Rejoice! Atletico Madrid have dumped Jose Mourinho's stultifyingly negative Chelsea team out of the Champions League, which means that the final is no longer at risk from being spoiled by tedious, 19th century anti-football.
Madrid's win is a victory for football, and after the game, Liverpool star Jose Enrique summed up the prevailing mood, he tweeted:
"This is what happens when you don't play football"
It seems Chelsea attacker Eden Hazard agrees, and he took a subtle swipe at Mourinho's approach. He told BeIN Sports:
"Chelsea aren't set up to play football. Chelsea are set up to counter-attack"
Liverpool striker Luis Suarez also rubbed it in by sending his best wishes to Madrid's players:
"Congratuations to my friends Godin and Cebolla Rodriguez to reach the [CL] final. You deserve it guys, great effort!"
Reds legend Dietmar Hamann and Jamie Carragher also weighed in with their view. Hamann noted:
"Athletico Madrid simply the better team tonight. Should be a great final of two teams with very different styles".
Carra accused Mourinho of making a mistake in bringing on Eto'o so early. He told Sky Sports:
"Their second goal [was] a penalty that Eto'o conceded. I thought it was a bit early to go two up front and leave two in midfield. It had been a tight game. Mourinho went a bit early with the substitution.'
As Rafa Benitez discovered at Liverpool, cautious football will only get you so far, and Chelsea deserved to be knocked out of the competition. The only disappointing thing is that Atletico can beat the Blues 3-1 at Stamford Bridge, but the Reds can't beat a slightly weaker Chelsea team at Anfield.
Still, any lingering disappointment is somewhat assuaged by this:
Author: Jaimie K
Madrid's win is a victory for football, and after the game, Liverpool star Jose Enrique summed up the prevailing mood, he tweeted:
"This is what happens when you don't play football"
It seems Chelsea attacker Eden Hazard agrees, and he took a subtle swipe at Mourinho's approach. He told BeIN Sports:
"Chelsea aren't set up to play football. Chelsea are set up to counter-attack"
Liverpool striker Luis Suarez also rubbed it in by sending his best wishes to Madrid's players:
"Congratuations to my friends Godin and Cebolla Rodriguez to reach the [CL] final. You deserve it guys, great effort!"
Reds legend Dietmar Hamann and Jamie Carragher also weighed in with their view. Hamann noted:
"Athletico Madrid simply the better team tonight. Should be a great final of two teams with very different styles".
Carra accused Mourinho of making a mistake in bringing on Eto'o so early. He told Sky Sports:
"Their second goal [was] a penalty that Eto'o conceded. I thought it was a bit early to go two up front and leave two in midfield. It had been a tight game. Mourinho went a bit early with the substitution.'
As Rafa Benitez discovered at Liverpool, cautious football will only get you so far, and Chelsea deserved to be knocked out of the competition. The only disappointing thing is that Atletico can beat the Blues 3-1 at Stamford Bridge, but the Reds can't beat a slightly weaker Chelsea team at Anfield.
Still, any lingering disappointment is somewhat assuaged by this:
More John Terry tears - another marketing opportunity for Hasbro. pic.twitter.com/IIOZYaYcEW
— Bet-Like-A-Pro.com (@BetLikeAPro) April 30, 2014Author: Jaimie K
Was Enrique talking about Chelsea or himself...
ReplyDeleteMadrid beat them because they also played a patient game.
ReplyDeleteWe lost because our philosophy is to go out to attack and score and .
we made a defensive error which was capitalized on by a team that were waiting for a defensive error.
Sakho never looks comfortable with the ball at his feet, Skrtyl too, so we're still prone to this kind of error when our defence is playing that high up the pitch. I know gerrard made the error, but our defense has looked shaky too many times to mention when playing out friom the back. Our defenders aren't quite as good with the ball at their feet as you need to be. Still, good experience for next time for both manager and players.
Football 3 drudgery 1 plus we can all look forward to an exciting final.
ReplyDeleteFootball genius ? Inter Milan were playing his defensive rubbish in the 1960s and never spent hundreds of millions to do it. - also ask any 10 independent referees for their judgement on his ghost goal and all 10 without any doubt will say if was not a goal it was penalty and sending off.
ReplyDeleteCould not be happier, am not one to gloat at other teams misfortunes but given the way Jose has acted this season , can't help myself. Amazing how media have suddenly gone from praising his same 'genius tactics' one day and then ripping them apart the next. Am sure if we had scored at the weekend it would of opened up and ended as a result such as last night. Well enjoy your hols in Lisbon Jose...and chin up, like you said last weekend, at least you can say you beat the eventual champions in us or city!!
ReplyDeleteThey are out of the CL and I am absolutely delighted.....no make that "thrilled to bits".....on second thoughts "I am over the moon" ....I can't think of a Manager or a team so deserving of a thrashing, they earned every bit of it. For me the cherry on the cake was one of their own top players acknowledging that they are not set up to play football......ouch...ouch ....ouch...... hell that hurt!!!!
