Liverpool FanZoner Richard Garnett reflects on Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa and says Brendan Rodgers got his team wrong.
A bad day at the office or not yet the real deal? Either way, Rodgers did not get his team right against Aston Villa on Saturday.
The absence of Daniel Sturridge was unfortunate but the omission of Raheem Sterling was entirely avoidable. He may only be 19, but in the post-Suarez era everything runs through him already.
Rodgers is perfectly entitled to protect his crown jewel, but if he underestimated the little wizard’s importance to this Liverpool side before then he surely doesn't now.
Saturday’s hugely disappointing display featured no fewer than four home debutants, with three forming the spearhead of the Anfield attack. The result was an easy afternoon for the Villa defence as a lack of dynamism and familiarity afforded Brad Guzan a day off.
But it wasn’t just the selection of promising newcomers that left some supporters scratching their heads. Against Southampton and Manchester City Rodgers favoured one central striker and saw his side struggle to cause much trouble in the box.
No such problem at White Hart Lane, where centre forward pairing Mario Balotelli and Sturridge caused enough bother to allow Sterling to run riot.
If squad rotation was high on the agenda pre-Ludogorets, then surely this was an opportunity to put faith in Rickie Lambert and start the former Southampton man up front with his Italian counterpart.
Instead, supporters are left to debate whether Balotelli was immobile or just starved of service in a largely anonymous performance up top that makes a mockery of claims that Lambert doesn’t have the movement to start. There is plenty of reason to believe that he would've given Philippe Senderos a tougher 90 minutes.
It’s no secret that strikers run on confidence so it is essential that all of Liverpool’s forwards get opportunities to keep themselves sharp. 19 minutes is better than nothing, but Rodgers certainly could’ve done things differently here.
Another apparent issue is the deployment of two deep-lying midfielders. This is expected of Steven Gerrard these days but Jordan Henderson has the legs to unsettle defenders, instead he watched on as the Anfield rookies huffed and puffed up dead ends.
Not to be outdone by their peers, Liverpool’s defence - featuring three new recruits - was back to its shaky best. Martin Skrtel’s stock rising considerably, simply by not playing.
If not much was happening on the pitch then it was no better off it. Teatime kick-offs may be an inconvenience to supporters but they usually make for a decent atmosphere.
Instead, the cloud of resignation set in by the hour mark, when the struggling reds were left to search for an equaliser in near silence. Evidence of the changing demographic in football?
Thankfully, this bad day out can be swiftly forgotten about, as Anfield warmly welcomes the return of the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Their opponents may be an unknown quantity but European football is woven into the fabric of Liverpool FC and the occasion represents a swift opportunity to remind everyone that one poor performance is not going to undermine the brilliant work that has been done to bring these nights back to Anfield.
The manager rarely gets it wrong, so as long as the lessons of defeat are learnt and acted upon, such disappointments can be kept to a minimum.
By Liverpool FanZoner Richard Garnett. Follow him on Twitter here, and don't forget you can follow @FanZone too!
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