Chelsea (a) - 06/02/2011

[robslappa]

 

This picture tells you everything you need to know about the new breed of Chelsea fans, i.e. most of them. We've just beaten them 1-0 in their own backyard and they're taking pictures of the players walking off the pitch or more specifically Dalglish. They've no heart and no soul.

[bentw]

Great result and thoroughly deserved!

Laughed at their "fans" moaning and groaning when he kept giving the ball away!

 

Get in there!

[Son of L8]

Haha get on this commentary!

 

Epic! Love the 3-second rolled "R" on RRRRRRRRRAUL!

 

Be hysterical if the crowd could do that. Instead of a new song, just do a long drawn out drum-roll "R" for about 15 seconds and then all shout 'RAUL!'

 

Side note, but every time I see Kenny celebrate a goal it takes me back to being a kid. Both arms straight up in the air, running down the pitch... How many times have we seen him do that?

[Torvald Utne]

Incredible that a few thousand liverpool fans can comprehensively out-sing the other 30 thousand, they sounded like they were the home fans.

[Son of L8]

 

This picture tells you everything you need to know about the new breed of Chelsea fans, i.e. most of them. We've just beaten them 1-0 in their own backyard and they're taking pictures of the players walking off the pitch or more specifically Dalglish. They've no heart and no soul.

 

Can you blame them though? How often do Chelsea fans get to see a true giant of the game?

 

... Well, twice a fucking year they do now.

[Bootroom]

This is not aboout Torres.

 

This is about Liverpool"

 

In my opinion your wrong. It has everything to do about it. Staying up as a team, pull together as a team. Not the selfish, selfcentered, sulky mentality. "I want to go to a bigger club because there I can win trophys and by the way I earn more money. Its best for myself and my family, bu fucking bu"

 

Today was a victory in many ways.

[Guest davelfc]

Little nipple tweak there by Skrtel

[Guest davelfc]

[Bootroom]

Little nipple tweak there by Skrtel

 

You can tell Drogba liked it. A lot.

[RoboRiise]

You can tell Drogba liked it. A lot.

 

 

Yeah he looks quite err... excited there.

[Anubis]

[YOUTUBE]SQkN7jAC1lA[/YOUTUBE]

 

1m 17s into that video - why is Steve McDonald from Coronation St sitting on Chelsea's bench glaring daggers at Kenny?

[Anubis]

Little nipple tweak there by Skrtel

 

Not enough concentration on football, and too much concentration on what he's going to do to Torres in the after-match shower.

[Trumo]

Did anyone see the opening montage on MOTD 2? The one with "him" in a Liverpool shirt that they turned blue? Seeing an LFC badge on a blue shirt repulsed me immensely.

[MLB]

.

[Anubis]

.

 

Yes I did......

 

EDIT : Damn, too slow.

[MLB]

[YOUTUBE]SQkN7jAC1lA[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

Didn't celebrate that one, did you you cunt?

[MLB]

Yes I did......

 

EDIT : Damn, too slow.

 

 

Ha! Fixed it.

[Carra_is_legend]

Loving the pics. Absolutely fucking loving it.

 

8 pints of Guiness and I'm not even fucking drunk. I blame the King.

[Guest San Don]

Apologies if this has already been posted.

 

Chelsea 0 Liverpool 1: match report - Telegraph

 

For Liverpool, this has been the year of Kenny Dalglish famously cutting short a cruise and Fernando Torres jumping ship. Sunday confirmed which was the more significant event.

 

As the clock ticked down on this most tense of contests, Dalglish kept kicking every ball in the dug-out, kept willing Liverpool to protect their lead and kept checking his watch every few seconds until the final whistle brought deserved victory.

 

Here was Liverpool reconnected to their glorious past, a loyal servant exhorting the team to reach for the skies again. Ably assisted by Sammy Lee and Steve Clarke, Dalglish had Liverpool’s players hunting in pairs, seeking and destroying Chelsea moves before they could build real momentum.

 

Lucas was outstanding, a figure of perpetual motion between the boxes, a model of composure when Chelsea came calling with urgency late on. Raul Meireles made some important tackles and shuttled between midfield and attack, even ghosting in to score his fourth in five games.

 

Even without Luis Suárez, who remained on the bench, and Andy Carroll, who remains on the treatment table, Dalglish’s men were too organised and determined for the champions. Even without Torres, now sporting Chelsea blue, so much belief remained.

 

Liverpool’s fans set the tone of defiance, backing their team with chants of “Suárez” or “Dalglish” whenever the home fans sang Torres’s name. The Merseyside Banner Factory had been busy with the bed-sheets and Sally Bercow, the Speaker’s wife, was well advised to steer clear.

 

A minute before kick-off, Chelsea stewards failed in their attempt to grab one of the banners. It read: “He who betrays will always walk alone”. Another declared: “Torres a pawn on our chessboard but the King remains.”

 

Such is Liverpool’s transformation under Dalglish, a reinvigorated team now sixth, it can only be a matter of time before he is confirmed as long-term manager. Martin Kelly’s vibrancy, defending hungrily and attacking with pace and persistence, rivals Meireles in embodying the new model Liverpool under Dalglish.

 

Clarke, warmly greeted by Chelsea fans beforehand, has also played his part in the revival, notably drilling the defence at Melwood. This was Liverpool’s fourth successive clean sheet, the players showing their adaptability by again making the back three work. Jamie Carragher’s return from shoulder surgery added further to the resistance movement. But the key was that the visitors defended as a unit, playing the old Liverpool way, the Dalglish way.

 

For Carlo Ancelotti, this numbing defeat reduces the champions’ chances of catching Manchester United, who remain 10 points clear. The last time Chelsea lost seven games in a league season the manager, Claudio Ranieri, was sacked. Ancelotti needs time to bed his new players in but a huge call has to be made on his attack, one that could define Chelsea’s season.

 

Clearly, the Drogba-Torres-Anelka triumvirate needs working on, or simply abandoning, omitting Nicolas Anelka and reverting to a 4-4-2 system. Chelsea were desperately short of width on Sunday, particularly with Liverpool’s wing-backs, Kelly and Glen Johnson mainly keeping Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa deep on another epic day in the mighty Premier League soap opera.

 

Sunday’s two away wins, here and for Birmingham City at Upton Park, capped an extraordinary weekend. Following Saturday’s series of goal sprees and comebacks, Richard Scudamore sent a message to his Premier League staff.

 

“Remember Saturday 5th February 2011,” said the chief executive. “There has never been, and I doubt we will ever see, quite such a remarkable single day in our great competition… let the Select Committee and Government try to improve it!”

 

Sunday’s shocks simply added to the drama. Initially, this was a slow-burner, the first half notable only for a skied Torres effort, a Torres shot blocked by Carragher and an astonishing miss from Maxi Rodríguez, who hit the bar from three yards. Heaven knows what Mini Rodríguez is like. Signs of the unease in the Chelsea ranks surfaced when Branislav Ivanovic and Petr Cech argued.

 

Chelsea briefly stirred at the start of the second half. Anelka shot wide. Ivanovic headed over. But familiar themes continued to be seen. When Torres collected possession, Meireles and Lucas hounded him into giving up the ball.

 

Chelsea’s menace was too infrequent, too slowly unfurled. Liverpool were too alert, Lucas nipping in to ensure Jose Bosingwa’s cross did not reach Torres. The £50 million man was withdrawn after 66 minutes, to applause from the Chelsea fans and unrestrained glee from the red section of the Shed. “You should have stayed with a big club,” chanted Liverpool fans, clearly not forgetting Torres’ parting words that he was joining a “big club”. As if to emphasise past feats in Europe, Liverpool supporters chorused: “In Istanbul we won it five times.”

 

Three minutes later Steven Gerrard charged down the right, whipping in a cross that should have been meat and drink for Cech but he made a real meal of it. Hesitating with Ivanovic, Chelsea’s keeper allowed the ball to carry through to Meireles, who finished with an unstoppable volley.

 

The crowing intensified. “Torres, Torres, what’s the score?” enquired the Liverpool fans. Chelsea were stunned, their attempt at a comeback unconvincing. Anelka had a shot saved and David Luiz came on, allowing Ivanovic to revert to right-back. Luiz kept pushing into midfield but Liverpool stood firm. Cech needed to save from Fabio Aurelio but Chelsea were denied a penalty when Johnson barged into Ivanovic’s ribs, knocking the Serb over. Nobody was going to wrest this victory away from Dalglish and Liverpool.

[The Chef]

Not sure if its being posted but....

 

Anagram of El nino?......One nil.....:thumbup:

[KopOut]

Over the fucking moon - Raul rinsed it yet again but for me Lucas was unreal

 

Lucas has been with us a while now, but It only took Kenny 1/2 a dozen matches in charge, to bring out what should have been obvious from the start..he's a Brazilian. We've had a Brazilian wonder kid playing for us all this time, and nobody told him to stop suppressing it and just go for it....Kenny is a genius. We're going to win the cup!!!!

 

Lucas...MOTM and my new hero.

[Anubis]

Old romantics rejoice as Torres fails to find any chemistry with new love

 

By Oliver Holt

 

Published 23:00 06/02/11

 

 

 

 

 

It did not feel right that Chelsea should lose yesterday but there was something sweet about the fact that Fernando Torres did.

