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{ Liverpool failed to make it a winning start to Kenny Dalglish's European managerial career in charge of the club after being held to a goalless draw against Sparta Prague.

Both sides produced poor performances in the Czech capital and the 0-0 outcome leaves this Europa League tie in the balance ahead of the second leg at Anfield.

The visitors started strongly and looked comfortable in possession of the ball. They retained possession well, much to the annoyance of the home supporters, who made their feelings known about Sparta's start.

Liverpool tested the home defence early on as Fabio Aurelio sent in a dangerous looking free-kick but Sotirios Kyrgiakos could not get himself on the end of it.

Kwueke had the first attempt on goal for the home side but his speculative effort from 25 yards did not trouble Pepe Reina and summed up the hosts' rusty start.

The visitors were hardly tested by the Czech side and their only problems seemed to come from their own doing.

A mix-up between Aurelio and Raul Meireles allowed Kwueke to pick up the ball and have a free run at the heart of Liverpool’s centre-backs. The big striker then released Andrej Keric on the right for his side's first sight of goal but the winger's shot was aimed harmlessly wide.

But, as the half wore on, the home side began to brush the cobwebs of their winter break away and they got a grip on proceedings.

It was down Liverpool’s right-hand side where they had some joy as Martin Abena released Manuel Pamic on the overlap and the full-back's cross across the face of goal was pushed away from danger by Reina.

After dominating possession in the opening stages, it was now Liverpool who could not get hold of the ball and Sparta began to dominate proceedings.

They looked to get at Liverpool down the flanks and this time it was the right back Ondrej Kusnir who  used his pace to try and get into the Liverpool box but he collided with Aurelio on the edge of the box. Despite the home fans loud appeals, German referee Floria Meyer waved play on.

This was not in the script for Kenny Daldlish’s side and even the ever reliable keeper Reina looked shaky as he dropped a cross from the right and the loose ball drops Pamic, but he could not find the target.

It was all Prague as Marek Matejovsky was next to go close but his effort brought a last ditch block from Kyrgiakos.

Things did not get any better for Liverpool when Dalglish was forced into a change just before the break when Joe Cole was brought on for the injured Aurelio and the change nearly made an instant impact as Cole played in David Ngog.

The French striker managed to get a shot away but it was easily blocked by the home defence.

While Liverpool were not at their best in the first period Dalglish would have been happy with the clean sheet and would have been hoping for more from his side going forward.

But the second half began much like the first with the Reds having a good share of possession but not looking penetrative enough with the ball.

The game was being played at a snail's pace and no side really looked interested in getting the goal which might give them a decisive advantage going into the second leg.

Glen Johnson tried to inject some pace into the match with a driving run down the right but his cross was easily plucked out of the air by Jaromir Blazek for his first real touch of the game.

It was the England full-back who had Liverpool's first shot on goal in the 70th minute but his stab at goal drifted wide of the far post.

This brought a ripple of noise from the brave travelling Liverpool support who urged their side on to go and grab a winner.

But someone in the crowd had other ideas and a cloud of smoke, from a flare released in the crowd, covered the pitch. Liverpool keeper Reina disappeared amongst the white cloud for a while but after a few minutes the smoke cleared and the referee got the game back underway.

The pause in proceedings seem to benefit the home side and with the fans urging them forward, Kwueke hit a shot on the turn but he failed to make a clean connection and Reina saved easily down to his left.

Prague tried in vain to get a goal in the last 10 minutes as first Matejovsky and then Kweuke went close but Liverpool held on to leave the tie evenly poised ahead of the return match next week.

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Agences de presses

Labels: Clarke, Dalglish, Getty, Goalcom, images, Kenny, Steve

{ ANALYSIS
By Wayne Veysey | Chief Correspondent

As the weeks roll by, expectations at Chelsea recede. From nailed-on Premier League champions in the autumn to title hopefuls in the winter to mere fourth place aspirants before we have even turned off our central heating.

The descent of Carlo Ancelotti’s team in the last three months has been remarkable, and prolonged enough to put the future of the manager and the club’s most celebrated players in doubt.

The mainstays of the team for the past seven seasons have been given notice they are no longer ‘untouchable’, to borrow one of Jose Mourinho’s best soundbites.

