The Soccer Blog: UPDATED Liverpool 0, Utrecht 0: The Point is There is No Point

Friday, 1 October 2010

UPDATED Liverpool 0, Utrecht 0: The Point is There is No Point

By: Ed | September 30th, 2010
torres

Liverpool and Utrecht play out a 0-0 draw in matchday two. Familiar?

I missed the second half, which means that my usual break after this version of the post will require tracking down a torrent or highlights at the least. And I’m not looking forward to it. Based on comments in the matchday thread and folks on Twitter, it was more of the same in the worst possible way.

No disrespect to those who take comfort in the result, because in many other circumstances a point away from home in Europe is a quality result. And combined with the 3-3 draw between Steaua and Napoli, it leaves Liverpool alone at the top of the group on four points. In first place heading into a tricky match in Naples is typically a good thing.

But it’s all so completely fucked. Liverpool play a drab, lifeless, unconvincing brand of football at every possible moment, they show no signs of changing, and they’ve managed to suck any joy out of watching them play. They’ve got no identity other than that of a club who have no real intent to do anything that could be confused for attempting to win a match. That applies to today, it applies to last Saturday, it applies to last Wednesday. It’s soul-crushing stuff, having an emotional investment in Liverpool.

Yes, I’ll be back later with more thoughts, and I’m probably being hyperbolic. But I don’t think so. There’s not much room for optimism right now—it’s not a good result, it’s not a good performance, and it’s not a good time to be Liverpool Football Club.

**Update**

And the update is there is no update. See what I did there?

The torrent file of the second half I tried to download was either corrupted or just wouldn’t open on my computer, and after reading others’ recommendation to avoid at all costs, along with an ominous text from my buddy in response to my asking if it was worth watching that read:

“Haha, what? There’s a decent sequence around the 65th where we almost concede 4 or 5 times, counter, and Torres maybe should have scored. Last 15 min. = the worst.”

It’s likely a good thing I couldn’t track it down—as noted above, this one was pretty painful, and the resulting smoke that Roy Hodgson tried to blow up our asses only served to make things worse. This can’t be the way the club view themselves, can it?

Anyhow, Noel will be posting tomorrow for the first time, and I’ll either be around to comment or return with the Blackpool preview on Saturday.

In the meantime, try to channel some positive energy to a good cause:

In their words, “Red Card Homophobia’s mission is to increase awareness of and end homophobia in football (soccer) and promote equality, regardless of sexual orientation, in the beautiful game.”

So if you’re on Twitter or Facebook or whatever, spread the word. In the real world, there’s issues bigger than Liverpool that need sorting, and this is one of them.

Have a nice night everyone.

Some Related Liverpool Posts:Match Preview: Liverpool v. FC Utrecht, 09.30.10**UPDATED** Liverpool 1, Arsenal 1: So, So CloseMatchday: Liverpool v. UtrechtOn the Market: Liverpool F.C. **Updated**UPDATED–Manchester United 3, Liverpool 2: Not Quite Enough

Category: Europa League, Match Recaps, Team News

Tags: Europa League, Match Recaps, Team News
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SteadyangTorres, please continue to shake off the rust on your feets.
Joe Cole, stick to the left if you play on the left.
Roy, you have experience some wrong options. Our wide area was lacking, it has been like that since Rafa time. Do something. We are not Barc or Arsenal, why must we continue to play on the middle?
My prediction for a draw (1-1 though) is correct because I haven't see light at the end of the tunnel. A good display even without taking 3 points is something I will like to see, because at least there is hope, we have not performing week in week out, so this is worrying.DNA[laced with sarcasm] FUCK YEAH! We got ONE point!!!! OH YEAH! We didn't lose!!! Happy Days are here again! [/laced with sarcasm]GalahadThreepwoodI've come to the conclusion that I've been looking at Liverpool through rose-colored glasses. I keep trying to find a silver lining in their performances, but it seems that there isn't one. I can't tell what's wrong with this team--is it Roy's tactics, is it the mess in the front office, or is it fatal lack of interest from the players themselves? Or is it a nasty cocktail of all three? Whichever, it looks like a long season of dispiriting results and lowered expectations, with Roy cheerfully excusing our poor efforts. It's so bleak I almost can't bear it.

Excuse me while I take another drink.steven.on top of a group full of losers. the joy!Mikelike this if you think liverpool should bring back dalglish!GalahadThreepwood+1

Or Pellegrini. Or Guus Hiddink, as long as I'm dreaming.Mike"Liverpool play a drab, lifeless, unconvincing brand of football at every possible moment, they show no signs of changing, and they’ve managed to suck any joy out of watching them play. They’ve got no identity other than that of a club who have no real intent to do anything that could be confused for attempting to win a match."

@ ed i couldnt agree more with you. We have all seen liverpool in the past and watched a great club, with an astonishing team in the 60s/70s/80s dominate english football. We are still a great club however the team does not do it justice. In the words of rafa that is a "fact". Would shankly/paisley/fagan/dalglish ever tolerate some of our very medicore players and our boring style of football. Whatever happened to liverpool playing stylish football? Why do we have to play 2 holding mids i.e. lucas and poulson when we could play meireles in the middle or play shelvey who really deserves a go at the first team?

