Balotelli inspires last gasp win

Brendan Rodgers finally succumbed to outside pressures, dropping Mario Balotelli to the bench and ending the will he, won’t he saga by bringing in Rickie Lambert for a start alongside Fabio Borini.  Making nine changes from the disappointing draw with Hull with only Lovren and Johnson remaining and Lucas starting for the rested Gerrard.

Liverpool started on the front food and looked as good as they had since beating Spurs with Coutinho at the head of affairs, conducting the tempo.   The ball was being popped around quicker than it had been for some time, with good movement, switching play from side to side.

Henderson was just wide from a free-kick and Lucas, after being found well by Coutinho shot straight at veteran keeper Tremmel.   Coutinho, showing all his tricks of the trade shimmied past Fulton before dragging his shot wide.

The best chance of the half fell to Markovic after Lucas broke up a Swansea attack and fed Coutinho.   The Brazilian changed the direction of the attack to feed Henderson, who in turn found Markovic running in on the left.  The ex-Benfica man exhibited little composure slashed his shot wide.

In the space of two minutes Fabio Borini fashioned out two changes.  The first, stunning in its impudence as he spun on a sixpence leaving the defender behind before curling the ball just past the far post.  He then drove forward at speed before unleashing a shot which Tremmel did well to push round the post.

The Swansea game plan had been to drop off to the edge of the area and let Liverpool have the ball quite comfortable in the knowledge that we were shooting from distance and our possession lacked the quality in the final third.   The away team been prompted by Jonjo Shelvey began to get more into the game and Jones had to be at sharp to palm away a stinging Shelvey free-kick low down.

Swansea eased through the gears taking control of the game early in the second half with Coutinho looking frustrated gesticulating to his colleagues with the lack of movement ahead of him and the inability to read his passes, some of which would have needed built-it rader being far off its intended target.

With 25 minutes to go Jonjo Shelvey attempted a pass which bounced up to Montero.  His pass deflected off Jordan Henderson’s block looping to the unmarked Emnes who struck a gorgeous left footed volley into the corner of the net, leaving Jones with no chance.   Swansea were in such control that there seem no way back.

Swansea fans now in full voice bellowing what a “waste of money”.  Were the chants for Balotelli warming up on the side lines or Brendan Rodgers after his massive outlay?

Rodgers with time ebbing away looked to change the dynamic by bringing on Balotelli for the ineffectual Lambert who to be fair suffered more than anyone from the lack of quality service

Six minutes later, Borini produced the kind of cross which must have had Rickie Lambert cursing his luck on the bench.  He whipped in a cross in for Balotelli to attack allowing the striker time to sluice between both central defenders to prod home.  Cometh the hour…

As extra time again beckoned in a Capital One tie Fernandez was sent off for what looked an innocuous tackle on Coutinho.

The Kop exploded in relief 5 minutes into injury time as Lovern stole in to head home Coutinho’s free-kick to send Liverpool through to the quarter-final.

Man of the Match:  Fabio Borini – Looked sharp throughout and although Coutinho was the instigator of many of Liverpool’s attacks,  Borini carried the threat and looked most likely to score.

Rickie Lambert disappointed struggled to break away from Williams’ attention throughout.  The ‘Big Man’ also suffered from  the lack of quality service in the final third, but he looks very stagnant in the middle with his of lack of pace making him look one dimensional.  Rodgers needs to fathom a way to work to the striker’s strengths or his stay at Anfield even as a third or fourth striker will be short.

Coutinho looked what he is, a class act on the ball, twisting and turning as if a reincarnation of Messi.  Unfortunately, his shooting and final ball leaves a lot to be desired at times and he has to improve because he is a big part of the Liverpool's game plan with his intricate skills.

Mamquillo had a strong game showing himself capable of playing in a wing-back role producing searing raids on the overlap, although he like his colleagues will be disappointed with his final ball.  Brad Jones, didn’t have much to do, although he showed good concentration to pull off a smart save low down from a Shelvey free-kick.

