01 February 2024 , 07:35
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If things had worked out differently, Moises Caicedo would have been lining up against Chelsea instead of for them on Wednesday night as Liverpool ’s record £110million signing.
But Caicedo turned down the move to Anfield from Brighton because he wanted to sign for Chelsea and the Ecuador star joined them for a British record £115million. Jurgen Klopp claims Liverpool were “lucky” to miss out on him, and Romeo Lavia, because summer signings Endo, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis MacAllister and Ryan Gravenberch have done so well.
Mauricio Pochettino predicted before last night that Caicedo would begin to show why Liverpool and Chelsea wanted him so much. That prediction fell flat like Chelsea as Caicedo wilted under the unbearable pressure of Liverpool’s press.
He was not able to anchor Chelsea’s midfield, as he has increasingly done in recent games, because Liverpool snapped at him like crazed Viking berserkers. Klopp won last night’s argument and MacAllister and Co shone in the midfield battle.
Caicedo’s night was summed up when he became the first player to be booked for complaining too much within earshot of referee Paul Tierney when he conceded a free-kick. At 22, Caicedo has time on his side and maybe be can blossom and become one of the world’s best midfielders as Pochettino thinks he can.
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That’s a few years down the line and in the meantime he must wonder if he was wise to snub Liverpool in favour of Chelsea. Anfield clearly thinks not and they booed him mercilessly when he was subbed just after Liverpool made it 3-0.
By that stage, goals from Diogo Jota, Conor Bradley and Szoboszlai had already put the game beyond the visitors. Christopher Nkunku was able to score a consolation, but Luis Diaz wrapped up the demolition job a few minutes later.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Who was man of the match as Liverpool smashed Chelsea? Comment below.
Caicedo flopped badly against Liverpool's midfield (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)Chelsea boss Pochettino made no excuses for his side's dismal performance. He insisted they needed to find confidence when playing away from Stamford Bridge, with no member of his side up to the level required on Wednesday night.
"It’s not about finding excuses. I think the performance was worse from us. They deserved to win, they were better than us. Being honest we didn’t perform in the way that we wanted to perform. They were better than us from the first action," he said.
"It was so clear, they were more aggressive than us. For us it was difficult to connect and to play and always when we recovered the ball with our first or second touch we gave it away again so easily. They won all the duels, I just think they competed better.
"In all the areas they were better than us, that is why they won. In the second half at 2-0 there was the big chance for Mudryk. If he scored maybe that would start to build our confidence and we would play better.
"Also with the penalty in the action on Nkunku, maybe we would be in the game at 2-2 at that point. But even if we scored both of those and got a draw I would be disappointed because our performance wasn’t great.
"We need to be more confident in ourselves. Now we are improving at home, at Stamford Bridge, which was a big problem last season, but now we need to feel confident also performing away from home. But it is a matter of time."