Brave Johnson eases the pressure on Rodgers

Sixteen years to the very day which saw the 18 year old Steven George Gerrard climb of the bench to make his debut against Blackburn, the Liverpool captain returned to the bench in yet another pivotal game with Brendan Rodgers hoping for signs of revival.

Jordan Henderson donned the captain’s arms band with Coutinho coming to fill the void in midfield.  Jose Enrique’s return saw Johnson switching back to his preferred right-back position and Kolo Toure retaining his place ahead of Lovren after a steady if unspectacular performance against Ludogorets.

The first-half performance was sterile and bereft of imagination and with both sides short on confidence there was very little cutting edge at either end of the pitch.

A twinkled toed run from half-way by Philippe Coutinho was as good as it got for a Liverpool side slow in possession and failing to press when not in possession.  To be frank, they stunk the house out.

Kolo adding some steel to the backline

Liverpool returned in the second-half seemingly fired up as if stung by a Brendan Rodgers barrage at the break.  Helpfully, the loss of Sidwell before half-time and Whelan his replacement at half-time for Charlie Adam, provided Liverpool with the impetus for change.  They almost took up the invitation afforded them with a more spacious midfield after the restart with Henderson pulling his shot just wide of the post.

The young Spaniard looking to re-ignite his career in the Premier League, played a sumptuous pass in behind Skrtel which Mignolet failing to react, going back towards his goal, only to redeem himself by smothering Diouf’s shot from close range.

Bojan, playing in the hole was unsettling the Liverpool defence floating in between the lines sauntered in from the left leaving Lucas for dead with a nutmeg before his stunning shot smacked against the upright.  A minute later, Sterling burst through the Stoke defence shooting past the far post.

Liverpool began to impose themselves mopping up possession and control on a match which was there for the taking for either side.  Breaking out, under the steam of Sterling, Liverpool found themselves five on three.  Sterling fed the overlapping Lucas who disappointing hit his shot straight at Bergovic and there lies one of the problems with the inability of the midfielders to score goals

Liverpool were now in the middle of the best period of the match.  Johnson getting more into the game, found Lambert just inside the area, but the England’s striker side foot shot was easily saved by Bergovic.  A minute later an intricately built move between Sterling, Allen and Coutinho ended with the Welshman’s shot clipping the bar.

The difference in play from the first-half was exemplified by a quicker tempo and the sudden willingness to press further up the pitch.

Glen Johnson showed tremendous bravery to get the winner

The winner came five minutes from time, with Gerrard already on for Lucas, Henderson’s cross from the right found Rickie Lambert whose header hit the under-side of the bar, for Glen Johnson to react first and head bravely into the net with boots flying and the onrushing Bergovic.   

Liverpool held on despite some fraught defending with 7 minutes of injury time following Johnson loss to the injury he suffered scoring his goal.

Lallana although not on the pitch celebrates with his manager

Man of the match:  Raheem Sterling – involved in most of Liverpool’s best moments and looks to be returning to some assemblance of form.  Performed better in the second-half when not hamstrung to the side lines and allowed to drift in to add support to the Liverpool attack.

Plaudits to Rickie Lambert who led the line well with very little support and played a large part in the winner.  Also, to Glen Johnson, who like his team had an inauspicious start to the match, managing bravely to put his head in where others may have backed off to bravely win the game.

Make no bones about the performance.  It was as dreadful a first-half as we’ve seen at Anfield in a long time with both teams patently not at the races.

Liverpool played better in the second-half as if stung into action by a Brendan Rodgers barrage, but the match lacked the quality to get any of the teams above us fervently worried, but in saying that we had to start somewhere for our first victory in 6 games.

With continuity the byword, one can only hope that Brendan in the search for confidence looks to start the same side against Leicester.   Sentiment must be put aside as he looks to galvanise his side with Basle on the horizon and only five points separating us from fourth place.

Rodgers has returned to players he feels can get Liverpool out from the under the rut they are currently stuck in and provide a stable unit.  It is no coincidence the least celebrated of all our summer buys Rickie Lambert was the only player to start yesterday in a case of needs must with goals such a valuable commodity.  Rodgers seems to be subliminally briefing against the tide making in known that some of the buys were not his and actually publicly stating that Liverpool need to find out why we keep missing out on top class transfers.

