Admit it, you didn't expect this to happen. You didn't expect us to come out to prevail from Stamford Bridge for the 2nd time in a row. With draws against fodder like Norwich and Swansecelona(copyright Sepi), us fans and possibly the players didn't exactly go in with confidence.

I didn't either.

The game started off with me relieved yet at the same happy that Torres did not start. Why? Because him scoring against us would be more painful then having your ear grated by a cheese grater. It would hit us right back in the face. Yet, I was happy simply because our old boy nando is in his current form a poor imitation of the immortal Andriy (the golden ponytail) Voronin. So Drogba started ahead of him who must have been rusty due to literally fusing with the Stamford bench. Also, Raul Meireles (who I still have a soft spot for) did not start as AVB probably had the idea that one of his two best midfielders (raul) would be better off on the bench as players who face their old team for the first time usually fail, leaving us to fail the average midfield of Mikel, Ramires and the in-form Frank Lampard. The rest there wasn't much to note about except the surprise of including a past it Florent Malouda instead of a hungry and in form Daniel Sturridge.

AVB layed out his usual 4-3-3 with Ramires playing an important defensive role.

For us, within weeks of laying out our preferred line-up and predicting what the King would line-up. Kenny scrapped the much maligned 4-4-2 of the recent games and came out with a 4-4-1 formation with surprise exclusions of Carra, Carroll and Downing for Skrtel (to partner Agger) Maxi taking the left wing (more of a left inside forward) and the industrious but skilled Craig Bellamy. I recently had a debate with Red on how Carra should be included for his big game presence, leadership and marking ability despite his form yet Red countered that statistically we have been better with the Skrtel-Agger partnership along with keeping a notable number of clean sheets with them. I preferred Carroll to start simply due to his aerial presence, and powerful in box presence. I preferred Downing simply for that extra width as he is our only true winger, but more importantly, due to his recent international form. But in the end I could not argue as Kenny knows better and I could see what he wanted. A free-flowing, ticking midfield yet with the experience and know-how to remain calm and disciplined under high pressure situations. Plus the most notable inclusion of Maxi could have been due to how good he was last season at the Bridge along with his ability to keep the midfield flowing and ticking with his touches and movement.


1st Half


In the first half Chelsea jumped start to retain possession yet could not do much with it since we kept a deep line, yet dynamic midfield to consistently yet safely apply pressure onto the chelsea midfield. Although at times this did not work as Ramires initially did well to close down Adam who was just finding his feet and while Lucas kept Lampard quiet, Mikel at times was given too much space yet Bellamy did his job to drop deep eventually to nullify whatever he attempted.

Although Chelsea retained more possession at and seemed to increase the pressure on us with 1-2 chances earlier on, Liverpool took chance of their naively high line many times receiving chances of our own as one notable early chance was when Suarez brilliantly sent Maxi through yet Terry tamed Maxi who should have made a better attempt to go for the ball.

But the breakthrough happened in what seemed like Mikel having a conversation with the ball and facing Darth Cech was successfully tackled but none other then the man with the defensive and tackling ability of an injured mountain goat, Charlie gaptooth Adam. He was brilliant to pounce on the hypnotized Mikel yet the man behind the goal for me was Craig Bellamy. Adam passed to the incoming Bellamy who quickly found Suarez, who found bellamy in space once again to return the ball to him while Bellamy showed great vision to find Maxi who with a typical jittery finish slotted it past Cech and making up for his facepalm worthy miss at the bridge last year. (remember that?)

At this moment I injured myself from the celebration.

Through the end of the 1st, Chelsea seemed frustrated as they mostly sent long balls to the ineffective Drogba until the first half ended.

In the 2nd half AVB made a similar move like he did against United in the 2nd half as he took off Mikel, brought on Sturridge, moved Mata central and switched into what seemed like 4-2-1-3.

Kenny on the other hand worked out that AVB's plan was effective, he brought Maxi inside from the left while Bellamy replaced Maxi into the flank and it changed what definitely was a 4-1-4-1.



