Why Chelsea are not in it

As one of the many people skeptical about the return of Jose Mourinho to Chelsea, reason wound around the material that was at his disposal in his first stint, both what he found and brought in. There was no Didier Drogba, the pair Frank Lampard and John Terry of old. There has never been a question of The Special One’s tactics and proven by his track record. Neither would one doubt the squad he was inheriting at the time, but no one really thought The Blues would be the same, except the die hards.

Traditionally, Mourinho is a natural man-manager who believes in his wits and enjoys calculations and juicy controversy and soft propaganda. That has been the key to get water from rocks at times. With a certain set of players and the conducive environment, that worked wonders in that fruitful year at Chelsea and previously at Porto.

The same momentum and quality for his use saw him conquer Italy and Europe. It was however the gritty work ethic that spelt his unsavory moments in Real Madrid and that is exactly were my skepticism comes from. The Only One got blessed with an array of talent that could be divided into departments to perform a winning act, but he always chose to be a work in a way Sepp Blatter described Cristiano Ronaldo – a commander-in-chief.  That is how coaches work but here is the problem.  

In an environment littered with an array of talent, not all artists are workaholic. While few may try to please their master, it is not everybody who is capable, exactly the reason Chelsea sold Juan Mata to United. He was accused of not working for the team and at this rate, Edin Hazard is getting praises for fighting for each and every ball. If he can cope with the workload, he will be a greater player, but this may end his promising career.

The reason Mourinho was not as successful in Madrid as expected, is exactly the willingness of sacrificing the careers for the Special One. He felt betrayed and the relationships soured. Usually, Jose manages such cases but there is a limit of how far he can go and that is determined by how much he is allowed in the personal spheres of the individuals.

At this moment in time, Chelsea plays with good tactical discipline associated with his previous team, showing a consistent management style. Their solid defensive work coupled with grit to grind out results and points is borne out of the desire to earn the hard to get complement from the man considered the best in the game right now. How much this will continue will be determined with how much they get out of this campaign.

As it is, they play like a team that has hit the ceiling but still pushing. That is what you do not want in a team halfway through a grueling season. It would not matter with five or so matches left. Chelsea will accumulate many good wins and points but are far from being the best. This was strangely recognized and admitted by the manager himself who confessed that they are just good enough for Champions’ League spot. He said this in his prayers for Manchester City to beat Tottenham Hotspur, and not for his victory over West Ham United. His prayers were answered word for word and all they have left is a battle with Liverpool, Spurs and Manchester United, if the Red Devils themselves enter a revival mode.

Within his revered tactics, Mourinho should find it in himself to be flexible enough to work around his material and acquire certain specialist to suit his taste. At the moment, his situation is dire and nobody can pick out who is suitable for what he intends, neither is it possible to see if what he intends is achievable. It is a game of football after all and the goals count. Demba Ba, Samuel Eto’o and Fernando Torres are scorers of note and neither has been utilized to their potential. If it continues like this, despite the personal friendship, Roman Abrahimovic‘s patience will be tested, not now but soon.

Interesting tranfers so far.

The scuffle between Manchester City's black and white Italians during the week may overshadow some funny transfer news. One can write a book by Roberto Mancini and Mario Ballotelli. Why always them? Let's talk about Robin van Persie, Demba Ba, Daniel Sturridge.

Ba is a top-class striker and Chelsea a world-class team. Not just because they are European champions or that they have been to the Fifa Club World Club. These two's marriage is not my favourite. Ba is a clinical finisher and the cleaner the supply, the deadlier the man.

Like Fernando Torres, when the river runs dry, that form deserts him badly, and The Blues replicated the deal that cost them a lot of money when signing Torres, but I hope they get different results. The tall former Newcastle United hit man is well suited to play for Manchester United, who play to deliver opportunities for attackers on a silver platter.

By saying that, Robin van Persie would thrive at Chelsea as he can toil for the ball, create opportunities for himself and other much better that both Torres and Ba. It is harder to understand The Blues let Daniel Sturridge to The Reds exactly for the same reason.

Sturridge was denied opportunities at Chelsea when he looked set to realise his potential. He may actual come of age alongside Suarez and Sterling. All this points to what may be bad business by Chelsea but if I am wrong, I hope I am because I am a big Ba fan, then they may reap good rewards.

To try and prove a point both Chelsea and Ba performed exceptionally well in thumping The Saint 5-1. Southampton played well as usual, until the sucker punch from The Blues. Ba did not star but the two goals began to draw comparisons between him and Torres. What the two need is know they can work together.

