Burnley 0-1 Liverpool: Post-Match Thoughts

As hard as they tried, Liverpool were unable to put a dampener on the Christmas spirit this year. The previous two Boxing Day fixtures have brought misery to LFC fans, but yesterday the team managed to grind out a 1-0 victory at Turf Moor despite putting in a wholly uninspiring performance. The result leaves us in 9^th place going into the final game of 2014, an important match against 8^th placed Swansea.

It was immediately clear that Liverpool weren’t going to be treating us to the same level of performance we saw against Arsenal. Most of the players looked like they had Christmas hangovers; they were sluggish in possession and, when they didn’t have the ball, allowed Burnley much too much space. Danny Ings came very close to punishing us within the first 15 minutes – he hit the post, and frankly the goal would have been deserved. Far from provoking a reds response, this great chance seemed to cause Liverpool’s defence to become even shakier. The rest of the first half passed in a blur of near misses from the hosts and abysmal play from the visitors, and being able to go in at half time level pegging was a gift that the Liverpool players had by no means earned.

One of the main problems of the half was the failure of Steven Gerrard to get at all involved. Other than one good ball to Lallana which set up our only chance of the half, he was completely invisible for the full 45 minutes. We might as well have been playing with 10 men; it was genuinely easy to forget that he was on the pitch. The defence also unsurprisingly continued to be an issue – Skrtel was particularly poor in the first half, and Toure was below his usual standard. The goalkeeping farce reached new lows when Brad Jones was subbed off early on through injury, marking the return of Simon “he might never play for us again” Mignolet. This was a good thing, as despite his faults Mignolet is unquestionably better than Jones (who wouldn’t look out of place in a League 2 outfit), but the sight of Jones walking off and Mignolet running on in his place was comical in the extreme. The only positive of the half was the performance of Mamadou Sakho, who showed exactly why many Liverpool fans have been infuriated by his lack of game time. He put in some solid challenges and certainly inspired more confidence than his defensive partners. Admittedly his pass accuracy was quite disappointing – 80% is fairly low considering that passing is supposedly one of his main assets – but this can be attributed largely to rustiness.

The second half saw a slight improvement. This was not difficult: in a season full of “worst half I can remember” claims, the first half of this game was definitely up there. Burnley continued to threaten, but their constant pressure and high work rate was beginning to take its toll and Liverpool were consequently being afforded more and more space as the half progressed. In the 62^nd minute they capitalised on this – it took a moment of magic from Coutinho and a cool head from Sterling, but against the run of play it was Liverpool who got the goal. The Coutinho assist is surely the best goal assist we’ll witness this season; whilst facing the other way, he showed immense awareness to hook the ball cleverly into the path of Raheem Sterling. The 20 year old rounded the keeper well and slotted the ball beyond the desperate lunges of the Burnley defenders who had tracked back and into the net. In the midst of Hodgson-esque badness a moment seemingly plucked right from last season was produced, and in the end this proved enough to win us the game.

It is an old footballing cliché that ‘the three points is all that matters’, and after yesterday’s performance many Liverpool fans will be clinging to that. Whilst this shocking level of performance doesn’t bode well for future games – surely any club who weren’t sitting in the relegation zone would have punished our poor play – the fact that we were able to grind out the win is encouraging. We now only have 1 defeat in our last 9 games; whilst this stat disguises the multiple flaws of the team, it does show that we are slowly but surely improving. If we can force wins in our next 3 matches, all against beatable opponents, the position will be much brighter heading into the second half of the season.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Liverpool 2-2 Arsenal: Reds Gift Arsenal an Underserved Point

Liverpool a goal down after 90 minutes of play. Down to 10 men. Whilst the match facts suggest a heroic late effort from Liverpool to salvage a point from a game they had struggled in, the reality was quite different. It was in fact Liverpool who were on top for the entirety of the match, and the team will surely go into the Christmas period disappointed that they didn’t manage all three points against a very weak Arsenal side.

Right from the off Liverpool were all over Arsenal. They had all the possession, were working the ball nicely and spending a fair bit of time in Arsenal’s final third. The only problem was an admittedly major one; clear cut chances were at a premium, and we had no out and out finisher on the pitch. Throughout the game this was a problem – Coutinho did manage to bag one goal, but most of his efforts were scuffed or dragged wide. Lucas also had a couple of shots from good positions that failed to test Szczesny. However, by dominating the game this much it was only a matter of time before Liverpool got their goal, and it came in the 45^th minute. Coutinho’s aim was true this time, and he guided it in off the post after shimmying wonderfully past his man.