Steven Gerrard is unlucky.  Had he been in a Liverpool side wide still blessed with Suarez (or a player of the same ilk), a fit Daniel Sturridge and a sensible transfer policy bringing in a top class midfield general buying him the time on the ball one feels the ferocious criticism wouldn't be so pointed.  Frank Lambert is almost two years older than Gerrard, but still looks a quality player surrounded by top notch players, similarly Xabi Alonso at Real Madrid and now at Bayern Munich.

It doesn't mean that Brendan Rodgers cannot manage his captain's minutes.  If he starts, 60 minutes should be the gauge where Rodgers appraises his levels.  The wider picture is that Gerrard is part of the fabric that is Liverpool Football Club and must be tied down to the club with the future in mind on the pitch, but moreover off the pitch.

Teams:

Liverpool: 22 Mignolet, 2 Johnson, 37 Skrtel, 4 Kolo Toure, 3 Jose Enrique, 21 Lucas (Gerrard – 75 Mins), 24 Allen, 14 Henderson, 10 Coutinho (Lovren – 88 mins), 31 Sterling, 9 Lamber

Subs: 1 Jones, 6 Lovren, 8 Gerrard, 18 Moreno, 20 Lallana, 23 Can, 50 Markovic

Stoke: 1 Begovic, 20 Cameron, 17 Shawcross, 12 Wilson, 3 Peters, 21 Sidwell (Whelan – 22 mins (Adam – 45 mins), 15 N’Zonsi, 19 Walters, 27 Krkic, 10 Arnautovic (Crouch – 88 mins), 18 Diouf

Subs: Muniesa, Whelan, 7 Ireland, 16 Adam, 22 Butland, 25 Crouch, 34 Shenton

Referee: Craig Pawso

Attendance: 44, 735

(Late -Ludo-regrets) - Ludogorets 2 Liverpool 2

By dedlfc

This headline sums up our penultimate Champions League group stage game vs Ludogorets and also our season as a whole.

Our manager finally made some tactical changes which the fans were calling for moving Gerrard from the defensive midfield role putting Lucas in that position and pushing Gerrard further forward and also taking Lovren out of our defence and giving Kolo Toure a run out. Henderson also returned to the side from a virus.  The players to miss out included Coutinho and Lallana.

With our side on a run of losing the last four games in a row our manager had called for the side to show courage and strength knowing a defeat would end our chances of getting through the group stages so we needed a good start but we had the exact opposite with a speculative shot at goal from Ludogorets bouncing off Mignolet for a tap in from their striker Dani Abalo (who had also scored at Anfield earlier in the group stages).

Dani Abalo gives Ludogorets a shock early lead

Mignolet just added to his catalogue of errors he has had since leaving Sunderland and again let his team down.

The response from us was instant with Lambert anticipating a mistake from the Ludogorets defence and nipped in to head home from close range.

 

Rickie of the mark in the Champions League

The intricate passing and pace of Ludogorets seemed to give us more problems with Kolo Toure providing a crucial interception and then an almost calamitous touch to stop a cross coming over which thankfully deflected wide for a corner.

The majority of the play until the third goal of this game then fluctuated between Ludogorets controlling the game and us trying to get Lambert, Sterling and Gerrard to link up to create further chances.

Just before half time Lambert links up very well with Sterling on the left wing and provides a perfect slide rule cross with his left foot for Henderson rushing into the box to cleverly dink into the net despite the advances of the keeper from a tight angle.

The Hendo roar!

Not playing well but being up 1-2 at half time was a massive bonus.

With the second half 15 minutes old we then proceeded to provide our fans with one of the misses of the season which was thankfully ruled offside.  Sterling providing the attacking width from the left and finding Lambert at the far post with a Ludogorets defender stopping the ball on the line with his heel and the ball falling to Henderson with the goal gaping wide and him inexplicably missing the target. The relief on all the Liverpool fans faces when we realised the officials has ruled it offside was a picture in itself.

