Liverpool 0 Wolves 1
- Ward 56
This was a terrible home loss for Liverpool in a poor match of few real chances. Although a rusty Liverpool after a long lay-off due to the weather had as many chances as Wolves, which wasn’t many, it was Wolves, who started the match on the bottom of the table, that put one of theirs away to get the goal which was just enough to seal all 3 points. Its yet another low point for Liverpool this season and for Roy Hodgson.
Hodgson decided on a very questionable 4-4-2 formation with unusual positional selections. Kuyt was unusually on the left, Meireles was on the right and Gerrard in a deep role. N’Gog got a start in an attempt to make space for Torres:
—————– Reina ——————–
Johnson – Skrtel – Kyrgiakos – Konchesky
—— Gerrard ——— Lucas ———-
Meireles —————————- Kuyt
———— Torres —— N’Gog ———-
Subs: Babel for N’Gog (63), Cole for Meireles (73), Aurelio for Konchesky (74)
Although some of the players were played in ineffective positions, the team in its collective should have had the wherewithal to beat this Wolves team who offered precious little, apart from resilience and determination and a reasonable defensive set-up. But the level of rustiness of the Liverpool players was palpable, clearly too much “rest” during this cold spell of snow and ice took a lot from the players match sharpness. This rustiness malaise effected all players, from Gerrard to Kuyt to Torres. Gerrard had a bit more of an excuse as he was coming back from a 6-week injury respite.
The 1st half was poor fair, with only one reasonable chance falling to Liverpool. Torres took a quick free-kick into space for Meireles but from this great chance he shot tamely and straight at their keeper. Its missed chances like this which are typifying Liverpool’s poor season. Wolves didn’t do much but held their own, although Reina was not threatened at all.
Gerrard was trying to get Liverpool going but being in a deep position he cant carry all of this team on his own. Torres was out of sorts and not effective, but Kuyt was woeful and has no left foot. Why he wasn’t on the right, his usual position, is only a question that Hodgson knows the answer.
Early in the 2nd half a chance for Liverpool as Johnson did some good work when he pulled back a cross only for N’Gog to harmlessly hook it wide from all of 6 yards. Yet another missed chance that should have been scored. A more clinical team would have been 2-0 up at that stage. Wolves were quiet, having had a few long range attempts but no more than that.
Liverpool would rue their missed chances soon after when early in the 2nd half Wolves got their goal. It didn’t help Liverpool that we were complicit in its making when a through ball confused both Skrtel and Kyrgiakos allowing Ward to race onto it and beat an advancing Reina with a low poke. Perhaps an unlikely goal and not one wholly deserved by Wolves, but once again typical of this season for Liverpool.
Babel was sent on, as was the publicly maligned Cole, but Liverpool’s huffing and puffing came to little as the team ran out of steam and effort and Wolves defended with resilience. It was a game that neither the fans nor the players were enjoying. Indeed, it was Wolves who nearly made it 0-2 only for Johnson’s last-second block. Then near the death, Liverpool did get the ball into the net from a Skrtel header meeting a Gerrard cross, but it was rightly disallowed for offside. The game ended and the booing rang out, but its hard to criticize fellow fans when we lose at home to the bottom team. The tally read Liverpool’s 9 attempts to Wolves 7 attempts in what can only be described as a very poor match.
So Liverpool end 2010 on another low note, allowing Wolves to do a “smash-and-grab” and for Liverpool to put in a yet another poor performance. It certainly didn’t help that Liverpool were forced into a rest for so many days with the postponement of matches due to the weather, resulting in all players being rusty. And Liverpool were out of action more than other teams and more than Wolves. But to add to that background was the poor formation/selection by Hodgson as outlined. That certainly didn’t help. And then when Liverpool created some chances they missed them.
This result puts Liverpool in trouble, deeper trouble, as we are now closer to the relegation zone than to 4th. Our team and club shouldn’t be in a position where we are looking at the bottom of the table rather than the top. That is an insult to our intelligence. This club has had the spend to be way above that, surely. Now the task must be to ensure we get into Europe next season, the top-6 or 7. Lets forget 4th for now, not completely forget it of course, but we are now in an emergency situation.
Its still early days in Hodgson’s tenure at Liverpool FC, and usually we give managers a lot of time to bed in, to shape the team in their way, to make tactical and strategic decisions, to bring in new players that they have selected, and to change the club’s position for the better. But with results like this, surely what Hodgson has done has been poor.
If this was going to a vote among the fans in January, I couldn’t see myself voting to retain him. For me, he just doesn’t seem to have the necessary guile, that we need.
Lets hope 2011 brings better times to Liverpool FC,
Redspider
