Report by Dave Usher at Anfield

As bad as anything I can remember. That was my verdict as I left Anfield following the reds' shock defeat to Graz, and as I write this two days later I still feel the same, although the depression I felt on the night has been replaced by a sense of perspective which is often absent in the immediate aftermath of a bad result.

It was a terrible, terrible performance, and the only crumbs of consolation that can come out of this are that a) it didn't really matter as we went through, and b) Benitez will have learned a lot from it and with the Spanish Armada sailing in to the rescue, it's likely we won't see a display as bad as this for some time.

I can look at things objectively now as 48 hours have passed since the game, but coming out of Anfield straight after the game there wasn't much to take consolation from. Yes, we were through, but that shouldn't even have been in the slightest doubt. Yet it was, as we hung on grimly at the end.

Against City I had been really impressed with how we played in the second half. If that could be repeated Graz would be swept away with ease. It never happened though. We were sluggish, complacent, and then nervous. The inconsistency which has plagued us for so long may take a while to be eradicated, but the new signings should help to bring a new mentality to those who remain when the cull is finally over.

Benitez had made a couple of changes to the side which beat City. As revealed on TLW that day, Darren Potter was given a first start, and Henchoz came in for the injured Josemi.

I had also expected Warnock and Biscan to start, as that's how they had lined up in training ahead of the game. However, Benitez must have had second thoughts as Warnock again had to settle for a place on the bench and Diao got the nod over Biscan.

Perhaps Benitez didn't want to start with both Warnock and Potter? Maybe Diao impressed more than Biscan in training? Who knows, but clearly predicting Benitez' team selection is not going to be easy this season, as even the players aren't always aware of what's going on.

The selection of Diao was baffling, especially given the pre-season form of Biscan. Surely this was the ideal opportunity to give Igor a start? But at Valencia Benitez was known for springing surprises in his team selections, so we better get used to it.

It's possible he wanted one last look at Diao before making a final decision on his future, and if that's the case then the Senegal man didn't do anything to suggest he deserves to remain here.

Not that he was any worse than anybody else, he wasn't. But with Gerrard and Alonso likely to be first choice, Biscan waiting in the wings and Hamann also here unless someone comes in for him, then the limited Diao is not going to get a look in and we should be getting him off the wage bill.

The Graz game may prove to be a watershed for others too. Henchoz is out of contract in the summer, and it's unlikely he'll get a new one. He did okay against Graz, but if another defender comes in it will surely be Steph who leaves.

A shame, as I really like the guy, but with Carra switching to the centre and Sami starting to look more like his old self, Henchoz is only going to be back up, and at this stage of his career that's not good enough for him.

Then there's Dudek. He had no chance with the goal, which was a belter, but he looked edgy all game. The defenders are unsettled by him and appear not to have any confidence in him anymore, and the crowd clearly have lost faith in him too. The problem is that Kirky seems to be made of straw.

If another keeper was signed before the window closes, few would have any complaints. I really don't know what has happened to Jerzy. In his first season he was brilliant, and was being compared to Clemence. Since the 2002 World Cup though, you could compare him to Mike Hooper.

And what of Harry Kewell? He's been criticised for his early season form, and maybe that's why Benitez left him in rather than give Warnock a well deserved full debut. Rafa may have thought this was a great chance for Harry to get some form back against limited opposition.

If that was the case, it backfired as the Aussie was once more distinctly average. Obviously Kewell won't be sold, not before next summer at least, but he does have a fight on his hands to stay in the team.

Warnock has outshone him each time he has come on, and Luis Garcia also offers a massive threat to Kewell, depending on where Rafa wants to play him.

World Soccer Magazine's Spanish corespondent Sid Lowe was the guest columnist in the match programme, and if what he says about Benitez is true, Harry's days could be numbered: "Benitez will always prefer a seven out of ten player who can get to an eight every week, rather than a nine out of ten who will only play to eight out of ten." Warnock and Kewell anyone?

It's too soon to write Kewell off, but unless he starts delivering he'll be out of the team, then out the door. Houllier may have persevered with players who underachieved, but Benitez won't. Rafa has made a conscious effort to trim the wagebill, and given that Kewell is now the top earner along with Gerrard, he needs to start playing like it or he'll be given the boot, and rightly so.

There is no room at Anfield these days for passengers, so Harry needs to sort himself out and quick. I'm not writing him off as he's a massive talent. But whatever the problem is, he needs to identify it and sort it out, because the Harry Kewell of 2004 has not been anything like what he can be.

Aside from the defence, everyone was poor against Graz. It was just a horrible, clueless, lacklustre display. Not that we deserved to lose, as the Austrians came to just keep the score down, and it took a wonder goal to make them realise that there was actually a chance for them to win this tie.