Liverpool:

1 Jones, 19 Manquillo, 4 K Toure, 6 Lovren, 2 Johnson, 21 Lucas, 14 Henderson, 50 Markovic (Lallana – 70 mins), 10 Coutinho, 29 Borini, 9 Lambert (Balotelli – 79 mins)

Subs:

18 Moreno, 20 Lallana, 22 Mignolet, 23 Can, 37 Skrtel, 45 Balotelli, 46 Rossiter

Referee: Keith Stroud

Attendance: 42,582

Rodgers gamble on Ballotelli backfires as he again shoots blanks - Liverpool 0 Hull City 0

By dedlfc Liverpool fan

We missed out on our chance to close the gap at the top of the Premier League as we were left frustrated at Anfield by a determined Hull City in a goalless draw.

Brendan Rodgers through blind faith stuck by the troubled Mario Balotelli, starting him in attack alongside Raheem Sterling and Adam Lallana, while Jordan Henderson was rested to the bench and Joe Allen starting in midfield.  Meanwhile, Steve Bruce handed Hatem ben Arfa a start in attack as he played just off summer signing Abel Hernandez.

The first couple of minutes were even between both sides with us almost taking the lead after 10 minutes as Dejan Lovren’s towering header was cleared off the goal line by Ahmed Elmohamady, and shortly after, Mario Balotelli tested Hull goalkeeper, Eldin Jakupovic.

We began to dominate the ball but the Tigers remained strong and disciplined, in truth, there was a distinct lack of quality in the final third for Liverpool and despite Balotelli working hard for us he is no Sturridge.

Emre Can was showing why Liverpool wanted him so badly with some powerful running through midfield.  Hull’s midfield of Jake Livermore and Tom Huddlestone struggled to prevent his runs.

Emre showing he can

Hull gave then had several opportunities just before the half time break as Ben Arfa drove into the box and pulled the ball back for Livermore whose shot was well saved by Simon Mignolet.  Huddlestone and Diame also hit shots from long range.

The first 15 minutes of the second half were fairly stagnate, with only Hernandez having a pot-shot which Mignolet dealt with comfortably.   With Rickie Lambert preparing to come off the bench, Steven Gerrard linked up well with Sterling but his quick-fire shot from the edge of the penalty area whisked just wide.

On the hour, Balotelli almost scored his first league goal but his effort just two yards out was bundled away by the Hull defence.   A minute later, a brilliant cross from the right from Manquillo whizzed just past him as he stretched to make the header.  There was now a lot more urgency in our play.

As the clock continued to run down, we pushed incessantly for the opening goal as a penalty claim from Jordan Henderson – a second-half substitute – was waved away as the Englishman was booked for diving.

With five minutes left, Gerrard’s lovely free-kick found Philippe Coutinho at the back post but he got too much on his header.  The home side’s pressure was telling as Balotelli fell in the penalty box claiming a push to the ground in front of goal, the front man seeing his appeal dismissively waved away.  Anfield was tense and the fans baying for a goal.  In injury time, Coutinho hit a strong shot which Jakupovic was equalled to, tipping it over.

With seconds left on the clock, Balotelli had a glorious chance to win the game and create back page headlines for the right reasons,  but his shot was saved unbelievably by Jakupovic as Hull gain a hard earned and deserved point at Anfield.

Negatives

Rodgers cannot continue to keep blind faith in Ballotelli and the player not repaying him with goals to win us matches.  It is positive that he is getting chances but the ones he has missed are bread and butter to any striker worth his weight in gold.  Why do we only show urgency in fits and starts or late in a game, why not start with that tempo?

Positives 

Our first clean sheet since beating Spurs on 31st August 2014.   We need to try and build on this clean sheet. but also go on a run of winning games.  Coutinho again came on and made a difference to our side's tempo.

Man of the match: The Defence Unit - they took on board everything that had been said during training and got a clean sheet for us.

Liverpool

22 Mignolet

19 Manquillo

37 Skrtel

06 Lovren

18 Moreno

24 Allen (Coutinho - 61' )

08 Gerrard

23 Can (Henderson - 75' Booked )

31 Sterling Booked

45 Balotelli Booked

20 Lallana (Lambert - 61' )

Substitutes

01 Jones

02 Johnson

04 K Touré

09 Lambert

10 Coutinho

14 Henderson

50 Markovic

Ref: Neil Swarbrick

Att: 44,591

Totally outclassed as Madrid go into Kroos control - Liverpool 0 Real Madrid 3

By dedlfc

In our first real test back at the big table of Champions League football Real Madrid showed exactly why they are European champions and how far we have fallen down the pecking order with a 3-0 victory in a display which oozed class at Anfield.

