Liverpool Goal: Steven Gerrard (87)
Aston Villa Goals: Christian Benteke (29, 51), Andreas Weimann (40)
The nightmare before Christmas. A real chance to push on with our season and it looks like we've taken a number of steps back. I understand that the temptation to overreact might be too easy to resist for some people. This was as gutless and insipid a performance for quite some time. That being said, those crying out the loudest now were probably the ones who were overly buoyant last week. There are some things still very wrong with this team and on this occasion many individuals let us down also. I'll take a deep breath, try and make some sense of it all and then hopefully never speak of this again.
We took to the field with what was a relatively straightforward team - save for the inclusion of Stewart Downing. It's not so much him being in the team but it does highlight both the problems we have with depth in having to persist with him but also the way in which Glen Johnson is playing and how Rodgers doesn't want to mess with it by having Wisdom come in at right back and shifting him over. Prior to the game there was a minutes applause held for a former Liverpool player, captain and manager. Phil Taylor played for the Reds in two spells separated by World War II over the thirties and forties and it's a shame to say goodbye but respect is due to someone who was a part of the history of this club. RIP Phil Taylor (18 September 1917 – 1 December 2012).
As the action got under way it didn't take very long for Villa to have a chance at goal, a short back to Martin Skrtel pass inside the first minute forced the Slovakian into committing a foul and the subsequent free kick led to a decent header well saved by Pepe Reina. It took a minute or two but after Steven Gerrard found some space in the middle of the park we really seemed to come to life. Suarez was chasing down Brad Guzan who then booted the ball into the stands and from then on the ball rarely exited the Villa half. This pressure seemed to intensify when Stewart Downing found some space on the left hand side and his early cross was very nearly put into his own net by Eric Lichaj. The chance that followed it was even more clear cut. Joe Allen chased the ball down in the middle of the park and it was then given away to Luis Suarez. He only had one defender in front of him and Steven Gerrard running alongside. If the ball had been played anywhere in front of him, Gerrard would have been through on goal and almost certainly have finished it off. As it was, Suarez played it behind him and though Stevie managed to get a shot away it was easily saved and a big opportunity had been missed.
Stewart Downing might be no stranger to hearing a smattering of boos at Anfield so the fact that the Aston Villa faithful were jeering his every touch didn't really seem to phase him. In fact, despite my reticence to see him employed at left back again his movement was very good and he seemed to be desperate to prove a point to his former fan base with a speculative hit from distance that was only just wide. Paul Lambert's weren't being allowed any time on the ball whatsoever as we pressed them very aggressively in their own half, which led constantly to chances for Sterling or Johnson to run at their men but every time the final ball wasn't there. Raheem in particular was having a hard time where everything he seemed to try had an air of predictability about it.
We were incredibly comfortable with the state of the game, with our passing going right throughout the side. From Agger just outside our box and Shelvey on the left hand side to Lucas in the middle and then Johnson on the far side. With Villa employing three at the back it meant that they were very narrow and there was space to run into inside the fullback areas but unfortunately even though we got into these areas constantly there was nothing in the way of delivery with Sterling's final ball being cut out and Johnson picking out Brad Guzan when he had time. I understand that there's time and space for balls to be played aerially but when a t team has flooded the middle and are giving us the wide areas, it doesn't make sense to be playing in crosses like this.
The following statement could only be true of one person. For a goalkeeper, he is so good at tackling. One ball seemingly out of nowhere caught Martin Skrtel on the wrong side of Andreas Weimann but Reina was alert enough to come out to him and usher him wide, before executing a perfect challenge to give away a corner and not anything worse. On the break now even Suarez had decided to come out wide and try to take advantage of the space being afforded out there. His cross field pass to Steven Gerrard was glorious and looked to have put him through on goal. Gerrard's first touch was okay but it then bobbled up onto his left foot and harmlessly out for a goal kick. Perhaps it was one he should have hit it first time. Suarez was the provider once again a few moments later when he caught Christopher Herd dallying on the ball after Guzan had thrown it out to him. Suarez cut inside and laid it off to Jonjo Shelvey who was about to pull the trigger when an excellent challenge from Nathan Baker blocked the effort.