As for Rafa the gaffer, he has to let them play alongside and leave them to partake in offensive duties. Chelsea can play any team with just nine players.

Transfer deadline; Liverpool the biggest scorers

Thank God, all the speculations of transfer deals and all have been concluded. It is time to talk football once more. Without any doubt, the big news for many, is Fernando Torres joining Chelsea. Striker Torres cost £50million from Liverpool.

This is a huge figure for anyone, but for billionaire, Roman Abrahimovic, it is worth what he believes in. I personally think that while the transfer is a record fee between British clubs, the tag is on the wrong product. Torres is a faded top striker, maybe not because of his making. This opinion is solely based on his record; what he was and what he has been of late.

While his contribution to Liverpool has been very insignificant, it was the best in the team. Hopefully, Chelsea are praying for that new broom status that Torres brought to the English game when he joined Liverpool a few seasons back. Carlo Ancelotti will have to see who warms the bench among Didier Drgba, Salomon Kalou, Flourent Malouda and Nicolas Anelka.

Chelsea also paid Benfica for defender Luiz a cool £25million. This is a necessary cover for the erratic and injury prone pair of Alex and John Terry. Chelsea will be hoping for a change of fortunes and any lack of immediate revival signs will see the technical department heads roll for sure.

Among a long list of completed tranfers, Liverpool got Uruguayan, Luis Suarez, a cunning striker of note and fine finisher, from Ajax Amsterdam. Liverpool's biggest coup is that of striker Andy Carroll from Newcastle United. This is were they scored big time. Carrol is in terrific form and has been scoring goals for Newcastle and earned himself an English cap recently. For half the price of Torres, it doesn't take Albert Einstein to do the maths.

Both deals are five-and-a half-year long and by any measure, getting in-form Suarez and Carrol for the price of off-form Torres, the happiest manager today is Kenny Dalglish. Liverpool are showing they want to reclaim their position as a top 4 club. That has even been made easier for them by Tottenham Hotspur who failed to secure top central defenders and a striker. It may be time Spurs kissed their fairy tale flirt with the top 4 goodbye.

Wayne Rooney, The Money, Torres and Man U. Lack of Success and Liverpool.

Football trends get twistier and trickier as legal, labour and money issues get Incorporated into the field, and then when the politicians get their nose in there, FIFA shout foul. Talking of money and FIFA, a Nigerian member and another colleague are under fire for saying they will sell votes to World Cup bidding nations. While it is necessary for FIFA to do something about this, I think someone is either lying or it was a bad joke.

You will remember the European labour rules that turned one unknown player to a hero about a decade earlier in a case that brought about the now famous Bosnian rule. Not so long back, another player, Andy Webster had issues with his move to Stoke City which eventual brought about the Webster ruling. This allows players to buy out the last year of their contracts for the price of their wages plus a nominal compensation fee. Barring wage demands, this makes Wayne Rooney basically affordable to anyone in football, including South Africa. Mamelodi Sundowns can afford him.

That said, Manchester United are not that stupid to wait for that to happen, hence that officialises him in the market. It will be a case of who is bidding. Eurosport reminds us that Rooney signed his current in November 2006, meaning that he has served more than the minimum three-year 'protected period' during which United could have blocked a deal. Mr Manchester United refused a £150,000 a week contract. If you think that is cool money, you are right because you don't have that in your bank balance. Manchester City will pay him £500 000 per week if they get their way. So, Rooney is not a squirrel to thrive on nuts, or indeed peanuts from Man U.

Sir Alex Ferguson makes business sense in any case. The under productive Rooney may not be worth an extra penny. The little they were trying to entice him with may as well go to another unproductive Spanish striker called Fernando Torres. To me, it will be charity work to save Liverpool from their financial troubles, not that Man U are good themselves, but in this world we share. So, Sir Alex will sure make a £50 million bid to bring the injury-prone Spaniard to United.

Liverpool's form has been very bad and one thing they need to do is give Torres a break. He needs to shake off the bad world cup tag and get his form back. Of course he has injury worries to deal with but then, that name alone is worth the money if you ever loved the man. If anyone lost Rooney, very few would sound worthy replacements and Sir Alex is not far off the mark in marketing terms. As for pound for pound player, Man U were better off doing a deal with Real Madrid and get Karim Benzema. Sir Alex likes him and has tried him before. The deal here will be to get Rooney to Chelsea and then Didier Drogba to Jose Mourinho. Drogba is no more enjoying his Chelsea stay and The Special one has a special relationship with the Ivorian. That is far fetched, but the only way Rooney will not play for City.