Even then they didn't begin to throw men forward until the final five minutes. It's a good job they didn't show much ambition, as they could have cost the club millions in lost revenue.

We've got Gerrard to thank that we're into the CL draw. It was his performance in the first leg which saw us through this tie, and it was his colossal displays last season which got us to the dance in the first place.

He had a rare off night against Graz, but was still our most effective attacking player. That was because no-one else contributed at all. Milan ran himself into the ground once more, but he was more like a clockwork mouse than anything else. Still, at least the effort is there with him.

Cisse was absolutely atrocious. His touch doesn't look good, he's easily beaten in the air and he's always in a hurry with everything he does. He's quick and has a powerful shot, but he is going to be hit and miss for a while I think until he settles in.

The only thing which is going to help Djibril get better, and help him and Milan form a partnership, is hard work in training and a run of games together. Whether they get that run of games is now debatable, as Luis Garcia may operate as a link striker behind one of them, or he may play on the right until Antonio Nunez is fit again.

It was young Darren Potter who filled the problem right side against Graz, and he did a steady job. Some have said he looked out of his depth, but this was a difficult game for Darren to play in for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, he's a central midfielder. He's played on the right for reserves, but has always looked much better in the middle. And when he has played out wide for the reserves, he's always had license to come inside. Under Benitez however, the widemen stay wide.

Secondly, this was such a poor team performance that it must have been very difficult for a young lad to come in and look good. Had the team been playing well, maybe Darren could have expressed himself a bit more and tried a few different things. As it was, the team were dreadful and Potter took no risks and kept everything simple.

I watched Darren closely, and it was obvious he was making a concerted effort to hold his position. He was constantly looking to where other players where in relation to where he was, and was making sure he was where he was supposed to be.

No doubt this was something which was worked on in training, and the mere fact that Benitez kept him on for ninety minutes suggests he was happy with the job the youngster was doing.

He wasn't spectacular or eye-catching, and just stuck to basics. It was a decent debut, but don't judge Darren Potter on this showing. In central midfield he's a class act. Out wide, he's steady enough, but usually looks like a central midfielder being asked to play out of position.

Warnock was again impressive when he came on, and surely it's only a matter of time before he is given his first start. His link up with Riise on the left has looked much more effective than the Riise/Kewell partnership.

The Norwegian was comfortably Liverpool's best player on a bad night. He defended well, won every tackle he went in for and put a lot of energy into the game. He's started the season well, and seems to be putting the last two disappointing years behind him. His crossing is still shit though.

Carra also had a decent game, and Hyypia did nothing wrong either. But against opposition as poor as Graz, you'd expect the defence to look pretty comfortable.

What let the side down was the midfield and strikers looking like complete strangers. That is something which can be worked on in training, and despite the embarrassment of it, this defeat hasn't actually done us any harm.

Benitez perhaps learned more about his players in this game than he has in any other so far. And we learned a bit more about him in the way he handled defeat.

Coming out of the game, one of my first thoughts was what would Rafa say about it? A 'blessing in disuise' maybe? Thankfully not. There were no silly excuses, and he also accepted his share of the blame, saying it is everybody's fault and he's as much to blame as anyone. Most refreshing.

Of course, Graz should have been down to ten men when the skipper was booked twice, but Rafa even laughed that off, describing it as a 'small mistake'. My how times have changed. That said, the performance against Graz was as bad as anything witnessed under Houllier.

The Austrian keeper had been excellent in the first leg, but he had nothing to do at Anfield. I remember him making an easy save from a Gerrard shot from distance, and a routine stop from Flo late on, but that's about it. Only when Warnock and Sinama came on did we even look remotely threatening.

As I write this now though, I can look at things a lot more positively than I did on Tuesday night. Yes, the performance was terrible. Yes, it was embarrassing to lose to a team none of us had heard of before the draw was made, and yes, some of the players aren't good enough.

But the cavalry is on the way in the form of Alonso and Garcia, plus Nunez in a few weeks. Only when these players are bedded into the side and have had time to gel with the rest of the team will we see Benitez' Liverpool.

Up to now, he's more or less been working with another man's squad. The Benitez era will fully get under way this weekend when he is finally able to field the two players who topped his transfer wish list when he took charge in June.

Viva la Rafalution!

 

Team: Dudek; Carragher, Hyypia, Henchoz, Riise; Potter, Diao, Gerrard, Kewell (Warnock); Cisse (Sinama), Baros (Hamann):

 

Agree or disagree? Email me at dave@liverpoolway.co.uk

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