Bros, lumayan nih bacaan dari pihak obyektif dan tidak
memihak tentang Community Shield minggu kemarin
-----------------------------------------------------
HOW RAFA ENJOYED THE LAST LAUGH
Matt Lawton, Daily Mail 14 August 2006
There was, Jose Mourinho dared predict, a potential
outcome in Cardiff that could destabilise Liverpool
before their Premiership campaign had even started.
"If they lose against a 50 per cent Chelsea, maybe
that will affect their confidence," Mourinho said last
Friday in what amounted to a touch of early verbal
jousting with Rafa Benitez and probably contributed to
the failure of the two managers to shake hands at the
end of this contest.
Presumably Mourinho would now like to revise that
opinion after watching his players lose to a 50 per
cent Liverpool. A Liverpool team, even the Portuguese
might be prepared to admit, that appear capable of
posing a far more significant threat to the English
champions this season, not just in major semi-finals
but in the league, too.
Chelsea fielded a far stronger side at the Millennium
Stadium, on paper anyway. But rather like the
3.8million fans the club now claim to have in the
United Kingdom, most of them failed to turn up.
A poorly supported Chelsea were surprisingly poor, a
lack of fluency going forward and an alarming degree
of fragility at the back - Ashley Cole cannot sign
soon enough - undermining any hope of securing yet
another piece of silverware.
John Terry had the kind of afternoon he would no doubt
like to forget. Partly at fault for both Liverpool
goals, it was not the way he would have wanted to
celebrate his elevation to England captain.
Liverpool, by contrast, were excellent. Benitez might
have omitted Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Craig
Bellamy and Sami Hyypia from his starting line-up but
those who were selected to cope with a Chelsea side
boasting an alert Andriy Shevchenko and rather less
impressive Michael Ballack did wonderfully well.
Momo Sissoko is certainly starting to justify those
comparisons with Patrick Vieira, his crunching
challenges bringing a premature end to Ballack's
afternoon. The German was nursing a bruised hip as
well as a bruised ego when he limped off after only 26
minutes.
But it was not just Sissoko who shone for the winners
of that exhilarating FA Cup final last May.
Bolo Zenden delivered a composed performance alongside
Sissoko, Jamie Carragher defended with his usual
authority and John Arne Riise scored a super
ninth-minute goal with that shotgun of a left foot.
It was an extraordinary goal, just 15 seconds passing
between the delivery of a Frank Lampard corner and
Riise's 25-yard effort hitting the back of the Chelsea
net.
The Norwegian full back actually collected the ball on
the edge of his own area. He charged up field and
exploited the space created by Jermaine Pennant's
intelligent running before unleashing a shot that
Carlo Cudicini really should have saved but somehow
allowed to dip under his left glove.
Cudicini carried the burden of blame, but he was not
helped by Terry's decision to stop and invite Riise to
try his luck.
Somewhat predictably, tempers began to flare. Lampard
had already been branded a coward by Reading's Dave
Kitson on the back page of one newspaper yesterday
morning - 'Who?' you hear Lampard cry - and he allowed
his own frustration get the better of him when he
kicked Zenden in the full view of referee Martin
Atkinson.
Fortunately for Lampard, Atkinson clearly still
regards this as the Charity Shield because he punished
him with a yellow card rather than the red he
deserved.
In fact, it was only once Ballack disappeared and
Mourinho switched to 4-4-2 - rather than the 4-1-2-3
he began with - that Lampard began to move through the
gears.
Within a minute of seeing Cudicini deny Luis Garcia
the opportunity to increase Liverpool's advantage,
Lampard delivered the ball that enabled Shevchenko to
demonstrate why Roman Abramovich was prepared to pay
£30million to secure the services of a player who is
nealry 30.
First came the control on the chest. Then the
trademark finish that left an advancing Jose Reina
stranded.
Only two minutes of the first half remained but
Chelsea carried that momentum into the second half,
Michael Essien also growing in stature. Then, however,
Benitez sent on Gerrard, Alonso and Bellamy and the
balance of power shifted back in Liverpool's favour.
If the Liverpool supporters were delighted to see
Gerrard; more popular than ever now that he has
declared in his newly published memoirs a desire to
manage the Anfield club one day; they were overcome
with excitement when Bellamy then sent in the 80th
minute cross that an unchallenged Peter Crouch headed
casually past Cudicini.
It was Terry who lost Crouch, and the side Terry
captains that lost to Liverpool. Not good for the
confidence, eh Jose?
MATCH FACTS
LIVERPOOL (4-4-2): Reina; Finnan, Carragher, Agger,
Riise; Pennant (Gerrard 60min), Sissoko, Zenden
(Alonso 60), Gonzalez (Aurelio 57); Garcia (Bellamy
67), Crouch (Sinama-Pongolle 88). Booked: Alonso.
Scorers: Riise 9, Crouch 80.
CHELSEA (4-1-2-3): Cudicini; Geremi (Bridge 54),
Carvalho, Terry, Ferreira (Mikel 82); Essien; Ballack
(Kalou 26), Lampard; Drogba (Wright-Phillips 72),
Shevchenko, Robben (Diarra 63). Booked: Ballack,
Lampard, Diarra. Scorer: Shevchenko 43.
Man of the match: Momo Sissoko
Matt Lawton is Football Correspondent for the Daily
Mail.
---------------------------
-omar-
"England's most decorated club picks up another trophy" - Martin Tyler, FA Cup
Final, 13 May 2006
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