The Fans Football Blog3

author: Gabriele Marcotti
source: The Times
date: 15 April 2009
editing: fcbtransfers.blogspot.com





Does last week's Chelsea-Liverpool game at Stamford Bridge show Chelsea can trouble Barcelona?
First of all, everyone is revelling in what they're calling a phenomenal game. Yes, it was an exciting match, but there were so many mistakes that it was actually a badly played game for long periods.

The first thing Chelsea have to do is cut out the kind of errors that we saw that night. They had a lot of issues: the defending for Dirk Kuyt's header and for free kicks and Petr Cech's form. If you give up four goals at home against a Liverpool side without Steven Gerrard, you have a problem.

Are there any areas in which Chelsea will have an advantage over Barcelona?
They will have a tremendous advantage at set-pieces. In Didier Drogba, Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry and Alex, Chelsea have some outstanding headers of a ball. Apart from the central defenders Rafael Marquez and Gerard Piqué, and Yaya Toure, Barcelona have few aerial threats. So, Chelsea's fourth-best header of a ball is likely to be marked by a considerably lesser player in the air.

Will Chelsea struggle in terms of possession?
Barcelona are very good at regaining possession without committing fouls, while Chelsea do not have many runners who can attack a defence and draw the free kicks that I mentioned they need. The answer, though, might be Michael Essien.

I want to see him let loose on Barcelona. Give Essien the freedom to attack and he will give the team great energy. Between now and then Guus Hiddink may have to tinker a bit and find a way to get Essien in a position where he can hurt opponents. Hiddink was right to use him in front of the back four against Liverpool, but it's time to set him free.

So you don't expect Essien to man-mark Lionel Messi?
I don't buy into man-marking Messi, I don't know anyone who can do it. If you put Essien on him, you deprive the team of an outstanding player and you still have the problem of Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto'o. I think you have to defend against Messi zonally.

How do you stop Barcelona's front three?
Messi, Eto'o and Henry base their play entirely on movement and are not a huge threat at set-pieces. So, to some degree, Chelsea can afford to be a little more physical and give a way a few more free kicks against them. That three tend to stay forward, relying on the ball coming through Xavi and Iniesta in midfield. Chelsea need to cut off that supply. They need to outmuscle both players.

The other way Barcelona attack is through Daniel Alves running from deep, creating a devastating partnership with Messi on the right wing. Alves is a lot more difficult to stop because he just gets the ball and runs at the defender. You can only foul him so many times before the yellow cards come out. If Chelsea are going to focus on marking one player, it's Alves.

Who could do that job?
Possibly Florent Malouda. He has had an indifferent time throughout much of his Chelsea career, but he is an extremely intelligent footballer and would be able to fill such a tactical role.

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