Liverpool face Europa League after crashing out of Champions League with a wimper

We were hoping for one of those nights, but from the off Rodgers gave the impression of wanting to nick a victory by sending out an experience eleven with Allen and Lucas on guard patrol in front of a defence containing the returning Lovren, back for the injured Kolo Toure and surprisingly Jose Enrique ahead of Moreno.

Rodgers seems to have lost, for the moment at least, that boldness which made his coaching so exciting.  Knowing his side needed to win he erred on the side of caution leaving Coutinho and Lallana on the bench and may have decided our fate before kick-off leaving so much invention and skill languishing on the bench.

The lack of pace clearly evident in his chosen formation, meant Liverpool would need to be precise in their play.  Basle, though started well, technical and quick, spurred on by two thousand Swiss fans audible above the nervous home masses.  They were crisp, concise and potent often yards ahead in thought and play with the Liverpool midfield and defence struggling to get a handle on the invention in front, beside and often beyond them.

When Basle struck they struck in glorious fashion.  Pinching the ball with great movement and interplay between Frei and Zuffi at the edge of the area before Frei’s stunning shot left Mignolet flailing.   Paulo Sauso, a truly gifted player himself, must have been purring.  Brendan Rodgers, must have looked at Marco Strellar with envy.  So in need of a striker, Strellar led the line adroitly, aided by Gashi who had he timed his run more succinctly would have sent Basle in two-nil having been adjudged off-side.

Liverpool was struggling to get Gerrard into the game and Rickie Lambert fought hard, but with the lack of service even his pugnacious running upfront without the pace and movement which Liverpool’s game so heavily relies on, he like the besieged Enrique would not to see beyond half-time.

It is a mystery how Moreno is not a permanent fixture and seeing Jose Enrique struggled one wonders how Brendan Rodgers can keep getting it so wrong.  Moreno entered the fray replacing Enrique with Markovic coming on for workhorse Lambert.

Markovic introduction saw Sterling move into a central role.   The Serbian appeared desperate to make up for lost time driving at the heart of the Basle defence committing tacklers, so much so that he looked as if give Liverpool the edge we craved.  Unfortunately, 15 minutes into the second-half it was all to end as he impetuously flicked his arm back as much as to brush off the attentions of Safari.  Whether he grazed Safari or not, the red card was brandished, although one wondered if there was a sniper posted somewhere in the ground given the dramatic nature of Safari’s slump to the ground.

Bolstered by the injustice, Gerrard pushed further forward with the body language of “lead, follow or get the hell out of the way”.   The Liverpool captain, like the Gerrard of old, stormed into the penalty area after being put through by Sterling, getting there a fraction after the goalkeeper Vaclik, leading to desperate penalty cries from the faithful.

These are now desperate times for Liverpool.  Ten years on from the magical night at Anfield which saw Gerrard writing his name into Liverpool folklore against Olympiakos, to say Liverpool still depend on thirty-four year old would be an understatement.   The team sheet yesterday showed Liverpool without a back-up striker on the bench and the finger points directly at a manager who seemingly has lost confidence in parts of his squad.

Sterling who looks to be coming back to form was tripped on the edge of the area.  Cometh of the hour, up steps Stevie Gerrard.  Captain fantastic placed a curling free-kick into the top corner of the net with all the precision of the diamond cutter.

Two minutes later Henderson saw his header deflect of a defender wrong footing Vaclik only to see the goalkeeper change direction and save on the line.

The ten men of Liverpool desperately strode forward in remaining four minutes of injury and the last chance fell to Skrtel, now playing upfront.  The defender displayed excellent movement to beat his defender to a near post cross, but saw his flick fall the wrong side of the post.  It was Liverpool’s last hoorah and with it, possible Steven Gerrard’s in the Champions League.

Man of the Match: Steven Gerrard – with Sterling, the only starting Liverpool player capable of inflicting damage on a more than capable Basel side, but unfortunately surrounded by average colleagues.  In the dying embers of Liverpool’s Champions League journey, he picked himself up for one last drive.

It’s a damning indictment that with almost £120 million spent in the close season, Liverpool cannot produce good enough support for their captain.

Critical eye:  Brendan Rodgers disappeared down the tunnel as soon as the whistle blew.   He had thrown away any initiative by leaving Lallana and Coutinho on the bench, sending out a team which lacked pace and creativity.  He has gone from being a manager full of boldness and invention to one who looks as if he is set in panic mode.

He waited until half-time to make changes when it was patently obvious we in trouble after 10 minutes.  Enrique looked woefully off the pace and you wondered how Rodgers could miscalculate his readiness to such a degree.  Moreno looked a threat from the minute he stepped on the pitch and Rodgers has got to settle on a core of players of eight or nine players to get us out of the mess we are now in.

Top teams do rotate, but generally they have a core of players who start top matches and right now players like Lallana, Markovic and Can cannot build any continuity with his stop start philosophy.

Sadly and I think we all knew this, Liverpool are currently just not good enough.

Steven Gerrard’s comments: ‘We haven't gone out of the competition because of our performance tonight, we've gone out because away at Basle we weren't good enough, in our last game we conceded a stupid goal towards injury time.

‘You always qualify over the six games and unfortunately we haven't been good enough. We need to get our main striker Daniel Sturridge back and get some more goals in the side. We need to get Mario Balotelli back and firing.

‘That is not to take away anything from the lads who have played tonight and have slogged their guts out. Rickie Lambert has ran himself into the ground tonight, but it has just been a game too far tonight and that has been because of a lack of numbers.’

Player ratings:

Mignolet 5 – He is as poor a goalkeeper as we’ve seen at Anfield.  With time running out and Skrtel upfront he didn’t possess the brain-power to launch the ball upfront

Glen Johnson 6 – Flattered to deceive coming forward.  Competent defensively, especially with one coverage interception and a block tackle in front of goal

Lovren 4 – Offered very little in terms of leadership and his confidence is obviously at a low ebb

Skrtel 5 – The biggest indictment on his play is he looked more at home playing upfront

Enrique 3 – Abysmal. A liability and one doubts whether he has a future

Sterling 6 – The free-kick came from his driving run and had Markovic stayed on the pitch we may just have seen more from him playing centrally

Allen 4 – Seemed overawed, offered very little in both directions and is another whose future must be in doubt

Lucas 5 – Got around the pitch and did what Lucas does making tackles and putting out fires

Henderson 5 – Huffed and puffed without exhibiting any real quality

Gerrard 7 – The first half past him by, but came to life after the sending-off and almost brought Anfield to a crescendo 

Rickie Lambert 5 – Looked a journeyman with no service and a lack of pace

Subs:

Markovic 6 – Lively, just a shame that a moment of daftness was so harshly penalised

Moreno 6 – Got forward offering himself as an outlet and delivered the ball in dangerous areas. Deserves a chance to make the position his own

Coutinho NA – Couldn’t get into the game in the time available