Kenny Dalglish's first match managing Liverpool in European competition left the legendary Scot and Reds supporters underwhelmed as Liverpool laboured to a hard fought but quite frankly boring 0-0 stalemate in Sparta Prague's Generali Arena. A performance characterised by determination yet worryingly lacking creative spark and invention left the Merseysiders favourites to progress to the next stage of the Europa League, however the match itself will not live long in the memory of those who had the misfortune of watching it.
Despite the pre-match hype surrounding the inclusion of several promising youngsters in the squad, including exciting 16-year old winger Raheem Sterling, only England under 19s captain Conor Coady made the bench as the King selected a fairly experienced starting line-up composed of first team and squad players.
This was reflected in the opening stages as the visitors dominated possession, controlling the tempo of the game and successfully quietening the home crowd, whilst also allowing everybody to have a touch of the ball and settle into the match, in a throwback to the old traditions employed away from home by previous managers such as Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley.
However, this dominance of possession never evolved into any sort of penetration of the hosts' defence, as lone strike David Ngog was unusually isolated and struggling for support up front, in an unwelcome throwback to the style of play utilised by former incumbent Roy Hodgson and, in his last year at least, Spaniard Rafael Benitez.
Although they were chasing the ball for large periods, Sparta were the more threatening of the two, with Kweuke firing an ambitious volley off target, former Reading midfielder Matejovky striking wide and Pamic forcing Pepe Reina to beat the ball away inside the first twenty minutes. In fact, Liverpool's first effort worthy of note arrived a full thirty minutes into the contest, Meireles seeing his shot blocked after the ball had fell invitingly for the Portugese following a similarly stopped effort from Ngog.
The normally faultless Reina was almost caught out 10 minutes before the break when the Spanish stopper flapped aimlessly at Kusnir's deep cross and only managed to make a one-handed half clearance. Fortunately the ball fell to Pamic, who could only blaze high over the bar when well placed.
Soon after the frustratingly injury-prone Fabio Aurelio had to be replaced by Joe Cole after the Brazilian left back, who was playing in a slightly unusual midfield position, had picked up an abductor strain. Cole, himself returning from a lengthy time on the treatment table, tried desperately to add life to our performance, winning a corner on the stroke of half time. Meireles swung the set piece in promisingly, however Dirk Kuyt couldn't turn the ball goalwards from close range after Ngog had nodded it on to the Dutchman.
A slow, dull and ineffective first half display left temporary boss Kenny Dalglish with a few stern words to say during the interval. Defensive solidity was crucially intact, however Ngog was struggling to keep the ball up front against the nasty former West Ham defender Tomas Repka, meaning that the likes of Kuyt, Meireles and Cole playing just off him made little impact on the game.
Unfortunately the tedious pattern of the first half was replicated in the second, as neither side seemed able to gain control of the match or put the opposition goal under a spell of sustained pressure. Liverpool appeared comfortable in possession however there remained a lack of urgency, imagination and creation in attack and this left the Sparta defence with very little to do. Sparta meanwhile tested Reina more often, however our well-drilled back four managed to cope with the Czech side's forays forward with relative ease.
This was demonstrated after 65 minutes when Keric found himself in a promising position inside the Reds' box, however Sotirios Kyrgiakos was there to expertly ease the Croatian striker off the ball and shepherded the ball safely behind for a goal kick. Two minutes earlier Kweuke had headed well wide from Vacek's right wing cross and five minutes later Liverpool almost broke the deadlock as Lucas and Glen Johnson combined to create our best opportunity of the match. The ever improving Brazilian played a sublime pass through to the on-rushing Johnson, who burst into the box before shooting inches wide of the far post with the outside of his right foot, when a left footed attempt was advisable.
The most entertaining event during the remainder of the match arrived when play was momentarily stopped by referee Florian Meyer as Pepe Reina was engulfed by the enormous amount of smoke from a flare that had been mindlessly set alight by the home supporters, most likely due to the lack of entertainment on offer on the pitch.
When the shroud of smoke had finally cleared Sparta responded to Johnson's earlier effort by going close themselves, Kweuke forcing Reina to make an impressive and instinctive stop after Vacek's corner fell favourably for the Spartan number nine. From then on the hosts were on top, however they still found it difficult to carve out clear-cut chances. Nevertheless, they went close with the final attempt of the match five minutes from time when Vacek's shot zoomed menacingly towards goal, thankfully swerving inches wide of the post to the relief of the Reds.
Following an hour and a half of boredom many fans responded with annoyance after the match however, although I can understand the frustration at a tediously dull performance, the result remains positive and should provide us with a platform to build on during the second leg in a weeks' time. Keeping it tight away from home and securing a draw to take back to Anfield is a tried and tested technique in two-legged European ties and, whilst we expected more in attack, the clean sheet secured is crucial.
The worrying factor was the isolation of Ngog up front, but thankfully we no longer have to rely on the young French striker and have Suarez and Carroll to rely on in the short term while Ngog improves, matures and develops into a well-rounded striker, hopefully adding an extra element to our attack in the future.
With the FA Cup returning this weekend Liverpool have a week until we face Sparta Prague again in the return leg. Should the Reds meet expectations and proceed to the next round then further confidence will be gained to extend the Dalglish revolution until at least the end of this campaign.
YNWA
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