The other vital moment of the game took place when Sterling broke clear on a counter attack and looked certain to score and make it 3-1 but his shot went straight at the Ludogorets keeper Stoyanov.

It then seemed that Sterling was substituted because of the missed opportunity as he was taken off for Moreno. This tactic did not make any sense to me as Sterling was our best player and his pace was giving Ludogorets nightmares.

Contemplating whether to take off Gerrard?

Whereas Gerrard was kept the pitch for the duration of the match despite being out on his feet with nothing left in the engine.

The spate of corners from Ludogorets late on brought about the equaliser when a simple flick on from Ludogorets found Terziev who headed past our keeper to ensure we have now conceded 13 set piece goals from our various games this season.

We had looked set to win for the first time this month but just did not have the determination to retain the hard fought lead - our manager has to again take the blame for his indecisiveness or lack of tactical awareness of how to close out a game.

Positives 

The performance and form of Ricky Lambert who worked extremely well with his build up play and the return to form of Sterling who created havoc from both flanks and also a welcome return to the side on the right by Henderson.

Negatives 

Our manager stated that our season starts from here but he did not do anything with his substitutions which influenced the game positively - it made the decision to keep Gerrard on the pitch when he was clearly tired look like our manager has now reached a stage where he can not make brave decisions which will define his career as an up and coming coach. Gerrard could potentially be playing three games a week for 90 minutes with no duty of care by our manager about him trying to manage Gerrard's career to enable longevity at the top level of the sport. We all know Gerrard is an all time great player for our club but our manager just seems too in awe to take him off !!!

A 2-2 draw against a side no one had heard about three months ago except the Bulgarians is not worth celebrating but it is a small step to recovery.

Despite Toure being more distinguished and organised compared to Lovren he still couldn't help but make a few errors and the defence as a whole has still not been good enough.

We have conceded 29 goals in all the various competitions of those 13 were from set pieces

and despite our manager stating that this needs to be addressed we continue to concede set piece goals on a regular basis - the buck stops with the manager and if he does not address this as a priority someone else will inherit this job to stem the flow of silly goals.

Teams:-

Ludogorets: Stoyanov, Junior Caicara, Moti,  Terziev, Minev, Misidjan, Dyakov,  Fabio Espinho, (Younes 80), Mihail Aleksandrov, (Wanderson 72),  Marcelinho, Dani Abalo (Quixada 69)

Subs not used: Borjan, Barthe, Abel, Aleksandar Aleksandrov.

Goals: Dani Abalo 3, Terziev 88.

Liverpool: Mignolet, Johnson,  Skrtel,  Toure, Manquillo, Henderson, Gerrard, Lucas, Lambert, Allen, Sterling (Moreno 82)

Subs not used: Brad Jones, Lovren, Coutinho, Lallana, Can, Borini

Goals: Lambert 8, Henderson 37

Attendance: 6,300

Referee: Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz (Spain)
 
Man of the match:-Ricky Lambert - taken his minimal opportunities to show he can do it at top level.

Post match interview by our manager:-

Brendan Rodgers hailed the character of his players after they set up an Anfield showdown with Basel.

Rodgers said: “I am happy to rely on us to play at Anfield in front of our own supporters, and I really look forward to that.

“We haven’t been good enough with our performances and consistent enough – and that’s my responsibility. But in the Champions League we still have it in our own hands. It was always going to be a close group, and we will settle for this position.”

Eagles crash land all over us again - Crystal Palace 3 Liverpool 1

By dedlfc

Not content with finally putting to bed our chances of winning the title last season, Crystal Palace are now trying to consign the rest of this season to us being also rans with nothing to play for.

We went into our first game after the international break looking for a win to pick up our confidence and get back to winning ways we ended the afternoon with more questions to put to our manager.

After much discussion within the LFC camp the much forgotten striker Ricky Lambert was given only his second start in a Liverpool shirt and repaid the gamble with an well taken goal after two minutes which had the Southampton of last season all over it, with Adam Lallana playing a beautiful ball over the Palace defence which Lambert took in his stride and finished with aplomb.

