Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers left frustrated by Chelsea’s defensive tactics
LIVERPOOL boss Brendan Rodgers is left frustrated by Jose Mourinho’s negative tactics, saying Chelsea ‘parked two buses’ at Anfield.
LIVERPOOL boss Brendan Rodgers suggested that Chelsea had ‘parked two buses’ after seeing his side go down 2-0 to their title rivals at Anfield.
The Reds were left frustrated with their inability to break down Chelsea’s resolute defence, with Liverpool failing to find the back of the net despite having a whopping 73 per cent of possession.
Both of Chelsea’s goals came against the run of play, with Demba Ba scoring the opener after swooping on a slip up by Steven Gerrard, and Willian scoring the second deep into stoppage time after he and Fernando Torres had a two on one with Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.
GERRARD BLUNDER RE-OPENS TITLE RACE
“Congratulations to Chelsea, they won the game, we just couldn’t find the breakthrough,” Rodgers told Sky Sports.
“They obviously sat very deep. I think there were two buses parked today, never mind one.
“It was like a back six with three midfield players in front of that. That’s 10, with the goalkeeper, for 90 minutes consistently behind the ball.
“Unless you get that early goal, it doesn’t entice them to come out. It was clear that they’d come certainly not wanting to win the game, with the time-wasting and whatnot.”
It was a situation that was tailor made for Jose Mourinho and the Portuguese manager played his role to perfection, clearly instructing his players to run down the clock at every opportunity.
Mourinho made no apologies for his negative tactics.
“It was about winning. We deserved to win, no doubt about it. It’s as simple as this,” he said.
“A defensive display? I’m a bit confused with what the media thinks about defensive displays, I’m a bit confused.
“When a team defends well you call it defensive display when they defend bad and concede two or three you don’t consider defensive display. The team played brilliantly. It was a fantastic performance by my players.”
Unsurprisingly Rodgers wasn’t as pleased with Chelsea’s tactics, whether they were defensive or not.
“I don’t think it’s a tactic,” Rodgers said. “Anyone can ask a team to just sit back and defend on the edge of the box.
“It’s the nature of how Chelsea play. They’ve got some wonderful players but they play a defensive game and hope to hit you on the counter-attack or with a mistake.”
Regardless of the result, and the fact it brought Chelsea right back into the title race, just two points behind Liverpool, Mourinho insisted only two teams have a chance of being champions — and he’s not the manager of either of them.
“We’re back in nothing,” Mourinho said. “At this moment we are almost third. With Everton’s defeat (on Saturday) we were automatically qualified for the Champions League.
“Now with these three points we need one point to finish third. Champions are only one (team) and the champions will be City or Liverpool.”