Halftime Thoughts--Liverpool vs. Chelsea

• I miss Tommy Smyth and Derek Rae on the call. I’m assuming they’ll be working the Manchester United-Barcelona game tomorrow, but I’m not sure why they couldn’t do this game as well…

• The first shot on goal came nearly eight minutes in, and it was a relatively slow dribbler from Steven Gerrard. One shot in eight minutes, and a low-quality shot at that, isn’t exactly a good sign of things to come.

• Chelsea dominated possession in the first ten minutes, with Liverpool content to sit back and not waste energy chasing the ball around.

• Dirk Kuyt, of all players, had the best chance in the first quarter of an hour. Chelsea has looked absolutely woeful going forward thus far, relying on set pieces to pump balls into the box.

• Liverpool had the better of the second ten minutes, no question.

• Once again, Drogba just doesn’t look motivated to play, which is inexcusable seeing as this is a Champions League semifinal. Drogba won’t be at the Bridge next season, and has had a poor first half today.

• Good opportunity for Joe Cole right on 18 minutes; that obviously would’ve been an invaluable away goal for the Blues. A few inches taller and he may have connected with that slide.

• A second chance for Cole in the 21st minute went begging…that was a weak, weak stab at the ball. Get up, young man!

• Glad to see Tom Hicks in attendance today. The man shouldn’t be frightened off by the Scousers; he owns the club, he has every right to watch his team play. Surprised he and Gillett haven’t gone at it yet though!

• No penalty on the Drogba/Carragher incident in the 29th minute. Ball first, then man is legal; the referee made the correct decision.

• Lovely through ball from Gerrard to Torres in the 31st minute, good save from Cech, but Torres really should’ve done better and put Liverpool up 1-0. Best chance of the game went wasted.

• Another weak effort from Gerrard two minutes later; he’s certainly capable of pulling one out of the magic hat as we all know, but hasn’t come close yet today.

• Kuyt with the goal?!? Kuyt? We all know he works harder than anyone, but he doesn’t have much in the way of natural talent. Cool, cool finish though; must’ve made a guy like Torres proud.

• They said it would be like watching paint dry or grass grow, and aside from a few brief moments, they were right. Both teams are tactically sound and don’t give much away. Liverpool-1, Chelsea-0 – in all honestly, a fair scoreline.