Nineteen minutes into the game and the Aston Villa fans were cheering. Not for a goal or any piece of play that would have them on their feet but for Stiliyan Petrov, who is currently undergoing treatment for acute leukaemia. Everyone else then joined in as the whole stadium shared their support for a man going fighting a difficult battle. On the pitch it was very much as you were, both Sterling and Glen Johnson found their efforts blocked or over hit in no particular order as the tempo upped slightly but the quality remained as it was. There was certainly an air of containment as Villa passed it around in the middle, growing into it slightly but never venturing forward with the ball. We pressed them efficiently if not dynamically and it appeared as though we were much further ahead in the game than we were. Almost as if it never entered the concious minds of either team that they could score. And then they did.
Sterling and Shelvey had swapped wings to see if they could get some joy down their opposite flank and though it did bring with it no obvious chances there was a glorious long ball from deep played by Stewart Downing over to Shelvey who knocked it down for Suarez only for the offside flag to be raised. Another Liverpool corner moments later and even though Villa were able to break clear again Lucas was able to snuff out the danger as he does so well. As he passed it off to Suarez on the right hand side ahead of him with his back to the defender, everything looked perfectly fine. Luis tried a needless back heel and proceeded to give it away and that's where it all started to go wrong. Lichaj had the ball out wide and passed it over to Benteke. He drifted inside for a moment before looking up and deciding to hit one out of nowhere. It passed through a crowd of bodies and somehow crept inside Reina's near post, giving Villa the lead with their first real shot of the game.
The whole thing seemed surreal yet depressingly familiar. At the rate we were playing though, I really did think it wouldn't take much to get back into it. What it had done however was give Villa an added confidence and something to hold on to. Immediately they pulled their wing backs in about ten yards, filling up the gaps in the wide areas and making sure that our wide players were denied access to the space that had been previously available all game. Sterling and Shelvey were shifted back to the side which they had started the game and Raheem then combined with Gerrard to set up Suarez who drilled one into the side netting from a wide angle. Whereas we were forever underlining our attacking impotence, they were not only aware of our potential fragility but keen to exploit it. Weimann followed in on a soft header from Glen Johnson and was unlucky not to score after he lobbed it over Pepe Reina and saw it fall down on the top of the goal. The first goal may have come as a surprise but now Villa were beginning to smell blood.
With the lead to protect and safe in the knowledge that we would come forward and could be punished on the break, their front players were looking alert and menacing. Without even really overcommitting, they nearly got in behind with a pass played over to Weimann that Skrtel had to drift wide and a fortunate bobble making sure it went back to Reina safely. When we did manage to go forward however, the sheer weight of numbers defending made it difficult to see a pass, let alone play one correctly. At one point - and this is on the counter attack - they had seven players inside the penalty area to our four. Things weren't looking good. The situation was about to get a whole lot worse.
It was an absolute lesson in movement. The kind of goal you want your team to score and had it been in any other game I would have been very impressed with it. Sadly it was our net that the ball found it's way into and then you can do nothing but grit your teeth, especially in the circumstances. It began with the most basic of midfield presses. Villa held the ball on the edge of their own half but weren't really going anywhere. Allen, Lucas and lastly Gerrard all rushed the player on the ball and did their bit to push them back if not to make them give it up. Unfortunately when Stevie went to close down his man he slipped and allowed him into the space behind him. Villa were now three against two in the middle of the park and the key to the goal was what happened next. Benteke dropped deep to make it four against two and once he had laid the ball off he ran diagonally across the two centre backs into the space vacated by Agger as he came out to close Weimann down. Benteke back heeled it instantly and Weimann followed it up perfectly, slotting the ball beyond Pepe Reina to double their lead.