As for The Reds, they expressed interest in a £6m move for Alexander Kerzhakov, a Russian striker. They will need the free scoring St Petersburg scorer to lift themselves up from the relegation zone, but first things first. Roy Hodgson must put his balls in the vise and leave his mentally fragile and tactically weary senior players for the untested rookies to pull out one result and then Liverpool will be on their way up. Otherwise, they will be fighting losing battles, week in and week out.

Would Wayne Rooney fit the Arsenal set-up if they could afford his wages because he comes so cheap? Or he could team up with Torres for the Gunners for a partnership. Tell us.  

Manchester U Beats Liverpool as Chelsea Continues Being Ruthless.

[caption id="attachment_2026" align="alignright" width="377" caption="Pic form Eurosport."][/caption]

 

Manchester United  pulled one from the bag to pocket 3 points against a better Liverpool side that was nonetheless shocking in their defending. The Reds shaky start was characterised by the static defence that seemed to be perplexed by crosses on countless occasions. Manchester won 3-2, Berbetov scoring all three for United.

Dimitri Berbetov was superb as evidenced by his excellent acrobatic goal that was donated by Pepe Reina, Liverpool goalkeeper. Berbetov proved to be a powerful and strong target man who United will need to chase the champions. The class of the Bulgarian was always a media concern when the expectations were misplaced on his goalscoring abilities. This eventually weighed on the man until he decided to stop caring and now he is proving the point.

Pepe was generally poor as he was flat-footed more than once and was deep rootedly planted when admiring the acrobats and flight of the Berbetov lob. It was the same story with the form of off-form Fernando Torres. I never had doubts about his scoring ability but I have always waited for him to prove he is not over-rated. This match did not help his cause in that regard as he toiled all day without producing much except for winning the penalty.  

The cool-headed Steven Gerrard did well to convert the penalty and free-kicks to give Liverpool hope to collect a point. The Red Devils were on over-drive as Nani crushed the crossbar in the first half. Wayne Rooney was anonymous, taking all the defenders' attention and leaving room for Berbetov to shine with a hat-trick.

Chelsea were ruthlessly rampant as usual, routing Blackpool with 4 first half goals coming from double scorer, Flourent Malouda as well as Salmon Kalou. Super Didier Drogba was in sublime form as he provided assists and unselfishly fed his wasteful teammates. He lost his touch from working in overdrive for 90 minutes as he wasted a few glorious chances he usually converts with his eyes closed.

Blackpool for their part, not conceding in the second half was a very notable achievement that they have to build on. They were a wasteful lot and had glorious chances they fluffed. At least they have something to build on.

Manchester City came to the party with Carlos Tevez turning on the music. An average dink over the goalkeeper was a superb opening goal of the class we know Tevez can be. Wigan were never going to match City who came from a good mid-week Europa win.

Arsenal were helpless yesterday huffing and puffing and finally surrendering the lead to Sunderland. Cesc Fabregas put the Gunners ahead with a very lucky goal. Ferdinand's attempted clearance hit Fabregas so hard and went over Ferdinand's head. flying over 40 yards lobbing over the goalkeeper. Darren Bent had the last word in the last-minute with an equaliser with the last kick of the match.

The match of the week, was, of course, Tottenham Hotspurs who overcame a stubborn Wolverhampton. Wolves were almost running away with the match with 15 minutes to go, when Spurs decide to put things to order. A three goal salvo was enough to silence Harry Redknapp's critics, at least for now. The doubting Thomases will find it hard to accept the ascendance of Spurs, which is very slow but very much alive. The nay-sayers already compare Spurs to the top four teams. They are not yet in that league, but they are surely on the right track.

Manchester U Beats Liverpool as Chelsea Continues Being Ruthless.

[caption id="attachment_2026" align="alignright" width="377" caption="Pic form Eurosport."][/caption]

 

Manchester United  pulled one from the bag to pocket 3 points against a better Liverpool side that was nonetheless shocking in their defending. The Reds shaky start was characterised by the static defence that seemed to be perplexed by crosses on countless occasions. Manchester won 3-2, Berbetov scoring all three for United.

Dimitri Berbetov was superb as evidenced by his excellent acrobatic goal that was donated by Pepe Reina, Liverpool goalkeeper. Berbetov proved to be a powerful and strong target man who United will need to chase the champions. The class of the Bulgarian was always a media concern when the expectations were misplaced on his goalscoring abilities. This eventually weighed on the man until he decided to stop caring and now he is proving the point.

