Liverpool fell to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester United on Sunday as the Reds had 19 shots but failed to convert a single chance. The first half saw the Reds play without a striker leaving a lot of fans questioning this selection. In the second half Mario Balotelli entered the fray only to see his efforts brilliantly stamped out by the goalkeeping of David De Gea.
For me, I didn't like the line up from the off. One thing I will credit Brendan for though is deciding to drop Mignolet and start Brad Jones. That was a brave decision from the manager and despite ultimately conceding three goals, I think Brad actually had a good game. I felt a lot more comfortable and less nervy with him between the sticks.
I just don't think you can risk playing without a striker. Yes, the likes of Lallana, Coutinho and Sterling are all skillful and attacking players but Brendan Rodgers is hiding behind the premise that this is a technically sound formation. Even some of the best teams in the world struggle to play without a striker, let alone a Liverpool side who are struggling to find the back of the net?! It was just a silly decision for me.
Some early pressure from Manchester United quickly turned into a goal for the home side. A confident strike from Wayne Rooney in the centre of the box put United ahead after a pin point assist from Antonio Valencia. The frustrating bit for Liverpool was not necessarily the goal but the fact that Valencia had broke past Joe Allen on the wing as if he wasn't even there. Allen had a poor game for me and to be honest if I'm fielding a player to protect our somewhat questionable defence it will always be Lucas in my book, Allen just couldn't hack it unfortunately.
The goal didn't do much for the Reds' confidence and to be honest, other than the odd burst from Raheem Sterling, Liverpool were seriously lacking in options. Sterling also disappointingly was off his game, some of his chances throughout the 90 minutes you have to feel he would of buried last season but it just wasn't happening on Sunday.
Another blow for Liverpool in the first half (depending on your level of preference for Glen) saw Johnson being replaced by Kolo Toure. Kolo however could not aid his defence when Manchester United found themselves a second goal shortly before the end of the first half.
Adding insult to injury Juan Mata was actually offside when he converted his header for United. Robin van Persie admitted in a post match interview that he did get a touch on the ball, flicking it on to an offside Mata. I don't usually get so worked up about these things but it was frustrating to concede in that manner because it could have been a different game if we reached half time just the one goal down.
For the second half, Rodgers immediately brought on Mario Balotelli who replaced Adam Lallana. I'm the first to admit I wear rose tinted glasses when it comes to Mario but to be honest, any striker would have been better than nothing. The original formation was just not working, we needed something to aim for and whilst I don't necessarily like Balo up front on his own it was better than having nobody there!
He has his critics but I think Balo did pretty well in the second half and Liverpool looked a lot better creating more chances and forcing De Gea into action. For me his shot that De Gea tipped off the bar was the most agonising. It was a cracking save. Another point to note was Balotelli's movement, I don't know if it was because he was feeling more excited because it was Manchester United but his run for the last real chance of his was brilliant, he was again unlucky to watch his shot saved by the underside of De Gea's knee.
Despite Liverpool having a much better spell they still couldn't find that all important goal and at 70 minutes Manchester United had sealed their three points. A dodgy defensive clearance from Dejan Lovren saw the ball splay directly to Robin van Persie who of course was never going to waste his chance, his effort put United 3-0 up.
This was the annoying thing for me, on another day that Lovren attempted clearance goes far away from any United player and on another day Juan Mata is called offside. Rooney's shot I take 100% but it's bloody annoying to concede in such a manner as the other two goals. We probably wouldn't have scored anyway but a game at 1-0 down is far more promising than 3-0 down.
Attempts were created from Liverpool in the dying minutes but as is so familiar now the Reds just could not score. I had a feeling we would lose the game but I never expected us to concede three to be honest. With Bournemouth in the week and Arsenal up next this is a very tough time for Liverpool and Brendan Rodgers.
I asked you for your thoughts on the game and here are a few of the tweets I received:
@LFCKirstyLFC Our season in a nutshell, woeful defending, toothless attack, over-reliance on Sterling, no protection in midfield.
— Jonathan Bradley (@jrpb1987) December 14, 2014
@LFCKirstyLFC Sturridge would have scored a hat trick and won that game, Rodger's first half tactics were spot on, just no execution
— Tristan Fitzpatrick (@Tristan71) December 14, 2014
@LFCKirstyLFC played well. Comedy defending as usual, but unlucky not to score one or two.
— Phil (@Phil_A01) December 14, 2014
Next up for Liverpool is Bournemouth in the League Cup quarter final.