Alain Perrin's unbeaten start as Portsmouth manager came to an end tonight, beaten 2-1 by a Champions League chasing Liverpool side. In truth we didn't play well enough to deserve anything out of the game and although Dudek was called into action on a couple of occasions, the players will surely be disappointed with our attacking performance as we struggled to impose ourselves on the game.
True, credit has to go to the Reds for this. They looked a vastly improved side to earlier in the season; a threat going forward, strong at the back, winning everything in midfield and getting back to defend or up to attack with lightning pace. It's not hard to see why they've beaten the likes of Juventus and Leverkeusen this season as they've obviously got a bit of quality about them (being able to call the likes of Gerrard and Cissé off the bench helps as well). But even whilst they had us contained and hassled us off the ball, there was still a lack of invention and urgency about the home side. We showed on occasion that they weren't impossible to break down, that we could get through - as early as the first minute Lua seemed to be harshly called offside as he stuck the ball in the back of the net; Berger had a long shot saved, Stone seemed to miss a completely open goal and Kamara had a great chance to whip a ball in in the first half but just plain dithered - there were certainly opportunities for us to grab a goal, but scarcely deserved after an edgy performance.
Speaking of Kamara, we've now seen him and LuaLua link up for two successive games and although it's still early to judge, they just don't seem to get on. The problem is that they're quite similar, the type who enjoys coming deep, taking players on down the wings and then seeing what to do from there; whether it be a trick, a cross, or try to run a bit more. Now that's all very well and good when there's one guy doing that - unfortunately as we saw time and time again tonight, when they both do it there's no-one in the box to attack the crosses and just no options to pass to. They were almost too deep. On more than one occasion our furthest man forward was Gary O'Neil! Whether the returning Yakubu on Sunday can make any difference we'll have to wait and see; we'll certainly get more chances against Southampton than we did tonight, so it's just a case of making them count.
The bottom line with this game was that for the entire first half we just didn't seem to be playing as well as we know we can. I was hoping that perhaps if we got to half time still at 1-1 then Reggie could have a rant, sort things out and maybe send us out pumped up for the second half. Unfortunately, of course, they grabbed a second late in the half. Even so, we should've come out and had a right proper go in the second half - instead, we seemed somewhat pedestrian and never really too keen going forward; not incisive and clinical enough at all. And, as I was alluding to just a second ago, it seemed like we had the potential to step up a few gears - and there were flashes for thirty seconds or so when we'd go on a great slick attacking move - but for the most part we just never got started. Worst of all, we just played straight into their hands - either trying to run through a packed midfield, or hoofing it up where 10'4 Hypia was going to win every time.
So what now. Well, there's no great shame in losing to Liverpool and we did have our moments as mentioned earlier, even if the overall performance was lacking. Ashdown can reflect on a good night between the sticks and but for three or four good saves the scoreline could've had a slightly harsher look to it. That's a concern though - quite how easily Liverpool broke through one-on-one at times. Anyway, now attention turns to the big one on Sunday. Funnily enough I reckon this result could be a good one for us - the chance for players to make up for it in front of the home fans, a chance to show they can still play and, what's more, a chance to practically ensure safety. Can we? Yes. Will we? Who knows. After all, we do seem to have adopted Southampton as our bogey team. There's room for improvement (a LOT of improvement) after tonight but we played some neat stuff at times, the confidence won't be completely gone and what's more we've now got a little bit of something to prove.
So let's do it!