FA Cup Final - Chelsea Triumph Again

Chelsea Football Club continue their monopoly of England's premier cup competition, landing their 4th FA  Cup in 6 seasons at Wembley today. Their 2-1 win may be attributed to some degree of fortune, withstanding Liverpool's late surge towards their own fans, but overall it was a merited victory. So, just where was the game won and lost?

Experience

Liverpool looked a little nervous and apprehensive, something which will worry Kenny Dalglish as this was their third trip to the national stadium this term. Jay Spearing was hopeless in midfield and made two poor errors in both Chelsea goals, but defensively they were uncharacteristically shaky. Enrique and Reina made bad mistakes in the opener, and in contrast Chelsea's men did their jobs well. Perhaps this was down to experience, with the Chelsea players boasting numerous trophies while Liverpool's highest successor only has three victories - Steven Gerrard.

Lampard vs Gerrard

There was only one winner in this contest, and it was vitally important to the outcome of the game. Gerrard has never scored in a game where he has lined up against his fellow England midfielder, and furthermore Lampard has proven a constant thorn in Gerrard's side. The pair first met in 1999 when the then young West Ham midfielder inspired a shock 1-0 win for the Hammers, and since then the pair have met 30 times with Gerrard only tasting victory 8 times. This game, on the biggest stage of all, was simply a further example of Frank's dominance. Gerrard failed to impact on the game, drifting all over the place but to no avail. Lampard, in contrast, stuck manfully to his task of dominating the middle of the part, and did it with aplomb. His pass to Drogba in the build up to the second goal summed it up, the vision and unselfishness which has become a hallmark of his game this season shown perfectly.

Dalglish's Errors

Andy Carroll should have started, no doubt about it. But, there was more to it than just personel, Liverpool's tactics left a lot to be desired. Matching Chelsea in a 4-2-3-1 formation, there was simply no structure whatsoever. Gerrard, Downing and Bellamy drifted all over the place and this does not help the balance of the team. Henderson was completely anonymous, and this left youngster Spearing to cover the middle of the wide Wembley pitch on his own. The Liverpool academy product is only 23 and with only 30 odd league appearances it was ridiculous of Dalglish to leave him this task. Is there any real plan of action with the Scotsman in charge? There was a serious lack of tactics on show from Liverpool, and sadly for them it's been a re-occurring theme for a long time now.

So, Chelsea roll onto Munich with the FA Cup safely back in their trophy cabinet, where is almost seems to belong this season. For Liverpool, it's ultimately been a poor season, despite the Carling Cup win. It's sure to be an interesting close-season at Anfield.

HA