Karim Benzema scored twice after Cristiano Ronaldo broke his six-match duck at Anfield with a superb opener to edge within one of club icon Raul's all-time Champions League goal scoring record.

In the final analysis it was not even close.  Real's first win - in fact first goals - in four meetings against the Reds came all too easily as they highlighted the gulf in class.

The Spanish side last visited Merseyside in 2009, at a time when we could conceivably argue we were still contenders for Europe's top honours.

Now we are feeling our way back into the competition and it is tough going.

On that March evening five years ago Madrid were torn apart 4-0 by - in Steven Gerrard's words - a "world-class" Fernando Torres.

There was no-one approaching his stature or the recently departed Luis Suarez among the home side's ranks and the game-plan appeared to involve just giving the ball to Raheem Sterling.

That was asking a lot of the 19-year-old, even for someone with his precocious talent.

It had all looked so good for 23 minutes as Liverpool evoked memories of famous Anfield nights of the past, boosted by the fervour rolling down off the Kop.

Sterling's pace caused Real's defence some problems and former Reds defender Alvaro Arbeloa got away with a trip on the youngster as he raced on to Jordan Henderson's ball over the top.

Gerrard troubled Iker Casillas with a low, dipping shot which was parried by the goalkeeper, who then got in a flap trying to deal with the Reds captain's corner.

Joe Allen clipping a shot wide and Philippe Coutinho fired against the post late in the half was as close as we would come,  as Real, having absorbed the early pressure, switched up a gear in an instant.

Ronaldo, whose previous involvement amounted to being fouled by Henderson after just nine seconds and seeing a low shot comfortably claimed by Simon Mignolet, was unsurprisingly the instigator and finisher.

Laying the ball off to James Rodriguez, he darted forward to get on the end of a deliciously weighted return ball and hit a sublime half-volley past Mignolet with centre-backs Dejan Lovren and Martin Skrtel seemingly comatose.

If we were stunned by that, we should have seen the second and third goals coming as they resulted from familiar flaws which have haunted us all season

On the half-hour, Toni Kroos lifted a cross to the far post where a poorly positioned Glen Johnson left Benzema unchallenged to loop a header across goal and in at the far post.

A Kroos corner 11 minutes later floated over the head of Mario Balotelli and hit Pepe on the chest, with the Portugal defender reacting quickest to nick the ball past Mignolet for Benzema to tap home.

And what of our £16 m striker Balotelli? Brendan Rodgers resisted the chance to drop the misfiring striker.  But the Italy striker got a first shake of the head from his manager within two minutes - and was replaced at half-time by Adam Lallana, after swapping shirts with Pepe as he headed down the tunnel which was a total disrespect to all Liverpool fans and then refused to sit and support the side from the bench which was totally out of order. Maybe he was on Instagram boasting about his newly gained Real Madrid shirt or arranging for it to be framed!

 

Pepe, can I have your shirt please?

In the time he was on the pitch he produced one surging run past left-back Marcelo, only to cross high over the head of Sterling.

Carlo Ancelotti's team were 3-0 up at the break, but this was no Istanbul.

With Gerrard's magical years behind him and an over-reliance on Sterling, there was no catalyst to spark a comeback and seemingly no belief they could mount one.

Even Ronaldo appeared to take pity on us as, faced with a one-on-one with Mignolet from six yards, he lacked his characteristic clinical cutting edge and the keeper stuck out a foot for a good reaction save.

Madrid played the whole of the second half in second gear using containment and counter-attack with very little concern with Saturday's clásico on their minds. Even when we did muster an opening, substitutes Lazar Markovic and Emre Can and Allen contrived to mess it up between them.

The only positive on the night was Basle losing 1-0 to Ludogorets in Group B's other match, leaving the second-placed Swiss and the Bulgarians on three points alongside us.

