Seeing is Believing -Major work still needed as top 4 hopes diminish-LFC 0 WBA 2

Report by Dedlfc (David Douglas)

As we had done in our last home game of last season vs Chelsea we had agreed to use the global charitable initiative logo "Seeing is Believing" which is aimed at tackling avoidable blindness in developing countries.

The limited edition shirts worn by the players will be signed after the match and auctioned off with every pound raised matched by Standard Chartered. This is a fantastic gesture of support by our club which is to be expected.

What we didn't know was the other meaning of the logo until the end of this bad evening for us when we were given another reality check to where we really are as a club/squad.

When Gareth McAuley headed home West Brom's first effort on target in the 81st minute it set up their first league double over us having won 3-0 on the opening day of the season - since 1966-67.

All the promise of performances in draws against Arsenal and Manchester City was wiped away in 90 torturous minutes as we suffered our first home defeat since mid-December.

West Brom are not supposed to like Mondays. They had not won any of their previous 18 top-flight away matches on this day, a run stretching back 44 years to March 1969.

However, they appeared more than comfortable in a disappointing first half which saw both teams manage just two shots on target between them.

Both of those were registered by us as the Baggies were not intent on showing much adventure but with us not clicking into any sort of gear they were not in much danger either.

With Daniel Sturridge's thigh problem not being risked we were shorn of the pacy, incisive running which caused the Premier League champions so many problems in the 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium.

This was an opportunity to continue with the positive tactic from our last two league games of Suarez being supported by a striker by playing Borini as replacement to Sturridge but instead Rodgers reverted back to the 4-3-3 formation which meant that our only real goal threat was Suarez.

This tactic had been used prior to Sturridges's arrival but has without Suarez's goal impact not produced the goals that our build up play has maybe deserved and so if the tactic has not worked for most of the season it just doesn't make sense to go back to it.

Sturridge's replacement Jonjo Shelvey was given his first league appearance since Boxing Day, playing in the hole as Luis Suarez was restored to the out-and-out striker role but he failed to provide the movement or pace the way Sturridge has since his arrival in Jan 2013.

The 20-year-old did put the ball in the net early on but was well offside, which sort of set the tone for the half which was briefly enlivened by Suarez producing a brilliant behind-the-leg cross.

Agger had a header which he should have scored from a Downing cross tipped over by Foster, who also caught Stewart Downing's stinging drive at the second attempt.

The closest we actually came to scoring in the first half was when Steven Reid's attempted left-footed clearance of Shelvey's low cross cannoned off his standing leg and looped over the crossbar from four yards.

A lack of fluidity and crispness was noticeably absent in our passing game as the Baggies harried and hassled and tried to stifle as much of our attempted movement as possible.

Every pass from us seemed half-a-yard too short or long and our control of the ball was continuously wasteful.

Improvements were made by Brendan Rodgers for the second half as Downing had a shot blocked and Gerrard's follow-up was crowded out before Henderson's cheeky close-range back-heel from Glen Johnson's pass was stopped by Foster.

With an hour gone more work was required and Raheem Sterling and Borini were sent on for the ineffective Shelvey and the tiring Henderson.

Borini was denied an excellent opportunity by a fully-stretched West Brom goalkeeper after lashing Downing's lay-off goalwards, McAuley slid in to block Suarez's shot and the wrong-footed Foster stuck out a hand to stop Gerrard's drive.

The chance to take a vital lead was then missed when we won a dubious penalty by the unusually quiet Suarez being bundled over. Our captain marvel Gerrard stepped up but without the normal conviction and it was no surprise to see Ben Foster save the penalty.

Having dominated proceedings we were then were hit with the sucker punch nine minutes from time after an excellent finger tip save by Reina had conceded a corner from a Mulumbu driven shot.

Chris Brunt swung over the resulting right-wing corner and McAuley had a free run in the area to power home a header, how Agger had let him get a free header is still a mystery to us all but it is symptomatic of our defence at the moment, we are masters of our own downfall in nearly every league game.

With us now chasing the game, we were again exposed even later on when Lukaku, having originally been dropped to the bench, breezed past the now extremely low on confidence Agger to then stroke home their second.

The disgust on our captain's face when the second goal went in summed up the thoughts of all LFC fans around the world, it said typical of us to control a game again and then throw it all away!

With the chase for 4th place almost over we now have to rely on winning the Euro league to get anymore joy out of this very disappointing season.

Kop man of the match - Steven Gerrard despite his vital penalty miss!
Our captain produced some raking long range Exocet missile type cross field passes which didn't influence the result but again demonstrated that he is still undisputedly our best player.

Positives - a mini cameo from our new attacking midfielder Coutinho but nothing else to shout about for us.

Negatives - the defending in recent games of our main first choice defenders Skrtel and now Agger, both players have been equally woeful in the last two months and must wish this season could just finish now.

Agger has recently invested around half a million in his brother's sewer company and he played last night like he had fell in the sewer and couldn't get out!

Rodgers attempted using Shelvey as a centre forward. Shelvey is not a Daniel Sturridge by any means, is not positionally sound as a striker, does not have great hold up play and is not pacy by any stretch of the imagination. I do understand Shelvey was put up top because his shooting is actually more accurate than any of our strikers, but he doesn't move or think like one.

Another travesty by Rodgers is Henderson as a left winger. Hendo and Shelvey should perhaps have swapped positions, seeing as Shelvey's game is about moving the play and Henderson's is about support. Hendo does happen to have good hold up play and intelligent movement. Suarez could have used the support up front from Henderson better.

The most noticeable improvement at Anfield in recent weeks has been the ability of Liverpool to add bodies in the six-yard box aiding and abetting Suarez's terror campaign, but the first half had rather more in common with the reconstructive early weeks of the season, when Rodgers' passing game  seemed methodical rather than natural. There was too much pedestrian distribution and not enough width or penetration.

A very disappointing result for our plans for the season indeed and our manager will have to reflect on the changes and tactics made.

Liverpool (4-3-3): Reina; Enrique, Agger, Carragher, Johnson; Lucas, Gerrard, Henderson (Sterling 60); Downing (Coutinho 78), Shelvey (Borini 60), Suarez.
Subs: Jones, Coutinho, Allen, Skrtel, Wisdom.
Booked: Suarez.
West Brom (4-5-1): Foster; Reid, Olsson, McAuley, Ridgewell; Brunt, Mulumbu, Yacob, Dorrans (Lukaku 74), Morrison; Long (Fortune 87).
Subs: Rosenberg, Myhill, Thomas, Jones, Tamas.
Referee: Jon Moss.
Booked: Reid, Morrison, Brunt.
Attendance: 44,572.