Those at "fault" would have been Agger for failing to pick up the runner, Johnson for not coming across or one of Lucas/Allen who should have been tracking Weimann anyway. I would be hard pressed to say there was any actual blame attached (especially in Johnson's case, there was a spare man at the back post who could have been given a tap in had he come over) as the movement and passing was too good but that being said I'm not particularly happy with the way we tried to defend it. Confidence now overflowing from the away side, we needed to get back into it quickly. Lucas played a great ball over their packed defence to Gerrard who may have been able to hit it first time but instead played it back to Suarez who couldn't really get a hold of it. Jonjo Shelvey didn't cover himself in glory with a couple of bad miscues in the space of a moment but at the very least he was getting into those spaces. We really needed someone to make it count however.
Paul Lambert's men had closed off the middle of the park. It was now flooded completely with those horrible fluorescent shirts that they were wearing. Right up until the half all we were able to manage was half chances, if you could even call them that. Shelvey's decent free kick whipped in from the right hand side wasn't fully cleared and when Sterling recovered it on the other side all he could do was cross it along the floor into the arms of Guzan. Stewart Downing looked to have found a way through when he played a ball intended for Suarez on the edge of the penalty area only for Joe Allen to take it off his toes and look to be through on goal, only for it to bobble wide - summing up the half in an attacking sense. As the players went off for half time they might have been wondering just how they were two goals down to a side who'd hardly kicked the ball. All I could wonder was how a side that doesn't score enough would get back into it.
When you're trailing by a couple of goals and the manager wants to make a change to get back into the game, Joe Cole isn't exactly the saviour that many had in mind. Part of it is indicative of how little squad depth we have at present and that is something which needs to be addressed, especially when you consider that in the face of all the negativity surrounding him he was still probably the one most likely to come on and score a goal. He came out for the start of the second half in place of Jonjo Shelvey who'd had one of "those" first forty five minutes. Despite having done well to get into some decent positions, his touch had all but abandoned him at a time when we really needed something to happen for us. Right from the off though, we did look like there was a willingness and an urgency to get back into the game and perhaps really should have been given that platform as early as the second minute of the second half. A corner came in which Martin Skrtel headed back across goal for Daniel Agger, who was having his shirt tugged so hard it may as well have been pulled over his head. Our long awaited search for a penalty this season continues. There won't be many occasions where we'll have needed it more.
The foul on Agger rather seemed to rattle the crowd but have no real affect on the players. Maybe they've got to the point now where it's an acceptance of the way things have been going in that regard, which would be incredibly sad. Still that didn't stop them from trying to get back into the game, Suarez as per usual at the heart of everything; first backing into Baker and then turning him before his eventual shot lacked any power to trouble Guzan and then linking with Stewart Downing who came inside and forced the American goalkeeper into making a decent save. Once again though, despite our presence as an attacking force it was our complete absence of any real strength and composure which was to be our downfall. While their second goal was crafted magnificently the third featured perhaps the worst showcase of defending I've seen for some time.
A rather straightforward ball was played into Joe Cole in the middle of the park and instead of controlling it he allowed Benteke to take it from him. I can understand he will have been keen to turn and get it on the front foot but this was a very basic error for which there can be no excuses. From here the defence seemed to collapse in on itself, allowing the Villa front man to run as far forward with the ball as possible, Skrtel even doing his part to show him a path into the middle of the goal where he breezed past him and fired beyond Reina to really underline our misery. After the goal all thoughts of getting back into the game had disappeared. This was turning into a real embarrassment and Villa looked to be capable of adding to it at any time.
From here the pattern that emerged was one of two completely different circumstances. When the ball was in their half they packed the defence but left just enough of a gap in between the lines for us to pick up the ball and run at them, safe in the knowledge that even if we managed to get in behind our profligacy would take hold. We went from left to right and back again, looking for a gap in their defence but none was forthcoming. Meanwhile when they were on the break there was no such stranglehold in the middle and Benteke in particular was having the run of things as our midfield failed in any way to get a grip when we'd inevitably lose the ball. Despite all the possession and pressure we were trying to exert it was Villa who were coming closer to adding to the score, Weimann and Bannan both having chances that Reina was just able to keep out.
