 |
| Coutinho celebrates... Image: mirror.co.uk |
Liverpool fell to a 3-1 defeat at St Mary's on Saturday afternoon and
there's no hiding from the fact that sloppy defending and an all
round poor performance led the Reds to their fate. Southampton were
perhaps underestimated in the run up to this fixture but with
Liverpool on such good form it wasn't hard to expect another 3
points, Southampton though were dominant and took full advantage of
their ease in breaking through the Liverpool defence.
The Saints first goal came very early into the game, just after the 5
minute mark Liverpool found themselves trailing after a Schneiderlin
goal from close range. It was an unexpected start for Brendan's side
but with so long left to go nobody was panicking yet.
The first goal though highlighted a similar story for the rest of the
game. The newly returned Martin Skrtel would play a part in a rather
sloppy defence, don't get me wrong, I'm a Skrtel fan but it annoys me
when people are quick to slate his counterpart Jamie Carragher just
because he's burning a few more candles, in my eyes Carragher has
proved he's still got what it takes and going on Skrtel's performance
on Saturday afternoon, the number 23 will probably be back in the
starting XI after the break.
Another talking point was the starting of Joe Allen over Lucas Leiva.
A decision apparently made because Lucas picked up a niggle left fans
wondering whether that was the real reason because we all know full
well Allen himself is awaiting a shoulder operation. Either way,
despite Allen's less than effective performance he wasn't as big a
scapegoat as some people would have you believe, nevertheless for me,
Lucas is always the preferred option.
Southampton found their second just after the half hour mark and it's
safe to say Liverpool had offered little trouble in return. This time
a goal from Liverpool fan and Southampton fan favourite Ricky Lambert
to the bottom right of goal meant his side had extended their lead
leaving the visitors with a lot of work to do.
Daniel Sturridge had a few half chances in the first 45 minutes but
it was fair to say that himself and the influential Luis Suarez were
a lot quieter than usual. It fell to Phillipe Coutinho to put
Liverpool back into the game.
An original effort from Sturridge didn't find its way to the back of
the net but the rebound fell kindly to an awaiting Coutinho who
confidently scored Liverpool's first and only goal of the afternoon.
It was a good time to score but Liverpool would need to ensure their
defending in the second half was ten times better if they were going
to get anything from this game.
The second half saw manager Brendan Rodgers make an immediate
substitution replacing Joe Allen with Lucas Leiva. The defensive
nature of Lucas should aid the Reds ability to block out the
Southampton attack and whilst it helped it didn't quite complete the
full equation.
A free kick from Suarez after the hour mark saved by Boruc meant
Southampton were still safely holding on to a well earned 3 points.
Liverpool had been stronger pushing forward in the second half but it
wasn't good enough.
With 10 minutes left to go Southampton found themselves a third goal
and this was probably the most embarrassing of the lot. You'd think
after the first two goals our defence would have at least been on a
higher alert but apparently not. Skrtel looked as though he was
scared to even make a challenge and quite frankly it was frightening
how easy it was for Rodriguez to get through. His goal from inside
the area sealed the win for the home side and Liverpool would now
have a lot of reflecting to do on that last 90 minutes.
It always amazes me how we can go from such a well oiled performance
to a terribly shoddy one. It's clear consistency still isn't our
forte and until we find a bit of repetition we won't be challenging
to get back into the real part of Europe.
This game is definitely one to forget and perhaps the two week break
has come at a good time for Liverpool next up for the Reds is Aston
Villa away, another game you would think before kick off would be a 3
pointer for the Reds but with Villa in a buoyant mood after this
weeks result and them needing all the hope they can get, who knows
what might happen.