Rubbish Reds slip to Saints defeat

That was Liverpool’s worst performance in a long time.

Sloppy at the back and dire going forward, the Reds got what they deserved as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at home to Southampton, who also happen to be the last team to beat the Merseysiders when they claimed a 3-1 victory at St Marys in March. The setback ends the home side’s unbeaten run and sees them drop down to second place in the League below Chelsea on goal difference.

Desperately missing their creative linchpin Philippe Coutinho, who has been ruled out for six weeks with a shoulder injury, Liverpool lacked invention going forward and main man Daniel Sturridge was starved of service. At the other end, the Reds’ bizarre back four composed of four centre backs, with Toure at right back and Sakho on the left, looked disjointed and uncomfortable, regularly giving the ball away when placed under pressure by the industrious Saints and lacking the attacking potency that is there when Johnson and Enrique bomb down the flanks. Mignolet was frequently culpable as well, looking uneasy in possession and evidently lacking the distribution skills of his predecessor Pepe Reina.

To be fair to Southampton, they performed exceptionally well as a unit and fully deserved the three points. None of their individual displays stood out, but collectively they worked extremely hard, bravely pressing high up the pitch and retaining a credible attacking threat, even in the closing stages. The Saints were also rarely troubled by Liverpool’s late forays forward.

Nonetheless, it was the home side that had the best chances during the opening stages, Henderson’s curling effort being saved by Boruc after Sturridge had let Aspas’ pass continue into the 23-year old’s path. Aspas was then fouled to win a free kick in a promising position, but Boruc somehow managed to pull off a world class save to deny Gerrard what appeared a certain goal.

So close yet so far as Gerrard sees his free kick saved

Liverpool’s cries for a penalty fell on deaf ears soon after as referee Swarbrick unreasonably refused to point to the spot after Lovren clearly clipped Sturridge in the area. The England forward’s honesty in trying to continue playing rather than falling over under the challenge perhaps worked against him.

Had Gerrard found the net from his earlier free kick or had the Reds been rightly awarded a penalty then things could have been so different. A first half goal would have settled the nerves within Anfield and allowed the hosts to take charge. As things turned out, the Reds appeared less and less likely to breach the Saints’ backline and the visitors grew in confidence and belief as the game progressed. Moses may have posed a threat on the left, dribbling enthusiastically and seeing his shot tipped over a few minutes before the break, but he couldn’t help Liverpool gain a lead, and Southampton started the second half the better.

Rodgers’ men didn’t help themselves either, though, as Mignolet messed about with the ball only two minutes in and presented Lallana with a fantastic opportunity. The Belgian keeper may have atoned for his error by making a decent save from the resulting shot, but the unnecessary and unfortunate incident underlined once again how much work Liverpool’s goalkeeping coach John Achterberg has to do on his footwork.  

Liverpool were then punished on 53 minutes for yet more sloppy play at the back, Skrtel and Toure somehow contriving to conceded a corner from a Liverpool throw in near the halfway line. Daniel Agger then got caught out in the penalty area, allowing Dejan Lovren to connect with the set piece and find the net, despite the best efforts of skipper Steven Gerrard on the line.

Lovren celebrates in front of the noisy away end

That should have been a wake-up call for Liverpool. It turned out to be a rallying cry for Pochettino’s troops, who threatened again only minutes later, Osvaldo forcing Mignolet to make a reaction save, before the Belgian made a magnificent triple save to keep the Reds in the contest. Exciting young left back Luke Shaw strode forward confidently and shot at goal, but Mignolet was equal to the task, keeping out both his effort and the rebound before leaping to push the ball away before Steven Davis could get to it.

Another Gerrard free kick may have drawn another good save from Boruc, but if anything Southampton looked the more likely to score next, Davis cushioning a volley towards goal but seeing Mignolet catch his effort.  

In the end, Raheem Sterling’s squandering of the last goalscoring opportunity of the match summed up the game from Liverpool’s perspective. Sturridge’s pass over the Saints’ backline set Sterling up with a fantastic opportunity to go one-on-one with Boruc but his first touch was abysmal and the ball ran away from him. It epitomised Liverpool’s technical ineptitude.

The Reds must hope that this was just a bad day at the office, because if they play like this for any significant spell of the season then they are not going to finish in the top four. Games at home against mid-table opposition are the ones in which it is essential to take all three points, no matter how badly you play, and yet Liverpool have once again been stymied by opposition they should be defeating with ease.

In the long term, Rodgers must be on the lookout for adequate cover for Coutinho, as neither Aspas nor Henderson appeared capable of filling his sizeable boots yesterday. It’s a good job Luis Suarez’s suspension has ended now and he can perhaps slot in to the Brazilian’s number ten role behind Sturridge.

The game against Manchester United in the League Cup on Wednesday presents the perfect opportunity to bounce back immediately from this disappointing defeat and gain a morale-boosting victory, while bottom of the table Sunderland should be dispatched comfortably next Sunday teatime.

One thing’s for certain, though; Liverpool won’t win either of those games if they play anywhere near as badly as they did yesterday.

YNWA