Stone cold Rickie off the mark

With such a great start it would have been nice to see us either shut up shop and win this game 1-0 or push on to get a second or third goal. The current Liverpool side is not capable of doing this and despite having the majority of possession we conceded an equaliser due to the pace and industry of winger Yannick Bolassie our chief tormentor in May whose shot hit the post and bounced out for a tap in from bogeyman Dwight Gayle who now has 4 goals in three games against us.

At 1-1 at the break we had the majority of the possession but did not look like threatening again apart from one headed chance from Lambert which went well over.  Palace on the other hand were a constant threat on the break with their more direct approach and pace causing all our defensive players and midfielders a major headache throughout.

Our manager tried to change things by taking off our two most effective players on the afternoon Lallana and Allen.  Can and Borini failed to make much of an impact on proceedings.

Palace's second goal 12 minutes from time was a total disaster for us starting with Mignolet inexplicably kicking the ball straight out for a Palace throw in from a goal kick.  Palace made him pay.  Bolasie left Lovren on his backside and crossed for the unmarked Ledley to score.

Sterling saw his pleas for a penalty ignored after tangling with Joel Ward and then all hope disappeared when Mile Jedinak made it 3-1 by bending a stunning 25-yard free-kick into the top corner after Skrtel had stupidly given away a free kick on the edge of our area for pulling at a shirt.

Gerrard had a late free kick go just over the bar but we had been beaten convincingly and had gone down without any fight and again.   Seven months have passed and the weakness and frailty which we had hoped that our manager would have addressed in the summer is still glaringly there for all to see.

Crystal Palace (4-2-3-1): Speroni, Kelly,  Dann,  Delaney, (Hangeland 36),Ward,  Jedinak,  Ledley, Puncheon, (McArthur 75), Chamakh, Bolasie, (Bannan), Gayle

Subs (not used): Hennessey, Bannan, Johnson, Zaha, Campbell

Bookings: Hangland

Goals: Gayle (17), Ledley (78), Jedinak (81)

Liverpool (4-3-2-1): Mignolet, Manquillo, Skrtel,  Lovren, Johnson,  Lallana, (Borini 70), Gerrard, Allen, (Can 72), Coutinho, Sterling, Lambert 

Subs (not used): Jones, Toure, Moreno, Leiva, Markovic

Bookings: Skrtel, Manquillo

Referee: Jon Moss

Attendance:24,862            

Liverpool man of the match: Ricky Lambert took his goal very well and showed why he deserves a run as our main striker at least until January.

Positives

The link up play of Lallana and Lambert was the only encouraging thing to take from this game as nothing else seemed to go right for us.

Negatives

These are bleak times for Liverpool. It’s the first time we have lost four in a row since October 2009.

Brendan Rodgers has some big questions to answer!

Even Joe couldn't turn it around

Just awaiting Queen’s theme tune "Under Pressure" to be played at his press conferences.

There's no getting away from this, the pressure is really on Brendan Rodgers now to come up with the answers to Liverpool's terrible form as we currently look clueless and spineless.

Chances of winning the Premier League title are long gone, fourth place is now looking like Mission Impossible.

Rodgers is facing big issues with his squad and will have to make some difficult decisions over the coming weeks which will define his managerial reign or bring about the search for a new manager.

What on earth does he do with Dejan Lovren?  He shelled out £20m for a player who has been a massive disappointment to LFC fans.  Is Alberto Moreno simply too attacking or not trusted?  And if so is Glen Johnson really the answer at left back when we have the forgotten man Enrique on the sidelines.  Can he continue with Steven Gerrard in a holding midfield role as he continues to not grasp the concept of this role by not providing a defensive shield for our defence – or is too old for a role that which vitality?

This Liverpool side is not solid, doesn’t control games. They look too top heavy with attacking midfielders today.  Too many similar players up in attacking positions or jostling to be involved.  Adam Lallana was bright on a bleak day.  But once again Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling flattered to deceive with latter struggling for form.   Emre Can, a dominant presence against Chelsea, had to come off the bench and Lucas hasn't kicked a ball in anger since a good display in Madrid and must be thinking why have I not been given a chance to show what I can do?

