Liverpool vs Chelsea | 02-May-2010 @ 13:30 UK

So old Fergie counting on Liverpool pride eh? Look how things change in football. Time and again, Fergie never misses an opportunity to insult them but come tomorrow, he’s hoping on Liverpool’s pride. He’s even gone to extent of talking about Liverpool’s history and the fact that they have won the title 18 times and have been in the european finals 11 times and all that. The old man knows that he is at the mercy of his bitter rival Rafa Benitez’ team. Well, strangely, Liverpool have not been a rival for Man Utd in the premier league. It’s just that Rafa Benitez has turned into a fierce rival to Fergie with their war of words.

Some say that it is stupid to expect Liverpool to play to lose so Man Utd don’t win the title, their 19th title. I say that too. But what I think is, no team steps on the pitch saying ‘c’mon let’s lose this match’. All teams and sportsmen want to win in whatever they participate. But how much you try to win is governed by the subconscious things. There are quite a few things that would be affecting the Liverpool players:

1. A win nearly means nothing to them
2. It’s annoying for them to directly contribute to Man Utd winning the title
3. It’s even more annoying for them to help Man Utd beat their record of 18 titles
4. If they ever do, it’s gonna take them millions of years to take that record back from Man Utd

Plus, they are fresh from yet another disappointment of the season. Atletico have just beaten them at Anfield to progress to the Europa Cup finals. Plus, they had to play for 120 minutes. Plus, they had to take the disappointment after being 2-0 ahead and giving themselves hopes. Plus, they know that they would be facing a determined Chelsea side who have just demolished Stoke 7-0. Psychologically, they must be down at the dumps and must hate the prospect of facing Chelsea at Anfield on Sunday. Rafa Benitez can be many things but a motivator is certainly not one of them. His body language and his press interviews are all wrong. If I were a player, I would never want to play under him.

This is Ancelotti, being the eternal diplomat:

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Maybe they will be a little bit tired, but I know very well that at Anfield I have never seen Liverpool tired. They play a strong 90 minutes every game and I think they will do the same Sunday. I don’t know if it is better to play against a Liverpool that lost the semi-final of the Europa League or not but we have to think that we play against a strong team. We have to play against fantastic players in a very difficult atmosphere because we know how the fans of Liverpool support their team.

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I’d agree with him. The best quality of Liverpool is their physical fitness on the pitch. They are always ready to put in that extra shift if needed. Their minds can let them down once in a while, but their bodies don’t. To lose a Europa cup semi final at home after 120 minutes can be really tiring to the mind and body.

Carlo also says he’s not going to play the mind games.

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To do mind games is not my job. I am not able to do this. I prefer to stay focused with my players. I have a lot of things to think about because we have to prepare well the game, tactically, technically and physically, and this is our aim this week. I don’t stay too much about the other things. I don’t think this is important. What is important is to have a good feeling with the players this week to control the pressure and to maintain a good atmosphere in the squad. We have to have pressure but not too much. We have to believe that we are able to win against Liverpool on Sunday.

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Actually, I’d have loved if he did play mind games. If I were him I’d have said this:

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We are at an important stage at this season. History is going to be written in a few days. If Man Utd win the league they would create history and become the English club with most number of titles by winning their 19th title. And, it could be none other than Liverpool who could allow their own record to be broken. This won’t happen in Italy or Spain. If Chelsea wins the title, this would mark an end to the domination that Man Utd have had on the premier league in recent times. I wonder which of these scenarios would the die-hard Liverpool fan would love to experience. My message to the faithful Kops: ‘we will not let your great record be broken because you deserve to hold on to it. We’ll retain your honour kops, we’ll beat the Mancs for the title, for you’

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Quite dramatic, isn’t it?

I can’t wait for tomorrow’s match. I truly think that the result of the match would be directly related to the desire of the players. That’s precisely why I predict a Chelsea win. We have only one thing on our minds – win. Whereas Liverpool might want to win but a draw is not a bad result while a defeat is not disastrous. They might lack focus because they could fine with anything – win, draw or lose. Consider this: no Torres, no Skrtel, no Insua, no Aurelio while Ashley Cole is back and John Terry is back for Chelsea. Almost everything – the players’ availability, the players’ quality and ability, managers’ quality and ability, form and morale – everything is in favour of Chelsea. If there is only one thing that’s in favour of Liverpool it is Anfield.

The last time we won at Anfield was in Oct 2005. That was a week after Rafa proclaimed that they have the measure of Chelsea and that Chelsea are afraid of Liverpool. Chelsea beat Liverpool 4-1, at Anfield. One of the best away wins that I had the privilege to witness. Let’s do it again. Let’s beat Liverpool and see Man Utd bottle it against the mighty Sunderland. The moment for the final push has arrived. Let’s make it a blue day!