ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE Liverpool 0 Fulham 0:THE KOP jeered the selections and substitutions of Rafael Benitez, his revered compatriot Fernando Torres was taunted by Jimmy Bullard and after this excruciating performance was finally over a visiting Spanish journalist presented the manager with a book entitled Mala Vida.
Bad Life would not tell the tale of any Liverpool coach, particularly one with a European Cup in the vault and awaiting an improvement on a €4.1 million-a-year contract, but professionally it made appropriate bedtime reading for Benitez on Saturday night.
Long after a tireless Fulham had departed Merseyside with a merited point, only the second from their travels this season, the Liverpool manager, book in hand and visibly irritated, hung around the media room at Anfield to explain a performance at odds with the credentials of any title-chasing team.
Life would appear more charmed than bad once results from Stamford Bridge and Villa Park arrived, Liverpool's own goalless draw resembling a missed opportunity and not a costly slip, but nothing could disguise Benitez's annoyance at having to defend his choices once again. Those days, he had dared to imagine, had gone.
The Brazilian Lucas Leiva was the object of Anfield frustration against Fulham, primarily as he began in favour of Xabi Alonso and ultimately when the in-form Spain international replaced Javier Mascherano. Benitez's response was to insist he needed more players as fresh as Lucas and, had they been available, would have sacrificed more of his international contingent.
The argument had validity, with Mascherano, Dirk Kuyt and Albert Riera all way below recent standards, but it was also a poor reflection on a squad Benitez has labelled the strongest of his Anfield reign. It demonstrated the turmoil facing Lucas, a talent whose desperation to impress increases with every sporadic appearance, that the Kop began chanting Alonso's name after 36 minutes.
"Three or four did not have enough energy," the Liverpool manager admitted. "The players were thinking, 'It's a bad day, it is cold', so everything was against them" - which is not the mentality of champions, although when picked up on this point Benitez added: "You have to be strong to win the league and you can say the same about Chelsea. Some days you have a bad day and this was a bad day."
Injury to key players and international duty had caused minimal disruption to Liverpool this season but the drive of Steven Gerrard was badly missed. He could only squirm in his seat in the stands as Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane lofted the clearest chance of the game into the face of Mark Schwarzer, who also foiled Kuyt and Torres. Unlike for Kuyt, Mascherano and Riera, the international week offered no excuse for meagre contributions from Keane and Lucas while the excellence of Schwarzer, John Paintsil and Brede Hangeland - the Fulham trio who played in Bahrain, Ghana and Ukraine respectively last week - further undermined the official Liverpool line.
Roy Hodgson's team were comfortable throughout, taking the game to Liverpool in the first half as they denied them time and space. In the second, with Alonso's passing range forcing Fulham further back, their defence absorbed what little threat came. "I would like to think they came up against a Fulham team that was able to thwart them and thwart them in the correct way," said Hodgson. Marseille may have taken note.
Guardian Service