Joe Allen legged around, bandage ridiculously wrapped around his head, admirably trying to fill the gaps like a fire fighter working by himself.  Gerrard looked totally off the pace and is a shadow of his former self this season.

Stats today showed both Gerrard and Skrtel won 0% of their tackles which is frankly totally unacceptable at this or any level.

Martin Skrtel is one of Liverpool's more senior players, but he isn't showing any signs of leading a defence that is in terrible need of inspiration and organisation.  He was a goal scoring threat last season, but he was still a part of a defence which struggled. He is having an even tougher time this year alongside Lovren.

Rodgers now needs to make some big decisions. Perhaps it is time to bring Lucas back into his natural position and play Gerrard further forward with the likes of Can and Allen to allow the Reds to dominate the ball in midfield and stop the constant turning over of possession.

Kolo Toure, watching from the bench today, could also come back into the side to allow Lovren to come out of the firing line. Toure showing more signs of leadership in his minimal appearances so far this season.

There's no excuse for this defeat.  With respect this was Crystal Palace, a side who hadn't won a game since September.  It wasn't top of the league Chelsea or the mighty Real Madrid.

Rodgers admitted recently that this is the toughest time of his Liverpool reign. It might be about time he gets tough and makes those big decisions to ensure a few brighter days return or the owners will take the tough decisions very swiftly out of his hands.

Chelsea put the seal on a painful week

As Liverpool fans this has been a painful week.  A week which has seen any remaining hope of winning the Premier League extinguished in no uncertain terms leaving us languishing in mid-table knowing that a top four position, the minimum required from a season which began so promisingly has tapered off alarmingly.

 

Chelsea are the best team in the Premiership, possessing at least four world-class players and a squad littered with world-class talent.  It’s almost seven months since the teams met in the season defining match at Anfield, Chelsea are now a balanced outfit with the signing of Diego Costa while we look disjointed following the loss of Suarez and Daniel Sturridge out with a long-term injury relying on flashes of brilliance from Coutinho and Sterling.

 

I remain firmly of the belief that Brendan Rodgers had every right to make as many changes as he did against Real Madrid, particularly coming of the back of such a dreadful performance against Newcastle.   Former Liverpoolgreat Steve Nicol vilified Rodgers.  His comments may feel unseemly in the house that Shankly built, but put in context is understandable coming from a player who played in an era where every time he laced up his boots his expected to win.  But, these are far from those times.

 

The mistake Rodgers made was failing to state before the Madrid game the reasoning behind his changes.  The very little he did say left his comments wide open to interpretation.

 

After the Madrid game under the spotlight of an interview he intimated that the players had been dropped because of poor form.  Stating that before the game, would have put him on a more solid footing against the critical tidal wave which threatens to engulf him after picking only Emre Chan from the seven changes he made at the Bernabeau.

 

Rodgers risks causing discernment in his squad.  Admittedly, Kolo Toure was brought in to fill in as needs must, but in a season where we have struggled defensively he produced arguably the best performance from a Liverpool defender.  He watched on from the side-lines as his colleagues failed to defend a corner in three segments of play allowing Chelsea to equalise.

 

The silver lining is that Brendan can regroup and come again as the International break affords him time to heal damage egos and instil belief back into his excellent man-management style which has been the bedrock of Liverpool particularly over the last two seasons both on and off the pitch.  

 

The bonus is that Daniel Sturridge will be available for selection in what will a difficult match
returning to Selhurst Park and will give him options last seen winning away at White Hart Lane.

 

Despite being outclassed yesterday, there was a stonewall penalty claim against Gary Cahill and while a draw will have papered over the deficiencies a point would have been something to build on.

 

Emre Can showed enough to get a run in the side displaying physicality and presence along with his footballing qualities which no other Liverpool player, barring Jordan Rossiter and Steven Gerrard in patches comes close to matching in the centre of midfield.

Courageous Liverpool lack cutting edge

No Gerrard, no Balotelli, no Sterling, no Henderson and no Johnson.  Certainly a huge call by Brendan Rodgers, especially with the club’s talisman on the bench.

