As part of his new policy of openness - a sort of Gallic glasnost - Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier spent some time on Saturday evening explaining why his club's season has oscillated from nirvana to nadir with perplexing regularity.
At the heart of his engagingly logical argument was the axiom that a cavalier spirit is the last thing a side suffering from obvious teething problems can afford.
"Sometimes when you are 1-0 up that should be the end of it, you should close it down and let things stay as they are," he said, after a match that did indeed end just that way, in dramatic contrast to last week's Worthington Cup defeat by Southampton.
"You have to win, that is what it is about in the end. If you can get in front then you should form two lines of four men and try to keep what you have. We are often too generous, we push forward seeking another goal, so letting the opposition back in.
"Teams which win the title will always win perhaps 10 games per season by the scoreline of 1-0."
Liverpool will not win the title this season but neither will Chelsea if other opponents find it as easy as did Houllier's team to disrupt the midfield rhythm and harmony upon which has been built the urban myth that any team full of hugely gifted players simply must succeed.
By using five men behind the tireless but under-served Michael Owen, Liverpool simply refused to allow Chelsea to play. While that did drain away much of the afternoon's potential, it also rendered impotent the dainty feet of the likes of Gustavo Poyet, Dan Petrescu and Didier Deschamps.
Not until nine minutes from the end, when they were depleted and trailing, did Chelsea fashion a decent opening, only for the substitute Tore Andre Flo to steer his shot too close to the home goalkeeper Brad Friedel.
It was difficult to muster any sympathy for a fitful Chelsea, though, who were petty and reckless. Having lost Marcel Desailly to a second yellow card after 73 minutes - Owen was to clip the resulting penalty well wide - they were further reduced when the idiotic Dennis Wise was dismissed for a punch cum flick cum push at Vladimir Smicer.
Both Ginaluca Vialli and Houllier have thrown someone else's money at the problem of impossibly inflated local expectations, the obvious difference is that the Italian is building on previously-laid and sturdy foundations, whereas the Frenchman is still tackling a mess left behind by others.
At least a game that Vialli insisted should have ended goalless did yield one defining moment when David Thompson nudged home from no great distance after Steve Staunton's free-kick had prompted Liverpool-style panic amid Chelsea defenders.
LIVERPOOL: Friedel, Henchoz, Song, Hyypia, Staunton, Carragher, Smicer, Redknapp, Murphy (Heggem 80), Thompson, Owen (Meijer 86). Subs Not Used: Matteo, Camara, Nielsen. Booked: Staunton, Redknapp, Murphy, Thompson. Goals: Thompson 47.
CHELSEA: De Goey, Petrescu (Lambourde 74), Babayaro, Leboeuf (Le Saux 64), Desailly, Deschamps, Poyet, Wise, Ferrer, Sutton, Zola (Flo 68). Subs Not Used: Morris, Cudicini. Sent Off: Desailly (73), Wise (88). Booked: Desailly, Sutton, Leboeuf, Lambourde.
Referee: M Reed (Birmingham).