Negatives 

Again our defensive display was again abysmal.  One world class goal, the other two could have been stopped with better defending.  Gerrard playing as a defensive midfielder is not a protective shield for our defenders but more like a turnstile where everything comes at our defence, when will Rodgers realise that he cannot play that role?  All the central defenders Rodgers has bought have not been able to do the job for us which is extremely embarrassing.  We had an opportunity to bring in a defensive midfield shield such as Alex Song but chose not to follow up on our interest in him.

Ballotelli should not play for us again, he is a total disgrace to our club and does not deserve any more chances.

The midfield trio of Allen (the very poor man's Xabi Alonso), Gerrard and Henderson couldn't live with the Madrid duo of Kroos and Modric who systemically out manoeuvred our midfield by several levels of sheer class.

Positives 

Coutinho and Sterling were our only bright sparks and to a lesser extent Lallana played better than Ballotelli, but, wasn’t saying much as the Italian was again very poor.

Man of the match - Coutinho - excellent technical skills times - tried hard but was unable to influence as he did vs QPR last weekend.

Team

Liverpool: 22 Mignolet, 02 Johnson, 37 Skrtel, 06 Lovren, 18 Moreno, 14 Henderson (Can - 67' ),

08 Gerrard, 24 Allen, 31 Sterling, 45 Balotelli (Lallana - 45' ), 10 Coutinho (Markovic - 67' )

Substitutes

01 Jones, 04 K Touré, 09 Lambert, 19 Manquillo, 20 Lallana, 23 Can, 50 Markovic

Ref: Nicola Rizzoli

Att: 43,521

Excellent Sterling drags "lucky" Liverpool to victory

After ‘SterlingGate’ Liverpool arrived at Loftus Road with the England manager on hand to watch Sterling who after traumatic week played out in the media must have been hoping to put in all behind him.  Glen Johnson and Adam Lallana made a start as did Emre Can  returning from long-term injury for his first Premier League start which Rodgers used as the conduit to give his captain a more attacking role behind Balotelli.

Liverpool were dreadful from start to finish with Martin Skrtel and Dejan Lovren made to second rate by 33 year-old Bobby Zamora who terrorised the international pair for most of the afternoon.  The standard of Liverpool’s defending is in such a state that opponents must be licking their lips in anticipation with our inability to defend from dead ball or long ball situations.

QPR should have two up in the first half hour.  First, Glen Johnson’s half-hearted tackle allowed Charlie Austin to waltz through and Skrtel the second line of defence could do little better missing the ball completely before Mignolet saved well from the striker.   Zamora leading the line expertly then found Leroy Fer who inexplicably clipped the bar from close range.

Liverpool were rocking and Zamora again found his partner who climbed well to head against the bar with Mignolet left floundering.

Balotelli struggling to be the focal point Liverpool require upfront found Gerrard with a delightful flick.  Gerrard manoeuvred himself past Caulker before curling his shot just beyond the post.

Rodgers moved his captain back into his deep lying role after half-time. QPR were still on the ascendancy as Sandro crashed in a shot which Mignolet did brilliantly to save having seen it late.

As QPR tired, Liverpool led by our most incisive player Raheem Sterling, grabbed the lead in fortunate circumstances. 

After being brought down, Sterling sized up the situation quickly taking a quick free-kick to play Johnson in on the overlap.  The right-back crossed in front of the goal only for Richard Dunne to slice the ball in.

With Liverpool’s very own ‘Chuckle Brothers’ at the centre of defence there was no chance of resting on our laurels, particular with the inability to control and dictate the midfield.

Every Liverpool fan now knows the scenario having seen it played out over the last ten minutes in matches where we defend deeper trying to hold on to a lead.  Not for the first time a Liverpool defender was beaten to a header as Austin knocked the ball down for substitute Vargas to equalise with Enrique who was at fault on three occasions during the move, left for dead.

Steven Caulker throws his hands up in despair

The last few minutes of the match were a comedy of errors.  Sterling, who worked hard all day in both halves of the pitch, picked the ball up in the middle of the pitch, before spinning away from Henry to find Gerrard who in turn found Coutinho.  The Brazilian cut in before firing in a slightly deflected shot to leave the diving McCarthy with little chance.