2nd Half


Strange thing is this move did not work as Bellamy was quite effective on his front foot in the first half and this new position did not work and we found our players moving deeper and deeper without pressure much to the dismay of Reina who commanded the opposite.

Their goal came from the fact that since Adam was shifted to the right to allow Maxi in the center which gave miles of space for Malouda. This resulted in the equalizer in which was possibly the poorest display of defense this season. Adam who is a fit as a a 50 year old depressed binge eater was poor to track Malouda while Skrtel seemed to have one of his concentration lapses to allow Danny Sturridge to score followed by a cringe-worthy celebration by the Chelsea graduate. I couldn't decide whether I was mad at the defense for the goal or for having Sturridge celebrate just so he could make his poor and pitiful attempt to replicate dancing legend El Cachafaz.

From here on then I remembered again that the game was at Stamford Bridge and not at Anfield as the Chelski fans and the players were galvanized by the goal and for a straight 10 minutes it seemed as if Chelsea would score any minute as the pressure onto us mounted every 2nd and we were at a major disadvantage. Meanwhile I tried my to keep my pants clean from bodily fluids.

But good 'ol Kenny after being in a rapid chatter faster with Clarke made the smart decision to take out Bellamy (who was tired after being labored in the break) while Maxi, who was ineffective in the center was pushed back left and Jordan Henderson was brought on to provide fresh legs as from here on then Chelsea dominated far less due to the masterstroke move by Dalglish.

AVB who had the idea that Fernando Torres was still in his Liverpool form brought him on for Drogba while and his most significant contribution was his successful attempt of neutralizing one of London's many pigeons. RIP Pigeon.

Then there was Glen Johnson. Initially I was in favor of putting Kelly as he is a phenom in big games with his all-round game.

Johnson who was good in the 1st half and both half with his link up play and runs, was an absolute flop in the 2nd as I found myself futilely shouting at the poorly sized tv in my local tapas bar, in the process causing temporary ear damage to the ones in close proximity. Why? Because he let Mata by him twice and Malouda once as 2 of the chances were close calls and one of them saved by our talisman between the sticks, Doni.

Yet suddenly, he realized his job.

Adam made a pass which caused local rascist John Terry to move out of position while Glen Johnson, who seemed to be possessed by the ghost of Stanley Matthews made Cashley Cole look like PFK and left Terry flat-faced on the ground when either from Glen's trickery or to hide the fact that no one can see him shouting racist expletives under his breath while eating grass from the Stamford bridge pitch.

At this moment I probably blacked out and after celebrating with screaming enough to alert the police.

At this moment I realized that it was only 87 minutes and that it was possible that AVB would scare the referee with his demonic sideline animations into giving more extra time. What I wanted was for Kenny to take out an attacker and put in Spearing to partner Lucas to close down the mid.

But since King Kenny has balls made of hardened iron, he put in Andy Carroll replacing a frustrated Suarez.

He wanted more.


FT happened and I simply could not believe it since I had convinced myself this game would be a disappointed. Meanwhile relaxing in a Sauna in Finland, Art Morte thanks the lord for not granting his 2-0 Chelsea prediction and RedOranje casually sips Apple Cider and dusts off cigar ash from his loafers and tweed jacket.

Team Notes:

-Charlie Adam arguably had his best game in the Liverpool shirt and proved he can step it up for us and especially in big games. While he might be packing the pounds from eating jars of Marmite and the gap in his tooth may be growing larger, we can confidently keep our faith in him for now to start games. MOTM

-Lucas was just immense in the midfield. What a big game player. Deserves a medal for his performance. 2nd MOTM

-Johnson needs to work on his positioning but then again he just came back from injury.

-Maxi shouldn't start, but should rotate with the bi-polar Downing as maxi adds a subtle but effective touch to the teams general play.

