Devil In The Details: Stop Telling Us What We Already Know

Little things make a big difference. For instance if you were to put the word modern in front of both football and art, it conjures up very specific imagery. Flocks of people gathered into overbearing, soulless hives; all looking to fill a void. Not all galleries are bad though.

Really honing a craft takes many hours of painstaking effort. Whether it be on the canvass or on the training ground, attention to detail is key. Everything that works well is there for a reason, so retroactively speaking it makes sense to assume that what's not there is just as important. Because the line between success and failure in sport is so incredibly small it can appear as though what would be needed to sway the balance is blindingly obvious.

From the outside looking in, even those of us that are well versed in footballing theory are only capable of reading any given scenario in a limited number of ways. Those with hands on experience and the physical ability to effect change get the full picture and there is no need for interpretation. Then again, the idea that someone watching from the stands can see something the manager can't isn't exactly a new one.

With more eyes on more of the game than ever before, with that comes more critics. Simply knowing – about any given subject – isn't enough for some people. Their insight has to be commended or opinions have to be validated. It's not enough to be right any more, it has to be illustrated and reiterated on a regular basis. Nothing happens on the football field with a hundred percent certainty.

There is very little that goes untracked these days. Mention a player and immediately there is a digital compendium available regarding every conceivable aspect. Judgements are made by both those on and off the pitch, after which only one group makes decisions. This process is too much for some, who will try and prove all sorts of things before the ink is dry on his contract. The reasons why we like or dislike a player don't have to be rational but when it comes to Liverpool, the very least they should be given is courtesy and respect. No-one ever knows for certain prior to a ball being kicked and regardless of any labels they may have, there won't be a consensus on anyone that isn't either lazy or too obvious.

The difference between players at the highest level are so small that when true quality shines through, that gap is large enough so that it doesn't need pointing out. Also, because of the minutiae involved in a single game, let alone a whole season; failure does not instantly validate any pre conceived notions. Look at the difference in Luis Suarez playing alongside Andy Carroll as opposed to Daniel Sturridge. In both scenarios the ability of everyone involved doesn't alter but they are regularly used to substantiate all sorts of claims. In the case of the former, it was once argued that Suarez would never be a prolific goalscorer at the top level.

Only over an elongated period of time – when a negative has been shown to be truly consistent – does the point have any real weight behind it. The problem now is that these valid arguments are being taken and manipulated into something else. Driven home to the point where conformation bias comes into play and all objectivity is lost. Glen Johnson is the easiest current example to use. For the purposes of this, it's only worth taking into account the time since Brendan Rodgers took over.

The statsheet reads like a horror story. One league goal and six assists in sixty five out of seventy two possible games. It would be cynical and easy to suggest that if he were playing for another club, under no circumstances would he be wanted here. That's understandable but Rodgers clearly does; for now at least.

Is it because of the sheer weight of information that someone will make the right choices or does it matter what is then done with that data? Coaches can know the game of football like the back of their hand but if they don't know how to effectively communicate these ideas then they are effectively sterile.

While in Johnson's case there may be enough evidence to suggest immediate exile from Anfield, whatever can be seen Rodgers is unlikely blind to it. Because of his history with the player and a lack of viable alternatives both in house and elsewhere, in the immediate future he will be a part of this team. Spending the following twelve months – after which he is likely to leave anyway – pointing out his flaws would be as valuable as alerting everyone to the colour of his shorts.

This also applies in reverse. Making a stand against popular opinion because it's widely regarded is very peculiar but not uncommon. A handful of good games and there will be calls of a “return to form” as well as other people reaching out, cherry picking numbers and passages of play that make it appear as though Liverpool suddenly have Phillip Lahm, Javier Zanetti and Lillian Thuram all rolled into one. Warts and all, he will always be Glen Johnson. If the manager doesn't know what he does or doesn't bring by now, this is a completely different conversation.

With the new season rapidly approaching, lines already being drawn. Dots being connected. Lovren, Sakho and Skrtel will each be both hero and villain every week. Every moment Rickie Lambert makes – from the dressing room onward – will be charted. It's not that these things are being said blindly but the idea that they're the only one noticing is. So many of us standing in front of a picture that Brendan Rodgers had made look so good last year, all arguing about subtext and conjecture. If we stop arguing, we may be able to appreciate the art of it all once again.

(A) Zenit St Petersburg - Pre Match Thoughts

Europa League

                                          Thursday 14th February 2013

                                         Petrovsky Stadium 

                             Zenit St Petersburg VS Liverpool


It seems like a lifetime ago now. The images are still relatively clear. A smiling, rueful Antionio Di Natale, having just missed the chance to knock Liverpool out of Europe. Jordan Henderson and Brendan Rodgers embraced and the midfielder applauded those that had made the trip. It had been a battle but was by no means Liverpool's best ever victory on the continent but it didn't matter. We had won and with it claimed top spot in the group. Our reward? A trip to Russia in winter. Great.

It may not be at the top of everybody's wishlist but the fact remains that realistically, this is our only chance of even a glimmer of success  That being said I would be surprised if there weren't a couple of changes made, both in the wake of what happened on Monday and with another game on Sunday to follow. Daniel Agger has been left at home and Martin Skrtel will be given an opportunity to balance out his performance in the Oldham game against his former club.

The first leg of any tie is usually quite defensive and tight with neither side wanting to give anything away. In recent years things have swayed in that direction even more with home teams have become more accepting of a goalless draw and the focus being on preventing the travelling side from any away goals. Without Sturridge to call upon there will likely be changes in the attacking areas also, Fabio Borini the likeliest to get the nod given that he didn't play against West Brom. Scoring at any point in this game will could be pivotal to the entire tie.

Zenit are quite possibly the most difficult opponent we could have been drawn against in terms of quality, let alone the fact that we've had to travel so far. Hulk is someone that was touted to be one of the top strikers in Europe and we'll do very well to keep him quiet. If we can do that then with Suarez at the other end there's always a chance we could make something happen.

Playing in Europe is always something to cherish. The chance to match up with sides all across the continent and tonight we really have to be on our game against a side that is packed with talent. Whatever happens we have to make sure that the tie is still alive and well for the second leg next week. Just because Anfield is a place where special things happen in Europe - and I always feel confident about a tie when that is the case - we shouldn't be relying on it. 

(A) Manchester City - Pre Match Thoughts

Premier League

                                  Sunday 3rd February 2013

                                              The Emirates

                                Manchester City VS Liverpool

Nothing to lose, everything to gain. Having spurned the opportunity to steal a march on our opponents with what happened late on Wednesday night against Arsenal, normally I'd be looking for an immediate response. Failing to win makes victory in the next game that much more important. Unfortunately this game is being played at the home of the champions.

Things are by no means rosy for Manchester City and there's far more of a case to be made - in terms of form - that we're capable of getting a result today than there was against Arsenal. I just feel like we had our chance for the big win and it's incredibly unlikely even given our proclivity for playing well in the big games.  A couple of factors to contend with in this game, primarily the fact that there is no way City will defend quite as badly as Arsenal did. They will be missing Vincent Kompany and Yaya Toure which is a massive boost for us as they are by far their best to players but I do wonder just how much that performance at the Emirates took out of us, especially given the fact that the same eleven are more or less who will be playing.