Within two minutes QPR were back level with Liverpool’s achilles heel raring it’s ugly head from a kick-off resulting in corner.  Unable to deal with Leroy Fer’s cross following the corner, Vargas equalised for the second time heading home.

Unbelievably, Liverpool won the game in the fourth minute of injury time.  Maybe for the first time Liverpool headed out from a free-kick with Coutinho picking up the loose ball before threading through a superb pass to Sterling running in behind the defence.  His square pass found the retreating Caulker who could only inadvertantly knock the ball in give Liverpool an underserved victory.

Man of Match:  Raheem Sterling - showed courage and strength of character in abundance following a stressful week.  He showed for the ball throughout and put in a shift helping in defensive areas and was the prime instigator having a hand in all three goals, showing his value in a side misfiring in defence, midfield and upfront.

Critical eye:  Brendan Rodgers has to start taking the blame and curing his teams ills for the lack of defensive cohesiveness as he is now in his third season in charge and we have struggled again.  In the last two seasons the club has spent almost £50 million on Illori, Lovren and Sakho with no improvements.

The midfield looks bare barring Henderson with its inability to control the centre.  Time again we watch the opposition drive 50 yards up field without so much as a tackle. Gerrard struggled in a more attacking role as the midfield were unable to buy him the time and space to operate in.

Mario Balotelli is struggling to lead the line on his own and readily admits to being more comfortable in a two.  His lack of movement in and out of the box is hurting us offensively and Brendan must, in the absence of Sturridge, get the Italian to play on the last man, using his strength and pace (which he may have been attempting to do playing Gerrard further upfront).

Team:

QPR: 12 McCarthy, 15 Onuoha (Phillips – 45 mins), 22 Dunne, 4 Caulker, 13 Yun Suk-young, 14 Isla, 20 Henry, 30 Sandro (Traore – 60 mins), 10 Fer, 25 Zamora (Vargas -79 mins), 9 Austin

Substitutes: 3 Traore, 5 Ferdinand, 7 Phillips, 19 Kranjcar, 21 Murphy, 23 Hoilett, 24 Vargas

Liverpool: 22 Mignolet, 2 Johnson, 37 Skrtel, 6 Lovren, 3 Jose Enrique, 14 Henderson, 23 Can (Allen – 66 mins), 31 Sterling (K Toure – 96 mins), 8 Gerrard, 20 Lallana (Coutinho – 66 mins), 45 Balotelli

Substitutes: 1 Jones, 4 K Toure, 9 Lambert, 10 Coutinho, 19 Manquillo, 24 Allen, 50 Markovic

Referee: Phil Dowd

Attendance: 18,069

Raheem Sterling is a large part of the future for club and country

Brendan Rodgers stated recently that Liverpool had opened negotiations with Raheem Sterling over a new contract was on the back it reaction to paper talk suggesting the midfielder is on the radar of Real Madrid and should he not sign PSG and Chelsea are willing to increase his present salary three-fold.

Should Sterling leave the damage would be profound.  Losing Luis Suarez is bad enough, but losing a player who the club has nurtured from the age of 15 sends out signals that every player at Liverpool has his price, even one that hasn’t as yet notched up two full seasons.

Ian Ayre tied up the future of Daniel Sturridge and is in dialogue with Jordan Henderson, the club’s most improved player barring Sterling himself which sets the right tone with the club looking to hang on to its core players.  Jamie Carragher directed his comment on his Tweeter account at Sterling’s agent for unsettling the player by leaking stories saying “shut up feeding stories about his contract.”

Carragher may have a point, but one has to take into account Sterling is a serious talent attracting admiring glances from all over Europe.  It is an age where loyalty shown by Gerrard and Carragher is a thing of the past and the very top players are moving from riches into the realms of wealth.

While Brendan Rodgers and the Liverpool hierarchy would love to increase his contract incrementally, we live in the real world and market forces place the power firmly in the hands of the player.  Without the riches of Man City and Chelsea to compete with Barcelona, Real Madrid PSG in the transfer market, the choice is pay up or lose out.

