Basel , Transfer Window, Gerrard , Injuries and Pressure.

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by @Paddy_mc129

Very quickly I’ll give my thoughts on tonights game.

Lackluster is a word that comes to mind but , all around I felt we were sloppy and a bit rough around the edges. It was a performance too expect from the Liverpool in 2012-2013. It was almost like nobody was ready to grab the game by the neck and stand up and be counted for. We gave the ball away way to much from the midfield and Mignolets distribution. We’ve become so accustomed to blitzing teams in the opening minutes , that all seems a distant memory.
We had a couple of clear cut chances , lacked character and the confidence to put them away , was clearly shown by Sterling’s heavy touch when he was basically clear through.
Balotelli offered a moment or two with his free kick and when he used his strength and skill to get away from the defender towards the corner flag to be brought down , second half he was anonymous really as was the rest of the team. We seemed to go down to easy and not get stuck into what honestly was a mediocre side in Basel without sounding too harsh.Their goal as well . Poor defending from a corner Mignolet makes a reaction save right to their big centre forward who put it away.. Moving on..

People are rightly going to question our dealings in the transfer window , I for one have a couple of doubts on the calibre of player we brought in , only Moreno , Lallana and Manquillo have shown us why we brought them in. We spent a decent sum on Lovren and Markovic. I’ll start with the latter of the two. He ( Markovic ) after his last season he was touted to have bags of potential however he  looks confused , looks nervous and afraid to take a risk. He’s blessed with blistering pace and is noted for his dribbling skills , neither of which I’ve seen bar his cameo vs City. He takes way too much out of the ball rather than take a risk and have a go.
Lovren was described as a leader to bring stability and solidity to our defense , I dont see that either. He does make some really nice last ditch tackles and can attack a ball really well at set pieces but I dont see any leadership from him and he hasnt exactly performed as a leader in my book either.

Steven Gerrard solely based on his performances looks past it. Tonight he was sloppy , giving the ball away and made a cynical foul tonight when you’d expect him to make the tackle. Its the story of his season really. I dont think hes cut out for the DM role , he lacks the energy to do so , its a lot of leg work to put on a 34 year old whos carried us through so much , maybe save him for the big games or as a substitute to change the game.

A month or so into the season we have been blighted by injuries which understandably takes its toll on the squad. Our main striker Daniel Sturridge is out , Joe Allen , Sakho and Emre Can to name a few. With the money we spent you would have thought we have enough to replace the injured however we miss Sturridge and Allen so much , for me Allen is underrated. Only now do you realize how much of the running around he does , closing down and retaining possession are among his best assets , I for one am looking forward to him coming back.
Emre Can is another transfer we paid a modest sum for , hes a young talent and with great stature , Maybe he could play the Gerrard role who knows.

With 2 wins 1 draw and 3 losses from our 6 premier league games theres no doubt the pressure is on us. A defeat in our 2nd game of the CL adds further to that. Pretty soon it will be too late to play catch up.
Bring on West Brom to Anfield. YNWA.