Everything about his period of the match was painful. The lack of imagination and of any real desire, it was incredibly infuriating. Villa would back off, almost allowing us to do whatever we wanted in the first two thirds of the park and there wasn't anything which suggested we might be able to get so much as a foothold back into the game. Downing and Johnson continued to put balls into the box aimlessly, while Sterling was trying to beat his man but constantly ran down blind alleys. The one ball of any real danger was played by Lucas through to Suarez but his effort was gathered by Guzan at the second attempt. It was to be Lucas' last contribution to the game as he was taken off for Jordan Henderson. It was one of those rare occasions where even he was as guilty as everyone else for the problems in midfield. Everyone is allowed one off game, especially when you're still trying to come back from two serious injuries.
Coming on with half an hour to go with your side three goals down, there was nothing for Henderson to lose getting stuck in and he did just that, providing some instant energy in the middle of the park that had seemed to be lacking from the moment Villa took the lead. Another half hearted penalty appeal came minutes later as it appeared that Chris Herd handled a header from Glen Johnson. Once again the referee wasn't interested and this time even I found it hard to muster up any resentment. At this point we were relying on a piece of individual brilliance with Agger invited to come forward and unleashing a thunderbolt from just outside the area. Had Guzan spilt it there were three waiting to pounce but he managed to make sure it didn't escape his grasp.
Villa had abandoned any and all attempts to add to their lead and were now happy to sit in and wait for the match to end. Their narrow defence allowed our widemen plenty of the ball but the numbers they had ready in the penalty area were always enough to deal with whatever we could offer. Sterling and Johnson were the primary options as we probed down the flanks with them both looking to go beyond or cut inside. Downing was a little more one dimensional and even though none of them were successful he's the one who struggled the most as Villa played at from a distance and his delivery not being of any real quality. They had pushed themselves so deep at this point that had the scoreline been any closer it's the kind of policy that would backfire but with the three goal cushion it was up to us to find some answers and even the ever industrious and skilful Suarez was finding it hard to create anything with so many players around him.
Late in the game and referee Neil Swarbrick awarded a handball shout that saw ironic cheers go up around Anfield. With the incident by the left hand touchline as opposed to inside the penalty area it was naturally much easier for an official to blow his whistle which in turn had the crowd cursing that this one was a free kick when the other one wasn't a penalty. Naturally the free kick turned out to be something of a waste, we had long past the point where a realization of what kind of day this was turning out to be and if we needed any more evidence then the air shot which saw the ball bounce off the leg of Daniel Agger and go well wide after Sterling and Downing had worked some room on the left was enough to convince many inside the ground that this game had gone.
Incredibly subdued, Anfield was filled with a kind of hostile acceptance when out of the blue we managed to get a goal. Glen Johnson had it on the right hand side and then drove infield to shoot. His effort wasn't perhaps meant to be a cross but nevertheless Steven Gerrard ducked his head into it and beyond Guzan in the Villa goal. All the while as the second half ticked on all I could ask for was a goal. The idea that we could be completely kept out having been so dominant was particularly galling and now that we were on the score sheet - however late it may have been - there was nothing to lose by pushing for more. If they had caught us on the break and gotten more then it didn't matter so it was time to throw everything at them.
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A second goal would have made for a very tense finish. I think had we scored once in the few minutes that remained, Villa's fragile defence may crumbled and we would very likely have got a third. As it was there was very little to test Guzan in the short time that was left. Johnson and Benteke tangled and for a moment it looked like the fire had been reignited in the game. Unfortunately all it did in the end was waste a few more seconds and put a dampener over our momentum. Villa defended stoutly as we went into added time and though we looked a little more urgent they were able to keep us away from goal. There was a brief moment where Joe Allen right at the end of the game played a pass to Gerrard who in turn looked to have put Suarez in but the goalkeeper came out and gathered it for what would be the last act of a miserable game for us.
