Liverpool’s Stoke Failure Highlights a Lack of Match-Winners

Oh, dear.

Just what Rafa Benitez didn’t need after his Friday rant about Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson.

Liverpool dropped two hugely vital points against relegation scrappers Stoke City on Saturday evening, meaning that United will overtake them at the top of the league if they win their two games in hand—which ominously for Benitez, are both at Old Trafford.

Fergie probably can’t stop smiling.

No matter how valid Benitez’s comments were about Ferguson’s constant criticism of referees, the Spaniard was always going to be ridiculed if his team did not claim victory at the Britannia Stadium. People will now say that his actions did not speak louder than his words.

Though Benitez will not care too much about what people say to him after this goalless draw, he will still be bitterly disappointed that Liverpool could not manage to beat a team sitting as low in the table as Stoke City, especially given that United scraped a 1-0 win in the same stadium only a few weeks ago.

On that day for Fergie and his men, it was their gifted players in the attacking areas of the pitch that won them the match in the dying seconds. They had so many match-winners that scoring a winning goal seemed inevitable for them.

But on Saturday, with Liverpool struggling just as much as United were in their match at The Britannia, Benitez did not have such a luxury at his disposal. There was no Berbatov, no Rooney, no Ronaldo and no Tevez to call upon. Only Steven Gerrard and, for the last twenty-five minutes, a half-fit Fernando Torres.

There were not enough individual talents good enough to unlock a defence with one moment of magic. Such is Gerrard’s quality, though, that even on a day when he didn’t perform particularly well, he still mustered Liverpool’s best two efforts on goal, when he struck both the bar and post in the last few moments.

If Gerrard doesn’t have a great game, though, Liverpool often find themselves in trouble. There are not enough players around him that can have a big impact on a game in the attacking third.

Reina is a great goalkeeper, Carragher and Hyypia are two fantastic defenders, and Alonso is a terrific passer of the ball in midfield, but when the play reaches the opposition’s penalty box, there is often not enough. If Alonso had been fit on Saturday then he might have provided more of a creative edge.

When Gerrard, Torres and Keane are all on the pitch, there is no question that Liverpool possess a major goal-threat. But if one or more of them is injured, as has been the case for the majority of this season, other players are not quite up to the standard those three set.

Kuyt works his socks off, and he has scored quite a few goals this campaign as well, but when his is playing up front on his own, like against Stoke, it hardly sends shivers down the spine of the opposition centre-backs.

It is true that Riera has been a terrific acquisition on the left-hand side of midfield, but he certainly cannot be put in the same bracket as Rooney and Co. as a real match-winner. He has only scored three goals for Liverpool so far, though last week’s rocket against Preston did deserve plenty of merit. He is a great wide player in the sense that he can cross the ball well, but his goals tally will never compete with that of United stars like Ronaldo and Giggs.

On the other flank, Liverpool are struggling to match the levels of United as well. Ryan Babel can be explosive on his day, but he currently lacks the consistency to start on the right wing on a regular basis. He loses possession of the ball far too easily at times, and is often very clumsy with the ball at his feet. He too cannot be classed in the same bracket as the likes of Ronaldo, Giggs and Rooney.

So with Liverpool offering far less creativity in the attacking areas than United, it is often left to Gerrard and Alonso to pull the strings from midfield and win games, though that should change somewhat now that Fernando Torres is gradually returning to full fitness. Benayoun and Lucas Leiva are hardly Liverpool standard players, so there are few other options for Benitez.

When teams sit back and get men behind the ball against Liverpool, Gerrard and his comrades often find it difficult to break them down. Home matches against Stoke, Fulham and West Ham have proved that already this season. Manchester United, however, have a better chance of unlocking the door because of the match-winning talents they have in their lineup, capable of winning a match out of nowhere.

Of course, it is by no means all doom and gloom at Anfield at the moment, as Liverpool do still sit top of the league for the time being. Benitez and his men have pulled off some terrific results against the likes of United and Chelsea, and have managed to sustain a very good away record, meaning that Saturday’s Stoke stalemate was rather surprising.

There have been plenty of good moments for Liverpool so far this season, but when it really comes down to it, in the second half of the campaign, will they have enough to compete with United?

Do they really possess the same attacking quality, and players skilled enough to win a game with one moment of genius?

I’m not so sure they do.

As I said at the start, Fergie probably can’t wipe that grin off his face at the moment.