Shocking. Stunning. Devastating.
Unlike in the Spurs game where I anticipated and so was prepared for a Liverpool defeat, I could envisage nothing other than a Liverpool victory prior to this game. Had Benayoun, Torres and Gerrard taken their early chances, perhaps this could have been another mauling the like of which this fixture produced last season.
But they didn’t take those chances and a promising opening descended into a spectacle of negative triangular passes between Carragher, Skrtel and Mascherano. The same trio could be seen surging forward with the ball in the second half trying to respond to the crowd’s chants of “Attack! Attack! Attack, attack, attack!” but by then it was too late. Liverpool had wasted the opportunity to win the game in the first half, as they had done so often last season, and farcically found themselves 2-0 behind by the time the half-time whistle was belatedly blown.
Villa came to Anfield still waiting for their first goal of the season. But for Lucas Leiva, perhaps they might still be waiting. I have in the past defended Lucas from the barrage of criticism he receives. I’ve seen glimpses of quality there and genuinely believed it was because he has not been deployed in a role that plays to his strengths that we haven’t seen anything to justify his status as a Brazilian international. However, his performance in this game was indefensible. Compounding his clumsy foul by heading the resulting free-kick past his own keeper was a step too far. Even Rafa Benitez appeared to decide enough was enough when he withdrew the Brazilian and dropped Gerrard back into midfield. Liverpool looked a far better team with Voronin on for Lucas and not because Voronin was anything other than typically ineffective. I’ve written before that until Aquilani is fit, Gerrard should play in midfield at the expense of Lucas. Once he dropped back, suddenly we had a player in midfield who could bring others into play and we began to force Villa back into their own half, eventually forcing the goal that could have been the start of a comeback had Gerrard not blotted his own copy book by crazily scything down Nigel Reo-Coker in our penalty area.
Liverpool’s players looked a frustrated bunch as bookings for Reina and Torres for dissent attested. I always think bookings for dissent are stupid ones to pick up but in Torres’ case I do have some sympathy. Rafa might well be right to tell him to stop whining at referees and certainly it appears to do him no favours with them but, for fucks sake, the man has a point. In three games, I have watched in horror as no-mark journey men attempt to flatten his facial features and crack his skull with their arms and elbows. He went into this match sporting a shiner and a patch on his head covering the stitches he needed after the Stoke match. In the first half he took three direct blows to the head, only to be continually told by referee Martin Atkinson to get up and get on with it. If Didier Drogba or another Chelsea player goes down, irrespective of whether contact has been made (and usually it hasn’t), a free-kick is invariably awarded. Meanwhile, when Torres is bludgeoned right under the referee’s nose, he is told to play on. It is simply not right.
I’m not about to imitate Gerard Houllier or any Everton fan and blame the referee for every bad result without acknowledging the shortfalls in my own team’s performance. However, the lack of protection given to our skilful players like Torres is undoubtedly having a detrimental effect on our chances of winning football matches.
What was so disappointing last night is that no outfield player is exempt from criticism. Torres scored our goal but wasted some earlier chances. Gerrard gave away the penalty. Carra, Skrtel and Mascherano were too negative in the first half and struggled to deliver quality when they did get forward in the second half. Benayoun and Kuyt were both shockingly ineffective. Reina might have done better for Villa’s second goal. Johnson was kept quiet and Insua had a poor game. Lucas was the worst of the bunch. Then when Rafa sent on Voronin and Babel to try to change the game, as usual, they delivered nothing but more frustration.
My conclusion? I no longer believe we will challenge for the title this season. A knee-jerk reaction? I don’t believe so. It isn’t because we have lost twice in three matches and already trail Chelsea by 6 points that I am writing off our title chances. I am just making an honest assessment of the strength of our squad based on my observations. We haven’t lost the title after three games of the season but I believe our title challenge has been fatally undermined by the club’s owners failure to give Rafa the means to strengthen the squad in critical areas over the summer. Time will tell whether Aquilani can fill Alonso’s boots but given last season we looked short of quality in midfield when the Spaniard didn’t play, we needed to bring in more than just the one replacement. Bringing Voronin back into the squad is nothing but a step backwards. He wasn’t good enough two seasons ago and he is not good enough now. We needed to sign at least one more striker/forward and a left-sided attacking player who would have Riera as his back up. I am now certain that Ryan Babel will never make the grade at Anfield.
The last time we lost twice in the opening three League games of a season was 2001-02 when after losing an away game 2-1 we were beaten 3-1 at home by Aston Villa (sound familiar?). We went on to finish second, above Manchester United (who had been Champions for the last 3 seasons), and were narrowly pipped to the title by Arsenal. The points total we achieved that season (80) was at that time our highest ever in the Premiership and that record has only twice been beaten, both times by Rafa Benitez. Therefore, this disastrous start to the season doesn’t necessarily mean our League campaign is over before it has begun.
I am certain that Liverpool will get better and that we will soon be back up in those top four places. Sadly, I just think that is the best we are capable of achieving this season.
All I can do is hope for (a) a miraculous recovery by Liverpool that sees me eat my words in May or more realistically (b) that Chelsea win the League and extend the race for the 19th title for at least another season.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
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I'll ignore all the rest of your nonsense and chock it up to the usual uninformed Liverpool post loss bullshit but I've got to ask: How can you clowns continue to defend Zonal marking on set pieces? The second goal was, like so many of the goals you concede, CLEARLY due to your teams inability to properly defend from a corner using a zone. Davies was standing next to Kuyt (Lucas went with Sidwell and was NOT stationary or in a position to cut out the cross, as you claim) he then cut toward the near post, Kuyt stayed still (in a Zone) and Torres and Cara were late to react when Davies stepped in front. NONE of that happens with man to man. Zonal = great on paper but the possibility of mistake is so high that it should never be used yet you Scousers defend it and blame the media for pointing out the obvious. Your stupidity is disheartening.
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