The reaction will be loud and emotional. It's a reality check that we cannot ignore though I would be loathed to look too much into a game I think we would have won a vast majority of the time. Villa took their chances and played very well for a period and we were during that passage of play as bad as we've been all season. Failing to burying teams when we're on top of them is something we will forever be punished for and we need to react better to the goal against the run of play rather than let it be something that throws us off completely. Next week is another home game and one we should be winning. Now we simply have to.
Aston Villa Goals: Christian Benteke (29, 51), Andreas Weimann (40)
The nightmare before Christmas. A real chance to push on with our season and it looks like we've taken a number of steps back. I understand that the temptation to overreact might be too easy to resist for some people. This was as gutless and insipid a performance for quite some time. That being said, those crying out the loudest now were probably the ones who were overly buoyant last week. There are some things still very wrong with this team and on this occasion many individuals let us down also. I'll take a deep breath, try and make some sense of it all and then hopefully never speak of this again.
We took to the field with what was a relatively straightforward team - save for the inclusion of Stewart Downing. It's not so much him being in the team but it does highlight both the problems we have with depth in having to persist with him but also the way in which Glen Johnson is playing and how Rodgers doesn't want to mess with it by having Wisdom come in at right back and shifting him over. Prior to the game there was a minutes applause held for a former Liverpool player, captain and manager. Phil Taylor played for the Reds in two spells separated by World War II over the thirties and forties and it's a shame to say goodbye but respect is due to someone who was a part of the history of this club. RIP Phil Taylor (18 September 1917 – 1 December 2012).
As the action got under way it didn't take very long for Villa to have a chance at goal, a short back to Martin Skrtel pass inside the first minute forced the Slovakian into committing a foul and the subsequent free kick led to a decent header well saved by Pepe Reina. It took a minute or two but after Steven Gerrard found some space in the middle of the park we really seemed to come to life. Suarez was chasing down Brad Guzan who then booted the ball into the stands and from then on the ball rarely exited the Villa half. This pressure seemed to intensify when Stewart Downing found some space on the left hand side and his early cross was very nearly put into his own net by Eric Lichaj. The chance that followed it was even more clear cut. Joe Allen chased the ball down in the middle of the park and it was then given away to Luis Suarez. He only had one defender in front of him and Steven Gerrard running alongside. If the ball had been played anywhere in front of him, Gerrard would have been through on goal and almost certainly have finished it off. As it was, Suarez played it behind him and though Stevie managed to get a shot away it was easily saved and a big opportunity had been missed.
Stewart Downing might be no stranger to hearing a smattering of boos at Anfield so the fact that the Aston Villa faithful were jeering his every touch didn't really seem to phase him. In fact, despite my reticence to see him employed at left back again his movement was very good and he seemed to be desperate to prove a point to his former fan base with a speculative hit from distance that was only just wide. Paul Lambert's weren't being allowed any time on the ball whatsoever as we pressed them very aggressively in their own half, which led constantly to chances for Sterling or Johnson to run at their men but every time the final ball wasn't there. Raheem in particular was having a hard time where everything he seemed to try had an air of predictability about it.
We were incredibly comfortable with the state of the game, with our passing going right throughout the side. From Agger just outside our box and Shelvey on the left hand side to Lucas in the middle and then Johnson on the far side. With Villa employing three at the back it meant that they were very narrow and there was space to run into inside the fullback areas but unfortunately even though we got into these areas constantly there was nothing in the way of delivery with Sterling's final ball being cut out and Johnson picking out Brad Guzan when he had time. I understand that there's time and space for balls to be played aerially but when a t team has flooded the middle and are giving us the wide areas, it doesn't make sense to be playing in crosses like this.
