Times Match Report
by Alyson Rudd (Who by the way is a Liverpool fan
)
Fancy having a go at the Liverpool Polka? It is tricky; a bit of a free-for-all. Two steps forward, one step back and then, suddenly, it is one step forward, two steps back. There is always at least one step back, though, just to keep you inside the barn. Just to keep the verdict on Brendan Rodgers’s tenure open to interpretation.
This defeat felt like a massive leap backwards. All the talk had been of how Liverpool were closing in on a top-four finish. Emphatic wins over Swansea City and Wigan Athletic and a fightback against Tottenham Hotspur hinted at a team finding their groove. Their groggy and disjointed performance at St Mary’s placed those victories in perspective.
Swansea had their minds on Wembley, Wigan do not always turn up and Tottenham, having dominated, made a couple of crass errors.
“We’re a team that is not quite on that level yet,” Rodgers said. But what does that actually mean? The Liverpool manager explained that he did not mean that his team lack the ability to fight back from a losing position but that “we’re not quite at the level when you make the bad start that we made against a good side, so early on, it’s very difficult.”
In other words, Rodgers does not believe that his side have what it takes to recover when they begin sourly against a bright and bouncy team.
This is a worrying analysis. It paints a picture of a team out of their depth, learning the ropes, capable of succumbing to insecurity — which are not terms readily associated with a club with such a rich and admirable history.
This was Liverpool at their worst. Anyone who wondered what might be wrong at Anfield need only have turned up on the South Coast.
Every flaw was exhibited. It felt like the moment Dorian Gray stands before his portrait with his worst traits cruelly exposed.
Steven Gerrard cannot be expected to pull on his Superman outfit for every game. The England captain has played every minute of every Barclays Premier League match this season and is entitled perhaps to put in a relatively lacklustre shift every now and again. But when he does, Rodgers seemingly has no idea how to compensate for it.
Gerrard played along side Joe Allen in the first half and the former Swansea player was so peripheral that the Liverpool captain was stretched out of position. It was unpleasant viewing. The lack of chemistry between Allen and Gerrard was grating, like having to listen to a couple sat opposite you on the train split up. Gerrard was clearly relieved when Lucas Leiva replaced Allen at half-time. The Brazil midfielder is disciplined and his arrival briefly perked up the attitude of all his team-mates.
There was something horribly wrong with Liverpool’s defence, despite it holding more promise than most in the league. A back line of Glen Johnson, Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel and José Enrique ought to be solid and inventive, and indeed has been in the past, but Skirtel’s confidence has been shattered to the extent that his jitters are contagious. This leaves Liverpool in the peculiar position of badly missing a player widely regarded as well past his prime a year ago.
Jamie Carragher did not quite recover from a gashed shin in time to feature on Saturday and he probably felt embarrassed that his side mourned him so palpably.
Luis Suárez, strangely, did not even frighten Southampton and although Philippe Coutinho scored just before half-time, the Brazilian’s overall decision-making was poor. The travelling fans were also given an all too startling illustration of why Chelsea found Daniel Sturridge a frustrating player as little he attempted was properly executed.
Rodgers has the international break to ponder how the worst of his Liverpool team came to the fore. “We just have to go away now, lick our wounds and sit on it for a couple of weeks,” he said. “Today we let those standards slip a wee bit, so we just need to get back now and refocus on that and I’m sure we’ll see a different side against Aston Villa.”
One step forward again — but it ought to be time for Rodgers to take impressive strides in the right direction.