In typical Liverpool fashion, we threw away what looked to be a comfortable position within seconds through poor defending at a set piece. Gerrard tripped up Sanchez, who’s subsequent free kick was kept alive because of Sakho and Toure getting in each other’s way. The ball found it’s way over to the far post, where Skrtel failed to even get off the ground, thus allowing his man Debuchy to get his head to the ball. Brad Jones epitomised his talents by standing and watching as the ball flew into a distinctly saveable area, and thus we somehow went into the break with the scores at 1-1. Although this goal was much more the fault of Skrtel than Jones, it is absolutely ridiculous that the Australian continues to be played ahead of Mignolet. Of course Mignolet isn’t perfect, but he is a good shot stopper, and that has bailed us out more than once this season. Jones would struggle to get into most Championship sides, and if Rodgers continues to play him to prove some sort of point to Mignolet then Liverpool will pay the price.

Twenty minutes into the second half and the situation worsened again. It truly beggared belief; the opening twenty of the second period was all Liverpool once again, yet somehow they found themselves behind on 64 minutes. This time it was Giroud who got the goal, slamming Cazorla’s cross (which somehow found its way between Skrtel and Toure) through the legs of Jones. Rodgers rolled the dice soon after this, bringing on Borini and then Lambert to try and get the equaliser, Lambert had no impact whatsoever, to the point where I forgot he was on the pitch from time to time. Borini certainly had an impact, but not a good one. After not being given a throw-in which admittedy should have gone his way he got booked for dissent, and minutes later he was off after a high foot on Cazorla. The situation looked bleak – the ten men of Liverpool had just 9 minutes (the stoppage time was long due to an earlier head injury for Skrtel) to find a goal to bring them level. Despite having an extra man, Arsenal continued to sit back and absorb the pressure. This cost them dearly, as one of the corners they conceded was finally capitalised on by Liverpool. The goal was very reminiscent of last season: a good ball came in from the corner, and Skrtel charged forward to meet it with his head and rocket it past a helpless Szczesny. 

Whilst it was obviously relieving not to leave this game with nothing, the match will surely be viewed in hindsight as two points dropped. The attack were excellent all game apart from the finishing (Sturridge and Balotelli were both out, so this is understandable), but they were let down by an awful defence. At least the attack are now looking much more like last season than they were; if they can continue to cause opposition as many problems as they caused Arsenal, the top 4 begins to look a much more achievable goal.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Man United 3-0 Liverpool: Post-Match Analysis

Getting knocked out of the Champions League in midweek was bad enough to beat out any of the Christmas cheer Liverpool fans might have been feeling, but today the pain was piled on courtesy of a big defeat from our fierce rivals. A combination of a shambolic defence, poor finishing and an absolute master class from David De Gea resulted in a humiliating final score of 3-0 to United.

The only fact that Liverpool fans can seek solace in is that the scoreline was not at all reflective of the game. For the first 10 minutes the reds (or yellows as they were for this game) were completely dominant, forcing multiple errors from the home sides defence with their high press. They were presented with a big chance to take the lead when Lallana played a lovely ball through to Sterling, but the 20 year-old’s effort wasn’t strong enough to beat De Gea. Almost immediately after this United launched their first real attack of the game, and Liverpool’s defence were instantly exposed. It was almost funny watching everyone floundering; Valencia embarrassed Allen and pulled it back to Rooney, whose run should have been tracked by Coutinho. Gerrard should also have been ensuring that Rooney didn’t get the room to shoot, but instead opted to watch from a safe distance as United’s captain blasted it home past Brad Jones, who was diving the wrong way. The WRONG WAY. If nothing else, playing Jones today may well have served to open fan’s eyes to the fact that Mignolet is the lesser of two evils when it comes to our goalkeeping options.

The contrast between the two keepers couldn’t have been more stark. De Gea was on fire, and rather than doing his utmost to get out of the way of the ball he turned his energies towards thwarting Sterling again to prevent Liverpool pulling level. Still, the signs were promising. We were making some good opportunities, and at just one down it looked likely that we’d be able to pull the game back and get at least a draw. However, with just five minutes to go until the break, Juan Mata doubled United’s lead. It was blatantly offside – Moreno’s step forward left Mata about 2 yards off when he headed in from close range, but the assistant clearly failed to spot the flick-on from Van Persie that carried the ball through to the Spaniard. This made the situation much bleaker, to the extent where it actually prompted Rodgers to make an early change for once. Sadly, the substitution was only half right. Bringing Balotelli on for the second half to partner Sterling was sensible, but Lallana shouldn’t have been replaced. He had been linking up well with Sterling; Coutinho should probably have been the one to make way.

