Welcome back Liverpool – where have you been?
If you had offered Liverpool fans any position in the Premier League table after five games, then undeniably the vast majority would have chosen the one they currently occupy: first. The manner in which they assumed top-spot today meant it was a hollow achievement.
Looking at the fixture list at the start of the season, if there was one home game the most honest Reds fan would have admitted that the team might lose it would have been the one against Manchester United. By the same token, if there was one game they marked as a guaranteed three points it would have been at home to Stoke.
Having beaten United last weekend, all the talk this week had been of Liverpool finally overcoming the inconsistency of previous seasons to be able to mount a serious challenge for the Premier League title. Perhaps what followed today was inevitable.
It was back to the Liverpool of old as they were unable to break Stoke down. For all their domination, Liverpool were unable to find the net, and dominating games does not earn the points to win titles – only scoring goals and winning matches does that.
Rafa Benitez’s critics will point to the Liverpool manager’s rotation system and question why he felt the need to make three changes to a side that had beaten the champions just seven days ago. But when you consider that two of the returning players were Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, it should not have been a reason for their failure to beat Stoke.
The Potters have indicated from their matches in the fledgling season that they are not Derby County Version 2.0, as many pundits had predicted. They will not be bullied and overrun as Derby were and have given a good account of themselves so far. Last weekend they gave Liverpool’s neighbours Everton a run for their money. But this was away at the Britannia Stadium and the Toffees still emerged with three points.
It looks like a trip back to the drawing board for Liverpool. Two dropped points has not ended their title bid, but it has drawn a line under last week’s euphoria and shown how fragile their form can be.
Topics: English Premier League, Liverpool
Football News 24/7
i understand your critisism mate but thats a bit harsh when your top two strikers are of form and are not gelling in with each other…the goals are difficult to come.there was nothing wrong with rafa’s tactics,selection or anything done by him today.when a team put 11 men behind the ball and are so hard working it is difficult to penetrate.
i feel robbie keane wasnt a good buy.he would have been one if we did not have an aatcking midfielder like gerrard.if rafa had to buy a cover for torres there would have been a lot of other good clinical strikers around.
September 20th, 2008 @ 19:214-2-3-1 is the formation which can get the best out of torres,babel,gerrard,riera and even kuyt over a full season
and it would have been a totally different case had that gerrard goal not been disallowd.
September 20th, 2008 @ 19:22give liverpool a break they just drop 2 points and are undefeated yet. worry about your team (which i believe is man u), cos chelsea might just compound their problem tomorrow. early days to start going gaga over another team’s performance don’t u think. after all, there is no particular fixture that is a gauranteed 3 points for any team not even chelsea and arsenal- who by the way have already lost to fulham- u are only as good as u perform on the pitch on match day.
September 20th, 2008 @ 19:54Why was the goal disallowed?
September 20th, 2008 @ 21:17@ iqnadirshah i don’t know for me it was a good goal, replay did not convince otherwise either anyone with a better perspective?
September 20th, 2008 @ 22:34yea…agreed Keane hasn’t shown anything near his worth for Liverpool thus far. This game shows Pool are still far off from being a title challenger. Though my team United have had a bad start, they always do. Champions will find a way to win and Champions they are. GLORY, GLORY Man Utd!!!
September 20th, 2008 @ 22:44iqnadirshah,
September 20th, 2008 @ 23:10I think they said that it was offside but I didn’t understand why ’cause no one touched the ball and challenged the keeper…
Liverpool are not first after 5 games…..Arsenal has a point on them after their destruction of Bolton today.
September 20th, 2008 @ 23:34Its decisions like this one that cost teams the league. The only way I will get a wink of sleep within the next month is if we go to somewhere like Stamford bridge get terrorized and get 3 points for a bad decisions but now this is the final straw the refs in this league are awful.
EPL football is becoming meaningless, it is inevitable that Man City will dominate English football for the next 40 years so im going to start watching Spanish football. Of course I will still watch Liverpool but those Arabs have destroyed my love for English football. Well done!!
September 21st, 2008 @ 00:06Typical Liverpool beating United one week, drawing with stoke the next. Hopefully we can build from this and win the EPL before Man City ruin it forever. Id say we have about 2 years.
September 21st, 2008 @ 00:09Rememebrs the days when Man utd filled with superstars in their ranks played newly promoted teams such as Ipswich,Brimingham,Sunderland,Watford and drawing with them after 90 mins of attacking and attacking? Teams like these park the entire bus when they play top teams like how Stoke did against Liverpool. To them Anfield was a fortress and Liverpool were a team far far away in another galaxy and just by playing them is a dream come true so they dont care about winning they just go there put 11 men in their own box and enjoy the air of Anfield. We cant blame Liverpool as the season is young these crap teams only have the Epl to play while Liverpool had just returned from France after winning 2-1. Once The league cup and FA cup have commenced and Stoke has to squeeze the cup games in between Epl games you will then see the experience and gulf of the the teams. Lets see if Stoke have the luxury of playing out for a draw when they are desperate for points at the end of the season?
September 21st, 2008 @ 02:36It was just like an ant beat an elephant though…
September 21st, 2008 @ 05:26This is obviously an article by a Man U fan still smarting from last week’s defeat. Not even 10 games are over and we are already writing teams off…………..
September 21st, 2008 @ 05:34Don’t worry Liverool fan, everyone had thought that Abromovich had ruined the league a coule of seasons ago but we ut them in their place the same fate awaits the Arabs.Unless they buyout Utd no-one is gonna ruin football, it will always be business as usual.Utd ON TO!!!! Well done for last weekend by the way you guys played splendid fotball.
September 21st, 2008 @ 09:48stupit decission by the refree and why didint stoke bring in their family and fans to and defend in front of their gol pos.thath how cowards play……..
September 21st, 2008 @ 18:07This is what happens when big teams underestimate smaller teams.
Why the hell kuyt is always playing at the flanks when they have babel??
Why the hell keane together with torres when last yr torres scored goals for fun when he was a lone striker??
Why sub out riera out when he was playing so brilliantly and overshadowed gerard?
Why keep rotating the squad when you know who should be in the first team?
Why get so high when liverpool beat manchester united esp when Man utd could have beaten them flat in the first half?
God knows when will benitez wakes up his idea, god knows when liverpool ever challenge Man United for the title.
GLORY GLORY MAN UNITED
September 23rd, 2008 @ 06:06