Oliver Holt's Big Match Verdict: Young Reds step up as Chelsea's aging stars fade
At Chelsea, all the old certainties are fading away as their titans begin to splutter and groan.
The great players who have fought for their titles and their triumphs this last decade are locked now in a grim struggle with age.
And as time marches steadily on around them, they are left to tread the quicksand that has become their new playing surface.
It is different at Liverpool. An old manager is already ridding his club of its dependency on the past and leading it confidently into the future.
Kenny Dalglish is 60 and Andre Villas-Boas is 34, but it is Dalglish who has pumped youth and promise into his club and Villas-Boas who is still wrestling with the difficulties of moving on.
Liverpool’s crucial win at Stamford Bridge yesterday felt like a pivotal moment in the development of the seasons of both clubs.
For Liverpool, it was a victory for the children of the evolution. A victory for Charlie Adam, who created both goals for his team in his man-of-the-match performance yesterday, one with a snapping, harrying challenge on John Obi Mikel, the other with a raking cross-field pass to Glen Johnson.
A victory for Luis Suarez, the new hero of the Kop, a player of sublime twisting, turning talent who nutmegged David Luiz so often yesterday the Brazilian defender must have thought his legs had holes in them.
A victory for Craig Bellamy, an astute Dalglish free transfer who crackled with defiance and aggression and lifted the spirits with the beautiful unselfishness of his pass to Maxi Rodriguez for the Liverpool opener.
“Unselfish?” Dalglish said, with his trademark quizzical grin when he was invited to praise the wonderful exchange of passes between Adam, Bellamy and Suarez that led to Liverpool taking the lead.
“I might have shot. There were two or three passes in the box, weren’t there?
“It’s just appreciation. The fact that Charlie won it set us off on the attack.
“But we’ve got very intelligent footballers.
“They’re not greedy. If they can give someone a tap-in, they will.
“It was a good goal, but it was a good performance as well. I think we deserved it.”
Dalglish did his best to be his usual deadpan self after the game, bridling at any questions that sought in vain expansive analysis of the club’s prospects.
But it was hard even for Dalglish to disguise his delight at a performance that at times threatened to overwhelm Chelsea with its spirit, its commitment and its technical ability.
Liverpool ran like dervishes in the first half, pressing and pressing Chelsea so they had no time on the ball and the supply to Juan Mata was severed.
Every time Chelsea tried to play the ball out of defence, there was a swarm of red shirts around the player receiving the ball.
Adam was particularly tireless.
Chelsea couldn’t cope. Luiz looked particularly unsettled.
England stars John Terry and Frank Lampard were caught in possession, too.
When Adam robbed Mikel with the tackle that led to the opener 10 minutes before half time, it was not a surprise.
And the difference between the progress made by the two clubs was emphasised when two of Chelsea’s new breed, both allowed to leave by Liverpool, were stuck on the bench until the 84th minute.
Fernando Torres and Raul Meireles were introduced together, booed by Liverpool supporters together, ineffectual together, unlamented together.
“I thought we played better today,” Dalglish said when he was asked how the performance compared to last year’s 1-0 victory here. “We scored twice as many goals. I thought we just played better.
“We looked a better team, especially in the first half.
“Last year it was pretty defensive. This year we stood up and stood against them.”
Even when Chelsea fought their way back into the game and threatened to take the lead, Liverpool did not wither.
Dalglish brought on another new signing, Jordan Henderson, and he breathed new ambition into his side.
The kind of ambition that led to Johnson dashing on to Adam’s pass four minutes from the end and scything his way past a bemused Ashley Cole before slotting his shot past Petr Cech from inside the penalty area.
When Dalglish was asked if he would have been proud to score a goal like that, the Liverpool boss grinned again.
“I’d have been proud just to have been able to run that far,” he said.
Column
Crass of the Day: Why Gary Lineker should be ashamed of his xenophobic mocking of Arsene Wenger
Columnists 11:07 03/05/12Shame on Gary Lineker. His mockery, stupid French accent and derision of Arsene Wenger at the end of... Read More+
Column
Stop rewriting history: Hodgson may have got it, but Redknapp is still the better man for the job
Darren Lewis 10:45 03/05/12The revisionism surrounding Harry Redknapp this week has been an education to behold. Suddenly his f... Read More+
Column
Big Match Verdict on Chelsea 0-2 Newcastle: Torres has been transformed in a week
John Cross 22:27 02/05/12Fernando Torres has been transformed in little over a week. In fact, the Spaniard was the odd man ou... Read More+
Column
Reflecting, reading and not being Redknapp: Hodgson is under fire over the three Rs
Oliver Holt 22:30 01/05/12In the circumstances, Roy Hodgson did pretty well when he was introduced to the media as the new Eng... Read More+