Pre-match, text messages were flying left right and centre with friends incredulous at Brendan Rodgers decision and feeling seemed to be that he had set the club up for a fall, expecting the worse.

That it didn’t happen was mainly down to much maligned Kolo Toure, who led from the front and Lucas Leiva with Joe Allen and Emre Can dropping back to restrict space for Ronaldo.

As in the first game we were impressive in the first twenty minutes enjoying good possession without much threat in the final third.  Mignolet, impressive behind a more stable defence, saved well early on from Rodriguez after Skrtel’s heavy touch.

Ten minutes later, almost a mirror image only this time it was Lucas casually caught out by Rodriguez nipping in to supply Cristiano Ronaldo whose shot was well saved by the alert Mignolet.

Increasingly confident, Liverpool were beginning to press Real looking to build their own pressure, but were constantly let down with Markovic and moreover the hardworking Borini’s inability to hold on to the ball in the last third.   A long ball up the field to relieve Madrid pressure was quickly moved to the left finding the game’s most impressive player, Marcelo, who delivered a sensational whipped ball across Toure for Benzama to turn in on the half-volley.

In hindsight Liverpool may see the game as a missed opportunity with Madrid certainly not at their best.  The second-half saw Liverpool with more intent and looking to create with Moreno down the left.  The ex-Seville left-back produced a sumptuous swinging cross in the first –half which begged to be headed in to no avail.

In the second period he was looked to launch forward at every opportunity linking up with Lallana down the left.  He had Liverpool’s first shot of note with a long range drive which Casillas comfortably fielded and then driving in the left found Lallana who characteristically span away from his defender before shooting just wide of the far post.

The substitutions of Gerrard, Sterling and Coutinho for Lucas, Can and Markovic imparted more control in possession with Gerrard’s range of passing threatening to finally set Borini free.

Marcelo linking up for a one-two with Ronaldo, put in another delicious ball which Gareth Bale coming on for James Rodriguez swept against the crossbar.

Man of the Match:  Kolo Toure – The much maligned defender particularly by this writer, enjoyed almost certainly his best performance in a red shirt.  Intercepting and blocking time and again, even running the ball out of the defence he certainly made a claim to hang on to the shirt with a committed performance.

Critical eye: Alberto Moreno was certainly one of the games standout performers, matching Marcelo in his ability to get forward, unfortunately suffered as did his team with the lack of potency upfront.  He bounced back manfully from his mistake over the weekend.

Emre Can’s strength in possession was there for all to see and for a big man he certainly possesses a good touch and hopefully a run of games will see him build-up his sharpness and stamina.  Lucas Leiva was very effective and while the team certainly lost out in the creative stakes, alongside Can and Allen the spine of team was a lot more combative. 

Borini a willing work horse without ever threatening in the final third and escape the clutches of Varane, did enough to warrant being a member of Brendan’s squad going forward until January.  But what of Rickie Lambert who failed to make the bench?

The positives are that Brendan Rodgers knows he has players outside of those considered to be first team performers who he can rely on and some of those first teamers may just be wondering whether their stay on the bench will be longer than they had envisaged. 

The end game is that we lost and although there were many positives the lack of a cutting-edge upfront without Sturridge continues to be worry.

Teams:

Liverpool: 22 Mignolet, 19 Manquillo, 37 Skrtel, 4 K Toure, 18 Moreno, 23 Can (Coutinho – 75 mins), 21 Lucas (Gerrard – 69 mins), 24 Allen, 50 Markovic (Sterling -69 mins), 29 Borini, 20 Lallana

Substitutes: 1 Jones, 2 Johnson, 8 Gerarrd, 10 Coutinho, 14 Henderson, 31 Sterling, 45 Balotelli

Real Madrid: 1 Casillas, 17 Arbeloa (Nacho – 83 mins), 2 Varane, 4 Ramos, 12 Marcelo, 10 Rodriguez (Bale – 62 mins), 19 Modric, 8 Kroos, 23 Isco, 9 Benzema (Hernandez – 87 mins), 7 Ronaldo

Substitutes: 3 Pepe, 11 Bale, 13 Navas, 14 Hernandez, 18 Nacho, 26 Medran, 35 Torro

Referee: Viktor Kassai

Attendance: 79,283

Perez adds further pain to Liverpool's woes - Newcastle 1 Liverpool 0

By dedlfc

 

In yet another inept Liverpool display lacking in the energy and creativity which became renowned for last season and another Premier League game where Mario Balotelli failed to find the net club, taking his unwanted streak to eight league matches.