Despite it having seemed to have paid off, I hope Brendan Rodgers decides to play Suarez in a more central role today. His workrate as ever was noteworthy but with the players that Man City are missing we'll need him down the middle to take advantage.  Daniel Sturridge could be switched with him on the flank but I'd rather play the way we set up against Norwich as it will help having as much of a threat as possible without going gung ho and having no control of the middle of the park like we did at Oldham. 

Things could have been so different if Martin Skrtel hadn't had that horrible moment earlier on in the season against Manchester City. Who knows what would have happened in the aftermath of that game, whether we'dve gone on to greater things and be right in amongst it all or it would have been another in a long list of false dawns. For better or worse, it would have been victory over a top side, which is becoming something of a monkey Brendan Rodgers is having trouble shaking off.  Any chance we could go one further then this time? Stranger things have happened.

(A) Stoke - Post Match Thoughts

Final Score: Stoke 3-1 Liverpool

Stoke Goals: John Walters (5, 49), Kenwyne Jones (12)
Liverpool Goal: Steven Gerrard (2 PEN)

We said we'd have a party if Suarez won a pen.  As it turned out, this wasn't a very good party.  It was every bit the kind of horror show you expect from a visit to Stoke and for all the pre match optimism I had that something had to change in respect to our form here, in the end it turned out all too predictably.  A lot has been said about the way in which we approached the game from a tactical stand point and that playing our regular 4-3-3 was playing into their hands and that we should have switched to a back three, I can't help but feel as if trying to match them in a physical battle would have dragged the game down completely and we'd have been lacking in any creativity should things have gone wrong.  It's a tough situation whereby the only real right answer is to win the game and I think with the team that we did put out, Rodgers was going for the win rather than to be happy with matching them in some sort of midfield gridlock.

The surprise was twofold.  Firstly that the team playing the long ball was us rather than Stoke.  We do go direct more often than people seem to think, especially given that Suarez is such a good hold up player.  Here he had Ryan Shawcross turned and got the wrong side of him with the ball being played in behind the Stoke defence.  What happened next was then was truly unexpected.  Unable to get back goal side of Suarez, Shawcross began grabbing at his shirt as he drove into the penalty area.  Howard Webb then pointed to the spot and awarded a penalty.  Having gone so long without one, it would have then been absolutely typical that Gerrard would step up and have his kick saved but he calmly placed it into the left hand corner while Begovic was helpless as he dived the wrong way.  We could have wished for a better start to the game.  If only it had finished that way.

Both sets of supporters had vocally gone up a gear.  We'd even lit a red flare in the away end to add some extra atmosphere to proceedings, while Stoke fans vocalised their feelings of faux injustice.  Because it was Suarez that means it couldn't have been a penalty.  Or something.  On the pitch things were equally as frantic as neither side could really settle down and players on both teams were flying into each other, Geoff Cameron receiving a yellow card for his challenge on Lucas during it all.  As it turned out, the drama was only just beginning.  Another straight ball played forward from back to front, this time by Ryan Shawcross.  Kenwyne Jones backed into Agger who held his ground and won the header but due to the presence of Jones was unable to get any real distance on it.  Martin Skrtel would have been there to clear up the second ball but he slipped over, leaving John Walters to pick up the pieces and slot the ball home for a near instant leveller.

In the minutes that followed after Walters' equaliser, Stoke pressed us with an intense ferocity that I haven't seen matched this season by an opposition side.  They ran everywhere trying to bully us into mistakes and having lost the lead so quickly our collective brains were scrambled and there was nobody who could get on the ball and take the sting out of the game.  When we did have any kind of possession, there was a loose pass or miscontrol never too far away and against a side playing with such energy and directness it was always going to come straight back on to our - increasingly deep - back four.  For Tony Pulis' side, it was a case of get the ball as close to the goal as often as possible and see what kind of havoc you can create.  Lucas was doing what he could do help win the aerial duels that Agger and Skrtel were having to contend with but on the whole we weren't sharp enough or good enough to hold onto it.

Stoke continually bullied us into giving away one set piece after another and all of them in close enough to Reina for their towering players to come in and make a nuisance of themselves.  The second goal arrived soon afterwards and it wasn't particularly inevitable, or even well worked.  It was after a succession of long throws and corner kicks that were all cleared, though none of them particularly convincingly.  Glen Whelan's cross was not of any great quality and Kenwyne Jones' header was good enough to find it's way into the near post but it was the fact that he'd been able to wriggle free of Daniel Agger so easily and that Glen Johnson couldn't block it on the line when it seemed like he was right there to stick a leg out and prevent it.  We'd taken the lead in the second minute and ten minutes later we were losing.  There was still a long way to go yet.

Going ahead seemed to settle them down briefly.  Subconsciously or not, when a side that doesn't concede many at home comes from behind to go in front, they then don't expect you'll have enough to score another.  Luis Suarez did have a half chance with the ball having been played flat across the box by Jose Enrique but he could not make any real contact with it and they were able to clear.  Our defence - despite wanting to push out further than our own penalty area - was constantly on the back foot as they played balls into the channels and then into the box for Jones or Walters to make something of.  Reina had no saves to make but our clearances were becoming increasingly frantic.  At the other end Suarez was virtually having to play four Stoke defenders on his own.  When we did manage to get players forward on the counter attack again it was a player slipping at the wrong time that cost us.  Johnson slid in Downing on the right hand side and his ball across may have been behind Suso but he was in a lot of space and had he not fell over might have been able to do something with it.

After the initial fifteen minute bombardment, we did start to get on the ball and catch our breath.  The situation may not have been ideal but we still had plenty of time to come back from what was a solitary goal deficit.  Agger was even afforded the space to stride forward with the ball and link with Luis Suarez but was unable to find a way through Stoke's packed defence.  Moments later Lucas played a magnificent ball over the top to Jonjo Shelvey but he just couldn't gather it in and finish.  The problem was that for the most part Stoke were the team winning all the battles, more specifically Kenwyne Jones.  He was causing Skrtel some real problems and the fact that as a back four we were so deep, this allowed them to come on to us even more.  Both our failure to do simple things while retaining the ball and our predictability when it came to try and win it back - both Suso and Gerrard sold themselves far too short twice in the space of a few seconds and in Gerrard's case it led to a chance for Etherington which he fortunately blazed over.

Our attacking play was starting to come into the game once more but we were unable to create anything clear cut.  In general build up play when we were in control and playing the ball around in their half there were eight Stoke defenders strung across the middle and on the few occasions we did catch them on the break our final pass wasn't there.  The one real quality pass we did manage was Suso to Suarez and it split the centre halves perfectly but Luis was unable to gather it in.  A lot of what we did try was coming from those wide areas because of how congested it was down the middle.  Downing was in the thick of a lot of the action to the point where Tony Pulis was forced into moving Geoff Cameron over to the other side to save him from a potential challenge that would see him receive a second yellow.  When he did manage to get into those areas though we weren't able to finish with a Gerrard side foot going just wide before Suarez had a wild effort with his wrong foot.

The most worrying aspect of this game to me wasn't anything to do with our toughness or battling qualities - even Suso was getting the better of the more physical Stoke players at times - but rather our naivety in dealing with their squeezing of the play when we had the ball along our own defensive third.  Time and again we had chances to either clear the ball or those around had the chance to move into better space but we continued to knock the ball around in increasingly smaller areas of the defence, allowing them the opportunity to focus their efforts and make it much harder to play the ball out.  Even so much of an inkling of that kind of disruption from a Stoke player seemed to have this hold over us that we forgot how to play football and would either give it straight up or put ourselves in increasingly difficult situations.  When they come onto us like that, there should be gaps elsewhere - ones that our midfielders should be occupying and ready to exploit.  What shouldn't happen is this idea that we force ourselves further and further back, too stubborn to clear it but knowing that the danger is imminent.  We're supposed to be better than that.

