A Tale of Missed Chances

The disbelief we all felt was there for all to see upon leaving Anfield. We could and should have won a game in which Man Utd came for a draw and scored from a disappointing lapse in concentration where Skrtel was left gasping for air unable to cope with the movement of Hernandez.

In a disjointed first half Liverpool could conceivably have gone in one-up with Suarez, living on scraps, producing his usual flourish, to turn Evans inside and out unfortunately hit the ball straight at keeper when either side would have seen the net bulging. He also missed a close header from a glorious Gerrard cross to the near post.

I have commented previously on the blog that it is my belief that the combination of Lucas and Adam in the central areas doesn't lend itself to controlling the game. An impartial observation was difficult to make as Lucas produced an indeterminate performance in which he regularly lost possession and the vibrancy which his game is now all about was missing. Charlie Adam seemed ponderous on the ball, where Liverpool seemed to want him to dictate affairs in a more controlled way, rather than in the more destructive fashion of last season.

The injury to Lucas proved to be a pivotal moment as the addition of Henderson freed Adam of defensive responsibilities allowing Gerrard to move into a more central position and control the tempo of the game alongside Henderson who added drive from the centre which we don't see from Lucas and Adam.
Not to go overboard with Henderson's cameo role, who on another day could easily have won the game for Liverpool, but with the future in mind it was nice to see a centre-midfielder other than Steven Gerrard making tackles and driving forward to link up with Suarez.

Making Steve Gerrard Man of the Match is understandable given his goal and strong all round performance, but it could just have easily been Enrique who whether in defence or attack is extremely capable. In defence he is a great reader of the game intercepting and covering and often turning defence into attack, where he dovetails with Downing who enjoyed a fine last quarter to the match, recognising that the early cross was the order of the day, producing a peach of cross where by Dirk Kuyt almost won the game.

Gerrard's quality has been remarked upon a multitude of times over the last decade, but even with the promise of Liverpool's showing since Dalglish's return, he offers the team qualities which no other Liverpool player even comes close too, enabling him to lead by example rather than force of personality. Welcome back Stevie G.

Kop Post Man of the Match: Jose Enrique, yet another quality assured performance from a clever footballer.