“It is a difficult, difficult game especially how it has been these past few weeks but we cannot be worried about the title race, because that was only possible for a short period of time.
Three points against the champions elect will be a huge boost for a side that has unexpectedly slumped in form and results since the turn of the year, after blitzing through the first half of 2016/17 in dramatic fashion. Worse yet, the 38-year-old Spaniard – a diehard Red to this day following three successful seasons on Merseyside – is concerned that opposition teams have now found a weakness to exploit in Klopp’s masterplan.
“The intensity of the team was always high and that has been lacking the past couple of games. The pressure and pressing is not the same as it was a month ago. When the team goes forward it breaks a little bit, leaving a lot of spaces like we saw against Wolves. It leaves just three at the back and we now struggle against counter attacks. Teams know that and wait for the chances.”
With Chelsea the arch-practitioners of the counter, it doesn’t bode well for Liverpool, especially when added to the increasing suspicion that the chief reason gegenpressing Liverpool have taken their foot off the accelerator of late is due to them having blown a gasket through fatigue. It’s a suspicion that Garcia shares.
“The players are tired because of so many games. It is true that they have to change, but not that much, because the players would be asking why after only a few bad results. They need to keep going the same way but maybe find someone who can help in the middle of the park, because they are struggling there with all the injuries.”
“The high intensity they have shown in the last few months has been unbelievable. They have been working very hard and running so hard for seventy, eighty minutes all season. I watched them pre-season and saw how hard they were training.
The Reds can at least expect a passionate, packed-to-the-rafters Anfield this week to urge them through the pain barrier, given the enormity of the fixture and who their opponents are. In recent years a fierce rivalry has spawned between both clubs after a string of controversial meetings through the 2000s. The most debated incident of all involved Garcia himself, after his ‘ghost goal’ in a Champions League semi-final was wrongly adjudged to have crossed the line. The likable ex-winger chuckles at the memory now before admitting that the North/South acrimony still persists.
“Even though Manchester United and Everton are the rivals, Chelsea are the team to beat. We played against them a lot in that first year; in the Carling Cup, the FA Cup, the League, and then we found ourselves paired with them in the Champions League as well. They were the rivals and every game was a difficult one. We were lucky enough to pip them in a couple of semi-finals.”
It will be a must-win game for Liverpool, who will have to entertain Chelsea without one of their influential players, as Tuesday unfortunately looks to be one match too early to welcome back dazzling talent out wide Sadio Mane. His absence due to AFCON duties has been sorely felt by Liverpool, with many claiming it to be the biggest reason for their sudden slide into crisis.
“We cannot hide that situation. Of course Sadio is a very important player because of all that he brings to the team. His speed, the goals and assists: he is a big part of the team and we have struggled without him. It is vital that he returns very soon.”
“It is easy to talk about poor planning and why we didn’t think about having another player like him, but if you look back a month we were all expecting that the team would continue the same way. We never thought we could miss just one player and that the team would drop off so much.”
Though Mane has undoubtedly been missed in the attacking third, it is at the back where Liverpool’s real concerns lie, with Garcia candidly wishing for a leader at the back to organise the troops. Back in his pomp there was Gerrard – “I cannot see why he will not be the manager of Liverpool one day” – orchestrating matters in the centre circle, and Carragher barking instructions across the back-line. Now there appears only to be confusion.
“I miss that leadership. Carragher and Hyypia were very important and players, like Lovren and Klavan are, but they don’t have the character that those two had. They are new and to become an important player in a team like Liverpool takes time, but we are missing those type of players.”
“Carragher was a shouter on the pitch and always telling you what to do and where to go on the field. Off it he was a talker and it was always about football. Liverpool need that type of player right now – someone to wake them up.”
- BET NOW ON LIVERPOOL VS CHELSEA