After breaking the shackles of their relentless pursuit of our centre halves, we were at some degree of comfort for the most part.  Stoke had their set up and held a very good shape making sure that any gaps were plugged as quickly as possible.  That being said Suarez was still trying to make things happen and he was having mixed results, in trying to nutmeg Robert Huth and failing miserably before turning Geoff Cameron off a throw in and firing in between the legs of Begovic.  The Stoke goalkeeper can consider himself lucky not to have conceded again, having just about kept the ball out by virtually sitting on it.  Even Jonjo Shelvey who was having a torrid time in the middle of the park found space and controlled the ball brilliantly but could not match this up with a finish and his tame shot went straight at the goalkeeper.

At the other end Reina was forced into action once again when his mis-hit clearance looked to have put Stoke in for a third.  The eventual cross that came in evaded everyone and fell at the feet of Matthew Etherington who was about to fire but Reina managed to smother him.  It was good work to make up for his initial mistake but another sign that we needed to improve our passing as a whole and not invite them onto us.  As half time arrived it wasn't the end of the world by any means, we'd taken the lead and then succumbed to a bombardment by a ravenous home side.  There were chances for us to come back level and the hope was that if we continued to play like that and create some better chances then there was definitely a chance of leaving the Brittania with at least a point yet still.

The resumption of play would see a change in the form of Raheem Sterling coming on for Suso.  It was both an understandable change in that we needed more of a spark up front and for all that's been said of Suso being potentially lightweight - which is something he needs to improve on but I think is a little harsh - Sterling is certainly someone who may be of a slender build but has no problem throwing himself into challenges and won't shirk the fight if he's in one.  Unfortunately the change that hadn't been made was one in the minds of those who had already been out there for the first half.  Within seconds we had the ball back toward our goal and hadn't woken up to their constant rushing, which led to Agger giving the ball away on the left hand side.  Fortunately we were able to regroup and even create a good chance of our own.  Gerrard played it to Sterling who was being watched by two Stoke defenders.  A quick burst of pace saw him get to the line and put a ball across, where Suarez had ghosted in front of Robert Huth.  The angle was a little tight and with Begovic right on him however, the attempted chipped finish went narrowly wide.  Only a single goal down there was still hope.  From one end to the other then, Stoke were about to make the task a whole lot harder.

Lucas had been watchful and knocked the ball out for two successive quick throw ins.  Having played the first one short it was clear that the second was going to be launched into the box and we played right into their hands.  Jones was being watched by two defenders but neither could prevent him from winning the header and as a result there was no attention paid whatsoever to the second ball.  Walters was able to chest the ball down and volley it beyond Reina from inside the penalty area with no defender getting anywhere near him.  It's not about any style of marking rather than it is slack marking.  If you're going to pay that much attention to the intended target then you have to win the initial header, otherwise make sure you're there to mop up whatever happens following that.  We did neither and now found ourselves two goals down with just a few minutes of the second half having been played.

From here, virtually the whole team fell apart for the next few minutes.  Even the most basic of passing was beyond us as we looked to let Stoke in at every opportunity, who themselves needed no invitation to come at us given how comfortable they were in the game.  The exception was Luis Suarez; bane of the Stoke netherworld.  They continued to voice their disapproval louder than any kind of support for their own players and it appeared as if the more they booed him the harder he worked.  He was causing problems for defenders and winning corners as well as chasing down everything to the point where Robert Huth and latterly Ryan Shawcross had to be right on their toes as he very nearly got on the end of a misplaced back pass.

Steven Gerrard likewise saw the need to get us further up the pitch both in the sense that we needed to create something as an attacking force to get back into the game and allowing us some respite from their harassment but his range wasn't quite there and even when he did manage to find Glen Johnson he found himself being closely marshalled by two Stoke defenders but was still able to cut on the outside and earn a corner.  One set piece closely followed another and if anything was more likely to lead to another Stoke goal rather than a way back into it for ourselves with a potentially lethal break being halted by a marginal offside call.  We were showing signs of recovery in the sense that we rediscovered our ability to pass the ball and though Stoke had men back behind the ball we were fighting hard to get beyond them, Jose Enqique using his strength to barge through.  When in those positions however there weren't enough men forward and the final ball was lacking.

In terms of changing personnel, there was one player who had to stay on the pitch.  While Brendan Rodgers looked to inject Jordan Henderson's energy onto the game as he came on for Lucas, within moments of the switch there could have been disaster in terms of Luis Suarez's involvement.  He came into a challenge with a high boot and caught Begovic.  It looked a difficult one to call and certainly one which would draw a great deal of anger if the circumstances were reversed but overall the right decision was reached.  While the crowed bayed for a red and Howard Webb infuriated them by only showing the Uruguayan a yellow.  It was looking a near impossible task the way we were playing with Suarez.  Without him there would have been no hope whatsoever.

The two goal cushion had lead to Stoke pulling men deep somewhat as we started to enjoy more of the possession again.  They still were hard in the tackle and very well organised but Gerrard was now able to run forward with the ball and look for room beyond their back line or even be tempted into a shot.  Aside from Suarez, our best chance of getting back into the game was with the free kicks that we were winning on the flank.  Downing won one right on the edge of the penalty area which was headed clear whereas moments earlier Gerrard's effort was similarly dealt with.  Against an opponent which has a distinct height advantage, I'm really not sure the way in which we went about trying to exploit these opportunities was particularly clever - especially when considering that we've been better at that on the whole this season.  In the midst of it all we did have the ball in the net however.  Suarez combining with Gerrard then Sterling and finally Henderson before falling down on the ball.  Luis hammered the ball into the net but the whistle had already gone as Jordan was judged to have handled it.

Defensively we were coping better, partly because Stoke had no reason to venture into our half and even on the occasions when they did we looked petrified of what they were going to do.  Enrique and Johnson very nearly both gave the ball away in dangerous areas only to make amends  Jose using his strength to atone for his earlier error and Gerrard on the cover to force Stoke inside where we cleared it.  It wouldn't take long for the ball to be up the other end.  As had been the case for some time, it wasn't before long that Suarez was involved again first having his shot blocked and then being flagged for offside as Gerrard tried to play him in.  Very little good came out of this game but Suarez's effort must be commended.

A collision between Dean Whitehead and Pepe Reina allowed more time to be eaten away but also gave us a small window with which to regroup.  Reina was okay to continue after not too long and it then took us a whole two passes before one was played astray.  This is under minimal pressure and we were fortunate enough to get it clear and not be further punished.  On the break meanwhile, Sterling left it for Shelvey and he played it across field to Glen Johnson.  What followed looked every bit the player we'd seen for some weeks now right up until the finish.  Under different circumstances, he'dve driven in and shot - to which I would have gladly accepted the consequences, whether it went miles wide or not.  Johnson could easily have gone for the pass also, but what with the way the game had gone and our growing desperation he delayed it far too long and the pass eventually rolled straight to a Stoke defender.