The following statement could only be true of one person. For a goalkeeper, he is so good at tackling. One ball seemingly out of nowhere caught Martin Skrtel on the wrong side of Andreas Weimann but Reina was alert enough to come out to him and usher him wide, before executing a perfect challenge to give away a corner and not anything worse. On the break now even Suarez had decided to come out wide and try to take advantage of the space being afforded out there. His cross field pass to Steven Gerrard was glorious and looked to have put him through on goal. Gerrard's first touch was okay but it then bobbled up onto his left foot and harmlessly out for a goal kick. Perhaps it was one he should have hit it first time. Suarez was the provider once again a few moments later when he caught Christopher Herd dallying on the ball after Guzan had thrown it out to him. Suarez cut inside and laid it off to Jonjo Shelvey who was about to pull the trigger when an excellent challenge from Nathan Baker blocked the effort.
Nineteen minutes into the game and the Aston Villa fans were cheering. Not for a goal or any piece of play that would have them on their feet but for Stiliyan Petrov, who is currently undergoing treatment for acute leukaemia. Everyone else then joined in as the whole stadium shared their support for a man going fighting a difficult battle. On the pitch it was very much as you were, both Sterling and Glen Johnson found their efforts blocked or over hit in no particular order as the tempo upped slightly but the quality remained as it was. There was certainly an air of containment as Villa passed it around in the middle, growing into it slightly but never venturing forward with the ball. We pressed them efficiently if not dynamically and it appeared as though we were much further ahead in the game than we were. Almost as if it never entered the concious minds of either team that they could score. And then they did.
Sterling and Shelvey had swapped wings to see if they could get some joy down their opposite flank and though it did bring with it no obvious chances there was a glorious long ball from deep played by Stewart Downing over to Shelvey who knocked it down for Suarez only for the offside flag to be raised. Another Liverpool corner moments later and even though Villa were able to break clear again Lucas was able to snuff out the danger as he does so well. As he passed it off to Suarez on the right hand side ahead of him with his back to the defender, everything looked perfectly fine. Luis tried a needless back heel and proceeded to give it away and that's where it all started to go wrong. Lichaj had the ball out wide and passed it over to Benteke. He drifted inside for a moment before looking up and deciding to hit one out of nowhere. It passed through a crowd of bodies and somehow crept inside Reina's near post, giving Villa the lead with their first real shot of the game.
The whole thing seemed surreal yet depressingly familiar. At the rate we were playing though, I really did think it wouldn't take much to get back into it. What it had done however was give Villa an added confidence and something to hold on to. Immediately they pulled their wing backs in about ten yards, filling up the gaps in the wide areas and making sure that our wide players were denied access to the space that had been previously available all game. Sterling and Shelvey were shifted back to the side which they had started the game and Raheem then combined with Gerrard to set up Suarez who drilled one into the side netting from a wide angle. Whereas we were forever underlining our attacking impotence, they were not only aware of our potential fragility but keen to exploit it. Weimann followed in on a soft header from Glen Johnson and was unlucky not to score after he lobbed it over Pepe Reina and saw it fall down on the top of the goal. The first goal may have come as a surprise but now Villa were beginning to smell blood.
With the lead to protect and safe in the knowledge that we would come forward and could be punished on the break, their front players were looking alert and menacing. Without even really overcommitting, they nearly got in behind with a pass played over to Weimann that Skrtel had to drift wide and a fortunate bobble making sure it went back to Reina safely. When we did manage to go forward however, the sheer weight of numbers defending made it difficult to see a pass, let alone play one correctly. At one point - and this is on the counter attack - they had seven players inside the penalty area to our four. Things weren't looking good. The situation was about to get a whole lot worse.
It was an absolute lesson in movement. The kind of goal you want your team to score and had it been in any other game I would have been very impressed with it. Sadly it was our net that the ball found it's way into and then you can do nothing but grit your teeth, especially in the circumstances. It began with the most basic of midfield presses. Villa held the ball on the edge of their own half but weren't really going anywhere. Allen, Lucas and lastly Gerrard all rushed the player on the ball and did their bit to push them back if not to make them give it up. Unfortunately when Stevie went to close down his man he slipped and allowed him into the space behind him. Villa were now three against two in the middle of the park and the key to the goal was what happened next. Benteke dropped deep to make it four against two and once he had laid the ball off he ran diagonally across the two centre backs into the space vacated by Agger as he came out to close Weimann down. Benteke back heeled it instantly and Weimann followed it up perfectly, slotting the ball beyond Pepe Reina to double their lead.