Pepe was generally poor as he was flat-footed more than once and was deep rootedly planted when admiring the acrobats and flight of the Berbetov lob. It was the same story with the form of off-form Fernando Torres. I never had doubts about his scoring ability but I have always waited for him to prove he is not over-rated. This match did not help his cause in that regard as he toiled all day without producing much except for winning the penalty.  

The cool-headed Steven Gerrard did well to convert the penalty and free-kicks to give Liverpool hope to collect a point. The Red Devils were on over-drive as Nani crushed the crossbar in the first half. Wayne Rooney was anonymous, taking all the defenders' attention and leaving room for Berbetov to shine with a hat-trick.

Chelsea were ruthlessly rampant as usual, routing Blackpool with 4 first half goals coming from double scorer, Flourent Malouda as well as Salmon Kalou. Super Didier Drogba was in sublime form as he provided assists and unselfishly fed his wasteful teammates. He lost his touch from working in overdrive for 90 minutes as he wasted a few glorious chances he usually converts with his eyes closed.

Blackpool for their part, not conceding in the second half was a very notable achievement that they have to build on. They were a wasteful lot and had glorious chances they fluffed. At least they have something to build on.

Manchester City came to the party with Carlos Tevez turning on the music. An average dink over the goalkeeper was a superb opening goal of the class we know Tevez can be. Wigan were never going to match City who came from a good mid-week Europa win.

Arsenal were helpless yesterday huffing and puffing and finally surrendering the lead to Sunderland. Cesc Fabregas put the Gunners ahead with a very lucky goal. Ferdinand's attempted clearance hit Fabregas so hard and went over Ferdinand's head. flying over 40 yards lobbing over the goalkeeper. Darren Bent had the last word in the last-minute with an equaliser with the last kick of the match.

The match of the week, was, of course, Tottenham Hotspurs who overcame a stubborn Wolverhampton. Wolves were almost running away with the match with 15 minutes to go, when Spurs decide to put things to order. A three goal salvo was enough to silence Harry Redknapp's critics, at least for now. The doubting Thomases will find it hard to accept the ascendance of Spurs, which is very slow but very much alive. The nay-sayers already compare Spurs to the top four teams. They are not yet in that league, but they are surely on the right track.

Manchester U Beats Liverpool as Chelsea Continues Being Ruthless.

[caption id="attachment_2026" align="alignright" width="377" caption="Pic form Eurosport."][/caption]

 

Manchester United  pulled one from the bag to pocket 3 points against a better Liverpool side that was nonetheless shocking in their defending. The Reds shaky start was characterised by the static defence that seemed to be perplexed by crosses on countless occasions. Manchester won 3-2, Berbetov scoring all three for United.

Dimitri Berbetov was superb as evidenced by his excellent acrobatic goal that was donated by Pepe Reina, Liverpool goalkeeper. Berbetov proved to be a powerful and strong target man who United will need to chase the champions. The class of the Bulgarian was always a media concern when the expectations were misplaced on his goalscoring abilities. This eventually weighed on the man until he decided to stop caring and now he is proving the point.

Pepe was generally poor as he was flat-footed more than once and was deep rootedly planted when admiring the acrobats and flight of the Berbetov lob. It was the same story with the form of off-form Fernando Torres. I never had doubts about his scoring ability but I have always waited for him to prove he is not over-rated. This match did not help his cause in that regard as he toiled all day without producing much except for winning the penalty.  

The cool-headed Steven Gerrard did well to convert the penalty and free-kicks to give Liverpool hope to collect a point. The Red Devils were on over-drive as Nani crushed the crossbar in the first half. Wayne Rooney was anonymous, taking all the defenders' attention and leaving room for Berbetov to shine with a hat-trick.

Chelsea were ruthlessly rampant as usual, routing Blackpool with 4 first half goals coming from double scorer, Flourent Malouda as well as Salmon Kalou. Super Didier Drogba was in sublime form as he provided assists and unselfishly fed his wasteful teammates. He lost his touch from working in overdrive for 90 minutes as he wasted a few glorious chances he usually converts with his eyes closed.

Blackpool for their part, not conceding in the second half was a very notable achievement that they have to build on. They were a wasteful lot and had glorious chances they fluffed. At least they have something to build on.