After missing out so narrowly in the Premier League, Liverpool need the player focused and determined to help us remain in a Champions League position.  At nineteen, he is already a leading light for both club and country and as such has proved his worth in all currencies, especially Pound Sterling.

Criticism

The criticism levelled at the Sterling was markedly over the top following Hodgson explanation, it somewhat smacked of the manager making his statement in a fit of pique following the criticism levelled at him after the injury too Sturridge.  Sterling actually said he felt heavy legged and clarifies Brendan Rodgers words of Hodgson taking a “managerial decision.”

Raheem Sterling is a big part of Liverpool's present and future

In his interview with the Independent Rodgers said “At no point did Raheem Sterling say he didn’t want to play for England. “ He went on to say, “The boy is being hung out to dry and I dare say the criticism will continue for a few more weeks to come because of this.  The situation brings into question Hodgson managerial skills, throwing his player headlong into a baying press and failing to protect him adding more fuel to the fire in terms of a Liverpool vendetta.

Yes, he is nineteen and we all think at his age he should have energy to burn, but disappointingly what has not been factored in is the player has gone from bit part player to a leading light for club and country over the last 18 months.   The mental fatigue has to be a factor as the expectation levels have risen exponentially in such a short space of time.

Sterling is not only an explosive player, he also hard working one often dropping back to cover in the full-back positions expounding a great deal more energy than the average attacking player. 

Bearing in mind that this is a Liverpool team with a game is based on pressing with a porous midfield he is relied upon to track back which the likes Messi do not.  Critics use Messi as the standard bearer stating that when he was nineteen he never felt tired, but Messi has a team built around him to do the defending.

Build a Liverpool midfield which allows Sterling more leeway in terms of not having him not having defend as much and we may see an even more destructive player and a less tired one too.

Liverpool 2 WBA 1: Anxious Liverpool stumble over the winning line

The fashion in which Liverpool ground out this victory will hopefully do Brendan Rodgers team some good in the long run.  The free-flowing football was never rarely on show with only a flash of brilliance by Lallana and the perseverance of the energetic Henderson dragging Liverpool out of the mire against a lively West Bromwich Albion.

It was still a performance of some fortitude coming off the back of a Champions League defeat and against the expectation of critics who claimed we would struggle with more than one game a week and beating a West Brom side having amassed three successive victories.

With the ink still drying on his new five year contract, Daniel Sturridge watched on as the sullen faced Mario Balotelli sat on the bench replaced by Rickie Lambert for his first start for Liverpool in the Premier League.  Coutinho retained his place following the midweek loss to Basle and Moreno returned after Enrique’s poor showing.

Liverpool started well keeping possession, looking to raise the intensity which had fallen by the wayside recently.   Lallana punched a hole through the West Bromwich defence down the right before cutting the ball back for his ex-Southampton Lambert who air-kicked with the opportunity of his first Premier League there for taking.  Sterling then thrillingly slalomed from right to left before his blocked shot fell to Lallana who saw his shot forced out for a corner by Foster.

Skrtel then found Lambert with a long pass which the striker controlled beautifully before firing in a shot to the near post which was easily saved by Foster.

West Brom were by no means bystanders and began to insert their influence particularly in midfield and on the break the strength and pace of Sessegnon and the very impressive Berahino who pressed Skrtel and Lovren all day and with more composure could have at least have had a brace.

The England under 21 International drove straight at the heart of the Liverpool defence before cutting back past Gerrard and shooting powerfully at Mignolet who palmed away.  The forward will feel he should have scored having manoeuvred himself into an opening away from Skrtel and Lovren only to header straight at MIgnolet with the goal beckoning.

With half-time beckoning and West Brom looking the most likely Adam Lallana broke the deadlock with strike of the upmost quality.  Lallana picking up the ball from Lambert in the inside left position with some superb close control evaded two tackles before playing the ball into Henderson who returning the compliment played him in to guide the ball inside the far post.

It was the type of goal that Liverpool fans will expect from Lallana and today allied to his work rate he will have pleased his manager.

