Matic shows Rodgers what he is lacking
NO drama. Of all the words Jose mourinho used following Chelsea’s latest statement of intent, none screamed out more than that soundbite.
Mourinho was not intending to disparage Liverpool but as the Chelsea boss explained why he never had a moment’s concern, even when his side trailed, he could not have been more cutting.
Liverpool, remember, spent more than £100million in the summer after finishing second last season but the players that were brought in never had it in them to raise any anxieties in mourinho, despite charging into an early lead.
‘I wasn’t afraid to go behind,’ mourinho said. ‘This team is very comfortable. It was no drama for me or the team when they scored.’
Here, then, was the Portuguese effectively saying expensively assembled Liverpool were no threat to him on the day or for the rest of the season. as Chelsea power on towards the title, problems are piling up for Brendan rodgers.
Liverpool’s manager has seen Chelsea hurtle past his side to such an extent they have become a dot on the horizon. Liverpool are 15 points adrift after 11 matches with no chance of bridging the gap and, for the first time, frustrations among home fans bubbled over. Losing to Chelsea is bad enough but nothing grates with Liverpool fans more than the realisation that another summer has passed with the club failing to build from what should have been a position of strength. The biggest spending spree in their history is taking them backwards.
‘The supporters have been given a brand of football over two years that they’ve really clung to,’ said rodgers, when asked about the growls from the stands that accompanied his decision to substitute Philippe Coutinho and Emre Can.
‘It has been frustrating and I understand that. We brought young players in and they are taking time to gel.’
What rodgers will realise, though, is that Liverpool fans are impatient. Had they been given the choice, they would have taken the summer Chelsea experienced, when they signed diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas to augment their squad.
‘We are a better team (now),’ mourinho explained. ‘ We got players to improve the team. Sometimes you get players to improve the squad, other times you get play- ers to improve the team. We got players to improve the team.’
Liverpool should have done that. They chased alexis Sanchez and made eyes at radamel Falcao and Karim Benzema, but again they failed to land a trophy signature.
‘We know what targets we wanted but for one reason or another they went elsewhere,’ said rodgers. ‘The club have done everything they could over the summer to get the players to come here.
‘Players now... in football terms, I think they look for more. They look for all these social factors and f ootball as well. Say if someone gets offered more money to come here but they want to go to London, there is not much you can do.’
and there was not much they could do about Chelsea. Though Can put Liverpool ahead, mourin- ho’s side got stronger as the game went on, looking like a team of men playing against boys.
diego Costa, scorer of the winning goal, was terrific, as was Eden Hazard, while John Terry and Gary Cahill — who equalised Can’s effort but was fortunate to escape a late handball — were magnificent.
dwarfing them all, however, was Nemanja matic. ‘Please give him ( the credit) he deserves,’ said mourinho. ‘He was signed in the most difficult market for players (in January) so the second half of last season was a space of improvement and adaptation. at this moment he is a giant. Not for his size, but the way he plays.’
among his many duties, matic gave Chelsea’s team talk. ‘Nemanja said if we wanted to be champions we had to win,’ Cesar azpilicueta revealed. ‘If the target is to be champions you have to come to these stadiums and get a result.’
And from first whistle to last, there was never any doubt that Chelsea would.
LIVERPOOL (4-1-4-1): Mignolet 6; Johnson 7, Skrtel 7.5, Lovren 6, Moreno 6; Gerrard 7; Sterling 6.5, Henderson 6.5, Can 7 (Allen 70min, 6), Coutinho 5.5 (Borini 70, 6): Balotelli 5.5 (Lambert 79). Subs not used: Jones, Toure, Lucas, Lallana. Booked: Sterling, Balotelli. Scorer: Can 9.
CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Courtois 7.5; Ivanovic 7.5, Cahill 7, Terry 8, Azpilicueta 7.5; Matic 8.5, Fabregas 5.5 (Filipe Luis 90); Ramires 6 (Willian 64, 6), Oscar 7, Hazard 8; Costa 8 (Drogba 90).
Subs not used: Cech, Zouma, Mikel, Remy. Booked: Courtois, Ivanovic, Matic, Oscar, Costa. Scorers: Cahill 26, Costa 65.
Man of the match: Nemanja Matic. Referee: Anthony Taylor 5.5.