Gerrard with the passion, Rodallega with the goal-again

It is the game of the season. Surely in the Premier League, and maybe in all of football. Liverpool-City had it all; passion, magnitude, impact on the season, surprise, comebacks and feel good stories. The Clasico that was played just a few weeks ago could take the crown, but this game will surely rival that. The Reds, remembering the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, bossed the first half, running City off the pitch in the first half hour. The Manchester side wasn't helped by the fact that Yaya Toure went off injured around the 20th minute. Sergio Aguero was also injured, although he did come on midway through second half. Alvaro Negredo hasn't had the form he had earlier in the year, so that left the cup to pass to Eden Dzeko; and did he take! The Bosnian played great, second on the Blue squad only to David Silva. Silva scored City's opener, and hit the pass that would deflect in for City's second, as well as being half of a quarter of an inch from scoring the winner, the goal that would have killed many a Liverpool fan. Indeed, City was the better team for most of the second half, but luck fell to the Reds. Vincent Kompany, who played a poor game, shanked an easy clearance. To be fair, Philippe Coutinho's shot was marvelous, and the goal was more about the Brazilian than the Belgian. But when the ball hit the back of the net, Anfield erupted into a roar that has not been heard since 1990. Every Red fan in that stadium believed when the ball hit the net that nothing could stop Liverpool from taking the crown-except Jose Mourinho and his Chelsea side, who visit in two weeks time. And even though Steven Gerrard would tell you otherwise, all eyes in the red side of Liverpool are turning to that fixture. That could cause problems this weekend, where Norwich will be fighting to stay up, the Reds could slip up, and with Chelsea only behind by 2 points, even a draw is potentially very dangerous. In the end, however, Red fans will be playing Kenny Loggins all week, and if they beat, or even draw with, Chelsea, the city of Liverpool might collapse.

Fulham's "Great Escape" is being lead by Hugo Rodallega, on the field, and Felix Mageth, of the field. Rodallega pulled out a winner for the London side, for the second straight week, against Norwich. Now Fulham sits just two points from safety; coincidentally, Norwich sits in the spot just above. This could be one of the great comebacks of Premier League history. It is also interesting to consider the fact that only a few years ago, Fulham were in the Europa League final, losing to Aleti. Now they are fighting for survival.

Arsenal and Hull City both progessed to the FA Cup Final. While the latter's game was thrilling, filled with goals and surprises, the same cannot be said for the Gunner's clash with Wigan. It looked like Wigan was going to continue last year's magic and make another run to the final. Per Mertersacker brought down Callum McMannaman in the box in the 59th minute, which, after some time lapse, led to Jordi Gomez scoring. Mertersacker then equalized, making up for his mistake, heading in a really poor shot from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Fabianski, deputizing for Wojciech Szczesny, became the hero by saving two penalties in the shootout, booking the Gunners ticket to the final. If Arsenal goes and wins the cup, maybe Wenger's job, which looks rather precarious, will be saved.

    

Chelsea Finishes Again

In December, Jose Mourinho complained that his team couldn't finish, and that winning one-nil is "the easiest thing in football." Chelsea were coming off a lackluster November, and had just been bounced from the League Cup by 20th place Sunderland; not good. Arsenal and Manchester City were outshining them, both playing much more beautiful, complete football, despite the fact that both teams had dropped points against the Blues; City had left London with nothing, while Arsenal drew at home, in a dull, pre-Christmas 0-0 match. Chelsea looked set for third.

Now the Blues seems to have one hand on the trophy. With nine points in hand on City, albeit having played three more games, Chelsea is distancing itself from Liverpool, Arsenal and City. They have produced, for two weeks straight, average first halves, and inspired second periods. Both came in London derby's, and both saw one player, first Andre Schurlle, and later Samuel Eto'o, rise to the challenge. Even though, quite famously now, Jose Mourinho continues to deny that Chelsea wants to and has a chance to win the title; but even he has begun to water down that argument, saying that with all the leaders on different game amounts, the title race is still unclear. He still claims that City are the champions-elect; whether this part of Mourinho's infamous mind games or not, it seems overly humble. But outside of the Portuguese's press conferences, many in the press have made a complete 180, declaring the west Londoners the real champions-elect.

Since the start of the New Year, Chelsea hasn't lost a game in the league. They've played 10 games, getting 26 points out of a possible 30. Only Liverpool has had comparable form in 2014. It's easy to see why pundits are changing their views of Chelsea and their season; their wins in the year include Southampton, United, City, Everton and Spurs. They still have to travel Liverpool, and host Arsenal, but their record against the best teams is impressive, losing only to Everton. Chelsea can best be described as a team which plays to their opposition; great against the great teams, mediocre or decent against mid-level teams. Although both Arsenal at home and on the road against Liverpool will be tough games, the rest of the schedule for Chelsea is fairly easy. If the Blues continue to kill off opposition like they have been, the title very well could be in their hands. Also considering the fact that all the other major contenders are soon to face schedule congestion, with Chelsea only involved in two competitions; Liverpool remains in the FA Cup, while City and Arsenal must juggle league, Cup and Champions League action. Chelsea have the advantage of only being involved in two competitions, which limits their tiredness; this must be encouraging for a team that played almost 70 games last year, and went to at least the FA semis and won in Europe over the past two years. Chelsea are set up to challenge for the trophy, in reality, for the first time since winning it in 2010-11.  

