Too many players were below par on the night, and some seemed overawed, which is a surprise when you consider they have played in the Nou Camp, Olympic Stadium, Ali Sami Yen, Westfalenstadion and the Bay Arena over the last two years.
When I saw the tactics employed by Houllier with Heskey on the left wing again I was disappointed and annoyed to say the least. After all the tactics didn't work on Saturday against Boro so what made GH think they would work again with one up front in A GAME WE HAD TO WIN!!!
I am getting pissed off going to Liverpool games watching the same brand of cagey counter-attacking football game after game. We have some of the best attacking players in Europe but Houllier isn't utilising them properly. All a far cry from the early part of the season when we were at least looking to attack.
We finished where we deserved to finish in the group overall. Houllier handed Basle the initiative from the off with his formation, and to be fair they took that initiative in some style. They're a decent attacking team with some good players especially Yakin, Rossi and Giminez, but they're hardly Real Madrid. Yakin in particular was allowed so much time and space to thread passes through our defence at will. The back four looked slow and uncertain, especially Sami who had a complete nightmare in the first half.
The midfield wasn't much better though, with Gerrard having his worst game in a Liverpool shirt. He's had poor games before but at least he had always shown effort and commitment. He seemed lazy and uninterested against Basle which is worrying, and he looks to have the weight of the world on his shoulders at the moment.
Despite the awful first half display we did have chances against a dodgy Basle defence and you wonder if we had a braver manager who had started with two up front it could have been a different outcome. The fact that he didn't go 4-4-2 until an hour gone was disgraceful. He should have changed it at 0-2. When it was 3-1 Basle visibly shit themselves.
Diao came on for the second half and made an immediate difference with his accurate passing, tackling and overall work-rate. Baros came on for the ineffective Heskey but looks short on confidence and his first touch was pretty poor. More great man-management by GH who dropped him earlier in the season when he was flying.
I felt sorry for Michael Owen who worked his bollocks off but was too isolated on his own. Smicer - especially in the second half - had one of his best games in a Liverpool shirt in his true position, and was the main (only?) bright spot from a dismal night.
We were much improved in the second half but Basle looked very dangerous on the break and Dudek had to make a few very good saves. Djimi was superb, particularly second half with some great last-ditch tackles and covered Hyypia's arse more than once (not for the first time this season I might add). Xavier might as well have played for all the use Sami was in the first half.
Murphy was anonymous apart from his goal, Carra was pretty solid but is so limited going forward its untrue. Riise was below par again as he has been for much of the season no matter where he has played, left back or left midfield. A specialist left-back is still required in my book, maybe Wayne Bridge as well as a creative wide player. We also need the other SH back asap. Dietmar wasn't at his best but at least he tried which is more than can be said of some.
Overall it was very disappointing to go out at the first group stage but we simply didn't deserve to go through. I hope to see a positive response on Sunday against Sunderland and over the coming weeks but we have some difficult games coming up against Man Utd, Everton and Arsenal. Hopefully our over cautious manager will change his philosophy about our style of play but I for one am not holding my breath. I feel us being top of the league is papering over the cracks slightly.
Team: Jerzy Dudek; Jamie Carragher (El Hadji Diouf), Sami Hyypia, Djimi Traore, John Arne Riise; Danny Murphy, Steven Gerrard (Salif Diao), Didi Hamann, Emile Heskey (Milan Baros); Vladimir Smicer, Michael Owen:
