A few days ago, Liverpool
lined up against Real Madrid at the illustrious Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in
what would turn out to be a special but in the end, a fruitless night.
Liverpool could only muster up 4 shots at Iker Casillas’ goal and to make
things even bleaker, could only conjure up one shot on target. While this might
seem abject and even catastrophic, there were lots of positives to get out of
the game and the performance was infinitely better than the ones in recent
memory. I make this observation on the fact that I believed once again. I
believed that Liverpool could win, even against the best side in the world and
there seemed to be light at the end of the long and dark tunnel that this
season is turning out to be. While others most definitely might not feel this
way, this game could spark resurgence and resurrect the giant of last season.
But, as is constantly reminded, you are only as good as your last game and the
truth is that the team could not get the points and in a results-based business,
that is all that matters. Brendan Rodgers has to carry the positives from this
game and utilize it to its utmost. While the eagle or in this case, the
LiverBird might not be as powerful or as predatory as before, a wounded bird
has the ability to be even more dangerous and that is the message Rodgers must
deliver.
Rodgers surprised all of us
by playing what looked like a ‘reserve’ team at the Bernabeu with regular
starters Steven Gerrard, Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson all missing with
further catalysts from last season like Phillipe Coutinho also missing. The
talk before the match for Liverpool was to expect the worst and hope for
something less humiliating. But, the players surpassed all expectations and
gave a fair shot when almost everyone had written them off. If was one of the
players playing in that team, I would feel insulted and humiliated to be
categorized as a reserve player who plays only when the first-teamers need a
rest. It was indeed that with the Chelsea game looming over the weekend. But,
the team surpassed expectations and did not look out of place against a side of
Real Madrid’s caliber. In fact, the performance was arguably better than all of
the others of this season bar the win at White Hart Lane. There was passion and
there was a want to be on the football pitch doing what we all love. No
sulking, no diving, no complaining and definitely no biting. Some have regarded
this selection as damage limitation. If true, then where does that put 20
million man Dejan Lovren when a 33 year old who is now regarded as a comedy act
is trusted to do it rather than him? Where does that put multi-million pound
earner Glen Johnson when an uncapped Spanish Under-21 international is
entrusted to play ahead of him. The simple fact is Rodgers, in thinking that he
picked his substitute players actually picked the better players on forma and
it showed on the pitch when you contrast the performance with the one at
Anfield, which was mundane to say the least.
We are not football experts
or ‘pundits’ but everyone watching the game could tell that Fabio Borini, a
player who almost left for QPR over the summer showed more effort in one game
than Mario Balotelli in 13. While that is not to degrade the more experienced
Italian, it is always uplifting for the crowd and indeed for the team when you
see a striker showing commitment to track back and help the team out when under
pressure. Unfortunately, Balotelli has not been doing enough of that this
season. While it would be unfair to rule him out, Balotelli is running out of
chances and with a paltry two goals in 13 games, things are not looking good
for him. Balotelli is static in his movement and his nonchalant attitude can
sometimes have a negative effect on the team morale. We have seen how the
willingness and desire of a single player in Luis Suarez can galvanize the team
and Borini can do something similar.
So, this brings us to the
match against Chelsea, which will be a dark memory in the back of every single
Liverpool fan’s mind after the events of last season. Jose Mourinho’s park the
bus tactics got a lot of negative press with it but there can be no arguments
that it was successful in stymying the Reds and it did seem like Mourinho had
Rodgers’ number. Now, Chelsea come to Anfield with a better attack, better
midfield and same solid defence making this an even worse proposition for the
Reds. If past games are anything to go by, it will be a feisty encounter and if
Rodgers’ remains static in his team selection and refuses to budge with his
style, it could end in tears for the men from Merseyside. In my opinion,
Rodgers should play this team
Simon Mignolet
Javier Manquillo------Kolo
Toure-----Dejan Lovren-----Alberto Moreno
Lucas Leiva
Emre Can-----------------Jordan Henderson
Phillipe Coutinho
Raheem Sterling---------------Fabio Borini
Prediction – 2-0 to Chelsea.
I predict the same scoreline from last year because Rodgers just simple refuses
to change his team selection and style. There will most probably be no movement
and no incision and Liverpool will slowly move towards its downfall.
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