Chelsea vs. Liverpool: Grading the Chelsea Players

Going into the game, Liverpool had only lost once in the last five meetings against Chelsea. 

Today, their 2-1 win over Chelsea, which was an ordinary performance at best, heaped more misery for Chelsea supporters. 

José Mourinho's Chelsea used to play ordinary football yet he won. 

André Villas-Boas' Chelsea is not only playing ordinary football but the defending is shoddy and his team is losing.

If Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool have beaten Chelsea, what is Manchester City going to do?

Here are the grades for Chelsea players. Comment below with your opinion.  

Goalkeeper: Petr Čech

Grade: B

Petr Čech wasn't at fault for any of the goals and was a bystander for most of the game. 

Liverpool only shot three times at goal, two of which hit the back of the net. 

Right Back: Branislav Ivanović

Grade: B-

Branislav Ivanović was the best out of the defenders, though it's like being the least fattest kid at fat camp, not exactly high praise. 

One concern is him giving away cheap possession. 

Centre Back: John Terry

Grade: D

John Terry's defending throughout the game was mediocre, like diving in on Craig Bellamy only for the Welshman to put Maxi through on goal. 

Then Terry was outfoxed by Jordan Henderson in the latter stages of the game. 

It's Terry's leadership of this incompetent, confused, pathetic and underperforming back four which is the main issue. 

When David Luiz attempted to play the offside trap in the 44th minute, Branislav Ivanović playing Liverpool onside showed how off sync the defenders are under Terry's leadership. 

Terry isn't the problem, it is more so André Villas-Boas. 

Centre Back: David Luiz

Grade: D

David Luiz's careless defending has always been a liability and will continue to be a liability for Chelsea. 

In the 40th minute, he holds onto the ball too long, loses it and then brings down Charlie Adam. 

Four minutes later, he takes a look at Luis Suárez, and then attempts to play the offside trap even though Branislav Ivanović was behind Suárez. 

Suárez nutmegging Luiz in the 78th minute summed up the Brazilian's night. 

Remember...this was a Suárez that didn't really play that well except against Luiz. That is a concern. 

Though on the positives, he didn't make a mistake which led to a goal. 

Left Back: Ashley Cole

Grade: C-

Ashley Cole was ordinary in attack, didn't deliver many incisive crosses and made the crucial mistake in allowing Glen Johnson to beat him, which ultimately lost Chelsea the game. 

Holding Midfielder: John Obi Mikel

Grade: F

John Obi Mikel hardly got himself into the game and to make matters worse, the Nigerian uncharacteristically dibble dabbled in possession which led to Liverpool's opener. 

André Villas-Boas boldly substituted Mikel at halftime, but one wonders if it was a tactical move or a decision made out of pure frustration. 

Centre Midfielder: Ramires

Grade: B+

Ramires was his usual industrious self making six successful tackles, two interceptions and cleared the ball twice when Liverpool were at threat to score. 

Centre Midfielder: Frank Lampard

Grade: C+

Frank Lampard didn't affect the game today and looking at his chalkboard, all his incisive passes were unsuccessful, which is why Didier Drogba was so anonymous. 

Left Forward: Florent Malouda

Grade: B

Florent Malouda took advantage of Glen Johnson's hesitation and his fortuitous shot-come-pass assisted Daniel Sturridge for Chelsea's equalizer. 

I thought this was the best of Malouda in quite some time, even with his gilt-edged miss, but he was lively. 

Chelsea need to play incisive football. 

Centre Forward: Didier Drogba

Grade: D

Missing in action. 

Time to give Romelu Lukaku a chance or play Daniel Sturridge as the centre forward. 

Right Forward: Juan Mata

Grade: B+

Juan Mata is what makes this team tick, he orchestrates play, he has the vision to make incisive passes, he makes plays. 

He's situated out on the flanks yet he never plays there. He constantly drifts into the centre so essentially there is no marking on the flanks so José Enrique got a pass. 

Play Mata centrally. 

Substitutes

Daniel Sturridge: B-  Selfish and it's so evident that he doesn't want any part playing out on the flanks. There is no connection between him and the forward line or him and the team. It's just pass the ball to Sturridge and he'll either dribble the ball and stop play or he'll take a shot. 

I think it's time now to play him centrally because he still scores even though he's situated out wide. How many could he score if he was playing centrally? 

Raul Meireles: N/A | He should have started in midfield. As soon as he came on, his passes were crisp and all but two of his eight passes were what you'd define as narrow passes. 

Fernando Torres: N/A | I would have started the Spaniard because why not give him the chance to prove himself against his old club? 

Please also read Biggest Mistakes in World Football History.