Out of sorts Reds fail to press home advantage (ESPN article)

by Dave Usher for ESPN

It was an unfortunate case of after the Lord Mayor's show for Liverpool as the Reds followed up their spectacular midweek demolition of Merseyside neighbours Everton with a somewhat deflating 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns on Sunday afternoon.

The win over Everton had put Brendan Rodgers' men in pole position for a place in the top four and their cause was aided further by rivals Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur both dropping points on Saturday. Everton had taken maximum points against Aston Villa, of course, but nevertheless this game was a great opportunity for the Reds to exert their authority on the race for a Champions League qualifying place and to give the top three a little something to think about, too. They failed on both counts.

Liverpool never hit top form in the first half, but West Brom were so poor that it was perhaps a little bit too easy for Rodgers' side. One moment of quality from the dynamic duo of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge separated the sides at the break -- the Uruguayan expertly picking out his strike partner for a tap-in at the far post -- but Liverpool never really got out of second gear. They didn't have to.

However, West Brom were always going to improve after the break and Liverpool should have been prepared for it. Instead, they remained in second gear and paid the price.

It would be easy to place the blame for the squandering of two points on the broad shoulders of Kolo Toure -- after all, it was the defender's horrific error that handed the equaliser to West Brom -- but for Liverpool fans there was a lot more to be disappointed with than just the blunder from the veteran Ivorian. Liverpool's second-half display was completely insipid; it appeared as though they were happy to hang onto their slender lead rather than looking to increase it. That's not what we're used to seeing from a side whose biggest attribute is the ability score goals. Liverpool don't defend particularly well, so trying to do so with just a one-goal advantage isn't the high-percentage play.

I'm not suggesting that Rodgers sent his players out with instructions to repeatedly give the ball to the opposition, concede as many silly free kicks in their own half as possible and to repeatedly squander any opportunity to counterattack, but that's how much of the second half played out. Liverpool had destroyed Everton through winning the ball and launching quick, devastating counterattacks to exploit the spaces left by Roberto Martinez's side. With a 1-0 halftime lead at the Hawthorns, perhaps Rodgers felt his side could do the same to West Brom; sit back, fill the spaces and hit them with quick counters. Given that Steven Gerrard was almost operating as a third centre-half at times, that's certainly how it appeared.

Read the full article here.