Even so, Liverpool continued to look fairly good into the second half. Balotelli was playing fairly well, although he did isolate himself by needlessly drifting out wide on a couple of occasions. When he was in the middle, chances came his way – De Gea was on hand once again to push his powerful effort on to the woodwork. Sterling too had a huge opportunity to get a goal back; he picked off a weak back pass and looked to have rounded De Gea. However, he took one touch too many, allowing the United keeper to deny him once again. It clearly just wasn’t to be our day – nothing was getting past De Gea, and as usual pretty much everything was getting past our defence. It was no real surprise when United made it three; Lovren’s failure to complete a basic clearance presented the Red Devils with the opportunity, and this was made easier for Van Persie to take by Brad Jones being in a frankly bizarre position. A couple more excellent saves from De Gea meant that a game which Liverpool had dominated from an attacking point of view somehow ended 3-0.

The only man more worried than the fans at the moment is Brendan Rodgers. He must be well aware that his job is in jeopardy; the failure to get to the Champions League group stage followed by this heavy defeat to the Mancs are the latest blows in a series of disappointments this season. Although summer signings Balotelli, Moreno, Markovic and Lallana all looked good today, the continued playing of Gerrard over Can and the abysmal performances of Dejan Lovren have called Rodgers’s judgement into serious question. The league table speaks for itself: 18 points off top and 7 off the top 4 is not even close to good enough. Rodgers has been given enough time to see the weaknesses and fix them; he has instead opted to blindly ignore the flaws in our team in the hope that they will magically fix themselves. Consequently, his job is hanging by a thread – defeat at Arsenal next weekend will surely push him over the edge. For his sake and the team’s, let’s hope he can turn things around quickly. 

Leicester 1-3 Liverpool: Post-Match Analysis

Yesterday, Liverpool secured their second consecutive victory in a 3-1 win over Leicester. Although there were times when the defence showed the frailties that it has displayed throughout the season, the performance was, on the whole, a big improvement on what we’ve been seeing for much of the campaign. Having been rested for most of the game against Stoke, Gerrard was deployed further forward in this match – he chipped in with Liverpool’s first goal, and subsequent strikes by Adam Lallana and Jordan Henderson were enough to seal the three points for the reds.

Just like in the Stoke game, Raheem Sterling had a big influence against Leicester. He started the season exceptionally, but has looked jaded for much of the campaign. His sudden rise to stardom has led to multiple England call-ups, and the pressure of being “the future of English football” has naturally weighed heavily on his shoulders. However, it looks like he may well be back to his best; he spent 90 minutes giving Ritchie De Laet nightmares, and provided key contributions to two of the Liverpool goals. Sadly, his form was of no use to us in solving our defensive problems: these remained clear for all to see, and for Leicester to exploit. They did this through a high pressing system; it was only a matter of time before they managed to force an error. The error, when it came, was from Simon Mignolet – his pass was woefully misplaced and left Esteban Cambiasso an open goal to aim at. Somehow the Foxes passed up the opportunity, but the chance proved the trigger for a barrage of Leicester attacks that did eventually culminate in a goal. The goal itself was somewhat fortunate: Ulloa’s shot came back off the post, struck Mignolet’s back and went in. Perhaps this was some sort of karma for the Belgian’s earlier error, or perhaps it was simply good fortune for the hosts. Either way, the result was Liverpool trailing to the bottom club in the Premier League.

So far this season Liverpool fans have become accustomed to seeing their team curl up in a ball and whimper when they concede. This time it was different. This time we saw the Liverpool who took their title challenge to the last day of the season in May. Whilst the quality of Suarez and Sturridge wasn’t there, the sheer determination and drive was there in abundance. Lallana equalised for Liverpool just four minutes after they went behind: after Lucas (who had another excellent game) had crossed the ball in, Lambert knocked it into the path of Lallana who fired home emphatically. The next goal came nine minutes into the second half. Somewhat fittingly, it was scored by a man who epitomises the aforementioned determination. After Raheem Sterling’s drilled cross could only be half-cleared, Steven Gerrard was on hand to smash the ball into the back of the net. Although the time has clearly come for him to accept a reduced role at the club, this strike proved that, when used sparingly in a more advanced position, he can still have a big impact.

