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| Skrtel sees Red... |
One change to the Liverpool side saw Dirk Kuyt dropped and Andy Carroll chosen to start up front with Luis Suarez.
Harry Redknapp's side were keen to stamp their authority on the game early on and after a bout of possession their first goal came just after 6 minutes in. Reina was unable to do anything to prevent the strike from Modric, a fantastic goal taken from 25 yards out.
Liverpool were already way behind the pace and picked up a few problems in the first half. Charlie Adam found himself booked just after the 10 minute mark, Mike Jones the referee appeared to be pretty trigger happy though and was dishing out the cards like nobodies business. The Reds would feel the full force of the cautions later in the game.
The other down side for Liverpool was Daniel Agger having to leave the field, on a plus note Sebastian Coates was given his chance to shine but in a defence that was already looking shaky, it perhaps wasn't the best match for him to come on in.
Liverpool did manage to get the ball in the net first half after Suarez slotted home, the short celebrations though ended quickly, Suarez was called offside and the goal never stood. Some hope in the fact that we had broken through Tottenham's defence you would think would supply the Reds with a bit more oomph but no.
Charlie Adam was sent walking half hour in after a rash challenge on Scott Parker. Some are debating he was going for the ball but it was a bad tackle in my opinion, his first yellow card for me was harsh but the second was a booking for sure.
Now down to 10 men it was even more of an uphill struggle for Liverpool. An out of position Martin Skrtel on the right flank was having a nightmare against Gareth Bale, beaten on several occasions, it was only a matter of time before frustrations got the better of him.
Spurs brought on Van Der Vaart for the second half but Kenny Dalglish made no changes. I personally felt like we could have done with a Kuyt or Maxi on in the midfield and have subbed either Henderson or Carroll but it would have taken a lot more than a clever substitution to get back into this game anyway.
On the hour mark Skrtel added to his earlier booking with another yellow card. He left his foot in but again, i think some referees wouldn't of booked the defender. Now down to 9 men but still only a goal down, it wouldn't be long before the flood gates opened.
A goal from Defoe and two from Adebayor in the last half hour completed Tottenham's rout. A mistake by Pepe Reina allowed one of the goals in but defensive errors were a plenty too and Defoe was left in bags of space for his goal despite the best efforts of Enrique.
Spurs played well but we were extremely poor. The substitutions of Spearing and Bellamy unfortunately couldn't add anything for Liverpool and with Downing off Carroll was receiving no supply.
A point I've made before though concerning the side and Carroll, why are we so darn focused on playing the long ball at the moment? Ok, we know he's a valuable asset should we whip a ball in there but that's not to say we should be doing it every five minutes and rejecting that sweet ball through or threatening pass as a viable option.
Carroll is more than capable of linking up in an attack and he's not to bad at smashing one in from outside the box too. Stop concentrating so much on feeding him, leave that to the wingers and just let the football flow naturally through the midfield.
Again, we just need to move on, embarrassing for sure but we'll learn from this hopefully, better to be making these mistakes in September i suppose.
Next up for Liverpool is a cup tie against Brighton on Wednesday night.