Wandering Red Men

I must admit my heart sank when I read the team list and immediately knew that we would have a problem. It appeared that Rafa was going to use Stevie G immediately. I know he is our captain but it appears that he has yet again been bought back from injury early because Rafa relies on him to win our games. I just hoped that because of the precarious position the club now finds itself in, the injury does not rear its ugly head again too quickly. Maxi Rodrigeux was also given a start and I wondered if he would last the whole game, as he still had to get used to playing in the Premier League. The rest of the team, apart from Jamie, Masherano and Kuyt was of the lets keep our fingers crossed variety.

The game started and within minutes you got the impression from most of the players that to be honest they did not really want to be there. There appeared to be very little effort in trying to kick or head the ball to a fellow teammate. With balls going here, there and everywhere, it did not take Wolves very long to realize that they could perhaps get three points from the game. It is an awful thing to say but to be honest for most of the first halve, Wolves seemed to be the more experienced Premiership team on the pitch. The lethargy on the pitch was awful to watch and to be honest I was glad when the half time whistle blew. I just hoped that the half time team talk would wake them up.

How wrong I was, the team came out and it was unfortunately the same old story on the pitch. There was very little effort from any of the players, and to be honest I don't think I heard any of the players names mentioned more than one or twice. Everyone seemed to be conspicuous by their absence. Stevie G was doing his best, but he was not match fit and I suspect to be honest that he was still carrying his injury. Jamie worked hard as usual in defense but Lucas, Riera, Mascherano, Insua and Skrtel, could I suppose be called the invisible men. A ball appeared and they disappeared, which led to Kyriakos being named as man of the match. To be honest he did not do an awful lot but I guess it must have been more than the others. Maxi, still trying to prove himself to the supporters did his best but it simply was not enough. Reina had to put up with the Wolves supporters booing him, due to an incident that had happened during a previous game, thankfully though if it was designed to put him off, it backfired, because although they were playing well and had a couple of chances, the goalmouth was very quiet.

It had got to the point of the game where Rafa did what Rafa does best and he introduced Ngog for Riera but again it was too little too late. The substitution did not do what I believe Rafa wanted it to do. The team was still as lethargic as they had been all evening. Not even as the clock began to tick towards the ninety minute mark did the usual end of game panic set in.

It had been a horrific ninety minutes to watch and to be honest I have seen eleven schoolboys play better. Why the team does this I don't know? What is the point of winning a game and then losing the next four? I get the impression it is going to be a repeat of the situation between the Manchester United and the Tottenham game.

At the end of the game I felt so sorry for Aquilani who it appeared had been sent for a quick warm up. He literally walked up and down for a minute and the look on his face said it all. It appears that already Maxi has become the favourite in the pecking order and Aquilani is going to spend his time at Liverpool Football Club on the bench. For a player that cost the club a reported £20 million, that is an absolute disgrace. The pitch was crying out for his expertise last night and I honestly do believe he would have made quite a difference to the way the rest of the team played.

At the after match press conferences, Rafa may just as well have switched on a tape recorder. It was the same old story, we had a tough game but in the first half we were in control. The second proved more difficult and we just could not get the breaks we needed. When asked about why Aquilani was on the bench, all he said that was that every player is aware that they have to fight for every position. I am sorry, but I was always taught that players were bought because of the positions they played and if it was what the club needed. That of course explains why half the team is not playing as they should. They are being played in any position other than the one that they have played in probably since schoolboy days. It is no wonder that Ryan Babel is not at his best - Apart from once, I don't think he has played in his natural position.

I honestly think perhaps Rafa Benitez has something else on his mind. There is of course the question of the Liverpool Football Club finances in a transfer window that yet again is full of speculation and no action and over the last twenty four hours, there are rumours around that Juventus are about to make Rafa an offer that will take him away from Liverpool. This of course has been denied by his agent, but someone put the rumour into the public domain and it would be very interesting to find out whom? He walks around as though he has the worries of the world on his shoulders and his lack of shouting or emotions during the game could I guess tell a thousand stories. I just wish that if he is determined to get the club back into the fourth place spot, he would show some enthusiasm, sort the team out, even if it means playing some of the youngsters. Going by last night's effort they could not have done any worse.

Stevie G as the captain also gave an after match interview and said of course that he was disappointed and felt that although they had not scored the team played well. He also made a point of blaming the pitch. Well I am sorry Stevie but back in the 50's, 60's and 70's they played on pitches that at this time of year were full of ice and frost, along with ditches full of water and very wet soggy mud. This did not bother the players of time and the honors as you know began to arrive at the club.

All I know is that the standard of play last night simply was not good enough and a one hundred per cent improvement needs to be made. We simply do have the time to wait until Torres is back from injury; some of the other lads have got to find their scoring feet. To reach the fourth spot, we need to win every game and pray that our opponents from now until the end of the season have some extremely bad games. Will it happen, I very much doubt it, and everyone around us seems to be on top of their form and possibly laughing at us behind our backs.

It does not look as though Rafa is going to get the striker that we all know is desperately needed during this transfer window and what happens between now and the next one in August to be honest does not bear thinking about. I just hope that somewhere out there, we have a fairy godmother who is going to help rescue the club's season, because the team seem to be unable to grasp the fact that it now imperative that they all pick their game up and wear the red shirt with the pride it deserves.