The lead evaporated in less than ten minutes of the second-half.  A sloppy pass by Manquillo presented West Brom with a chance to counter-attack with the dazzling speed of Sessegnon and with Berahino seemingly upended by Lovren outside the area, referee Mike Oliver surprisingly awarded a penalty and the Baggies striker smashed home the penalty with alacrity.

West Brom’s parity was short lived.  Sterling, as he had in Basle was struggling with his control, was knocked over in the area by Gardener but Oliver dismissed any claim for a penalty.  Regaining his composure, the youngster upon getting to his feet rolled the ball back into the path of Henderson who expertly side-footed home for his first goal of the season.

After the hour Brendan Rodgers replaced Lambert and Manquillo with Balotelli and Johnson, the last named back from long-term injury.  Johnson was soon in the thick of things curling a shot just wide of the post.

The substitutions increased Liverpool’s intensity and with Gerrard becoming increasingly influential moving further up the pitch particularly after Lucas replaced Coutinho as Rodgers looked to protect Liverpool’s lead.

Not for the first time, in the final ten minutes and having not won since the away victory as Spurs, Liverpool began to drop deeper.

Fortunately, there was no long range screamer this time and Liverpool saw out the victory after a stunning cross from Blanco caused palpitations in the Liverpool backline.

Critical eye:  Not a great performance, but Liverpool showed strength of character to end the Baggies revival with Lallana and Henderson the standout players and Gerrard with probably his most accomplished performance of the season not far behind.

It was obvious Rodgers has been working at breaking Gerrard free of the shackles he’s been under recently, by moving him further up the pitch when attempts are made to shut down his supply.  He showed in flashes that his creative ability in the last third has not diminished by playing so deep.

Lallana was a threat with his close control and his eye for a pass, but he also showed a willingness to work back and covered back diligently throughout.  His goal was one of some pedigree and confidently I would say first of many.

Jordan Henderson was certainly the man of the match, covering nearly every blade of grass and had a hand in both goals.  He was the furthest player forward which allowed Lallana to use him as the conduit to set up his goal and was again on queue to receive and dispatch Sterling’s pull-back.

Rickie Lambert worked hard and played a hand in Liverpool’s first goal.  Whether the formation plays to his abilities is open to question, although a player of his undoubted qualities may feel he could have taken one of the 3 or 4 half chances to fall to him.

It should also be said that Sterling, although not enjoying his best game never stopped running and still managed to have a crucial influence on the game.  Finding Lambert with a lovely pass, which unfortunately the “big man” could not shift back and get his shot off quick enough.  Philippe Coutinho is still struggling to find his pre-season form and the international break may just give time to work his way back into form with Brazil.

Mignolet saved well on the few occasions he was forced into action and it was noticeable that he was positive in his attempts to come of his line and punch.  Lovren and Sakho were under pressure all day by the strength and pace of Berahino and were lucky not to be embarrassed on two occasions. 

Basle 1 Liverpool 0

After a very encouraging performance in the Merseyside Derby, Adam Lallana surprisingly gave way to Philippe Coutinho after the Brazilian’s unimpressive start to the season.   Jose Enrique after his strong showing in the Capital One victory over Middlesbrough returned at left-back for Alberto Moreno who may have felt himself unlucky after some strong performances, but rotation is a big part of the Rodgers philosophy.

Liverpool starting confidently enough with decent possession and Basle not looking very threatening.  Basle made an early change after ten minutes, bringing on Gonzalez and switching to a back three which immediately gave the Swiss Champions a more balanced look as they looked threatening down the Liverpool left with Enrique looking decidedly ill at ease.

The first real shot of any note was El-Nenny’s curled effort from the corner of the area which Mignolet held comfortably on 23 minutes.

Steven Gerrard almost lost out, slipping after receiving Mignolet’s pass while under pressure and being dispossessed 25 yards out.  The Liverpool skipper retrieved the situation with a last ditched block although patently demonstrably unhappy with Mignolet.

Liverpool were struggling to gain any control in midfield and with Balotelli giving the ball away and Sterling failing to make best use of his opportunities in one to one situations the defence struggled to deal with the pace of Basle on counter-attacks.   The lack of intensity from off which was their trademark last season was again not there and allowed Basle to gain confidence.