Sadly, at this point, the red charge petered out a little. Wes Morgan was shown a straight red for wrestling Lambert to the ground, but if anything this seemed to weaken Liverpool’s attacking impetus. It was Leicester piling on all the pressure for much of the second half, and Mignolet was required to make some good saves to keep his side in front. Kolo Toure was also instrumental: his recent performances have rightly been enough to keep Dejan Lovren out of the side, and his showing at the King Power was no different. Skrtel also showed willing to put his body on the line; a cannonball of a shot hit him right on the head, causing the game to be delayed lengthily so he could receive treatment. It was encouraging to see a fairly competent defensive showing for once. The first half was shambolic at times, but the back line prevented Leicester’s pressure from amounting to anything during the second period.

The delay to treat Skrtel resulted in seven minutes being added on. This would surely have been a nervy ending for Liverpool had it not been for Jordan Henderson – he put the game to bed by scoring in the 83^rd minute. Sterling was key in making the goal. After an optimistic long shot was parried by Schmeicel, Sterling was first on to the ball. He then backheeled it perfectly to the feet of Jordan Henderson, who was left to blast it into an unguarded goal. This intricate link-up play was something that happened fairly regularly during the match, and it is a sign that the team are starting to properly gel together. If we can continue to work well as a unit, there is no reason why we can’t win against Sunderland at the weekend. More important is the game on Tuesday – although our current form is drastically better than a few weeks ago, Basel will surely prove tough opposition. That said, the quality within our squad is definitely enough to overpower Basel, so if our form continues on this upward trajectory then we should be able to get the win and advance to the Champions League knockout stages.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Liverpool 1-0 Stoke: Post-Match Report

After a drab first half littered with defensive mistakes, it looked for all the world like this game would just be more of the same from Liverpool. The famous Kop were being out-sung by the spirited away fans, and the chant of “how do you watch this every week?” was a question that many reds fans were surely putting to themselves. However, a second half where the team looked much more like the title-challenging outfit of last season was enough to ensure a 1-0 victory. The winner came late on in the match courtesy of a brave header from Glen Johnson of all people.

Prior to the game, Brendan Rodgers made comments about how this game would be treated by Liverpool as the start of their season. As such, the dreary opening half an hour was somewhat anticlimactic; the team offered nothing in attack, and whilst the defence was generally solid both Glen Johnson and Kolo Toure looked uncomfortable with the ball at their feet, with the former actually getting robbed of possession in a dangerous area. The only player who did themselves proud in these opening exchanges was Lucas, who put in some strong challenges to break up the play. Things improved a little towards the end of the half – Coutinho, who up to this point had been playing poorly, began to get into the game. This had a big impact; his sublime touch and excellent acceleration was nearly enough to take him through the entire Stoke defence just before the break. As it was, the half ended scoreless: a fair reflection on a largely uninspiring first 45 minutes.

The “game of two halves” cliché is applicable to this match – the encounter changed dramatically during the second period. This was, in part, down to Raheem Sterling’s increased involvement in the game; up to this point we hadn’t really seen much from him, but his bursting runs throughout the second half caused Stoke problems. This increased attacking intensity came at a price, as it opened the game up to the extent where the visitors were able to fashion a few decent chances of their own. Mignolet made a couple of strong saves, and Sterling was required to make an off-the-line clearance from a Stoke corner. However, it was Liverpool who eventually profited from the game becoming more open – having come extremely close through Allen and Sterling, Johnson eventually got the goal in the 86^th minute. Henderson’s initial ball in was met by Lambert, who’s headed effort bounced off the bar. Johnson was quickest to react, and positively threw himself at the ball in order to head it home. He took a boot to the head in doing so, but he got full reward for his bravery. Despite a succession of Stoke corners, Liverpool did manage to hold out for a much-needed victory.  

It was Johnson who was voted man of the match by fans on Twitter due to his winning goal, but for me the outstanding performer was Lucas Leiva. I was hoping that he’d play prior to the game – he has been fielded in a couple of cup matches this season and looked good (or at the very least better at providing cover than Gerrard), and he rewarded Rodgers’ decision to play him today. He was consistently solid at the back, as well as making a couple of good forward runs. He nearly got a goal, but having run into an excellent position in the box he couldn’t steer his shot past Begovic. Other good performers were Sterling – who Liverpool fans are praying is now back to his best – and Lambert, who exhibited some nice technique at times (most notably with a glorious turn in the second half) and generally held the ball up well. Kolo Toure also had a pretty strong game, staking his claim to be first-choice centre-back in the place of disappointing new signing Dejan Lovren.