Newcastle's Perez came on at halftime to score the winner after a lacklustre performance by both sides in the first half.   Moussa Sissoko broke into the penalty area in the 73rd minute attempting to play in Remy Cabella.   In intercepting the cross Alberto Moreno intercepted failed to clear and Perez lashed the ball in from 10 yards.



Perez celebrates the winner for the Magpies

 

The first half highlights included only two chances of note,  Papiss Cisse coming closest on 37 minutes when Glen Johnson cleared his shot off the line after Simon Mignolet had failed to claim a corner.

Three minutes later, Martin Skrtel sent a free header wide from Steven Gerrard's corner in Liverpool's only decent chance in a subdued performance.

Newcastle could have secured the result four minutes after scoring when Cabella raced through one-on-one against Mignolet, but the Liverpool goalkeeper saved well Cabella's low shot with his feet.

Rodgers introduced strikers Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert in search of an equalizer, but we failed to create anything of any significant note to work Tim Krul.

 



Another poor performance by the Reds

 

Positives

I can't see any positives out of this lacklustre performance. We were shambolic, failing to play at the right tempo in all our games this season barring Spurs.  Starting with slow build up play from the back, through to poor movement from the front three players.   I understand his Tika Taka philosophy, but he does not have a plan B when this theory does not work - one down with 5 minutes to go we needed to get the ball up to the attack part as quickly as possible, not continue passing the ball slowly around the keeper and the two central defenders.

Negatives

Another loss, another game without keeping a clean sheet, another game where we have under performed all over the pitch, the list of negatives are endless.  Our fullbacks were both exceptionally poor today with Johnson's only positive being that he headed off the line.  Moreno's lack of awareness has again resulted in us conceding a goal which again has coincided with another defeat.

Rodgers buys are what will ultimately decide his fate as Liverpool manager and so far apart from Coutinho and Sturridge the rest of his buys in his tenure have not produced the required performances to back his judgement.

He left Lallana and Can on the bench and Markovic was not even chosen in the match day squad - the owners could justifiably question why there was £45m worth of unused talent left on the bench when we desperately needed a goal or creative spark.

We do not look a goal threat with Ballotelli playing up front as the main striker with no one else supporting him.

We need to either change it to provide him with support via Borini who will produce intelligent runs or finally try something different giving Lambert a run of games to get up to speed.

Another option is to play Sterling in the centre off the front two so that he can get as much of the ball as possible to attack teams both ways either from the left or right and also means he has the option to run behind defences which has been missing since Sturridge's injury problems.

There is no point having over 60% possession throughout the game and not looking a goal threat. We unlike our former striker Suarez are now playing toothless football without any bite whatsoever, the longer that continues the more unlikely we will be breaking bread at the same table as Barcelona, Madrid and co next season.

Newcastle United (4-2-3-1) Krul; Janmaat, Coloccini, S Taylor, Dummett ; Colback, Abeid ; Obertan (Aarons 27), Sissoko, Ameobi (Cabella 66); Cissé (Pérez 46). 

Subs Elliot (gk), Haidara, R Taylor, Gouffran. 

Booked S Taylor, Sissoko, Janmaat, Colback.

Liverpool (4-2-3-1) Mignolet ; Johnson,  Lovren, Skrtel,  Moreno; Gerrard, Allen (Borini 66); Sterling, Coutinho (Lambert 80), Henderson,  Balotelli. 

Subs: B Jones, Toure, Manquillo, Lallana, Can. 

Booked: Skrtel, Henderson, Lovren.

Referee: A Marriner (W Midlands).

Attendance: 52,166