Manchester City came to the party with Carlos Tevez turning on the music. An average dink over the goalkeeper was a superb opening goal of the class we know Tevez can be. Wigan were never going to match City who came from a good mid-week Europa win.

Arsenal were helpless yesterday huffing and puffing and finally surrendering the lead to Sunderland. Cesc Fabregas put the Gunners ahead with a very lucky goal. Ferdinand's attempted clearance hit Fabregas so hard and went over Ferdinand's head. flying over 40 yards lobbing over the goalkeeper. Darren Bent had the last word in the last-minute with an equaliser with the last kick of the match.

The match of the week, was, of course, Tottenham Hotspurs who overcame a stubborn Wolverhampton. Wolves were almost running away with the match with 15 minutes to go, when Spurs decide to put things to order. A three goal salvo was enough to silence Harry Redknapp's critics, at least for now. The doubting Thomases will find it hard to accept the ascendance of Spurs, which is very slow but very much alive. The nay-sayers already compare Spurs to the top four teams. They are not yet in that league, but they are surely on the right track.

Manchester U Beats Liverpool as Chelsea Continues Being Ruthless.

[caption id="attachment_2026" align="alignright" width="377" caption="Pic form Eurosport."][/caption]

 

Manchester United  pulled one from the bag to pocket 3 points against a better Liverpool side that was nonetheless shocking in their defending. The Reds shaky start was characterised by the static defence that seemed to be perplexed by crosses on countless occasions. Manchester won 3-2, Berbetov scoring all three for United.

Dimitri Berbetov was superb as evidenced by his excellent acrobatic goal that was donated by Pepe Reina, Liverpool goalkeeper. Berbetov proved to be a powerful and strong target man who United will need to chase the champions. The class of the Bulgarian was always a media concern when the expectations were misplaced on his goalscoring abilities. This eventually weighed on the man until he decided to stop caring and now he is proving the point.

Pepe was generally poor as he was flat-footed more than once and was deep rootedly planted when admiring the acrobats and flight of the Berbetov lob. It was the same story with the form of off-form Fernando Torres. I never had doubts about his scoring ability but I have always waited for him to prove he is not over-rated. This match did not help his cause in that regard as he toiled all day without producing much except for winning the penalty.  

The cool-headed Steven Gerrard did well to convert the penalty and free-kicks to give Liverpool hope to collect a point. The Red Devils were on over-drive as Nani crushed the crossbar in the first half. Wayne Rooney was anonymous, taking all the defenders' attention and leaving room for Berbetov to shine with a hat-trick.

Chelsea were ruthlessly rampant as usual, routing Blackpool with 4 first half goals coming from double scorer, Flourent Malouda as well as Salmon Kalou. Super Didier Drogba was in sublime form as he provided assists and unselfishly fed his wasteful teammates. He lost his touch from working in overdrive for 90 minutes as he wasted a few glorious chances he usually converts with his eyes closed.

Blackpool for their part, not conceding in the second half was a very notable achievement that they have to build on. They were a wasteful lot and had glorious chances they fluffed. At least they have something to build on.

Manchester City came to the party with Carlos Tevez turning on the music. An average dink over the goalkeeper was a superb opening goal of the class we know Tevez can be. Wigan were never going to match City who came from a good mid-week Europa win.

Arsenal were helpless yesterday huffing and puffing and finally surrendering the lead to Sunderland. Cesc Fabregas put the Gunners ahead with a very lucky goal. Ferdinand's attempted clearance hit Fabregas so hard and went over Ferdinand's head. flying over 40 yards lobbing over the goalkeeper. Darren Bent had the last word in the last-minute with an equaliser with the last kick of the match.

The match of the week, was, of course, Tottenham Hotspurs who overcame a stubborn Wolverhampton. Wolves were almost running away with the match with 15 minutes to go, when Spurs decide to put things to order. A three goal salvo was enough to silence Harry Redknapp's critics, at least for now. The doubting Thomases will find it hard to accept the ascendance of Spurs, which is very slow but very much alive. The nay-sayers already compare Spurs to the top four teams. They are not yet in that league, but they are surely on the right track.

Liverpool Lose The Plot, For Now At Least.

Liverpool had no midfield functionality at all, drawing 0-0 with Birmingham City. They depended heavily on the well organised defence, Skrtel organising the troops well, for which Roy Hodgson will be grateful. From the anchor position, there was no plan to construct any meaningful attacks.