Serie Die cut into the area after an excellent one-two before scything past Enrique and dummying his way past Lovren’s attempted block before firing in a shot which Mignolet saved low down. 

Liverpool’s final ball in the last third hindered their very few opportunities whether in open play or from dead balls and it was no surprise to see Coutinho replace Gerrard taking free-kicks from wide areas.

Sterling fastened onto a cross field pass from Henderson before shooting straight at the keeper Vaclik much to Balotelli’s dismay and Lovren may feel he should have put his team ahead from Coutinho’s free-kick.  Heading down into the ground and finding the keeper when either side of Vaclik would have put his side in front.

It has be said Liverpool looked sub-standard with seemingly no obvious plan and lacking potency against a very average Basle who on their first half performance will struggle to beat Ludogorets.

Sterling, not having a great night, was lucky not too give away a penalty and then with Liverpool on the counter-attack gave away the ball in the middle of the park.  The counter-attack saw Mignolet palm away Hamoudi’s drive which Lovren hooked away.  The resultant corner saw Martin Skrtel in totally the wrong position with his back to the ball and beaten all ends up for a header Mignolet did well to claw back only to see Streller fire home.

Ballotelli from fully 35 yards struck a powerful free-kick which the keeper unconvincingly pushed out to the onrushing Markovic who saw his goal bound volley blocked.  A stunning Henderson range-finder found Sterling unmarked, but he failed get the ball under control and then minutes later in a one on one situation which he normally thrives on was readily dispossessed.

Lallana replaced the increasing ineffective Coutinho and immediately linked with Balotelli to put Sterling free on goal, but yet again his control failed when it mattered most.   Markovic then coming in on to the ball slashed across it shooting wide from a good position.

The Basle number 8 Serey-Die then picked up the ball in midfield, blitzing past the Liverpool midfield and cross the centre half’s before firing his shot wide.  It was noticeable that the Liverpool’s own number 8 famed for similar runs was trailing in his wake. 

Once again, could Gerrard when needs must move into the number 10 position?  We saw a thirty-eight year old Totti play superbly for an hour against Man City last night.  A part from a free-kick from long range we saw precious little from Liverpool’s champion player.  He delivered an excellent ball which Balotelli dispatched in the final minutes which proves my point.

Brendan Rodgers waited in the final minutes to introduce Rickie Lambert and one has to wonder about the role the ex-Southampton striker has in the squad, especially having watched him start against Middlesbrough.

It was a desperately disappointing performance and highlights just how much Liverpool depend on young Raheem Sterling.  Steven Gerrard is not changing games out on the pitch as he once did, thus in the absence of Daniel Sturridge Liverpool are leaning heavily on Sterling which is an unhealthy burden with the money the manager has just spent and the potential he has around him.

Liverpool have to improve and improve quickly because we are creating very little and defending poorly both in midfield and especially at the back from set pieces.  It is completely unacceptable because it’s become systematic of our play over the last 15 months.

Brendan may need to settle on a side without Coutinho, who is patently out of form, and Markovic until he gets up to speed.

Gerrard’s comment “… we were soft all the pitch, they wanted it more than us” says it all.

Teams:

22 Mignolet, 19 Manquillo, 6 Lovren, 37 Skrtel, 3 Enrique, 14 Henderson, 8 Gerrard, 50 Markovic (Lambert – 80 mins), 31 Sterling, 45 Balotelli, 10 Coutinho (Lallana – 69 mins)

Substitutes: 1 Jones, 4 Toure, 9 Lambert, 18 Alberto Moreno, 20 Adam Lallana, 21 Lucas, 29 Fabio Borini

Basel: 1 Vaclik, 34 Xhaka, 16 Schar, 17 Suchy (Gonzalez  - 9 mins), 19 Safari, 8 Serey Die, 20 Frei, 33 El-Nenny, 36 Embolo (Calla – 80 mins),  24 Hamoudi, 9 Streller

Substitutes: 18 Vailati, 7 Zuffi, 10 Delgado, 11 Gastri, 14 Kakitami, 25 Gonzalez, 39 Calla

Referee: J Eriksson

Attendance: 36000