Coping in a game like this - especially with the circumstances the way they were - is all about mental strength.  Having the physicality to get involved is one thing but it's about belief, desire and how you use that. Jose Enrique is one of the strongest players we have and there were times when the pressure would get to him and they'd be able to get there first.  The first touches were deserting our players completely - right throughout the team - and if you can't get it right in that kind of intensity, it undermines everything we're trying to do.  As a last resort, Joe Cole came on for Stewart Downing followed immediately afterwards by former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch making an appearance for Stoke.  I did fear that with any kind of chance he'd end the game completely with one of those goals that are only ever scored by players that used to play for you.  As it was, they were doing a perfectly good job of shutting it down themselves.

Much to the absolute delight of the Stoke crowd, Luis Suarez was growing ever frustrated with the way things were going.  Every misplaced pass or attempt at something that wouldn't come off would be greeted with the kind of cheer you'd normally reserve for goals.  When Enrique played one over the top from the left hand side it finally looked like he'd got goal side for a second.  However he was forced to turn back and then lay it off to Sterling on the edge of the box whose shot hit a defender and allowed Begovic to pluck it out of the air with ease.  Suarez aside, pretty much everything we were attempting to do was slow and tentative, as if we were frightened of them coming out to attack us once more.  Conversely when Stoke snapped in at our heels it was purposeful and they drove forward with a real menace, although they were lacking in any real quality and Reina was only ever troubled by a few potentially short backpasses that they were determined to chase all the way down.

To their credit, Stoke retained their concentration all over the park right to the very end.  There were times when they had ten players inside the penalty area, making it near impossible for anyone to get through.  Suarez was still trying desperately however but completely unable to get anything going.  His free kick hit the wall and when Joe Cole found him on the right hand side with a flicked header he played a dangerous ball in across the back line only for no-one to be on the end of it.  Gerrard managed to force a camera save out of Begovic in the time that remained and when Suarez had one last shot and fell over on his backside in the process, that pretty much summed up the entire game.  Once again we take a small step back after having a good result against Fulham and once again we're caught completely off our game plan by a team that gets in our faces.  My worry would not be the fact that we didn't match them in terms of shape or personnel (although I've really no explanation as for how Jonjo Shelvey managed to stay on for ninety minutes) - I like the idea of trying to impose our game on them - my concern would be that we didn't match their desire and that's the one thing you'd expect them to have.  Incredibly disappointing.  We move on.

(A) Stoke - Pre Match Thoughts

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                                            Premier League

                                      Wednesday 26th December 2012

                                          Britannia Stadium

                                         Stoke VS Liverpool

Even after Lionel Messi broke Gerd Muller's record of goals in a calendar year, there are still questions that remain.  Maybe we'll never know if he really has what it takes but for this Liverpool side tonight, we'll see just how prepared they are for what could very well be the stuff of legend.  It is the ultimate challenge, far greater than any Champions League game and more esteemed than winning the world cup.  Winning away at Stoke on a cold Wednesday evening.

Boxing day fixtures are something that still warms my ever increasingly cynical heart.  Perhaps as I'm getting a little too old to be enjoying Christmas the way I used to, this has become the tradition that I look forward too the most.  A win seems to underline the good feeling that comes around with the festive period - like the last present being delivered - and can potentially give way to some momentum as we go into the new year.  This fixture however represents a real lump of coal in my stocking.  I just hope we can get out of there with the three points as comfortably as possible.  Joy to all men? Not if they've ever seen Stoke play.

Hyperbole aside, this is one of the most difficult away games we have left, quite possibly the hardest if you take out the two Manchester Clubs.  Stoke have conceded only three goals at the Britannia this season which is frightening.  Luis Suarez has a decent record against them in recent years having scored both home and away last year (in the FA and League Cup respectively) as well as scoring against them on his Anfield debut.  If we're going to get anything out of this game tonight he really has to be at his best.  We're not likely to create a massive amount of chances given their sturdy defence so if we're ever going to become clinical, today would have to be it.

What with it being a televised evening kick off there will be a real occasion for the home fans to rally around.  They seem to relish playing against - and indeed stifling - us in recent seasons, with our first victory at this ground in the Premier League still to be registered.  It doesn't seem to matter how well we play here either, for we've been terrible and gotten what we deserved but last year we were pretty good and got stung by a really soft penalty.  The crowd will no doubt be loud and in the ear of the referee as you would expect of a partisan, passionate home support.  That does leave us a problem in terms of the physicality we're likely to come up against.  Huth, Shawcross and co will likely be as ruthless as ever with our front players but if we get sucked into it then Agger and Skrtel will no doubt be punished.  Howard Webb will have his hands full and I'm more than a little sceptical as to how well he'll be able to cope.

Were it not for the result against Aston Villa, this would be the one in which it would be almost forgiven for dropping points.  We'd take a hard earned draw and coming away with anything - limbs intact - would be an achievement.  A win however would virtually undo a lot of the bad work we did at Anfield eleven days ago and would certainly give us a boost ahead of the coming new year.  I always come into these games with a grudging respect for Pulis and end them with a horrible, disgusting after-taste.  The manager - as much as I respect what he and Stoke have "accomplished" over the years - is something of a hypocrite and it would be so wonderful to see him and his players/cavemen beaten.  A belated Christmas miracle.

(H) Fulham - Post Match Thoughts

Final Score: Liverpool 4-0 Fulham
Liverpool Goals: Martin Skrtel (8), Steven Gerrard (36), Stewart Downing (51), Luis Suarez (90)

There must be something in the air.  It may be the season of goodwill but I was not expecting Fulham to be this accommodating, though I do thank them for it.  A wonderful early present, with a victory that was not only gift wrapped but all around about as pleasant an afternoon as we've had for some time.  It began with the starting eleven.  Rest for Raheem Sterling and Joe Allen as well as the return of Jose Enrique whom we badly missed last week against Aston Villa.  Suso's introduction was an intriguing one and even though I would much rather he and Gerrard be swapped around it was a team I thought was capable of going out there and getting the three points.  How right that proved to be.

Some teams come onto us early.  Given our problems with passing it out from the back coupled with the adrenaline that naturally comes at the start of a game that's understandable.  Perhaps serving as a metaphor for the rest of the game, Fulham decided to charge Jose Enrique within the first few seconds then decide they'd had enough of that and sat off completely.  Even when we had the ball in our own half Berbatov was the only Fulham player who was that side of the pitch as they set their stall out early and he's not exactly the most workaholic of strikers.  As such we settled into a rhythm of passing very quickly looking to probe as there were battles being fought either side, firstly with Suso on Dejagah and then Downing clashing with Riise - all of which coming to nothing.  Moments later the first real chance of the game as Jose Enrique tried to barrel his way through four defenders to earn a corner, from which Daniel Agger has a free header which he skied.  He wouldn't be the only Liverpool centre half left open from a corner.

Though they had nine of the ten outfield players back in their own half, there was still a gap between their midfield and defence which Shelvey and Suso could be seen drifting in and out of.  At the back Steven Gerrard was working hard in conjunction with Lucas to make sure there was no similar gap in our own set-up nor would there be any easy shots on goal on the few occasions in which a Fulham player managed to stride forward with the ball.  One of the advantages of having Gerrard in this deep lying role is his range of passing and the speed with which it helps us change gears from defence to attack.  His long pass out from the right to left hand side over to Jose Enrique was as outrageous as it was accomplished and the Spaniard flashed it first time across the box brilliantly, only for there to be no-one on the end of it.  Fulham recovered for maybe half a second before Downing had it back and his cross was then nearly audaciously put in with a Jonjo Shelvey back flick but it was blocked for a corner instead.  From the restart Steven Gerrard was able to find Martin Skrtel in acres of space right by the penalty spot, so much so that he had time to chest it down before thumping into the back of the net.  A perfect execution in both how you finish and how you start a game.

