Where do I start with this game? First, Sunderland was again outstanding as I thought they were in their last game against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Granted Darren Bent’s game winning goal was subject to a bit of controversial situation with the beach ball assist, it must be said that Sunderland played better than Liverpool and on the day the former, seemed like the top four team while Liverpool looked like a mid-table team.
There was so much build up to this game particularly being labeled as the marque game of the weekend primarily because of the Sunderland’s performances lately and Liverpool’s lack thereof. The news even got better for Sunderland as it was reported Liverpool would be without their ‘blood streams’ of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard due to injuries.
And just as everyone including myself have alluded to, Liverpool is absolutely disjointed without Gerrard and Torres. Simply put, Liverpool are a two-man team. But I’ll take this a little further and say that even with those two in the side, Liverpool has been out of shape and poor this season.
Frankly in their last two games, including the loss to Chelsea, I wonder why exactly pundits have tipped Liverpool as winning the Premier league this season. Their defensive frailties is absolutely shocking for a top four team. They have been nothing but average in the midfield and inconsistent going forward.
Yes, they had some jaw dropping score lines early on in the season (4-0 wins against Stoke and Burnley and a 6-1 win against Hull City) but even in those games Liverpool were average with Gerrard and Torres shining bright.
This Liverpool performance against Sunderland in one nil loss is symbolic of the team this season. No shape, no guts, no style, no known formations, no stand out plays (apart from Gerrard and Torres), no man of the match displays, no belief, no resilience.
Until Rafa Benitez comes up with a new formation with the current players he has with new style of play without Gerrard and Torres at the center of it (there must be something he sees in them) or until he acquires new players while selling some of the ones he has, I’m afraid Liverpool can kiss their top-four placement goodbye, Uefa cup here they come!
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