Those at "fault" would have been Agger for failing to pick up the runner, Johnson for not coming across or one of Lucas/Allen who should have been tracking Weimann anyway. I would be hard pressed to say there was any actual blame attached (especially in Johnson's case, there was a spare man at the back post who could have been given a tap in had he come over) as the movement and passing was too good but that being said I'm not particularly happy with the way we tried to defend it. Confidence now overflowing from the away side, we needed to get back into it quickly. Lucas played a great ball over their packed defence to Gerrard who may have been able to hit it first time but instead played it back to Suarez who couldn't really get a hold of it. Jonjo Shelvey didn't cover himself in glory with a couple of bad miscues in the space of a moment but at the very least he was getting into those spaces. We really needed someone to make it count however.
Paul Lambert's men had closed off the middle of the park. It was now flooded completely with those horrible fluorescent shirts that they were wearing. Right up until the half all we were able to manage was half chances, if you could even call them that. Shelvey's decent free kick whipped in from the right hand side wasn't fully cleared and when Sterling recovered it on the other side all he could do was cross it along the floor into the arms of Guzan. Stewart Downing looked to have found a way through when he played a ball intended for Suarez on the edge of the penalty area only for Joe Allen to take it off his toes and look to be through on goal, only for it to bobble wide - summing up the half in an attacking sense. As the players went off for half time they might have been wondering just how they were two goals down to a side who'd hardly kicked the ball. All I could wonder was how a side that doesn't score enough would get back into it.
When you're trailing by a couple of goals and the manager wants to make a change to get back into the game, Joe Cole isn't exactly the saviour that many had in mind. Part of it is indicative of how little squad depth we have at present and that is something which needs to be addressed, especially when you consider that in the face of all the negativity surrounding him he was still probably the one most likely to come on and score a goal. He came out for the start of the second half in place of Jonjo Shelvey who'd had one of "those" first forty five minutes. Despite having done well to get into some decent positions, his touch had all but abandoned him at a time when we really needed something to happen for us. Right from the off though, we did look like there was a willingness and an urgency to get back into the game and perhaps really should have been given that platform as early as the second minute of the second half. A corner came in which Martin Skrtel headed back across goal for Daniel Agger, who was having his shirt tugged so hard it may as well have been pulled over his head. Our long awaited search for a penalty this season continues. There won't be many occasions where we'll have needed it more.
The foul on Agger rather seemed to rattle the crowd but have no real affect on the players. Maybe they've got to the point now where it's an acceptance of the way things have been going in that regard, which would be incredibly sad. Still that didn't stop them from trying to get back into the game, Suarez as per usual at the heart of everything; first backing into Baker and then turning him before his eventual shot lacked any power to trouble Guzan and then linking with Stewart Downing who came inside and forced the American goalkeeper into making a decent save. Once again though, despite our presence as an attacking force it was our complete absence of any real strength and composure which was to be our downfall. While their second goal was crafted magnificently the third featured perhaps the worst showcase of defending I've seen for some time.
A rather straightforward ball was played into Joe Cole in the middle of the park and instead of controlling it he allowed Benteke to take it from him. I can understand he will have been keen to turn and get it on the front foot but this was a very basic error for which there can be no excuses. From here the defence seemed to collapse in on itself, allowing the Villa front man to run as far forward with the ball as possible, Skrtel even doing his part to show him a path into the middle of the goal where he breezed past him and fired beyond Reina to really underline our misery. After the goal all thoughts of getting back into the game had disappeared. This was turning into a real embarrassment and Villa looked to be capable of adding to it at any time.
