I think it's best if I keep this fairly brief. I'm writing this straight after getting home from the game, so as you can imagine I'm not in the best frame of mind to do this, and with the anger and frustration still simmering away inside there's a danger that I might go a bit over the top in my criticism of this 'performance.' No doubt there'll be a lot of hysterical, knee-jerk, overly critical reactions flying about these next few days, and I have no real desire to add to that, but how can I write a report on this game without being critical? The answer is I can't. To analyse all that went wrong in this game would take me best part of the night, and frankly would depress the hell out of me (and you too I expect). In a nutshell, we were absolute shite today, and Villa were full value for the three points. No doubt eyebrows were raised with the news that Owen was only on the bench, but hindsight is a wonderful thing, and to be fair I don't have a problem with that decision. Michael is the most important player we have, and this is going to be a long, hard season. There will be times when he has to sit things out, and this was one of them.
Heskey and Fowler should be good enough to give any side a problem, but both were anonymous today (particularly in the first half). How much of that was down to them, and how much was down to the crap service they received from the midfield is open to debate, but for me they all must take a share of the blame. Frankly, at this moment in time our midfield stinks, and it need addressing quickly.
This performance was possibly even worse than the one at Bolton, and the seemingly harsh (I say this without having seen the replay) sending off of Stevie G should not disguise that fact. We're too narrow, too static and simply don't create enough openings. We're also as boring as hell to watch right now. Sorry if this seems like I'm going over the top, but after sitting through the game with Bolton, and then this one, that's just how I see it. In fact, the West Ham game was exactly the same, but thankfully Owen bailed us out of the shite in that one.
All of our problems at the moment stem from the midfield. Once again, Litmanen was ignored, and if I was Jari I'd be getting my agent to sort me out with a new club, as he's obviously never going to get a fair crack of the whip here. If he was injured then okay, if he wasn't, then he's got every right to be fucking furious. I say again, what the fuck does Jari have to do to get a game. I asked the same question coming out of the Bolton game, and one lad replied "Give head like Murphy?" Cruel, but understandable.
Gary Mac had a poor game today, Stevie G wasn't on top form - but is wasted playing on the right anyway - and no disrespect to Hamann (who did nothing wrong) but this is the type of game when Didi is not needed. He's our best player in European games, and in tough games I'd play him every time, as the job he does protecting the back four and breaking up attacks is invaluable. However, that's not enough in games like this, and a more creative player is needed. Redknapp? I'd like to see Jamie given a go, but for him to be effective he'll need a couple of players who'll stay out wide and give him the space to play in. That's not Houllier's style though, and it's debatable whether Jamie would make a difference right now.
Barmby worked hard, but was ineffective. Again, our style of play doesn't bring out the best in him, and he needs someone like Litmanen who can pick out his runs. The fact is that we miss Patrik Berger and Vladimir Smicer a lot more than people may realise. The lack of creativity in the side right now is alarming, and I'm very worried. So much so that if it were up to me I would throw Partridge in. He's started the season in great form for the reserves, and at least he would give the opposition something different to worry about. Could he do any worse than the current midfielders? At least he wouldn't keep coming infield and running into traffic.
I know we're only three games into the season, but - and I know for a fact that I'll take stick for this comment - I have now given up on the league. We're not good enough. I thought we were, but I was wrong. We could be, as we do have the players, but unless Gerard has a serious re-think of his tactics and is a lot more adventurous, then a top three spot is the best we can hope for. We've dropped six points already to teams we should be beating. It's the derby next week and that game now takes on massive significance.
It's too early to start talking about a crisis, but if we lose to the blueshite then we will certainly be at a cross-roads. If there's one thing that I am relieved about (if relieved is the right word when you're talking about a 3-1 home defeat), it's that none of the goals were down to Dudek. From what I saw he had no chance with any of the goals, and other than that didn't have too much to do. He seemed confident and assured, but obviously it's still way too early to judge him.
I've gone for Sami as the star man, but that was purely because there was nobody else that could have got it. Sami wasn't great, but he was the best of a very bad bunch. Riise didn't have the best of games, nor did Carra. For me, Vignal is the best left back at the club, and should now be given a run in the side. At the risk of repeating myself, I also think it's time Jari was played, and it has to be behind TWO strikers, not one.
Next up is Boavista, and it's not a game I'm looking forward to. I think we'll win, but I'm not expecting much in the way of entertainment. We're desperately missing our two injured Czechs, and the sooner they're back the happier I'll be. Well so much for keeping it brief!
TEAM: Jerzy Dudek; Jamie Carragher, Sami Hyypia, Stephane Henchoz (Danny Murphy), John Arne Riise (Gregory Vignal); Nick Barmby (Michael Owen), Dietmar Hamann, Gary McAllister, Steven Gerrard; Emile Heskey, Robbie Fowler:
