On Sunday we face Liverpool and regardless of how we perform in Cyprus tomorrow evening, Ancellotti will have to have a back-up plan ready.
We all understand that no team can properly survive going a man down and behind at the same time. If the game had been at the Bridge perhaps a bit of vocal superiority might have tipped the balance and brought about an equaliser.
Hopefully the need for changes won`t be apparent. We have seen the “Diamond-Geezer” formation, as I like to call it, work to great effect. Although we are not scoring as freely as we`d like to there is an emphasis on attack and an Arsenal-esque style of walking the ball into the net. We`ve also noticed the lack of width from the Blues. Ashley and Bosingwa are playing incredibly but we can`t ask them to play defender and winger for 90 minutes twice a week.
Against Liverpool this formation will be tested. Their defence is shaky; Carragher still hasn`t retired and could score in his own net at any moment, Johnson is still on A in his alphabet for Attack while B for Brain, C for Communication and D for Defence are next year`s lessons. However, if we decide to wear them down and pass the ball too much then we are open to counter attacks from the fast players on their team. We saw that a good defence is a good offence (pardon the Americanism!) when we beat Spurs but it won`t work every time.
Cast your minds back to pre-season against Inter and AC Milan. Drogba was firing in shots from anywhere, similar to his beauty against the Pool a couple of years ago. If we can allow Joey, Yuri or even Kalou to take charge of the top of the diamond while Lampard, Essien and Ballack control the middle of the park then there`s no reason why we can`t give Reina a torrid time from close range or distance.
It sounds obvious but the game will be decided by who scores the most. You can bet that Torres will punish us on at least one occasion, Kuyt likely to head in a dubious corner/free kick. If Lampard can start looking like his former self, Joey can run rings around Carragher and Drogba/Anelka shoot every time they have a chance then I think we`ll win the game 3-2!
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