Chelsea reach FA Cup quarter finals.

Chelsea reach FA Cup quarter finals

For Chelsea this has been a season of rich discoveries and positive experimentation. While the rest of the Premier League clubs continue to entrust their immediate futures at the feet of foreign players, Chelsea have turned back to more domestic roots for their continued welfare and success. Of course the widespread influence of European, African and South American footballers will always be welcomed with open arms. But the fact remains that bright and vibrant homegrown British talent has to be regarded as a fundamental necessity.

On Monday night the Chelsea of Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Callum- Hudson Odoi and, above all, the remarkable 18 year old Billy Gilmour had given Frank Lampard's new fangled, predominantly English attacking squad a healthy and avantgarde look. It was a throwback to the days of Stamford Bridge's favourite son Ray Wilkins when the West London conveyor belt at Chelsea also furnished the team with those other 1970s boulevardiers  such as Charlie Cooke, Peter Osgood, Alan Hudson, Mickey Droy, Ian Hutchinson and Peter Bonetti.

But in the fifth round of this year's FA Cup, Chelsea rudely dented Liverpool's all conquering Premier League season by shoving the now Premier League champions elect out of this year's FA Cup. It was one of those evenings when you just knew that something totally out of the ordinary would happen because that's what the FA Cup does when you least expect it. Sometimes the FA Cup creeps up on you when perhaps you weren't looking and just surprises you.

On Saturday Liverpool arrived at Vicarage Road and assumed quite unnecessarily that all they had to do was to turn up on the day and hand out a customary hammering of Watford. What they couldn't have foreseen was a resounding 3-0 defeat at the hands of the buzzing Hornets. One jolt to the nervous system later Liverpool gave their convincing impersonation of a team slightly shaken and leaden footed by a severe body blow.

Fully hooded up and wrapped in his grey track suit, the bearded and bespectacled Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool's very likeable German boss, must have been privately cursing, muffling obscenities under his breath, wishing it was May and the Premier League was theirs to hold and cherish. Shortly though that Premier League title will almost certainly be Liverpool's for the taking and it could be in their possession sooner rather than later.

And yet on Monday evening Klopp's free flowing, fluent and utterly sophisticated Liverpool were once again left to hang out to dry by a Chelsea side full of worldly passing sequences, precision engineering and startling breakaways when Liverpool occasionally threatened to stamp their control on the game. In the early opening exchanges of the season when the August and September sunshine burnished us with very late tanning bursts, Chelsea blew Wolves away at Molineux and then proceeded to lose three home games as the season progressed.

But this year Chelsea moved into the quarter finals of this season's FA Cup with a trip to Leicester City at the King Power Stadium. Now the jury is still out on Chelsea because at sporadic moments during their Premier League season they seemed to have quite obviously flattered to deceive. After putting on trial a variety of Italians and a seemingly egotistical managerial genius by the name of Jose Mourinho, this now was the right time to go back to one of their own. It looks as though Chelsea will now finish the season quite impressively with a top six place almost guaranteed.

When Frank Lampard was a player under Jose Mourinho he would spend most of the games in a deeply advanced midfield attacking role, always looking for the unstoppable shot from distance before breaking cleverly into the penalty area and then scoring a whole host of goals with a splendid sense of timing. As manager Lampard is still very much the sorcerer's apprentice, mixing and matching his responsive youngsters while all the time devising new schemes and formulas for achieving maximum consistency.

Not for the first time this season the defensive bedrock of Kurt Zouma, Antonio Rudiger and Marcos Alonso spread utter composure and steadiness around their defence, gently carrying the ball out of defence and spotting colleagues with sure footed class. It was in midfield though where one young man stood head and shoulders above the rest and another ensured absolute visibility when some might have forgotten all about him.

There was 18 year old Billy Gilmour, fresh faced, angelic, confidence personified, full of vim, verve and fizzing vitality. Gilmour was the perfect connecting link in Chelsea's midfield, poised in possession, switching the play swiftly and craftily from one side of the pitch to the other while acutely aware of where his colleagues were going and creating space for those around him to run into.

Then there was Ross Barkley, surely one of the most well balanced, thoughtful and perceptive midfield players England has produced in recent times. When he was introduced to the Everton faithful as a teenage prodigy some of us predicted great things of Barkley. Frustratingly for both England and now Chelsea Barkley has faded from view after niggling injuries which have completely disrupted his career.

And yet with both Barkley, Gilmour and the ever streetwise Pedro fuelling the Chelsea engine room, this FA Cup contest against Liverpool was a convenient opportunity for the home side to demonstrate the natural skills they've always possessed both on and off the ball. Chelsea shifted the ball around a red wall of Liverpool shirts with a smoothness and panache that we always knew they had. There was an easy going rotation about their passing that reminded you of some of Dave Sexton's attractive Chelsea sides during the 1970s.

After a dazzling number of diagonal crossfield passes which sliced open both teams defences with frequent threats on goal. it was Chelsea who signalled their first intent on the game. There was a good deal of artistic dabbing and prodding from the Chelsea attack with Marcos Alonso sprinting down the flank, mischievously hovering around the Liverpool goal on more than one occasion.

Then there were the winning goals for the home side. Half way through the first half the Brazilian Willian, after a speculative shot from distance that was well saved by Liverpool goalkeeper Adrian, set his sights on goal again. A short and sweet period of lightning quick passes eventually fell to Willian who sent a powerful shot goalwards and although Adrian got a hand to it, he couldn't keep out the Willian thunderbolt.

During the second half Liverpool did suggest something of the attacking majesty that had served them so well throughout the Premier League season would not to be denied. For a while Neco Williams, Joe Gomez and Andrew Robertson began to ruffle blue Chelsea feathers but then looked as though they hadn't put enough in the petrol tank. Fabinho and the always quick thinking Adam Lallana did look as though Chelsea would not be having their way after all.

With minutes to go Chelsea's attacking artillery would stoke up one more all out, sustained attack. The passes were gathering in force, blue outwitting red with eye catching movements. Then the man who could still provide England manager Gareth Southgate with a very persuasive case for European Championship inclusion in Euro 2020 this summer, scored one of the goals of the season so far.

Ross Barkley, picking the ball up on the half way line, hunched his shoulders, kept and held the ball with an almost propietorial air, shrugging off defenders insolently and then running with the ball at top speed towards the Liverpool goal. Barkley knew what he was going to do and so did the rest of us. He ran and ran before looking up briefly on the edge of the Liverpool penalty area and then firing a low, accurately struck shot that was in the back of the Liverpool net before Adrian, the Liverpool keeper had had time to adjust himself.  Game over and Liverpool out of the FA Cup.

While never a mini season crisis, Liverpool have now received back to back defeats and it would seem that the team who once single handedly dominated English football with umpteen League titles, will have to content themselves with just one trophy. It's been exactly 30 years now and if Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley are watching this Liverpool from heavenly heights then maybe they would have regarded the FA Cup as a luxury anyway. Even Jurgen Klopp could be forgiven this minor blip.