From here the pattern that emerged was one of two completely different circumstances. When the ball was in their half they packed the defence but left just enough of a gap in between the lines for us to pick up the ball and run at them, safe in the knowledge that even if we managed to get in behind our profligacy would take hold. We went from left to right and back again, looking for a gap in their defence but none was forthcoming. Meanwhile when they were on the break there was no such stranglehold in the middle and Benteke in particular was having the run of things as our midfield failed in any way to get a grip when we'd inevitably lose the ball. Despite all the possession and pressure we were trying to exert it was Villa who were coming closer to adding to the score, Weimann and Bannan both having chances that Reina was just able to keep out.
Everything about his period of the match was painful. The lack of imagination and of any real desire, it was incredibly infuriating. Villa would back off, almost allowing us to do whatever we wanted in the first two thirds of the park and there wasn't anything which suggested we might be able to get so much as a foothold back into the game. Downing and Johnson continued to put balls into the box aimlessly, while Sterling was trying to beat his man but constantly ran down blind alleys. The one ball of any real danger was played by Lucas through to Suarez but his effort was gathered by Guzan at the second attempt. It was to be Lucas' last contribution to the game as he was taken off for Jordan Henderson. It was one of those rare occasions where even he was as guilty as everyone else for the problems in midfield. Everyone is allowed one off game, especially when you're still trying to come back from two serious injuries.
Coming on with half an hour to go with your side three goals down, there was nothing for Henderson to lose getting stuck in and he did just that, providing some instant energy in the middle of the park that had seemed to be lacking from the moment Villa took the lead. Another half hearted penalty appeal came minutes later as it appeared that Chris Herd handled a header from Glen Johnson. Once again the referee wasn't interested and this time even I found it hard to muster up any resentment. At this point we were relying on a piece of individual brilliance with Agger invited to come forward and unleashing a thunderbolt from just outside the area. Had Guzan spilt it there were three waiting to pounce but he managed to make sure it didn't escape his grasp.
Villa had abandoned any and all attempts to add to their lead and were now happy to sit in and wait for the match to end. Their narrow defence allowed our widemen plenty of the ball but the numbers they had ready in the penalty area were always enough to deal with whatever we could offer. Sterling and Johnson were the primary options as we probed down the flanks with them both looking to go beyond or cut inside. Downing was a little more one dimensional and even though none of them were successful he's the one who struggled the most as Villa played at from a distance and his delivery not being of any real quality. They had pushed themselves so deep at this point that had the scoreline been any closer it's the kind of policy that would backfire but with the three goal cushion it was up to us to find some answers and even the ever industrious and skilful Suarez was finding it hard to create anything with so many players around him.
Late in the game and referee Neil Swarbrick awarded a handball shout that saw ironic cheers go up around Anfield. With the incident by the left hand touchline as opposed to inside the penalty area it was naturally much easier for an official to blow his whistle which in turn had the crowd cursing that this one was a free kick when the other one wasn't a penalty. Naturally the free kick turned out to be something of a waste, we had long past the point where a realization of what kind of day this was turning out to be and if we needed any more evidence then the air shot which saw the ball bounce off the leg of Daniel Agger and go well wide after Sterling and Downing had worked some room on the left was enough to convince many inside the ground that this game had gone.
Incredibly subdued, Anfield was filled with a kind of hostile acceptance when out of the blue we managed to get a goal. Glen Johnson had it on the right hand side and then drove infield to shoot. His effort wasn't perhaps meant to be a cross but nevertheless Steven Gerrard ducked his head into it and beyond Guzan in the Villa goal. All the while as the second half ticked on all I could ask for was a goal. The idea that we could be completely kept out having been so dominant was particularly galling and now that we were on the score sheet - however late it may have been - there was nothing to lose by pushing for more. If they had caught us on the break and gotten more then it didn't matter so it was time to throw everything at them.
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The reaction will be loud and emotional. It's a reality check that we cannot ignore though I would be loathed to look too much into a game I think we would have won a vast majority of the time. Villa took their chances and played very well for a period and we were during that passage of play as bad as we've been all season. Failing to burying teams when we're on top of them is something we will forever be punished for and we need to react better to the goal against the run of play rather than let it be something that throws us off completely. Next week is another home game and one we should be winning. Now we simply have to.
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