INTERVIEW

Sunday, October 17, 9:41pm London Time
It's time to wise up, Chelsea
By Graham Hunter

The last thing Dennis Wise did before leaving the pitch in disgrace at Anfield on Saturday was to remove his captain's arm-band.

If Chelsea can see beyond their perpetual loyalty to a player who has, in truth, been important to their development in the last few seasons, this will have been Wise's final opportunity to put the thing on in the first place.

It is understood that manager Gianluca Vialli and managing director Colin Hutchinson will discuss Wise's actions at the beginning of the week, once video footage of the player's rather 'girlie' slap at Vladimir Smicer has been reviewed.

'I have to watch that first,' confirmed Vialli.

Smicer, sporting clear facial damage, called Wise 'a liability' to Chelsea - and he was right on the button.

The man recalled to England ranks, who committed his gross act of stupidity under the watchful gaze of national coach Kevin Keegan, has been fined before by Chelsea when the club felt his actions merited punishment.

A similar sanction will follow this time if they view Wise's Anfield red card in the same light. Expediency is likely to rule the decision-making after that, however.

Chelsea face three immensely important games in the space of the next nine days - a Champions League meeting with Galatasaray in Turkey, followed by Premiership duty against Arsenal and then back into Europe for AC Milan.

It is not thought likely that dropping Wise, or deciding that he is close to being axed by the club, is a course of action which will be risked at such a crucial time. In which case the most appropriate sanction for Vialli, who has already counselled his friend about the relationship between responsibility and rash action, is to relieve Wise of the captaincy.

Last season, when Chelsea won nothing, Wise's perpetual absence through suspension wounded Vialli's title aspirations.

This term the little midfielder has played well and steered clear of personal trouble - although his role in Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt's send-ing-off two weeks ago was that of agent provocateur.

Chelsea are so fond of the 31-year-old, as are the club's fans, that there is a feeling within Stamford Bridge that Wise is sometimes a marked man.

Nothing could have been further from the truth on Saturday.

Tempers had simmered on the pitch, during an intricate and interesting match, and Wise simply let indiscipline rule him when Smicer contested possession in the most innocuous way.

If opposition players reacted to some of Wise's more aggressive challenges in the way he reacted to the Czech's attempt to relieve him of the ball there would be four or five sendings-off in every Chelsea match.

Frenchman Didier Deschamps, who will start every important match when fit, is the obvious choice to succeed Wise as skipper - and loss of the captaincy will not only give the England man the ultimate warning to his future conduct but set Vialli's stall out.

Discipline helps win titles while indiscipline loses them.

Chelsea went to Anfield looking for the win that would confirm them as genuine Premiership title contenders. Liverpool had leaked points at home, while Vialli's team had just whipped United and if they could have ended a club record of one win at Anfield since the Thirties it would have been a major morale boost.

The poorly-defended goal they conceded, to David Thompson's stabbed effort from Steve Staunton's free-kick, is just one of those things which happens - not a cause for panic in itself, although Chelsea do seem susceptible to crosses.

When Marcel Desailly was sent off for a second bookable offence, the man he brought down, Danny Murphy, was one of the three most valuable players on the pitch - the others being Liverpool centre back Sammi Hyypia and goalkeeper Brad Friedel.

Desailly's foul on midfielder Murphy was nothing worse than a mistimed tackle and the Frenchman was noticeably applauded off the pitch by chairman Ken Bates, Hutchinson and Vialli's assistant manager Gwyn Williams. Also by the Liverpool fans, it should be noted.

When Wise went, the same Chelsea contingent had their faces set in stone, not one gesture of applause was offered and Vialli, downat pitch level, looked thunderous.

At that stage, as both Vialli and rival boss Gerard Houllier pointed out after the match, Liverpool were not assured of hanging on to their one-goal lead.

Wise's idiotic red card made their task so much simpler. He has begun to symbolise the difference between looking like champions and actually achieving that status. Indeed, Chelsea might do well to consider the tactical benefits of moving Wise out of central midfield and swapping him with Gustavo Poyet.

Wise and Deschamps offer an immense defensive shield to Frank Leboeuf and Desailly, linking well with each other, but they do not produce enough creative threat between them.

Putting Wise on the left side of midfield and Poyet in the middle might solve that.

On Saturday, Houllier made the midfield a place of attrition, using Murphy as the player to stop Leboeuf wandering out of defence with time to strike long passes, and asked Owen to battle alone up front.

Time and again Murphy tricked Deschamps, Desailly and Albert Ferrer while also carrying out his defensive duties. He was at t he heart of Liverpool's win.

At last, the Anfield club once again have a central defender, Hyppia, who is not agricultural in his use of the ball. The Finn has many defensive rough edges to smooth but he is already a velvet prospect in his passing.

Then, when Tore Andre Flo threatened to end the murmurs about him and save a point with a chance in the box at the end, Friedel produced a fine save from Chelsea's Norway striker.

'In recent weeks we have played panic football, without composure, trying to play at 100mph all the time,' explained Houllier.

'So I told them not to confuse speed with haste and not to affect the quality of our football because of that.

'The three games we lost at home came because we conceded an early goal, then everyone tried to be Zorro - each player trying to provide the solution himself rather than through team play.

'That is why I set the team up this way, tactics and discipline-wise, to play Chelsea, and that is why we have beaten a better team than us.'

Vialli added: 'We lost our shape and composure and couldn't find the right tempo when we went 1-0 down.

'We didn't create as many chances because they played a defensive game, crowding the midfield zone and showing great respect to us - that means it is difficult to find space.

'I thought our offensive game was getting better but there were too many fouls, too many stoppages and that meant we didn't find our tempo.'

Much will be made of Leboeuf's departure after a tackle by Owen but Vialli had no criticism of the challenge. 'To get a player injured is part of the game - it happens,' he said.

In truth it was just one more moment when Chelsea came off second best to Liverpool - hungry, high tempo and Houllier-inspired.