ReplyDeleteAs for Atletico, could see that performance coming after a goaless first leg. They just knew they had to get that away goal to put Chelsea in trouble and stuck with their same style/tactics even after conceding first. They have had a sensational season and I really could see them doing the double. A few players of theirs I wouldn't mind if they became available/affordable....Koke, Arda, Mario Suarez...and of course costa
ReplyDeleteand the mourinho style celebration by Simeone was quite good!!
ReplyDeletePriceless
ReplyDeleteAgree. Also note that two of atletico's goals came from the right hand side. Their coach must have studied our game with them and found their weakness.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that RedPaul....I missed that one, it has brought a massive smile to my face for the second time today
ReplyDeleteOur defeat to Chelsea was down to one defensive error, forget the 2nd goal, as we threw everything forward seeking an equalizer (one error, one detail), otherwise 0-0.
ReplyDeleteOur reason for not beating chelsea (apart from the poor shooting) was our in-ability to get behind them (wing/wide play), it's how you negate the two buses defence, Atletico did it twice last night, albeit not through a tricky winger, but clever running with a pinpoint diagonal ball and intelligent support in the middle. We continually tried to go straight down the middle or crossed from ineffectual angles.
Our defenders don't need to be technically gifted, but do need to improve when they have got the ball at their feet (hopefully they will get better next season).
We have not got or have had any impact off the bench this season (moses, aspas....etc), something that should have been addressed in january, hopefully during the summer now, (a supposed plan B) it's amazing that we are top considering our resources.
Our philosophy has us sitting top with a good chance to stay there or goal difference denying us. I hope we are in this kind of mix for years to come.
Chelsea only had 27% possession when they beat us on Sunday and decided to camp in their half of the pitch throughout the game. Does that make Tony Pulis a tactical genius?
ReplyDeleteLast night Chelsea actually left their half of the pitch and had 47% possession but Mourinho could not park the bus on this occasion and showed how tactically inept he actually is.
If Chelsea had played like they did last night when they visited Anfield on Sunday WE WOULD HAVE RIPPED THEM TO SHREDS!!!
Ha'ha stick that up ya blue nose scum. If we had of scored at the weekend agains't you's we'd of thumped you's. Over the moon Chelsea's out negative football wins you nothing, no trophies again this year ha'ha. Think mourinho will be sacked at end the season. Lol
ReplyDeleteExactly and if we had got that 1st goal it would of opened them up, that being said, our passing and attacking play let us down second half as well as too many aimless crosses.
ReplyDeletefelipe luis. He's pretty good actually, but probably wouldn't want to leave atleti.
ReplyDelete"If we fail to win the title it will be because BR went chasing after wingers in January rather than a dominating central defender and a strong midfield enforcer"
ReplyDeleteI cannot actually believe what I have just read.
We are still 1st and we are ahead of two teams who have bigger and much more expensive squads. What is more, the maximum points City can end on is 86 which is the same amount we would have if we won both our remaining games. Our aim this season was to qualify for CL. We went one better, automatic qualification and there is still a chance of us taking the league so I find you comment quite hilarious as anyone could have slipped like Gerrard did on Sunday.
BR would have learnt a hell of a lot from Chelski's two matches against us and A Madrid . We are lucky to have a young and skilled manager who is willing to learn and unlike Mourinho is flexible and not on an ego trip . He has taken us a long way in a short time and playing the style of football we all want to see ....... just look at the flack JM is getting at the moment.
ReplyDeleteApart from Stevie's slip I believe if a fully fit Sturridge and Hendo ( unable to play ) had started , things would have been a lot different . With wise buys in the Summer we will be fully prepared for next season . Well done Atletico - go on and win it !
Tactically inept? I disagree. He did what he had to do to survive. Just as Tony Pulis would.
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't make Mourinho a tactical genius though, as others (and probably he, himself) have tried to claim.
Tactically inept yes. Mourinho had no answers when Atletico drew level. If it had been 1-0 to Chelsea after the first half last night then all Mourinho would have done is parked the bus again.
ReplyDeleteI've been looking on youtube for some 19th century football matches to see if it resembles the way Chelsea play but it must have been so boring no one bothered to film it.......
ReplyDeleteThe reason that Liverpool lost and Atletico won is that BR failed to employ tactics that would have nullified Chelsea (I saw us playing right into their strengths). He failed to hold a deeper back line against a team whose only hope was counter attack. Brendan is kinda adamant like that. Having said that he has shown over his two years at Anfield that he is willing to adapt his philosophy for the better of the team, and in the long term this defeat against Chelsea could be the starting point where Rodgers to be sensible against teams who sit deep.
ReplyDeleteSchmelzer is Germany's starting LB (assuming Lahm plays on the right), so he has plenty of talent. The question is whether he will want to leave.