With an early lead and being allowed virtually all of the ball, confidence was flourishing.  We had time and space all over the park and the passes were being exchanged both long and short in abundance.  One thing that did catch my eye however was that on one occasion whereby Lucas lost the ball and Fulham did go off on the break, Glen Johnson came into the centre to try and neutralize the situation.  I would have been interested to know which of the following (if either were applicable) were his reasons for this.  Firstly because they only had one man up front and he was comfortable in leaving Skrtel behind him to cover, knowing that there would be time for either Gerrard to be the extra man or Lucas to get back.  A more interesting thought however would have been as a direct result of Villa's second goal against us last week.  Both Downing and Johnson were bypassed as fullbacks by the movement of Benteke and by the time either of them had the chance to be involved in play it was too late.  By stepping up and trying to affect the play earlier, he has a much better chance of success.  As it was, Berbatov was forced wide and the chance evaporated very quickly.

From one wide player to another, Stewart Downing was lining up his shooting range and coming very close to doubling the lead with an effort that just flashed wide.  If he was starting to grow in confidence then our opposition were going the other way.  Their passing was forced and control even worse, as if a lot of them wanted rid of the ball rather than were trying any kind of advancement of the ball.  It didn't take much for us to recover it and even with a few more men behind the ball we were still able to keep it on the edge of their penalty area with Downing's eventual cross just about headed clear by Hangeland.  No more was their nonchalance prevalent than when we had the ball at the back.  Agger, Skrtel, Gerrard and Lucas were allowed to stroll forward with ease and as Johnson and Enrique provided the width, there were options everywhere as Fulham allowed us to dictate virtually every aspect of the game.

It may have taken them about twenty minutes but our defence did have some work to do.  Martin Skrtel had to be alert when Dejagah tried to play Berbatov through the middle and his sliding tackle forced the ball to rebound back off him and then away by Jose Enrique.  Fulham had weathered what was an early battering and for once had some degree of possession, however they were blocked off from any attempt at getting near Pepe Reina's goal.  Our foot had been taken off the pedal just a little but even so it didn't take much to recover the ball and get on the attack once more and when we did there was more than enough space for us to cause problems with Suarez dropping off to receive it and then shooting just wide.  Because of the way in which Fulham were passing the ball, they were so relieved for us to lower our tempo it was almost as if we were lulling them in by backing off a little and then pouncing when the time was right.  This kind of pressure led to what can only be described as miss of the season so far.

We picked it up just in the final third as Fulham stood on the ball too long.  Downing passed it through to Suarez on the right who tried to cut inside with the ball eventually coming to Steven Gerrard on the edge.  His shot deflected off Hangeland and right back to Suarez.  The ball across the six yard box should have been a tap in for Daniel Agger as Schwarzer was already beaten but instead of it being a second goal he inexplicably ballooned it into the stands.  Suarez had it gift wrapped for Agger just in time for Christmas but clearly he doesn't open his presents so early.  While a defender was up front missing clear cut chances, Fulham's main threat could not get any more advanced that the halfway line.  One thing you're never going to get from Berbatov is someone who will run defenders ragged and though some of his touches are sublime - one in particular to hold it up was fantastic - he was being forced so far away from goal the threat of him was all but extinguished.

Leaving space is dangerous but it's what the opposition do with it that counts.  Fulham were backing off and leave gaps, coupled with the fact that we were completely overrunning them in the middle of the park and they really had no answer for us.  At one point there was a counter attack with seven of their players running back against four red shirts piling forward.  One pass played from the right of centre down to the other side took out four Fulham players and had Suarez through on goal.  The only thing that saved them was a - questionable - flag being raised for offside.  At the other end with no luck breaking down our defence, Keiron Richardson tried to bypass it altogether.  Having found a little room in the middle of the park for pretty much the first time in the game he decided to let one fly from long range and nearly embarrassed Pepe Reina.  The shot may have taken a slightest deflection (having watched it a few times I really can't tell) and as it was Pepe dived well beyond it and was fortunate to save the ball with his feet.  It was to be as close to Fulham would come all half.

Despite the fact that they had a man extra in midfield, it wasn't helping stem the tide at all.  With Berbatov isolated and not the kind of player who'll chase lost causes, they had no real outlet and were trying to make a concious effort to step up and at least contain us further up the pitch instead of letting us have the ball around their penalty area. The bodies coming together made it so that a few cheap free kicks were being given away either side with no-one being able to take advantage and if there was any sense that Fulham would escape a half in which they'd been very abject by being only one goal down then we were about to make them pay again.  It started with Gerrard having the ball around the halfway line, which tells you everything about how bad of a marking job they did in what followed.  After passing it around at the back Johnson got it wide and drove inside before passing it out to Downing who was on the right hand edge of the box.  He passed a ball inside which Gerard - having timed his run to perfection - ran onto and although he was at a tight angle managed to put the ball into the far corner for his second goal in as many matches.  Unlike last week against Aston Villa however, this was in much better circumstances.

It's not possible to be a beaten side before half time.  Football is a magnificent game because of the way players are able to completely change what's happened in the minutes prior no matter how radical the scoreline.  However, for the result to be different however it was going to take a complete one eighty degree turnaround. We were showing all the signs of a team that was brimming with confidence, playing good football and was generally had more of an appetite for the fight than our opponents.  Glen Johnson and Stewart Downing showing all this in one move when Johnson won the ball in midfield and launched us on the break.  He made a little bit of a mess of the play out wide but then ran back with his man all the way and managed to recover it.  What made it even better was that Downing had already moved himself back into the right back spot as cover just in case things went wrong.  Martin Jol was going to have to give one hell of a team talk to recover this one.

The fun with which we were having out on the pitch was about to be stopped.  Not by our opponents but by the fact that half time quickly approached.  Leading up to the break was a series of moves that didn't quite have the same venom as the sweeping move that lead to our second nor the complete absence of a defence that made the first possible.  Suso got on to the end of a move created by Downing and then Suarez and though his initial touch was good he was unable to hold off the defender and his shot was tame and wide.  Jonjo Shelvey then showed his inexperience by making a bad run toward goal when Suarez had the ball on the right hand side of the box, narrowing his angle.  Had he dummied his run Luis could have laid it back to him but instead he was forced to shoot and they were lucky in that it just about stuck between Schwarzer's legs as it threatened to go through them.  First Johnson and then Enrique both had opportunities to cross as the one minute of stoppage time elapsed and both were promptly dealt with by the Fulham defence.  Forty five minutes gone and having been punished a week ago for not taking our chances we had done just that.  More of the same was needed in the second half.  More of the same was what we got.

