Reds and Blues flatter to deceive at The Bridge
Chelsea 1 Liverpool 1, 13th August 2023.
Chelsea 1 Liverpool 1, 13th August 2023.
CHELSEA 1 (Disasi 37)
LIVERPOOL 1 (Díaz 18)
Penny for the thoughts of Moisés Caicedo anyone?
Obviously in today’s hyper inflated football transfer market the thoughts of the 21 year old Ecuadorian will now cost a pretty penny, but boy do both of the teams currently vying for his signature need his youthful energy to plug the gaping holes in the centre of their respective jigsaw puzzles. Today’s 1–1 draw was a little unjust on the mega spending Kings Road Harlem Globetrotters of Chelsea whilst a far more cohesive looking Liverpool disappeared after the half-time break, and thus continued to let the home team off the hook they had them on for 35 minutes. Whereas the Reds fielded 9 starting XI regulars from last season plus the addition of the mercurial Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, the Blues of Chelsea were virtually unrecognisable with 5 new players through the spine of their starting XI, from goalkeeper Robert Sánchez through the goal scoring full-back Axel Disasi, defensive partner Levi Colwill and Carney Chukwuemeka roaming forward in support of their new central striker Nicolas Jackson.
For 35 minutes the Reds bossed the game, quietened the crowd and were fully deserving of the 1–0 lead given to them by the outstretched toes of Colombian magician Luis Díaz. The goal on 18 minutes was a piece of footballing beauty from back to front, goalkeeper Alisson Becker to some neat one-touch triangles around his penalty area before Alexis Mac Allister released Mo Salah on the right wing. Turning Levi Colwill this way and that, the Egyptian King finally curled a sublime pass around the rest of the retreating Chelsea defence and into the path of the marauding Díaz, who stretched and toe-poked home. It was nothing more than Liverpool deserved and sandwiched a sparkling half an hour from Mo Salah whereby he hit the crossbar (with goalkeeper Sánchez beaten) on 11 minutes, had a goal bound effort scrambled off the line on 26 minutes and was cruelly robbed by the soul suckers at VAR on the half an hour mark when his brilliantly simple finish (after a sublime pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold) was chalked off for offside.
2–0 Liverpool after 30 minutes would have been a true and fair reflection of the game so far.
From this moment on, Chelsea’s Argentinian World Cup winner Enzo Fernández finally exerted a semblance of control over the game and a control that would grow into a “Man of the Match” performance from the 22 year old from San Martín, Buenos Aires. It was his cross on 37 minutes that was only partially cleared before Ben Chilwell’s hopeful header back into the Reds penalty area found a static Liverpool defence and a scrappy equalising goal from Axel Disasi. With all control of the game now relinquished and the Blues of Chelsea fully released from the hook the Reds had them on, it was Fernández once more with a through ball dissecting a Liverpool defence all at sea for Ben Chilwell to score an expertly taken goal after rounding Alisson Becker, only for the killjoys at VAR to intervene once more. But the Blues were finishing the half stronger, their first 45 minutes rather bookended by the triad on the right hand side of Reece James, ex Red Raheem Sterling and new signing Nicolas Jackson, who combined at the beginning and the end of the first half of play with Jackson forcing a fine early save from Alisson Becker before blazing over his crossbar just before the break.
From a Reds perspective, after the bright start to the second half encompassed a fizzing, curling strike from new captain Virgil van Dijk that just cleared the Chelsea crossbar and Díaz’s header that brushed the near post after thumping off the hand of Nicolas Jackson, they faded into a nothing performance only enlivened by Darwin Núñez and his deflected long range shot in injury time that flew inches wide of the Chelsea goal. It was all Chelsea blue highlighted by the run and powerful shot of Ben Chilwell on 54 minutes and the surging, pacey run and shot of Nicolas Jackson on 71 minutes. Each time Alisson Becker was expertly up to the task in goal, pulling off strong near post saves in a faultless, “Man of the Match” display for the Reds.
If the first 35 minutes should be lauded as an accomplished start to the game (as it should), then the remainder should be viewed as a team and a squad as a work in progress with many reliable pieces missing from Jürgen Klopp’s evolutionary jigsaw puzzle. Last season was a “Sword of Damocles” affair according to your favourite football correspondent and a team evolution according to the man from Stuttgart with the most beautiful of beards. Klopp’s task has been made immeasurably more difficult by the departures of captain Jordan Henderson and Fabinho for the filthy lucre of Saudi Arabia, and with 7 players out and Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai the only newly signed players, the squad is thin on the ground to say the least. There’s an evolution underway and it’s in the hands of a footballing master, but this will take time and patience in a world and indeed a sport lacking in both.
Of the newcomers, Szoboszlai reminds me of ex Red Emre Can, but whereas the German international was all haircut and no substance, the Hungarian captain looks, at first glance, a far more accomplished footballer and at the tender age of just 22, he looks a player for the future as well as the here and now. Mac Allister wasn’t at the races today and was rather overshadowed by his Argentinian countryman Enzo Fernández, but he’s a class act and he’ll come good after a goal or an otherworldly assist. Teenager Ben Doak replaced a petulant and incredibly angry Mo Salah, but he was as absent from the second half of play as was goal scorer Luis Díaz. Diogo Jota too after a brilliant attacking and defensively dogged first half display from the Portuguese goal getter, but the team as a whole faded, and faded badly, the longer the game went on.
Penny for the thoughts of Moisés Caicedo anyone? Sadly the budget doesn’t stretch to the pretty penny needed so here are my much cheaper views instead! After agreeing an exorbitant fee with his club Brighton, the 21 year old youngster from Ecuador has clearly turned down the Reds in favour of the Chelsea Blues and it would now be faintly ridiculous to see him do another U-turn and arrive at Anfield. Despite the wailing and gnashing of teeth within the social media madhouse, no laws have been broken and a young man has simply decided his footballing future lies in London rather than Liverpool. No harm. No footballing foul. Everyone should move on.
We could and indeed we must complain at the money grubbing influence of agents within the game, the money that disappears out of the game with them, “financial fair play” rules and the “transfer windows” that remain an odious and unnecessary intrusion into the game akin to the dystopian spectre of doom that is VAR. But for the here and now, both Moisés Caicedo and Roméo Lavia, both apparent Liverpool transfer targets, appear destined for the globetrotting “galacticos” of Chelsea, and Liverpool need squad depth as well as quality in central midfield.
The evolution of this team under the tutelage of Jürgen Klopp will continue apace, but the season ahead is one of team reinvention, reshaping, and all in real time. Patience is needed.
“One pass away from a picture-book goal. One lazy piece of defending away from calamity” was how I described today’s first half performance in the madhouse of Twitter.
Buckle up! A fascinating season lies ahead.
A final word from The Boss
“I’m OK with a point. I saw the game, so I know who could’ve won…we could’ve lost as well, that’s how it is. I think they had the last chance of the game, right? That would’ve been a great moment to finish it off. But we had a really good start into the game, I liked that a lot. Everything was there what we were working on. We scored two wonderful goals, one disallowed for offside, was really close. The build-up to that goal anyway was absolutely top-class. But then we opened the door for Chelsea”.
Thanks for reading. Please see below for the entirety of my scribblings and ramblings on Liverpool FC as well as three complimentary articles for your perusal too:
Liverpool FC
Multi Season Match Reportsmedium.com
“Chasing the Impossible and a Sword of Damocles” — Out Now!
The un-holy trinity is complete!medium.com
The Eagles Have Landed!
But the writing odyssey continues.medium.com
The Day The Reds Came to Town
Portsmouth 0 Liverpool 3, 8th August 1982.medium.com