ReplyDeleteMourinho has no one to blame but himself. How he could go to Madrid, and not even attempt to get an away goal was crazy. Then at home sets up a team with 6 defenders? Once Atletico scored his chances were minimal. He has an amazing record and everything, but his strategy with Atletico was arrogant, with us too, but he got lucky. I guess he was expecting to win at home, or draw 0-0 and win on pens? Any draw with goals put him out - so boo hoo Mou - it's on him. And no matter what anyone has to say he's still behind Liverpool, and has had the luxury of playing for so many big money clubs. Rodgers is on his 3rd Top Flight season, and has us in 1st, huge achievment I'd say, given the money spent, size of the sqaud, and his and the squad's past experience.
ReplyDeleteYou had better start believing your own eyes. If you cannot accept what I've said above I hope you're not the only six (1+5) Liverpool supporters who cannot accept that the Red's defence is the weakest part of a very good team. If you don't know that we need the help of Everton or Villa to take points off Manchester City (providing we beat Palace and Newcastle) then your arithmetic is wanting.
ReplyDeleteAnyone could blame Stephen Gerrard, Sakho or the groundsmen for watering the pitch too much but I don't. It is obvious to most fans that our defence needs improvement and tipsy-tapsy passing across the last line of defence must stop now.- Get the ball forward out of defence and stop putting the goalkeeper and defenders needlessly under pressure!
Finally, we need to get Steven Gerrard forward into a creative zone of the pitch where he can re-establish his productive links with the forwards.
If you are laughing when the final whistles go on this league campaign and Liverpool have won the title so will I - no matter what.
Spot on
ReplyDeleteMy gripe is less to do with the way Chelsea decided to play. They are perfectly entitled to employ whichever tactics they choose - we had good success with Benitez playing cagey enough ourselves.
ReplyDeleteFor me, it is the insistence at the end that they were the better team and the terminologies been banded about, such as masterclass or even genius. Preposterous. We were certainly contained fairly well on the day and this was an achievement on their part. However, they are simply playing a percentage game that relies on the bad luck of your opponent rather than your own constructive play. When they begin then arguing against Atletico that it all boiled to a moment of poor play for the penalty, they are missing the point. You don't get to curse your bad luck if it comes along when you set out to play on such a knife edge. Live by the sword die by the sword.
Ifyou choose to playmore expansive football in the first place at least you don't feel cheated if you come up against somebody who did it better; and it a more open game it won't tend to all hinge on one mistake or piece of luck.
Finally, having come and played the percentage game and declaring that the leaguewas over for them already, I can only think all the chest beating was an attempt to rub salt in our wound - which was fairly evident at that moment in time. I would like to think if we had just jeopardised their title ambitions with very little gain for ourselves, we would have left content in that knowledge, without seemingly setting out to rub their noses in it. Classless.
I remember being excited when we signed ziege, I rated him a lot before LFC. Same could be said of morientes and sahin I suppose.
ReplyDeleteSchmelzer is steady but far from spectacular. Personally I'd love to see coentrao come in
Reckon he's just found it difficult to break into a predominantly winning team. That and his fitness problems
ReplyDeleteNowhere near the best right back in the country. No offence to the lad but he's not fit to lace zabaletta's boots
ReplyDeleteI think we need a right back too, Johnson is hopeless.
ReplyDeletespend big on luke shaw. ynwa
ReplyDeletehope liverpool sign lallana
ReplyDeleteThink we should target 5 players at least in the summer, need to really strengthen the squad for the champions league next season, a full back, centre mid, winger and striker should be a priority! I'd like to see schmeltzer, konoplyanka, Lallana, Muriel, Dembele, and will Hughes/Emre Can for the future
ReplyDeleteB Rodgers needs to bring in these two young full backs for £12-£16M this summer: One is English and One is Welsh
ReplyDeleteRB: N Clyne(23) Of Southampton for £6-£8M to compete with G Johnson(29) and J Flannagan(21)
LB: B Davies(20) Of Swansea for £5-£8M to compete and cover J Enrique(27)
Instead of B Rodgers spending £12M on one Left back: M Schmelzer(26)
B Rodgers needs to spend between £11- £16M on N Clyne(23) RB and B Davies(20) LB
These two class quality mobile quick pacey young attacking full backs need to be brought to club this summer
Along with these three other defensive players:
GK: One of these three Gks: For the price of £4-£9M
A Mccarthy(24) Of Reading
D Marshall(29) Of Cardiff
M Vorm(30) Of Swansea
CB: D Lovren(24) Of Southampton for £12-£17M to compete with M Skrtel(29)
DM: M'Vila(23) Of Rubin Kazan for £8-£11M to compete with S Gerrard and L Leiva(27)
Those 5 Defensive players will take our squad to the next level and to tighten up the back.