The Liverpool Way - First Team

This was the latest down in a rollercoaster season for the Reds. The only shred of comfort is that surely we can't play as badly as this again this season, as in my opinion the first 45 minutes was the worst 'performance' I have ever seen from a Liverpool side. Some feat when you consider some of the dross we have seen in the last two years.

I was apprehensive about the game all week but when I heard the team an hour or so before kick off (thanks Torbjorn) I suddenly felt quite confident we could get a result.

There were nine changes from the side which faced Burnley in midweek with only Dudek and Hyypia retaining their places.

However, it really hit home to me during the first half what an ordinary team we now look. So ordinary that a struggling Southampton - with only two league wins to their name all season - can beat us with something to spare.

We are no longer feared by other teams and things are looking very desperate at the moment.

Southampton had us on the back foot from the first whistle and for a team struggling so badly looked quite confident with their passing and running off the ball, in particular David Prutton who was excellent for them.

They took the lead after only five minutes when the slow and cumbersome Pellegrino was dispossessed on the edge of the box before a neat one-two ended up with Prutton finishing from a tight angle.

It was an awful goal to give away and for the next 40 minutes it was a
series of misplaced passes, bottled challenges and only one attempt on
target.

Midway through the first half Peter Crouch made it 2-0 after a great
through ball by Redknapp to Prutton, who crossed for Crouch to head home from six yards out.

Again it was a bad goal to give away and it has been reminiscent of quite a few goals we have conceded this season where a team will slide through balls between the full-back and the centre-half because Sami is so slow on the turn.

Whilst he has never been particularly quick he is starting to look old and slow to me at times.

The two centre-halfs were so bad, particularly in the first half, they somehow managed to make Peter Crouch look like a decent player. If he had a bit more pace the 2-0 half time scoreline could of been worse.

The Pellegrino signing isn't one which inspires me with confidence either, and it is a shame Steph is leaving as he would definitely be an improvement to this side at present.

I can't think of many centre-halfs who would be available in our price
range at the moment. Maybe the lad from Forest, Michael Dawson could have been worth looking at. He is young and seems to be highly recommended.

Looking at the rest of the team, the only players who can come out with any credit are Carra, Flo who was a half-time substitute for Warnock, and in particular Baros who had a good second half and was unlucky with a couple of efforts which he made for himself.

Garcia was his usual wasteful self throughout and the only thing saving him right now is that our squad is so thin at the moment, otherwise he would surely have been dropped by now.

He is a good footballer and very talented but just so annoying to watch. I never thought I would be praying for the return of Harry Kewell to the side but it is becoming that way. Vladi is another one who would improve this team no end at the moment when he is fit.

Hamann is starting to fall into the same category as Sami at the moment. Slow. His anonymous games are starting to outweigh his good games for us these days. The game just passed him by on Saturday.

Sure, he still has great games for us, the most notable being the Arsenal game in November when it was arguably one of his best performances for us but since then he has generally been poor.

The team was (understandably) booed off at half-time from a muted away end. There was a funny moment at half-time when that Chinese guy who did the Euro 2004 adverts doing all the keepy-ups and ball juggling was introduced to the crowd and was performing his tricks to the crowd and a wag in the crowd shouted 'Rafa, get him on for the second half'. It was my only smile on a dismal day.

We picked up the pace in the second-half slightly although that wasn't hard and Flo (who is definitely more effective as a sub) was making a difference with his pace and trickery.

Baros had a couple of great efforts which went agonisingly past the post and Gerrard clipped the bar with a free-kick but Niemi didn't really have to make any important saves.

Morientes showed some classy touches throughout but just couldn't quite get really involved in the game, but he will surely be a good signing in the long run.

The feelgood factor which was there with the fans and players after the
wins v Arsenal, Spurs in the Carling Cup and Olympiakos has gone now and the importance of Alonso to this team cannot be underestimated as since he has been injured we have not played well in one single game.

Even in the games we have won during that time, Norwich and Watford, we were awful. He is arguably more important to us than Gerrard at the moment in my opinion and we need him fit for the run-in for the battle for 4th place.

The 4th place is crucial to us more than ever this season as Rafa's transfer budget for next season will depend on it.

I am trying very hard not to judge Benitez but at times it is not easy. At
the moment the football is worse than last season and the squad is the
worst in living memory with only a handful of players who are good enough to be playing for this great club.

I know that is not Rafa's fault but Alan Curbishley's Charlton are level on points with us. Curbishley was one of the managers linked with us in the summer and has done a great job at Charlton.

I really hope Rafa is the man as I genuinely like him and I thought the stick he took after the Burnley game was scandalous, but if it goes tits up under him we could do worse than Curbishley, a young British manager.

At the end of the game I was quite apathetic to the defeat and I wasn't ranting and raving like I normally would be. It was just a shrug of the shoulders and a 'oh well' attitude as it is half expected nowadays as defeat just doesn't hurt some of those players.

We have a crucial game v Watford on Tuesday and defeat there could well leave our season and the confidence of the team in total disarray.

Liverpool: Dudek, Carragher, Hyypia (Raven), Pellegrino, Warnock (Sinama-Pongolle); Garcia, Hamann (Biscan), Gerrard, Riise; Morientes, Baros:

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

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