Fulham added a striker to their ranks as we headed out for the second half but left the dressing room without any real fire.  Two goals down isn't the biggest deficit to claw back but right from the off we were seeing once again that they were happy to sit off and let us play around them while the opposite was true for how we would respond to a period of Fulham possession.  The first chance of the half fell to Luis Suarez who would have expected to have done better, the chance arriving after Gerrard had found Stewart Downing and his shot across goal deflected high and over everyone else only for Suarez to poke it well over.  Both the way in which we dealt with their main threat as well as the ease with which it was accomplished compared to their approach was a small summation of the game itself.  Berbatov was continuing to drop off and was being smothered by the midfield - Lucas particularly - while Suarez was giving Hangeland all sorts of problems.  A Fulham goal really would have had to come out of nowhere and yet it was still not quite as surprising as what happened next.

Whether it was due to the circumstances of the game being so comfortable that Downing was so confidence or that said confidence was affecting the play in such a way I'm not sure.  Fulham allowing us to have a lot of the ball made it easier for someone like Downing whose decision making isn't great to have the time and space while options present themselves.  I've said before that his movement out wide cutting inside is perhaps the most predictable of any player I've ever seen and that a defender could read it quite comfortably.  This pretty much summed up how well of a day Downing was having and how bad it was going for Fulham.  Suarez picked the ball up in the middle on the break and they reacted by going very narrow.  The ball then found it's way to the right hand side where Stewart had a few days to think about what he wanted to to.  Riise didn't get out to him and when he did move, created a gap which Downing cut inside to try and get through and then once he had a sight of goal decided to shoot.  It sort of squirmed under Schwarzer, who put out an arm as only a polite attempt to save it and at least making sure that he shared some of the blame with his team-mates for the slackness which produced the goal.  Nobody would have predicted it before the game but Downing had all but ended it.

If they were dejected before the third goal, after it was downright lethargic.  We were quicker to every ball even when they had a man advantage and generally far more eager to get things going than our opponents, this then leading to a particularly harsh yellow card for Glen Johnson.  The most effective thing that we continued to do was given their lacklustre tempo and the fact that they wanted so many touches in midfield, pressing them forced them back and into dangerous areas which we could potentially get the ball back and be in on goal all within one pass.  Our comfort levels were nearly shattered when Rodellaga could have headed in from a corner while being watched by three defenders and it's momentary lapses of concentration like that which can on other days completely punish you.  As it was with nothing going Fulham's way, the ball was too high for the Colombian striker and it drifted wide.

Scoring so early in the half and all but sealing the victory did sap our ruthlessness as time went on.  It could have been a very high scoreline but we dropped back and they had a little more possession, as well as the introduction of Kerim Frei who had given them a little more pace out wide.  If I were to be overly critical, there was a pocket of space in which Shelvey was pushing forward as the head of the midfield and Suarez was there anyway as the focal point of the attack.  Jonjo in particular should maybe have done a little more given the room he was afforded.  As we backed off a little and let them come onto us, the only time the game really rose in tempo was when one of our defenders would come forward.  Agger burst forward looking to make amends for his shocking first half miss and passed it out wide to Suso, whose cross was headed clear and likewise Enrique's attempt at breaching their backline came to nothing before Glen Johnson went for a long range hit which went just wide.

While our defence were trying to score, theirs were just about getting away with not conceding further.  Sloppy passes were being played in their own half and the constant running of Luis Suarez made it so that they were always likely to be pounced upon.  We then made our first change of the game, Suso coming off in much better circumstances than being switched after half an hour against Wigan.  Raheem Sterling came on to replace him, looking for a goal to celebrate having just signed his new contract.  It could have arrived straight away as he and Shelvey combined.  Had he taken the shot on rather than try to loop it over the defenders head, Sterling may very well have scored.  Another change was soon to be made as Joe Allen came on for Jonjo Shelvey, giving Gerrard a little more freedom to move forward as the game entered it's final phase.  In truth, it was well over a long time ago.

Three goals up into the final ten minutes, there was no sign of any consolation for Fulham.  As it was, the only team that looked like scoring was the one that had been doing it all game.  Sterling could have made it worse as he drove in and was somewhat sandwiched between Hangeland and Riether but it would have been a little harsh.  Gerrard then forced Schwarzer into a smart save after Glen Johnson had inadvertently deflected a Luis Suarez free kick into his path.  Suarez too was - as ever - still hungry to do more damage to the Fulham back four, combining with both Sterling and Gerrard before cutting inside the defender and very nearly getting to it ahead of Schwarzer, who just about avoided having it poked through his legs.  At the other end Dimitar Berbatov, while not showing the same kind of hunger for the game that Suarez does, was still showing his sharpness.  Having been given room for practically the first time in the game he forced Reina into a long range save with Martin Skrtel there to clear the rebound and moments later Berba drove it into Pepe's hands once more except this time he was able to hold on to it.

Lucas came off and Jamie Carragher ran on to make his customary appearance as we looked to see out the minutes that remained.  Fulham had the majority of the possession now and knocked it around better than they had for the most part but it was still of nowhere near any real quality and anytime they looked to get close to our goal we cleared it comfortably.  A couple of free kicks at either end forced decent saves out of both keepers, Luis Suarez's effort disrupted at first by the referee's moving of the ball before taking it and then kept out by Schwarzer before Rodellega had one tipped onto the post by Pepe Reina.  Fulham might have wished he'd never even had the chance to score, for on the break they were unknowingly about to be punished.  Suarez - who was still angry at the lack of options as we entered the ninety second minute of a game we were three nil up in - decided to go alone on the counter and won a corner.  Sterling played it short to Enrique, who managed to trick his way down the goal line and then pull it back for Suarez to get a well earned goal and seal the win perfectly.  The final whistle was blown to put an end to Fulham's misery moments later.  After the Villa game we were looking for a response which we got completely.  Now we need to kick on from here and going to Stoke next will be sure to see a lot of kicking indeed.

(H) Aston Villa - Post Match Thoughts

Final Score: Liverpool 1-3 Aston Villa

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.

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.

(A) West Ham - Post Match Thoughts

Final Score: West Ham 2-3 Liverpool
West Ham Goals: Mark Noble (PEN 36), Steven Gerrard OG (43)
Liverpool Goals: Glen Johnson (11), Joe Cole (76), James Collins OG (79)

Victory, in perhaps the most bizarre circumstances I can care to remember.  At the final whistle my first thought was not something I've often been perplexed by but the fact still remained; just how exactly did we win that one?  Having on many different occasions this season in which our performance has deserved more points than we've ended up with, this isn't something I'm going to complain about.  Regardless of it's merits, we now have back to back victories in the league for the first time in a long time.  There's a real momentum behind us now and with a decent run of fixtures to come, this could be the start of something really good.

Team news prior to kick off was surrounded by the absence of Luis Suarez through suspension and the confirmation of what seemed most likely in that Jonjo Shelvey would be taking up the main strikers position.  Behind him it was more straightforward, with Jose Enrique and Stewart Downing rather more conventionally playing in their more natural positions at left back and on the wing respectively.  The travelling kop were in marvellous voice as we kicked the game off and it began with some quick passing in the midfield with the aim of getting high up as quickly as possible.  This was capped off by an early sighting of Glen Johnson very high up the pitch trying to make things happen, something that would become a feature of the game as it went on.

