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