A hiccup, rather than a setback?

SO, Liverpool FC lost against Southampton; and not in a good way.

There was no real honour or nobility in it. No domination in terms of chances created. No bad luck. No excuses this time.

The result reflected the performance; looking behind the result does not provide any comfort, as it has done on other occasions. In some ways it makes it hurt even more, but conversely it also makes it easier to accept.

We were not good enough on the given day.

It looked to me as if complacency struck again, as it did against Aston Villa – the last time we thought we were going somewhere and dared utter the word ‘consistency’. The team had a whole week to prepare – tactically and physically – but it did us no good. Much has been said and moaned about the inclusion and performance of Joe Allen, and in this time of scapegoating and finger pointing he was an easy target.

I don’t agree with that. Sure, he did not play well, but neither did anyone else. Not up to the required and usual standard anyway. Some were less poor than others, but this was a setback because of the collective of individuals – not individuals, per se.

What I do agree with is that Rodgers got the composition of the midfield wrong this time. The combination of Gerrard and Allen in there was not a good one. I was sceptical when I saw the lineup – as I guess many others were – and as it turned out there was good reason for being so. The defence never got the protection it needed, and even though our back four did not exactly cover themselves in glory they had a much tougher job than they should have had.

In hindsight we can easily say Rodgers should have gone with three in midfield, as would have been sensible with Lucas not being deemed fully fit. Jordan Henderson in there along with Allen and Gerrard would have made us much more solid, and I was surprised by how long it took Rodgers to do something about it.
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We have seen examples earlier this season of his ability to read the game from the bench and make necessary and proactive changes when things don’t go according to plan, and because of this I was expecting him to switch to three in midfield much earlier than he did. The introduction of Lucas at half time was not surprising, but even though it patched things up a bit we never found the proper balance this time.

The most frustrating bit for me is not so much the loss itself. I expected a draw against Southampton or Aston Villa – maybe even against both. The frustration comes from the confirmation of what I already knew, which is that we are not ready to be a top team yet.

There really is only one thing to do after a loss like this: Learn and move on. The players must learn and the manager must learn. And they must make sure this game is forgotten and confidence is restored the next time they put on the Liverpool shirt.

Rodgers is a keen student of the game, so I have no doubt he will analyse the game over and over to see what exactly went wrong. But the real challenge is to get the negative experience out of the players’ heads and make them see it as a hiccup, rather than a setback.
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