Liverpool's final pre-season encounter provided little evidence that the side are ready for next week's season opener with big spending Chelsea, as classy Valencia triumphed against Gerard Houllier's side for the third time in succession.
In truth, the scoreline flattered the Spaniards, as Liverpool had enough to chances to have won fairly comfortably. But poor finishing, and sloppy defending once again proved to be the reds' undoing.
Liverpool have been impressive against poor opposition in pre-season, but have looked very ordinary when they've stepped up in class. Ironically, this was possibly one of the reds' better pre-season displays, yet Valencia still came away with a comfortable win despite rarely slipping out of second gear.
There are still more questions than answers as far as Liverpool's starting line up is concerned. Whether this game has helped answer some of those questions, only Gerard Houllier knows. But I came away from this game with a sense of trepidation for next week.
Where will Kewell play? Will Biscan be given the job of replacing Stevie G? What's wrong with Michael? Who'll start in goal? As I said, there are more questions than answers right now, and Houllier has a lot of decisions to make this week.
Against Valencia, Biscan partnered Gerrard in the middle, with Murphy and Kewell flanking them. Personally I didn't see the benefit in playing Stevie in this game. He can't play next week, and I felt we should have been looking to play as close to the side which will start on the opening day as possible.
Diao has made a quick recovery from injury, and appeared as a late sub, so hopefully he'll be ok to start next week. Biscan actually did ok. He did nothing wrong, and certainly didn't disgrace himself, but I'd still rather Diao play next week.
Kewell switched flanks throughout the game, but simply couldn't have any influence. I think Harry will be a very good player for us, but he's being hyped up far too much, and expectations are ridiculously high. He's a talented player, but all this 'new number 7' hype is not going to do anyone any good, least of all Harry.
Whenever he gets the ball, a buzz goes around the stadium as people expect him to beat three men and score. That can only lead to disappointment, and I think a sense of perspective is needed as far as Harry is concerned. Maybe too much is being expected of him because we didn't make any other high profile signing?
My point is that Harry Kewell is not enough to make us go from fifth in the table to winning the title, and to expect otherwise is putting unfair pressure on him.
For Liverpool to have any chance of the title, we need Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard to be on top of their game for the entire season. If they're not, then we simply can't function at a level high enough to sustain a challenge. Owen and Gerrard's importance to the side cannot be under-estimated.
Michael started the pre-season in devastating form. He's finishing it looking like he's not interested. Hopefully he's simply pacing himself and is ready to explode on Chelsea next week. Without Gerrard, Michael's importance to the side is intensified even more.
Owen could have scored twice in the opening half against Valencia, as could Emile Heskey. Danny Murphy was the main provider, cutting open the Spanish defence with slide rule passes. Sadly the finishing from the front two failed to match Murphy's excellent approach play.
Danny was the one of the few positives to come out of the first half. He was the pick of the reds midfield, and contributed much more than the below par duo of Gerrard and Kewell. Murphy is likely to be handed a central role against Chelsea, and a big responsibilty will be on his shoulders in the absence of Gerrard.
Valencia stroked the ball about well in the opening half, with Aimar showing his undoubted class, and the combative midfield duo of Baraja and Albelda controlling things from the centre of the park.
Up front they looked a bit lightweight, and Sami and Steph were largely in command. Riise had his hands full with the talented Vicente however, who looked a real threat whenever he ventured over to the right from his regular left wing berth.
It was Vicente who opened the scoring with a stunning goal. After taking a corner on the right, the ball came back out to him. Kewell closed him down but sold himself completely as Vicente threw him a dummy. A left foot rocket from the corner of the box flew past Dudek before he even saw it. A brilliant goal, and one which was greeted with generous applause all around the stadium.
Heskey struck the post with a header, before nodding the rebound over the bar, but at half time the reds found themselves trailing by that Vicente strike, athough it could have been worse as Baraja saw a powerful shot beat Dudek but thud against the post at the Kop end.
Houllier made two changes at half time, handing Steve Finnan his Anfield debut and also introducing Djimi Traore at centre back. Carragher and Hyypia were the players replaced.
Valencia introduced beanpole striker John Carew amongst others, as they withdrew most of their star players. Vicente, Aimar and Albelda all went off at half time, and Baraja followed soon after.
The first half had been fairly even, but the reds definitely edged the second period. It took the introduction of El Hadji Diouf to liven things up however. Not much had happened until Dioufy entered the play to replace Gerrard. He began on the left wing, and tormented his marker and provided a string of good crosses.
The introduction of Le Tallec and Pongolle also made a difference, and the reds finished the game very strongly. Diouf switched to the right occasionally, and enjoyed plenty of success out there too.
The pacy Pongolle gave the side a real lift when he came on, and both he and Le Tallec look good enough to play for the first team now. Houllier is being understandably cautious about the talented pair, saying they'll be spending most of the season in the reserves, but don't be surprised if they both make a big impact sooner rather than later.
But despite Liverpool's good second half display, they were hit by a sucker punch when a slip by Henchoz allowed Carew a run on goal. Dudek made a good save, but substitute Xisco Munoz was on hand for the simplest of tap ins.
Pongolle went close with a toe poke after some great wing play by Diouf had found him in the box, and Le Tallec saw a stunning overhead kick from 18 yards brilliantly saved by Valencia keeper Palop.
Defeat was harsh on the reds, but Valencia looked like they were treating this as a training exercise, whereas we were going all out for the win. With better finishing we'd have gotten that win, but if you don't take your chances you pay the price.
The positives were the performances of Murphy and the French kids, the comeback of Diao (who looked good) and Diouf's lively display. Diouf has been one of the worst performers in pre-season, but he looked sharp today so hopefully he's ready for the big kick off.
The result today means nothing. We lost, but there's no points at stake so it matters little. The performance was more important, and overall it was ok, but there some casual, sloppy moments which is a worry with the new season a week away. We need to improve, and quickly.
Team: Jerzy Dudek; , Jamie Carragher (Steve Finnan), Stephane Henchoz, Sami Hyypia (Djimi Traore), John Arne Riise (Gregory Vignal); Danny Murphy, Igor Biscan (Salif Diao), Steven Gerrard (Anthony Le Tallec) Harry Kewell (El Hadji Diouf) ; Emile Heskey (Florent Sinama-Pongolle), Michael Owen (Milan Baros):
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