What a difference a week makes. Last Saturday at Wigan, Didier Drogba was labelling it the worst performance since he had been at Chelsea. Now he embarks on international duty on top of the league and happy.
It was more as a rampaging wide man than a centre-forward that the Ivorian made a big difference against Liverpool, crossing from the left for Nicolas Anelka's opener and then leaving Jamie Carragher and Fabio Aurelio trailing to set-up Florent Malouda for the second.
That consigned the Merseysiders to their second defeat in six days and with it being Manchester United's turn to struggle on a Saturday, doing what Chelsea haven't this season in dropping home points, now we have a two-point lead.
'Last season we were not champions because we lost so many points at home, and especially against the big teams,' noted Drogba as he began his reflections on Sunday's Stamford Bridge triumph. 'So it is good to start the battles against the top teams this season and win it.
'After the defeat at Wigan it was very important to see a reaction and all the players wanted to show that it was just one mistake. We still had the frustration today and after the first goal we scored I think we were playing better.'
As well as the two goals there was a clean sheet - credit to some exemplary defending and an unflappable Hilario behind them.
'We have seen Hilario playing before and he is not our second goalkeeper for nothing, commended Drogba. 'He has got quality and we are very confident when he is playing so for us it was normal for him to do this kind of game.'
Though the final score looks comfortable, and Liverpool were restricted in chances with two of their best coming in the final 10 minutes, the game was as finely balanced as many were anticipating beforehand. However in what was built up as Drogba v. Torres, there was no doubting who came out on top in that contest.
'It was a difficult game as always but tactically it was a very good game for both teams,' Drogba said.
'It is always a difficult game for me when I play against players like Carragher and Skrtel, and Liverpool in general, and to be part of the goals is good for me.
'I always say it is not the most important thing to score goals. Of course I would love to score every time I play but this game we won and you see smiles on all the faces.
'You could see at the end of the game that we were really happy and the spirit is fantastic. We are going to go away with the national teams now knowing we are top of the league and that is very important.'
05 October 2009
03 October 2009
ANCELOTTI: SELECTIVE AMNESIA
Carlo Ancelotti will be renewing rivalries with a familiar European opponent in Rafa Benitez on Sunday, who he believes is one of the game's great tacticians.
The pair famously met in the Champions League Finals of 2005 and 2007, while the Italian was in charge of AC Milan, sharing one win apiece.
The 2005 Final is one of the most memorable in recent years, as Milan led 3-0 at half-time before Liverpool's amazing comeback earned a penalty shootout victory, while two years later the Rossoneri gained revenge with a 2-1 win in Athens.
'I don't remember 2005!' Ancelotti joked. 'If you want I can remember 2007! Maybe Rafa remembers 2005, and doesn't remember 2007!'
Thinking back to that evening in Istanbul four years ago, the 50-year-old considers lessons to have been learned from it, which helps remove the pain of the memories.
'I have no pain if I remember this. In football difficult moments can be good for improving, and that was for sure a difficult moment,' he said.
'When you arrive in the final you can win or lose. We lost that unbelievable game. One of the best matches of Milan in my experience was that Final. We lost, it remains a memory. Not a positive one but not so negative.
'2007 was destiny, a return after two years for revenge against Liverpool. For us it was fantastic and I think we were sure to win that game.'
That was the last time Ancelotti came up against Benitez, and he is looking forward to another tactical battle at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
'The teams of Benitez [have] very good organisation, above all defensive organisation and work very well to win the ball,' he analysed. 'I like his kind of work, his team was very difficult to play against. This was because they didn't concede opportunities in his defence and I hope it will be easier in the match on Sunday.'
Ancelotti has already spoken of the importance of nullifying Fernando Torres in the Liverpool attack, but is hoping that it is with the ball where we make improvements from our last two games, against Wigan and APOEL.
'The problem we met in the last game was possession of the ball was too soft,' he admitted. 'We have to improve the speed of our possession, only this. We have to speed the passing up, and forwards.'
One man who could help with this is Joe Cole, who is now fully operational with the rest of the squad. The 27-year-old will no doubt be eager to find out if he has earned a recall into the England squad after tomorrow's game. Ancelotti sees no reason why Fabio Capello could not pick the playmaker.
'I think that Joe Cole is working now in the team, he is doing all the training with the team. He didn't play, only against Queens Park Rangers, but if Capello wants to call him, he is ready,' he confirmed.
The pair famously met in the Champions League Finals of 2005 and 2007, while the Italian was in charge of AC Milan, sharing one win apiece.
The 2005 Final is one of the most memorable in recent years, as Milan led 3-0 at half-time before Liverpool's amazing comeback earned a penalty shootout victory, while two years later the Rossoneri gained revenge with a 2-1 win in Athens.
'I don't remember 2005!' Ancelotti joked. 'If you want I can remember 2007! Maybe Rafa remembers 2005, and doesn't remember 2007!'
Thinking back to that evening in Istanbul four years ago, the 50-year-old considers lessons to have been learned from it, which helps remove the pain of the memories.
'I have no pain if I remember this. In football difficult moments can be good for improving, and that was for sure a difficult moment,' he said.
'When you arrive in the final you can win or lose. We lost that unbelievable game. One of the best matches of Milan in my experience was that Final. We lost, it remains a memory. Not a positive one but not so negative.
'2007 was destiny, a return after two years for revenge against Liverpool. For us it was fantastic and I think we were sure to win that game.'
That was the last time Ancelotti came up against Benitez, and he is looking forward to another tactical battle at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
'The teams of Benitez [have] very good organisation, above all defensive organisation and work very well to win the ball,' he analysed. 'I like his kind of work, his team was very difficult to play against. This was because they didn't concede opportunities in his defence and I hope it will be easier in the match on Sunday.'
Ancelotti has already spoken of the importance of nullifying Fernando Torres in the Liverpool attack, but is hoping that it is with the ball where we make improvements from our last two games, against Wigan and APOEL.
'The problem we met in the last game was possession of the ball was too soft,' he admitted. 'We have to improve the speed of our possession, only this. We have to speed the passing up, and forwards.'
One man who could help with this is Joe Cole, who is now fully operational with the rest of the squad. The 27-year-old will no doubt be eager to find out if he has earned a recall into the England squad after tomorrow's game. Ancelotti sees no reason why Fabio Capello could not pick the playmaker.
'I think that Joe Cole is working now in the team, he is doing all the training with the team. He didn't play, only against Queens Park Rangers, but if Capello wants to call him, he is ready,' he confirmed.
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