Didier Drogba was the fall guy against Fulham on Monday night to accommodate new £50 million man Fernando Torres up front; John Terry has been told that he might have to prepare for a future of rotation to ease the pain on his creaking body; Michael Essien and Frank Lampard have suffered severe dips in form and fitness this season.

Only Ashley Cole and Petr Cech of Mourinho’s original nine ‘untouchables’ (the other three – Ricardo Carvalho, Michael Ballack and Claude Makelele – are no longer at the club) are operating at anything like full throttle as the Champions League knockout stages begin and the domestic competitions enter the home straight.

The question for Chelsea’s owner Roman Abramovich is whether Ancelotti is the man to break up the cartel of elite players who have dominated the club for so long. Can he establish a dynasty rather than simply maintain one?

Ancelotti can always point to the magnificent league and FA Cup double in his first season in England as proof of his ability to get the best out of a group of players at his disposal.

But as one Chelsea source pointed out to Goal.com UK, he was completing a task initiated by interim boss Guus Hiddink following the dismissal of Luiz Felipe Scolari the previous season.

“When Scolari was sacked, Guus quickly rebuilt the whole thing over there,” the source said. “Ancelotti has taken advantage of that but it was always short term. Ancelotti is a really nice man but Guus works harder than he does.

Feeling blue | Drogba's future is in doubt after he was dropped for Fulham game

“Guus rebuilt the team and Ancelotti didn’t change it last year, so they went on being successful. But the natural life of that team has ended and if you don’t put anything else in, the team stops improving and everything falls down.”

There were strong rumours in late December that Abramovich’s finger was hovering over the trigger and that Ancelotti would have been sacked had Chelsea lost to Bolton Wanderers after failing to win their previous six league games.

But the former AC Milan manager, a popular figure in the dressing room, with the club's backroom staff and among the media, dodged the bullet and insiders say his position will now be reviewed at the end of the season.

Securing the fourth Champions League spot – worth £40m to the club in terms of broadcasting, sponsorship and match-day revenue – might not be enough.

“There were strong rumours that Abramovich's finger was hovering over the trigger in December, but insiders now say that Ancelotti's future will be reviewed at the end of the season”

It is believed that Abramovich and his coterie of advisers need to be convinced that Ancelotti is the man to rebuild Roman’s empire.

The squad has already been radically shaken up by the £71m combined outlay on Torres and David Luiz last month and more changes are anticipated in the summer.

Europe’s elite clubs have been put on alert about the potential availability of Drogba, who turns 33 next month, in the summer.

The Ivorian continued playing despite contracting malaria earlier in the season - an illness that prompted a drop in Kolo Toure’s standards two years ago and his subsequent departure from Arsenal - but there is still likely to be a stampede, led by his former club Marseille, to Chelsea’s door to secure his services for one final swansong.

The long-term futures of Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda, both now in their 30s, are also in doubt, which explains why Chelsea have been monitoring Anderlecht’s 17-year-old Drogba-esque striker Romelu Lukaku so closely in recent months. Even Essien, a titan of the Abramovich era, suddenly looks vulnerable.

There are question marks within the club about Ancelotti’s willingness and ability to overhaul the team.

Although he quickly abandoned the 4-3-1-2 formation that had failed against Liverpool and reverted back to the Mourinho 4-3-3 prototype last night against Fulham by dropping Drobga, there is a feeling that he is afraid of upsetting the strong personalities that have dominated the dressing room for so long.

A priority will be establishing a system that brings the best out of Torres. One theory is that Chelsea need a deep-lying playmaker in the Xabi Alonso mould to get the best out of the Spaniard’s ability to cause havoc in the space behind and between the centre-backs.

Essien, Ramires and Jon Obi Mikel are not that player, nor even is Lampard, so sorely missed during his absence but whose potency comes from his ability at making late, surging runs from midfield to get on the end of passes and loose balls on the edge of the penalty area.

Luiz looks like a Rolls-Royce of a centre-back and, although he foolishly conceded the penalty in added time that was subsequently saved by Cech on Monday, the defence could conceivably be built around the gifted Brazilian over the next five years.

The next three months will give Ancelotti the opportunity to prove that he can make the tough decisions necessary to usher in the new era of dominance that Abramovich demands.

Agences de presses

Labels: Ancelotti, Carlo, Chelsea, Getty, Goalcom, images

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