 

The enemy of romance in football found himself on the wrong end of a beating from underdogs who just happen to have won the European Cup and the Champions League five more times than he has.

 

The £50m striker with the dead soul was beaten by a team fashioned by a manager who has more feeling for his football club than Torres will ever have.

 

The man who jumped ship because he couldn't wait to start stacking up the trophies with a big club saw the big club defeated by the side he had just deserted.

 

In the Spain striker's sterile world, upsets like yesterday aren't supposed to happen. But happily for football in general and the Premier League in particular, they do.

 

When he walked out of the Stamford Bridge tunnel on to the pitch and into his new life yesterday, Torres glanced as casually as he could over at the Shed End to his left.

 

No romance there, Fernando. You were right about that much.

 

The Liverpool supporters, who were massed in the corner of the ground, saw him snatching a look at them and gave him the treatment.

 

They threw the Torres shirts they had once treasured on to the pitch and held up banners they had made specially for his delectation.

 

"He who betrays will always walk alone," one of them said. Another likened Torres to the blonde actress Margi Clarke. A third reminded Torres of Liverpool's five European Cup and Champions League victories.

 

That was actually the high point of the Spain striker's afternoon. It went downhill from there. Fast.

 

No romance for the most expensive player in the history of British football on the pitch, either.

 

What happened to the law of the ex, the rule that dictates a player lining up against his former club always gets on the scoresheet?

 

Torres didn't even get close. His first shot as a Chelsea player ended up in Row Z. His second was blocked superbly by Jamie Carragher. His third? There wasn't a third.

 

In fact, there wasn't anything else at all. Just anonymity. Torres looked like a lost little boy cowed by the intensity and the fury of his former Liverpool teammates.

 

He had no answer to their passion and their commitment. He was substituted after 65 minutes but it should have been sooner. He was a passenger yesterday.

 

He will get better, of course. A lot better. He is too good a player to keep labouring like this although the sterility of his performance on his Chelsea debut will fuel the debate about whether his best years are already behind him.

 

He was not helped by the system that Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti deployed yesterday.

 

It looked like a selection born of a reluctance to drop either Nicolas Anelka or Didier Drogba but playing all three strikers simply did not work.

 

Anelka was ineffective in a withdrawn role at the point of the Chelsea diamond and Torres fretted at the margins of the play.

 

Even if Drogba's power is fading, he will always be the focal point of the Chelsea attack as long as he is selected.

 

Torres looked like his junior partner yesterday. He looked like a support act. But £50m is an awful lot to pay for a support act.

 

So Ancelotti has some hard choices to make. He has to make the signing of Torres work and he has to make it work quickly.

 

That probably means dropping either Drogba or Anelka and playing a more balanced side with Florent Malouda restored to the starting eleven.

 

And it means doing it quickly. Because Chelsea cannot afford to lose any more opportunities to make up ground on Manchester United if they are to retain even an outside chance of retaining their title.

 

They have lost seven times now this season, the first time that has happened since the season that brought Claudio Ranieri the sack.

 

Many more slips like yesterday, in fact, and Tottenham may overtake them in the race for the fourth Champions League place. Liverpool are a threat, too.

 

Not quite the scenario Torres imagined when he said he was leaving Liverpool for a club on the next level.

 

It would be wrong to say that Torres's love affair with Chelsea started on the wrong note because Torres does not do love affairs with football clubs.

 

How about this instead: Torres's strictly temporary financial arrangement with Roman Abramovich did not begin with the step towards personal glory that he was expecting. That will have to do.

 

 

Oliver Holt's Chelsea 0-1 Liverpool verdict - Romantics rejoice as Fernando Torres fails to find any chemistry with new love - Oliver Holt - MirrorFootball.co.uk

[Johnni]

Apologies if this has already been posted.

 

Chelsea 0 Liverpool 1: match report - Telegraph

 

Lucas was outstanding, a figure of perpetual motion between the boxes, a model of composure when Chelsea came calling with urgency late on.

 

 

This is one of his best qualities i think in that he keeps his composure esp. today when the midfield was packed like today plus he seems to be gettting better at tackling players.

[Johnni]

I liked the opening few lines by Holt in his article.

 

''It did not feel right that Chelsea should lose yesterday but there was something sweet about the fact that Fernando Torres did.

 

The enemy of romance in football found himself on the wrong end of a beating from underdogs who just happen to have won the European Cup and the Champions League five more times than he has.

 

The £50m striker with the dead soul was beaten by a team fashioned by a manager who has more feeling for his football club than Torres will ever have.

 

The man who jumped ship because he couldn't wait to start stacking up the trophies with a big club saw the big club defeated by the side he had just deserted''

[Kurt]

forgot the link

 

Where`s the google translation??