He may not be the most popular man to ever put on a Liverpool shirt but Stewart Downing has been far more involved than I thought he would at this point.  He did his best to get at the West Ham defence early and take on O'Brien at full back and it eventually led to Steven Gerrard having a shot on goal.  At the other end their tactics were anything but a surprise with the strength of Nolan and Diame in the middle of the park being used to get the ball and the wide men to deliver it, often and early.  This was the kind of attack we had to be very weary about getting too deep for they were keen to play in front of us as long as possible and hope that we would entrap ourselves by moving too far back.  As it was we coped relatively well with the high ball but needed to be extra watchful of whatever rebounds dropped in and around the penalty area.  Mohamed Diame reminded everyone of this fact when Agger only half cleared a cross from Matt Jarvis and his shot was then deflected horribly and wrong footing Pepe Reina in the process.  Fortunately for us it went wide instead of nestling in the far corner of the net.

Recycling the ball high up the pitch was not only important to stop West Ham from pushing us back, it's the way in which we put a large amount of pressure on an opponent.  Lucas Leiva helps this process so much, not only was he the outlet for possession if we needed to start over again but he was constantly winning it back in the middle of the park and distributing it very tidily.  Someone who does his passing in a much more unreserved style is Steven Gerrard.  With Downing occupying and subsequently drifting inside to take his marker with him, there was acres of space for Glen Johnson to work with on the right hand side.  This was something they were going to pay for, with immediate effect.  Johnson took the long ball from Gerrard and drove inside with it.  He shifted it onto his right foot where nothing looked on for him and then thundered the ball with devastating accuracy into the top left corner.  I very much doubt he'll score one as good as that for a long time but I'd love to be proven wrong.

For a time after the goal it was West Ham versus Glen Johnson, and the one man was winning.  They simply couldn't live with anything he did.  First he cut inside and sent a panic through their defence making them swarm around him to block any shot attempt.  This led to a shot by Gerrard which scuffed along the ground and in turn could have put Joe Allen or Jonjo Shelvey through on goal but they were blocked off.  Even then the clearance came straight back at them as Sterling picked up the ball and fired narrowly wide at the near post.  Raheem would have another - much more gilt edged - chance moments later as Johnson again won the battle out wide and then drove inside but his attempt on the turn wasn't timed perfectly and was dragged agonisingly wide. It was one way traffic, and not at all how you'd expect the team with no striker to be playing.

West Ham's efforts to close the space down in our own half were a fine idea.  We've not been the best at keeping the ball under intense scrutiny this year and Allardyce would have seen how Spurs managed to exploit that in the early goings last Wednesday.  However, even though they tried to rush us we were always able to find an extra pass which helped keep the ball moving.  When we did lose possession, the pressure put on by the midfield - Gerrard and Lucas were particularly effective - made it so that it wouldn't be long before we had it back.  There was also the matter of the gaping hole on one side of the pitch that they still hadn't been able to close.  Once more Stevie found Johnson with a long ball out wide and again he cut inside with ease.  This time there were around four or five claret and blue shirts around him, desperate to stop him but Johnson kept on going.  Eventually the ball went out to Sterling and then back to Lucas who held the ball in quite an advanced position while we regrouped.  The panic that seemed to set in whenever Johnson was on the ball was really quite something.  Rarely does a right back upset a team like that.  Then again, he is indeed a rare talent.

In an attempt to get back into the game, West Ham did Sam Allardyce proud; they went even more direct.  It did lead to their first half chance for some time when Carlton Cole managed to get a head onto a really difficult ball and force Pepe Reina into a save but other than that we were dealing very well as a defensive unit in terms of stopping them from getting any knock downs.  What was starting to creep into our play however was a little sloppiness in the middle of the park which allow West Ham some easy possession.  Sterling losing the ball to Diame when Johnson had already gone ahead of him could have been a cause for major concern, likewise Downing and Shelvey giving it up softly.  All the while Carlton Cole was starting to grow into the game as the Hammers continued to supply long balls for him to try and make something of.  So much so was he becoming a nuisance that Martin Skrtel had to resort to a very dangerous shirt pull which the referee could easily have given a penalty for.  A game which we had been in control of was about to slip out of our grasp completely.

Maybe Joe Cole's introduction wasn't the direct cause of our play for the rest of the half but it certainly contributed.  Jose Enrique's injury meant that he had to come off and the former West Ham man make his return with Stewart Downing now moving over to the left back slot.  This disruption to our shape was bad enough but in Joe Cole they saw a man they could target and a way to win the ball back very easily.  His first touch very nearly gifted them possession and it was only when Cole was helped out by Lucas and Glen Johnson that we were able to get it up the field.  By now the ball seemed to be coming straight back at us on every given opportunity, certainly West Ham would not turn down the chance to put the ball back into the box.  We did have one chance on the break with Joe Allen releasing Stewart Downing in his new position down the left hand flank but his shot was blocked and the following attempt by Raheem Sterling was way over.

Getting a sense that they were starting to grow into the game we were faced with two options.  Look for a second goal which would deflate them completely or take the sting out of the game by keeping the ball.  We showed no signs of slowing and wanting to keep the ball for possessions sake in looking for the gaps to further keep West Ham down.  While no real chances came out of our attempts to fashion a second goal they did look increasingly menacing on the counter attack, with Gerrard being forced into taking a yellow card for his challenge on Diame as he strode through the middle.  It was a period in the game that we had to ride out and that if we could not give something silly away then the crowd and the tempo with which West Ham were playing would both die down.  Unfortunately we couldn't do that however and when a cross was half cleared out to Guy Demel on the edge of the box and Joe Allen tried to close him down, the subsequent shot struck Allen's hand from about two yards.  The referee pointed immediately to the spot.

It felt incredibly harsh, even agonising as Pepe Reina was so close to getting to the ball after Nolan stepped up and slotted it into the left hand side of the goal.  Another contentious decision followed directly from kick off, with Sterling being kicked in the stomach by Matthew Taylor and the West Ham man only receiving a yellow card for the so called challenge.  He may not have meant it but it was a really horrible looking attempt at winning the ball, which he came nowhere near doing.  Having gotten back on parity, they sat back a little more and we once again camped out on the edge of their penalty area.  The only problem this time was that we weren't able to do it for any real length of time for we'd give the ball away and they'd counter.  Diame was taking over in the middle of the park and they really should have done better when he put Matt Jarvis through out wide but the break was so fast there was nobody there to take advantage.  Still they managed to regroup and put another dangerous ball in which Taylor came close to heading goal bound with Reina coming out to meet him and not getting there.  Though he was clearly in an offside position no flag was raised, fortunately for us however it went over.

Along with the extra muscle that seemed to be pushing us over in the middle of the park, Carlton Cole was really putting himself about in a way that was making the defence very anxious.  Skrtel had already dealt with him with a couple of last ditch tackles and was clumsy in coming out and climbing all over the forward, conceding a free kick in the process right before half time.  Having put all the big men in the box, West Ham played it out wide to Matt Jarvis whose cross was then met and put away beautifully, by Steven Gerrard of all people.  In front and on top for so long we were now facing going into the break a goal down and as they backed off once more and let us play in front of them for the few minutes that remained, we did try to readdress the balance before Brendan Rodgers would have them in for a few words.  Agger and Johnson strode forward but were unable to cut through their defence and Downing produced two half chances for Shelvey, both of which he was isolated by West Ham defenders but still managed to poke the ball goal ward - even if they did both go wide.  The story of the first half was a strange in many ways but it's also one that we've read far too often recently.  We were the better side for the majority but went into half time with nothing to show for it.

