Liverpool VS Blackburn Rovers

Yet another disappointing result for the Reds......I lost count already...I think this is their 9th defeat? If I remember correctly, Rafa's worse record when he was the Reds manager was 11 losses, and that's for the whole season. We are half way through the season and we almost match Rafa's worse record.......

I thought the attacking players didn't do too bad today. They were certainly not at their best, but still better than when they were facing Wolves. I thought they were unlucky in a few occasions. However, the defense was horrible today. In particular, both Glen Johnson and Kyrgiakos were responsible for the goals.

1st goal, Johnson didn't do a good job marking Olsson. From the replay, Diouf was already given too much space and time to control the long ball, turn, and pass a through ball to Olsson.  Johnson was the closest to Olsson, and he should have known that Diouf would pass to Olsson. He should have closed Olsson down and pressure him. Instead, John stepped back and Olsson was given so much time to shoot. Poor defending.

2nd goal, Krygiakos did not do enough to block Benjani. Kudos to Benjani for scoring such nice goal. But how on earth did Krygiakos let that happen? Benjani was able to use his chest to control the ball while facing opposite to the net, then he was given space to turn and to launch a powerful shot. Krygiakos beaten quite badly here.

The 3rd goal is pleasing to the eyes if you are a Blackburn fan. However, if you are a Liverpool fan, you would ask a lot of questions regarding the Reds' defense. Again, it came from Glen Johnson's side. Hoilett was running down the flank and just where was Johnson? Skrtel had to rush from the center of the pitch to stop Hoilett, but it was too late. Hoilett left both Johnson and Skrtel in the dust and he was able to pass the ball to Benjani who scored the 3rd goal. This should not have happened. As England's 1st choice right back, this is really disappointing. It's unacceptable.

Beside the poor defending, there are other reasons for the poor performance. For some reason, Hodgson decided to make several changes to the starting line-up that got the victory against Bolton a few days ago. He replaced Aurelio, Agger, Kuyt, and Meireles with Konchesky, Krygiakos, Cole, Gerrard. There's nothing wrong with using Gerrard and Cole as they were the main contributors to last weekend's victory. However, I don't see the logic for using Konchesky and Krygiakos. Agger and Aurelio are better in defending and both offer another dimension in Liverpool's attacking play. Perhaps Hodgson didn't want to risk as both Agger and Aurelio just recovered from injuries. Or may be Hodgson was confident that Konchesky and Krygiakos were sufficient? Whatever the reason was, Hodgson's plan didn't work out.

Perhaps this loss is a good news. It means that we are getting closer to getting a new manager. We will see.