Can Mourinho lead Chelsea back to the Promised Land?

Chelsea, in the past two seasons, have not performed in the league to the level that the man above (Roman Abramovich, not God) would have liked; this is evident from the number of managers the club has been through in that period (on their 4th now). Both years, the team had been flying high in the early months of the season, before collapsing in November (that cursed month) and falling into the fight for a UCL spot. It's clear that the team didn't lack the quality to contend for the title, because both years Chelsea succeeded in Europe, the first year winning the Champions League, and last year winning the Europa League, in Amsterdam, against Benfica. At the start of the year, many pundits were predicting the Blues to win the title. While that still looks like a possibilty, Arsenal's stunning play and City's home form has uncovered the crack's in Chelsea's house, and those cracks must be filled if Mourinho wants to win the title. However, the squad, especially under Mourinho, has changed it's outlook almost entirely since last year, and still has the quality to, at the very least, contend with City and Arsenal.

The most noticable difference in Chelsea's change of style from last season is their overall outlook. Under Mourinho, the Blues look now to win games 1-0, 2-0, or, if on the road against a upper-half-of-the-table team, draw 0-0 or 1-1. Mourinho, earlier in the year, called winning 1-0 the "easiest thing in football." One of the problems about Chelsea playing this way is that they don't have the Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto'o or Ronaldo that Mourinho is used to. Mourinho's sides start games by pushing for a goal, and then drawing back into a tight shell that only a coordinated defensive unit can build and maintain. However, without the world class striker to put away early chances, Chelsea are left to defend and hope for chances off the counter. Now, the lack of a forward who can score is made up for by the plethora of world class midfielders, who are more than happy to put their name on the score sheet; Eden Hazard, Oscar and Frank Lampard have all scored more than Fernando Torres and Samuel Eto'o, the main strikers for the team, in the league, while Andre Schurlle has tied Torres' total. Eto'o and Torres haven't brought the consistency that Mourinho would like to see, although at times both have stepped up to help the Blues in big situations, namely Eto'o's winner against Liverpool last Sunday and Torres' winner against City earlier in the season. But I digress; Chelsea have, on the whole this year, played more defensive, and this has lead to Blues not losing at home in the league.This has also led to the alienation of Juan Mata; he just doesn't fit the system. While Eden Hazard has started to become a Ronaldo-esque player, and Oscar resembles Wesley Sneijder, Mata just doesn't have a place. Now Mourinho has told the Spainard that the "door is open" for him to leave, and United, a team rumored have been compiling a deal for him in the summer, are again keeping tabs on him. This is a sad scenario for Chelsea fans, seeing as Mata was voted the club's Player of the Year for the past two years running, and is indeed a high quality player; but Mourinho is ruthless and focused on winning. No time for sentiment apparently.

The Special One has to go out in the January transfer window and fix Chelsea's problems. Rory Smith notes that the Blues need a forward, central midfielder, a center defender and a few fullbacks. I don't fully agree with that opinion, because that while Ashley Cole has had a falling out with Mourinho, he is still a great player; Azpilicueta is also a good backup for Ivanovic. The Blues have two great center defenders, Gary Cahill and John Terry, while David Luiz can fill in for them at times; there they do need some help. But the midfield isn't a problem for Mourinho, and as Oscar has shown, he is a good defensive player and is willing to participate in the defensive effort. The forward spot is obvious. Mark Worrall offers some better suggestions for the Blues in January. Atletico Madrid are reported to be offering in form Diego Costa or Koke in exchange for Thibaut Courtois, the 21 year old Belgian goalkeeper who is touted to be the next star goalie. With Petr Cech only 31, he could certainly tender the nets for the Blues for 5 or 6 more years; however, giving up such a bright prospect for an immediate answer to the striker problem seems a little irrational. It would however solve the problem of juggling Cech and Courtois, as the Belgian has been on loan at Atletico for 4 years, and surely wants a more stable atmosphere. All in all, this transfer window and the deals that Chelsea does, or doesn't, make in it will determine whether this season is a building one or a title one.

On the whole, Chelsea have the quality to at the very least contend for the title. Although they may not finish the task this season, the Blues have built the foundation of a title winning team for years to come. Jose Mourinho still has cracks to fill, for sure, but with the money of Roman Abrahmovich behind you, and the smarts of a two time European Champion in your head, Chelsea fans should be expectant and looking forward to years of high quality football.