If Liverpool can build some momentum on the back of this result, we could indeed be looking at the fresh start that Rodgers referenced before the game. Although it’s far too late to mount any sort of title challenge again – even at this early stage Chelsea look to have it all but wrapped up – this performance provided encouragement that the top 4 is still very much within our grasp. The more pressing matter of qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League is also looking more promising than it was; a performance against Basel like the one we put in during the second half against Stoke should be enough to get us the win and consequently the qualification.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Crystal Palace 3-1 Liverpool: Post-Match Thoughts

When the fixture list was released earlier this year, Liverpool fans were quick to notice the twist of fate that saw us host Chelsea and then head to Selhurst Park for the next game – with memories of last season’s capitulation fresh in most fans’ minds, this pair of games seemed the perfect opportunity to exact some sort of revenge upon the teams who cost us our first Premier League title. However, far from looking fired up with determination to make the two London clubs pay, consecutive poor performances meant we failed to take a single point from either game. Sadly, these lacklustre showings are hardly an anomaly: Liverpool now find themselves just four points off the relegation zone, having accrued a measly 14 points from 12 games. This shocking run of form is showing no signs of abating – on the contrary, the club are now on a four game loss streak. Consequently, Brendan Rodgers’s future at the club is starting to come into question.

The only sign of improvement in recent weeks is that the quick start that was such a feature of Liverpool’s play last season has shown itself once more. Against Chelsea it was Can who put us into an early lead; at Selhurst Park it was Lambert who fired home after a glorious pass from Adam Lallana. Sadly a football match lasts longer than 10 minutes, and Liverpool’s defensive weaknesses were soon exploited. Seventeen minutes in, as if the sense of déjà vu wasn’t strong enough already, Dwight Gayle tucked the ball into the net to draw the hosts level.

An hour of very little action followed this – the tendency of the reds last season to spring rapid attacks and win the game early is gone, but what we are witnessing is by no means the ‘total football’ that Rodgers said he would bring to the club either. This terrible hybrid takes the worst elements from the two philosophies: our side now has a lack of incision that one might associate with the so-called death by football approach, but has a hugely exposed defence that is common in a team who likes to quickly throw men forward. This failure to create a clear team identity is Rodgers’s main problem. He should either have stuck to his guns and instilled the passing game as Liverpool’s default, or totally changed tack and built the team around pacey bursts forward. His claims of pragmatism are unfounded; indecision would be more accurate.

Another of his key problems is his failure to bring in any good defenders during the transfer window (coupled with his stubborn refusal to get a defensive coach in). Yannick Bolasie is a relatively good player, but Dejan Lovren managed to make him look like an amalgamation of Ronaldo, Messi and Maradona. It was Lovren who was at fault for the second goal; Bolasie flicked it over the Croatian’s head with ease, dumbfounding him to the extent that he fell to the floor. Unchallenged, Bolasie then pulled the ball into the area – Joe Ledley was on hand to slide it past Mignolet. Some fans have said that Mignolet could have done better with it. Whilst this may be true, I feel that the Belgian keeper has been used as a scapegoat throughout this season; his defence are hardly giving him any protection, and he has pulled off some good saves to keep us in games. Admittedly he has very little presence in the box and often fails to claim aerial balls that he should be collecting, but he is by no means the root of the problem.

Nobody could blame Mignolet for the third Palace goal, which was an absolute peach of a free kick from Mile Jedinak. The alleged foul by Martin Skrtel on Dwight Gayle was dubious seeing as they were holding on to each other’s shirts, but by this stage most fans were beyond caring. Jedinak took full advantage of the referee’s decision by curling the free kick beautifully around the wall and into the top corner. This capped yet another bad day at the office for LFC, who now sit perilously close to the relegation zone.

This is even more shocking when you consider the title challenge that Liverpool mounted last season. It seems a world apart from the repeatedly awful performances we are currently witnessing from our team, and the rapidity of the downfall is truly astounding. Whilst it can partially be attributed to the sale of Luis Suarez and partly to the lengthy absence of Daniel Sturridge through injury, a lot of the blame has to fall on Rodgers’s shoulders. A deadly combination of poor judgement followed by stubbornness has led to a series of shambolic performances from a team vastly inferior to the one we had last year, and if Rodgers can’t find a way to turn this around soon then he surely has to go.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Liverpool 1-2 Chelsea: Bad Play, Bad Ref, Bad Result

Having managed to prevent European giants Real Madrid from scoring more than one goal in midweek, Liverpool fans went into the game against Chelsea with a fair amount of confidence. Chelsea came into the game unbeaten this season, but there was some optimism that we could perhaps break this run, or at least take a point away from the match. Unfortunately the majority of stand-out performers from midweek were left out of the starting eleven, and we were consequently treated to another terribly mediocre performance. Chelsea played much better than us and created more chances: on balance, they certainly deserved to win. However, we would probably have snatched a draw had it not been for the failure of the referee to miss a blatant Cahill handball in the box just minutes from time.