- Henderson really makes an impact from the bench, until now, he should continue doing so until he is ready to start games all the time.

-Skrtel is consistent, but needs to improve his focus at times of pressure.

-Agger is golden.

-Enrique was our best in the back. His performance in the first half was unreal. Kept Mata in his pocket.

-Bellamy adds so much to our team. His work rate, his technique, his intelligence and all round ability. Welcome back indeed.

- Suarez was frustrating at times as 2-3 times he could have done better with his final ball when we were though but overall a solid performance nonetheless.

-Doni was immense in the back.

-Kenny showed why he is a brilliant manager even tactically with his changes. His dynamic yet disciplined big game set-ups are legendary. Job well done.

Other notes:

-For the first time since his departure, I heard the great Luis Garcia chant by our fans as he was in the stands as it reminded me of back then. It was sung beautifully and whats more touching is how respectful we are to our old players.

-Bellamy almost made Lampard cry

-Seeing David Luiz so butthurt was hilarious

-At one point I thought they painted Anfield blue and then forgot we were at Anfield. Either Stamford Bridge has the atmosphere of a Serie D stadium, or that Liverpool away fans are GODLY. Take your pick.
-Is Glen Johnson the best RB of all time?

-Is M-Rod the best player in the history of Liverpool FC?

-Was Goallegacy madman Sepi really behind the inclusion of Maxi Rodriguez?

-Does Art Morte possess hair?

-Does Raul Meireles actually have his hair styled by a rusty blender?




-Hopefully we can continue this and actually do it against the small teams while hopefully not playing the rigid 4-4-2.

Update: BREAKING NEWS: Torres and Meireles fined by Chelsea FC after the pair were caught attempting to board bus back to Liverpool.





YNWA

Absolutely Fantastic mate.

We were great in first half, however I feel their early 2nd half goal deflated us massively and ruined our initial 2nd half plans. Thankfully, Sturridge and Malouda were incredibly selfish for them and didn't punish us when we were in the "shock" period. I am glad we showed the mental strength to hold on and go for the winner.

My favourite moment of the game was Hendo making Cole and Terry look like sunday league players. The lad has a lot of talent and will go on and become a great player!

Chelsea must hate the sight of playing us, we are their personal trolls....I always love beating them due to arrogant nature of their fans who come up with pathetic statements like this in their forums . (not the ones here mind you)

"Suarez is very average and massively overated"

"Liverfools are crazy to let Meireles and Torres go, Meireles was their best player last season and better than any player they had in the team"

"Kenny Dalglish is old and has no idea how to defend"

"Jose Enrique's defending is ****, this is where our wingers can capitalise"

"Barely any of their starting XI would get anywhere near ours"

"We made mediocre players like Maxi, Lucas, Adam and Bellamy look world class"

Past performances were disappointing . . . "True". . . but lack of expectations . . ."NOPE"! !

Cause in all the matches we have clear created chances we are currently SECOND to ManCity in terms of creating chances. . I mean come on we hit the post F***ing 11 TIMES! !

So confidence or lack of expectation wasn't the case. .

For the next match the scenario would be different though

Arquitecto wrote:

Update: BREAKING NEWS: Torres and Meireles fined by Chelsea FC after the pair were caught attempting to board bus back to Liverpool.

Seriously . . . like the way Maxi passed to Torres in Torres's first game as a Chelsea player??

Arq's marathon posts

You cracked so many jokes there, too, that I forgot any finer points I might have thought to comment on, but a great thread, man

But I admit, I was one of those LFC fans who didn't expect this to happen!




ps. I've got hair, just not on my head. Don't worry, wont post any pics.

Arq......u evil genius.....Such an amazing read, This has to be by far one of the greatest posts i have ever had the pleasure of reading.

And unlike some, deep down, i had faith that we could pull this through (don't mind my prediction in the predictions thread, that was in case we lost i wanted to get points so it would be a win-win both ways )

YNWA

Very enjoyable read, thank you.

Southernman.