Ivanovic knows Chelsea must play better at Anfield if they want to win

Shortly after a disappointing draw to Maribor that will have done Chelsea little harm in the end, Branislav Ivanovic has been speaking about the disappointment Jose Mourinho showed with the way Chelsea started Wednesday's game. It was clear to all that he was less than pleased with the effort when he made a pair of changes at the break, and Ivanovic had the following to say about half-time in the Chelsea dressing room:

'He was not happy and at half-time he showed it. He told us exactly what he wanted in the second-half. We tried to play more offensive. He wanted to win the game and we tried to do that.'

I'm not surprised that Mourinho wasn't happy with the squad during the halftime break. The possession and control of the match were certainly there, but the urgency to get forward, intelligent movement, and incisive passing were not. It was the sort of performance that left us thinking about a scoreless draw, with the possibility of a shock loss if Maribor took one of their chances.

'For us, it was a massive game. It was very important and we didn’t win. It is a reminder. We know how our performance has to be to get the points. If we play like that against Liverpool, we know it’s not possible to win.'

Assuming Liverpool play better football than they did on Tuesday night in Madrid, Branislav is absolutely correct here. Now back up those words with a good performance at Anfield on Saturday.