We can all write on the offside and show our undeniable support for the team, and show all we want that we are the best supporters in the land. However in all honesty, with the support we show, we dont deserve to be let down as often as we do. We desperately need get new owners, who really invests heavily in our team and purchase a new stadium. Hopefully october, will be sale month and some light at the end of a very very long tunnel. We have all been patient with liverpool, but the question is how long will gerrard and torres be patient?.Ztay9045Fire Hodgson....BigmanDire game, dire tactics off Roy, dire performances from key players who looked as though they would have preferred to go sight seeing rather than cmpete for the ball and win the game. Lucas / poulson were shockingly bad, torres' all-round team play was non existent. Mireles was playing out of position and the defence was always looking shaky and uncertain. We cant keep the ball and we seriously lacked creativity in the final third. Most worryingly; Roy thought it was a good performance - he must be having a giraffe (laugh)... we are an utter shambles in every concievable way you can imagine!

Red2deathRight on. What I feared the most is Hodgson thinking this was a good showing - and now he's come right out and said it.

If this is his expectation, we're dead in the water. Perhaps finishing in the top half of the table would be decent for him? "Great job lads! Wow, these Premier League sides are really something, huh. Keep your heads up, we'll push for one of those European places next season."

Hire a monkey, you get peanuts...EdIt's so on point and sad that it's funny.

"Great job lads! Wow, these Premier League sides are really something, huh. Keep your heads up, we'll push for one of those European places next season."

Basically the thought loop running through my head on the drive home. Sad stuff.Red2deathEd, you don't need to track down the second half of this farce. Just re-watch any of our past matches and base your comments on that.

The only positive I can draw from today is, hey, we're still top of Europa League Group K.

This fan is still so psyched about every Liverpool match though. Looking forward to the masterclass we're gonna put on against Blackpool! Yeah!!!

I'm such a sucker.

In better news, Oct 6 is next week, and neither Hodgson nor Poulsen nor even Sir Alex Bluenose can stop that deadline from passing...Red2deathSorry, scratch that last part. Come to think of it, Fergie does have some ability to bend time.Kopper266Totally agree.. it's becoming very hard to watch liverpool play, and i don't know if it's the players to blame or this is Hodgson's doing. But it seems like we're just cramming as many midfielders into the middle of the pitch as we can and having the outside backs provide all the width, which obviously isn't working, especially with Kelly playing left back. I keep looking for some signs of fluidity and creativity but again I saw none, besides from joe Cole's performance, which was our best player in the first half, but seemed to disappear in the second, and I also thought Kuyt had a decent game, and Reina too, but that almost goes without saying.Noelbesides from joe Cole's performance, which was our best player in the first half

I might have been focusing on the wrong things (I've certainly done so often enough in the past) but for me, Cole was just about the worst player on the pitch. Drifted about without imposing himself on the opponent in any way, and for me you get to either be a tidy player or a dominating player, and I didn't think he did either tonight (that he's neither tidy nor dominant in any way, then, is also my complaint with Poulsen). Worst for me were two instances in the first half where he had the ball and started to run at the defense, only he was staring down at his feet and dribbled straight into three defenders rather than popping an elementary ball over to an unmarked Meireles with acres in front of him and a line on goal. It was like he was doing his best Ryan Babel/headless-chicken-on-the-left impersonation, and for me it's the same as with Babel: I don't care how lively it might sometimes make him look, because it's worse than useless 97% of the time.

Do think you're right that Kuyt made a decent go of it considering the lack of service, though. And Reina, of course.

Kelly had a poor game in attack, but he's not a left back and had Cole providing sub-standard support and Poulsen displaying his now standard sense of awareness and positioning as the players he was supposed to work with. Carragher had a nightmare, and Skrtel wasn't much better--on the defensive side it's down to a few quick thinking covers by Kelly, who even if he wasn't providing much going forward was more useful in defense than our center backs.

Johnson, meanwhile, was ineffective, but at least he tried to provide width. Why Meireles started on the right, though, I will never understand. Thought he still might have looked the best on the pitch in any case.steven.It was like he was doing his best Ryan Babel/headless-chicken-on-the-left impersonation

it was a Milan Baros impersonation but your spot on about Raul .. starting on the right? daftest thing i've heard today...DoolyLFCI'm not sure what kind of state of mind I'm in right now. Well I know it's somewhat of a denial stage but I keep telling my self to get a grip and keep the believe. Were the best supporting fans in this sport for sure, but it's difficult to continue the mental strength when we have not performed as should be since the 08/09 season. I know that one or two players that left us that season might of changed the way we went about to our game strategy, but for fuck sake our game has gone spiraling down hill since then. Rafa has left, appreciated the CL trophy but that wasn't really his full doing. We lack spine, we lack creativity, we lack players that don't necessarily have to cost us big pounds but can install some belief that shankly him self brought to this club. We lack leadership. Here comes the shocking bits that alot of us liverpodlians don't want to hear: we have two options that we can take, if we consider the near future of October, one: the yanks somehow extend their loan/ownership of the club which will strip the club of our best three players: torres, gerrard, and reina which will see us become the next Leeds united. Two: we go into administration, the club is bought by someone who is not in it to bring the club to it's well known highs and we eventually loose the players mentioned above which see us possibly be deducted 9 points and eventually Liverpool will just be another average club that will fight for EUFA spot. The third option is my utopia which win/win situation which will see us being bought by a group/sovereign fund which has billions to invest into the players, stadium, and infrastructure which will see the club come out of it's ashes. I pray to whom ever will accept my prayers that that is our conclusion of our very sad/depressing last few chapters that we have seen.

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Friday, 1 October 2010

UPDATED Liverpool 0, Utrecht 0: The Point is There is No Point

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