madness and it doesn’t stop.
Jack Butland – Good old fashioned English hero. You can imagine him in watercolour on the front of one of those old World War I magazines. England Expects! or some such thing. Butland had another blinder for Stoke as they held on to a 0-0 draw in Newcastle, making a series of top saves. This after keeping in the shootout victory over Chelsea midweek. He’s not overtaking Joe Hart in a hurry but he’s got that bench spot sown up for the national team.
Mesut Ozil – So good. So, so good.
The Bad
Manchester United on Attack – It can’t really be that big of a shock that a team that hardly ever shoots is having trouble scoring goals. Nor should it be a shock that Crystal Palace were able to produce a quality display of defending themselves. But this is Manchester United and this is not the way things usually go. 2005 was the last time they had three consecutive 0-0 results in all competitions. They still look so contemplative about everything they do, there’s no cutting edge and adding more pace isn’t gonna help that. Their major point of incision is from the wings and if this website had a tenner for every time a Man Utd winger got tackled by a fullback this season and last then we’d have cornered the market by now.
Sunderland – Unless they can find a way to play Newcastle every week then there’s not much helping them. Over to you, Big Sam. The dude’s a decent player but most Premier League clubs will not let Arouna Kone score a hatty on them.
The Ugly
Skittish Spurs – Come on, lads.
Stadium Screen Inception – Wheeeeee!