Glen Johnson was involved in some creativity going forward. Steven Gerrard lacked positive support from fellow linkmen and his passes found Fernando Torres already mobbed by Birmingham defenders. Torres toiled all day without much success, getting access once in a while to strike at goal and the goalie was on his toes to thwart him.

I should be fair to say Liverpool were undone by the poor officiating as they deserved 2 clear penalties in the first half, for a bad tackle from behind on Torres and a handball by a defender. Former Leeds striker, Lee Bowyer, played a solid defensive role to cancel any last-minute raids that Liverpool tried to launch.

There was not even a promising midfield job of quality. Rather, Birmingham retained better possession and with intermittent build ups that goalkeeper Pepe Reina did well to shut out. The biggest beneficiary of the match was Ben Forster who got free cross training session from The Reds. As for Liverpool, it is hard to say where their goals will come from.

What do Liverpool need to be a top four team again? (Pic by eurosport)

Liverpool Lose The Plot, For Now At Least.

Liverpool had no midfield functionality at all, drawing 0-0 with Birmingham City. They depended heavily on the well organised defence, Skrtel organising the troops well, for which Roy Hodgson will be grateful. From the anchor position, there was no plan to construct any meaningful attacks.

Glen Johnson was involved in some creativity going forward. Steven Gerrard lacked positive support from fellow linkmen and his passes found Fernando Torres already mobbed by Birmingham defenders. Torres toiled all day without much success, getting access once in a while to strike at goal and the goalie was on his toes to thwart him.

I should be fair to say Liverpool were undone by the poor officiating as they deserved 2 clear penalties in the first half, for a bad tackle from behind on Torres and a handball by a defender. Former Leeds striker, Lee Bowyer, played a solid defensive role to cancel any last-minute raids that Liverpool tried to launch.

There was not even a promising midfield job of quality. Rather, Birmingham retained better possession and with intermittent build ups that goalkeeper Pepe Reina did well to shut out. The biggest beneficiary of the match was Ben Forster who got free cross training session from The Reds. As for Liverpool, it is hard to say where their goals will come from.

What do Liverpool need to be a top four team again? (Pic by eurosport)

Liverpool Lose The Plot, For Now At Least.

Liverpool had no midfield functionality at all, drawing 0-0 with Birmingham City. They depended heavily on the well organised defence, Skrtel organising the troops well, for which Roy Hodgson will be grateful. From the anchor position, there was no plan to construct any meaningful attacks.

Glen Johnson was involved in some creativity going forward. Steven Gerrard lacked positive support from fellow linkmen and his passes found Fernando Torres already mobbed by Birmingham defenders. Torres toiled all day without much success, getting access once in a while to strike at goal and the goalie was on his toes to thwart him.

I should be fair to say Liverpool were undone by the poor officiating as they deserved 2 clear penalties in the first half, for a bad tackle from behind on Torres and a handball by a defender. Former Leeds striker, Lee Bowyer, played a solid defensive role to cancel any last-minute raids that Liverpool tried to launch.

There was not even a promising midfield job of quality. Rather, Birmingham retained better possession and with intermittent build ups that goalkeeper Pepe Reina did well to shut out. The biggest beneficiary of the match was Ben Forster who got free cross training session from The Reds. As for Liverpool, it is hard to say where their goals will come from.

What do Liverpool need to be a top four team again? (Pic by eurosport)

Liverpool Lose The Plot, For Now At Least.

Liverpool had no midfield functionality at all, drawing 0-0 with Birmingham City. They depended heavily on the well organised defence, Skrtel organising the troops well, for which Roy Hodgson will be grateful. From the anchor position, there was no plan to construct any meaningful attacks.

Glen Johnson was involved in some creativity going forward. Steven Gerrard lacked positive support from fellow linkmen and his passes found Fernando Torres already mobbed by Birmingham defenders. Torres toiled all day without much success, getting access once in a while to strike at goal and the goalie was on his toes to thwart him.

I should be fair to say Liverpool were undone by the poor officiating as they deserved 2 clear penalties in the first half, for a bad tackle from behind on Torres and a handball by a defender. Former Leeds striker, Lee Bowyer, played a solid defensive role to cancel any last-minute raids that Liverpool tried to launch.

There was not even a promising midfield job of quality. Rather, Birmingham retained better possession and with intermittent build ups that goalkeeper Pepe Reina did well to shut out. The biggest beneficiary of the match was Ben Forster who got free cross training session from The Reds. As for Liverpool, it is hard to say where their goals will come from.

What do Liverpool need to be a top four team again? (Pic by eurosport)