now chelsea played liverpool in epl . before the game i dont know what do these so called pundits see . i read some comments on kai havertz that lampard has to find the best possible position for him in the chelsea setup to get the best out of him . to be honest he played for 45 min for whatever time he played he was the best player on the pitch for me . his touch on the ball decent one . his understanding of his position and his passing was way better than his compatriots in the team . his ability to get his head up and see mason mount and instead of trying to be solo he passed the ball to him knowing that he was in better position than him and had better chances of scoring or having a better angle to the goal than him . he was thrust up against fabiniho and van dyke who are definitely stronger than him . on the floor he was better and even his link up play and technically he is way better than his chelsea teammates . to be honest when i see the technical shortcomings of these proffesional players i am astounded . the difference between a good team and a bad is not the way it operates or the formation or anything but the technical ability of its players . just look at the difference between the liverpool players and chelsea players . whatever system you want to employ or the way you want to operate you want the players to technically competent . good in one on one situation and most importantly the players should seize the moment and should know when to pass or keep the ball . to be honest of most of the these so called proffesional players i see them punting the ball whenever they are in pressure and dont just realize that they have time to take a touch and get their head up and can play the ball out . this punting not only results in loss of possession but also brings back the pressure back on the team . i was disappointed in chelsea for me they had spent too much but there work is cut off and lampard needs to get hisplayes to gel together and most importantly he needs to get them technically way better if he needs to make his team competitive and get something out of the season or his head will be on the choping block .
chelsea and liverpool started the game with 4-3-3 formation but the way both operate is way different . chelsea sat back since they knew that they cannot go on chasing liverpool since they are very good on exploring spaces . most importantly salah and mane are the two best players in one on one situation . i had written many times about how liverpool operate . the question was how was chelsea going to operate and counter the liverpool pressing . i think lampard had the general idea that liverpool are going to press so he wanted to play around and try to beat the press . but to be honest you cannot just put players on the field and tell them operate and expect them to do the things by themselves . i had already pointed out that technically chelsea were poor . when you have to beat the press then you need to have a plan A as to how you are going to counter that press and then go on improvising as the game progress because the opposition will figure out as how you operate and will try to stop you . the chess game starts there as to who can figure each out better and get the better out in the contest. i was not impressed by lampard as i would be animated the way my players were performing . there touches on the ball were not clean . they were spending time on the ball while they should be passing the ball around since with each pass the attack of angle changes and new avenues open up and the defense has to adjust themselves to stop the offense .
chelsea were trying to play out from the back and were trying to attract liverpool press . there plan was to play around liverpool press and try to exploit that space behind the back four since liverpool were playing a high in trying to congest chelsea . liverpool were not going that all out in pressing chelsea . they were seizing there moments and they knew when to press hard and when to just step back a little and see where the offense and were not over committing . chelsea were just flat in their line ups . the three upfront were just flat three upfront while they should criss crossed in each other zones and try to combine with each other . when the opposition is pressing you then there are two things important . most of the teams hard press when the ball comes into midfield and when the opponents are not able to work that ball upfield then they tend to press high . so when you are pressed then all the three lines need to work in tandem with each . football is all about how you work in tandem each other both on offense and defense . when pressed and midfield cant have time and space on the ball then the back four especially the centre backs and the goal keeper need to pass the properly and find a player upfield who has time and space on the ball from where the attack can start . chelsea looked like a team which short of cohesion . some may argue that it is clearly early days but to be honest its a sign of thing that the manager is not clear in his ideas as to how he wants his team to operate .
pundits like carragher were talking about kai havertz position but to be honest i think the kid has a great future compared to his german compatriot werner who lacks that proper decision making skills . lampard needs to make him understand and improve his positional as well as his decision making skills . if i am to point out then i think that there were three players in general who were just hopeless technically and they just couldnt understand that they needed to keep the tempo up so that the opposition cannot press them and that they should move the quickly . for me both the fullbacks were bad particularly bad . since the midfield was going to be congested then the ball obviously going to moved through flanks . so they have very good on the ball . their touch needs to be good . most importantly they need to identify as to when they can pass the ball and can pick the player upfield . if they make too many touches then they slow down the game allowing the opposition to close them down or bring players back to defend . for me both alonso and james were poor in their decision making and technical skills . the one player that would point out that was the worst was jorginiho . he is one that is directing the play . he is the pivot for all the things that chelsea do . he is one that has to identify the danger as well as he is one who starts the attack with a tempo and keeps it flowing . for he was poor on the ball . never comfortable on it . when the things are not going as planned then he can consult the coach and the coach too should ask him as to what he needs to improvise on . both lampard and jorginiho failed each other . jorginiho's touch was erractic and was poor on the ball . when he has the ball he should had made the decision as to whom he is going to pass the ball and how he going to conduct the offense . i would repalce him with kante .
the most important moment of the game was the red card that christensen received . i think he made a foolish decision of bringing mane down . had he let mane take the shot and and even if he had scored then i think that chelsea would had been with eleven players and they would have had a shot . now my objection is not about the decision making but the positional understanding of the players especially the centre backs . liverpool are known to release mane and salah behind the back four or try to get the ball to them and let them exploit that situation and get in a one on one situation with opposition . lampard should had already instructed his centre backs of the possible counter attack through mane and salah . just look at zouma's position when the ball is played to mane and he is released behind christensen . he and christensen should always on the toes knowing that the ball can come and that they can be found wanting . lampard should had studied this and he should had instructed his centre backs about that . i think he is found wanting in big games and he needs to do some brain storming and study the opposition better as well gel his team better to get some better this season .
last but not the least i think that man utd need to fire solksjaer and they need to replace him with carlos queiroz . secondly they need to have a good defensive midfielder and stop playing mctominay . i think they missed out on allan who signed for everton . they are linked with khadeira who can be decent but i would like a better alternative and if possible sale pogba who is hopeless . man utd need to have a good midfielder and a good striker and most importantly a good coach . i had watched the game between sevilla and utd and i think solskjaer should had resigned over there itself . he just cannot change things around and i think its time utd bring in somebody who knows how to coach .