The team made a promising start. Mario Balotelli was making some good runs in behind the defence for once, and although he was getting caught offside too often he was definitely causing the Chelsea defenders some problems. They looked uncomfortable whenever a Liverpool player ran at them; the direct style of Coutinho and Sterling carved open gaps in the blues’ back line. It was this positivity that resulted in the reds taking the lead after 9 minutes – Emre Can was not closed down, and his ferocious drive deflected off Gary Cahill and into the net past a helpless Courtois. Sadly, the lead didn’t last long. Chelsea won a corner, and what happened next was totally predictable. Despite outnumbering the Chelsea players in the box by two to one, the hapless defending led to a failure to get the ball away. Mignolet was forced into a good stop from a Terry header, but the ball came out to Matic. There was a hint of handball about his layoff to Cahill, but it looked accidental. The centre-back then smashed the ball goalwards, and despite Mignolet’s best efforts the ball was adjudged to have crossed the line by Hawkeye technology.

There was a brief period after the equaliser where the game really opened up. Liverpool were absorbing a lot of pressure, but they were also springing dangerous looking counter attacks. Balotelli even managed to get the ball in the back of the net with a tidy finish past Courtois, but he was just offside. By the half hour mark, this Liverpool threat seemed to have faded somewhat. It became an exercise in defending, and past experience should have served as a warning that this could never end well. Whilst we managed to keep Chelsea from taking the lead for the rest of the first half, it was really only a matter of time. It took until the 67^th minute, but Mourinho’s men did finally take the lead. Like the first there was a touch of controversy about the goal – Azpilicueta took the ball round Coutinho, but looked to have run it off the pitch in the process. Replays were inconclusive, but it looked like a fraction of the ball hadn’t crossed the line. His subsequent drilled cross was parried away by Mignolet, but it fell to Costa. He made no mistake with the finish.

Despite bringing on Allen, Borini and Lambert, Rodgers had no success whatsoever in changing the tide of the game. Although we were the trailing side there was a complete lack of urgency and intensity, and we frankly didn’t deserve a goal. However, into added time, Liverpool worked their way into quite a threatening position. The ball came out to Gerrard on the edge of the box, and he aimed to roll back the years with an extremely powerful effort. It may have been heading for the corner or going just wide, but we never got the chance to find out; Gary Cahill lent into the ball with his arm. It was pretty blatant: Steven Gerrard certainly thought so, clearly incensed at the referee’s choice to wave away the penalty claim. This was the last incident of note, and Chelsea comfortably weathered a late period of weak pressure to finish the game 2-1 victors.

We can rightly point to the referee as the reason we didn’t get a point – had Anthony Taylor seen the handball, we would most likely have scored the subsequent penalty and got the draw. However, it would have been undeserved; factors other than the referee have to be considered to get to the root of why we put in such a lacklustre performance. Rodgers has some serious questions to answer: why, for example, was Kolo Toure left out? He certainly earned a place based on his performance at the Bernebau, and his leadership and experience would surely have been invaluable against Chelsea. However, 20 million pound signing Dejan Lovren was preferred; it’s fair to say that he and Skrtel were quite poor throughout. Rodgers’s assertion that we don’t need a defensive coach also has to be questioned. At the corner which led to the first goal, the two centre backs were seemingly marking each other on the edge of the box. With only four Chelsea players up for the corner and eight Liverpool players in their own box, there is no way we should be conceding.

This stubbornness in our manager is extremely worrying. Last season it was ‘assuredness’ which was ‘great to see in such a young manager’ – it’s all well and good when we’re getting the results, but his refusal to change the formation and personnel is costing us dearly at the moment. He is blindly standing by his summer signings to the detriment of the team, and unless he swallows his pride soon then our results will continue to be disappointing. We now find ourselves in a position where we could well be in the bottom half of the table by Monday, and unless Rodgers bucks up his ideas then we might even end up in the wrong half of the table come the end of the season. This is admittedly a worst-case scenario, but hopes of the top 4 are definitely fading rapidly.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013