When things got back under-way they began with a microcosm of how the two teams had applied themselves thus far.  West Ham went for a high hopeful ball into the forward positions, which led to Raheem Sterling winning the ball and running forward with it at pace.  Neither side imposed themselves on things early on, mostly because the ball was bouncing around from one end to the other.  There was space for us to pick the ball up in front of their back four but they were perfectly happy for us to have it there, knowing that they could funnel men back and stay strong so that we couldn't get through them. This allowed West Ham to put us instantly on the back foot whenever we would give up the ball and with them being so quick to get it out wide and then into the box we were constantly having to go back and forth between trying to attack and rescuing the ball.

As we went forward, our midfield play was naive for the most part in the second half.  They wanted to get forward in support of Shelvey as quickly and often as possible and so Gerrard and Allen would stride into the attacking third, usually one of them with the ball and the other simply trying to make up the numbers.  The problem with this was that Diame would be laying in wait and there he would be able to pick them off as there was no real attempt to play around him.  Whenever he would get the ball back, virtually our entire midfield would be rendered redundant and this would be compounded even further by the play of Carlton Cole who was really getting in the faces of Agger and Skrtel, dragging them out into the wide positions and always managing to hold the ball up for West Ham.  The final ball would always be either cut out or not good enough but the approach play and how effective it was is something of a worry.

While they had lots of room to play the ball in for Cole to drift and make a nuisance of himself, Jonjo Shelvey  was having to come increasingly deep and move though a lot of traffic in an effort to get anything going.  When he played it inside to Gerrard who then found Johnson finally in enough space to cross the ball, there was an illustration of how crowded it was in the penalty area with fourteen players (nine West Ham and five Liverpool) cramped inside there.  Johnson continued to try and add some attacking verve just as he had done in the first half and likewise Daniel Agger went up the pitch but there was so much in the way of bodies in there that it would be difficult for anyone to find a way through.  The one time we did manage to circumvent this was when they came on to us as Skrtel and Reina tried to play it out from the back.  Pepe looked to have given it away completely but Lucas was able to come out with it.  As we went ever forward though, instead of the speed of the move picking up it slowed right down and they were able to pull players back into position to which the move very quickly broke down.

Just as it looked as if the imagination had gone out of our play completely, there was a flicker.  Stewart Downing had the ball on the left hand side and played it inside for Joe Cole who let it go through his legs.  Sterling came on to it and hit the ball with the side of his foot first time to force Jaaskelainen into a save.  Downing would have another chance for an assist moments later when he crossed in for Jonjo Shelvey who headed the ball just wide.  West Ham may have seemed the more threatening side - especially on the counter - but with there only being one goal in the game it still hung in the balance.  The problem was that there was no obvious direction that anyone could point to and say that they were likely to do it for us.  Scoring wasn't even our immediate problem for that we needed to stop the stranglehold that they had in the middle of the park.  A substitution for either side in the space of a few minutes changed all that.

The first change was made by Brendan Rodgers, with Lucas being replaced by Jordan Henderson.  Adding his tenacity to the midfield was one thing but what happened next would help us win the battle in that area even more.  Diame was running with the ball down the right hand side when he pulled up and reached for his hamstring immediately.  Unfortunately for both he and West Ham his game was over.  Injecting Henderson into the middle of the park was like adding a hyperactive person to a room full of insomniacs.  There was a moment where Skrtel lost the ball with a pass forward and in the blink of an eye Jordan had tracked the man twenty yards to close him down.  It was so much of a difference to the pedestrian way in which we'd approached the second half so far but we needed to make it count.  Enter Joe Cole of all people.

When Stewart Downing had the ball at the back, nothing really looked on.  His ball forward to Henderson then found it's way to Raheem Sterling on the left hand side.  He drifted in and played a one two with Jonjo Shelvey and two things made the goal.  The first was Sterling's pass which was first time and played to perfection while the second was Joe Cole's run in beyond to get onto the ball.  Cole was at an angle and it wasn't the most straightforward of finishes but he managed to put it into the far corner to level the game up out of seemingly nowhere.  Having found a goal we very quickly found our passing once more as West Ham were suddenly knocked by the idea of having to score again in a game they were so comfortable in.  Sterling and Shelvey very nearly linked up immediately after the goal and behind them Henderson was having an affect on Joe Allen who looked like he'd woken up and was now rushing in to win the ball also.  Even Martin Skrtel was winning his battle with Carlton Cole for a change.  The game had all but turned around completely.  It wouldn't take long for us to finish the job.

I'm not too concerned who go the final touch - although I would like to give credit to Jonjo Shelvey - it was a real sight to see us turning around a game which for so long had appeared completely lost.  Once again the move that led to it was one of real quality also.  First Gerrard came out with it on the left hand side and passed it off to Sterling and then Downing who cut inside.  From one side to the other it eventually came to Glen Johnson on the right wing who slid a ball through to Jordan Henderson unmarked on the edge of the penalty area.  The cross was good and even if Jonjo didn't get a touch, it was a marvellous flick over the head of Jaaskelainen that saw the ball bounce into the net and reclaim the lead for us once more.

After the third, West Ham looked down and out - more so than we had at any other point in the half.  Joe Allen was bursting forward and looking dangerous on the break and nearly played in Raheem Sterling before moments later Downing was allowed the same space to approach their penalty area before he laid it off to Joe Cole who gave himself half a yard before shooting well over.  When we weren't creating chances the ball was being passed around at the back with a great deal of ease.  They were now leaving gaps and if a team was likely to score it would be ourselves rather than our hosts.  Gerrard had two chances to cross, the first blocked before holding it up a second time and giving it to Glen Johnson.  He then jinked inside and looked to be creating a chance for himself before eventually the ball came to Downing whose shot was blocked.  If Downing had scored, that would have summed up just how much of a strange game this was.

Sebastian Coates came on for Joe Allen with just under five minutes to go as Brendan Rodgers looked to tighten things up at the back and prepare for the aerial bombardment that was coming.  If anything, so much so had we taken them by surprise that they appeared to forget all the things they'd done well in the game prior to our second and we were able to clear with relative ease.  Coates head, Reina's fists and Downing's boot.  At the other end Jonjo Shelvey looked to put Raheem Sterling in one on one with the goalkeeper but appeared to have put too much on the pass as Jaaskelainen just about got there ahead of him.  Then came a soft free kick won by Carlton Cole on the edge oft the penalty area which Modibo Maiga wildly put into the stand, wasting what was West Ham's last real chance of the game.

Into injury time and there was still time for the referee to make a questionable decision against us.  Shelvey controlled a free kick with his chest and then turned into the penalty area.  He was probably being fouled as he turned but when he was through on goal and taken out there would surely be no other recourse than a Liverpool penalty to wrap the game up completely.  Apparently not.  Raheem Sterling did manage to get the referee to blow in his favour shortly afterwards and then had a talking to Winston Reid which helped in our attempts to let the seconds tick by and for time to run out.  There were a couple of high hopeful balls launched in the direction of Pepe Reina but nothing at all to make him worry.  For the most part we had the ball in the final third and were keeping it in and around their penalty area.  When Jonjo Shelvey went down with cramp we ended up playing another minute of stoppage time than was required but there was nothing left of this game and full time was called.  The period after Jose Enrique went off up until our second goal was probably as bad as we've been all season but a win is still a win.  The run we're on now is a good one and with some winnable games coming up we really could be marching up the table.