Fortress Anfield? Brendan Rodgers' Side Continue to Disappoint Against FC Sion
ANFIELD, Liverpool — Liverpool stumbled to another disappointing result Thursday, held 1-1 by Swiss side FC Sion in the UEFA Europa League, resulting in boos at the final whistle for a second week running.
The parallels with this match and last week's game against League Two Carlisle United in the League Cup were much more than the end result.
Again, Liverpool started brightly, again they conceded a poor goal (from a very similar position) soon after, and again they failed to break down the opponents' defence, missing good chances to win the game.
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In four of Liverpool's last five games, they've drawn 1-1 (three of them being at Anfield). And in each of those four, they went ahead but surrendered the lead within 20 minutes of going ahead.
This game marked the end of four home games in a row in all competitions; against Premier League new boys Norwich City, League Two Carlisle United, relegation candidates Aston Villa, and Swiss mid-tablers Sion—a team that lost to a team from Liechtenstein at the weekend.
That Liverpool won only one of those four games and had a goal difference of plus-one from the four fixtures is a pretty damning statistic, and it goes some way to explain the 7,000 empty seats scattered around Anfield on Thursday night.
Sion boss Didier Tholot said post-match that he knew Liverpool would start fast but had a game plan to expose Liverpool out wide by using diagonal balls—from which their equalising goal arrived.
"We had a plan and we put it into action. We are very happy with the point that we have got. We expected Liverpool to come out strong and press us really hard."
With Rodgers continuing the 3-4-1-2 system, but playing Joe Gomez and Jordon Ibe at left centre-back and left wing-back respectively, it meant they had two players who had never played those positions before.
Ibe has gone from being talked up in pre-season, starting the season on the right of a front three, to now starting at left wing-back against Sion in the Europa League. No wonder there were positional problems, confidence looked low and Ibe was caught not knowing when to attack or defend.
Sion targeted the two teenagers, with top scorer Moussa Konate playing up against them at every opportunity in the early exchanges.
Liverpool looked bright early on, though, Divock Origi in particular causing problems and looking lively down the Reds' right.
"We started well, got in front, then gave away a poor goal," said Rodgers post-match. "We created a lot and we should've probably won comfortably."
Rodgers would be right with his assessment, Liverpool should have won the game comfortably, with plenty of clear-cut chances created in the second half in particular. Adam Lallana, who opened the scoring, and Origi were both guilty of missing excellent opportunities.
Liverpool were left to rue those missed chances, chances that again underlined the importance of Daniel Sturridge in this team, while Sion players celebrated with their fans at the Anfield Road End.
Fortress Anfield
Speaking ahead of this game, Rodgers acknowledged the importance of winning the home games in the Europa League.
“We recognise that our home games in this competition are very important and we enter into it with that mindset," he said, per the club website.
It would have been ideal to win the three home games in this competition and pick up draws in the away games. And let's be very clear, the team he put out should have been good enough to win the match, and they had the opportunities to do so.
But they didn't. Instead, they looked like a bunch of individuals completely bereft of confidence, lost for ideas and scared of making a mistake. If Rodgers insists he doesn't feel under pressure, the players certainly look like they are.
Perhaps the players are missing the guiding influence of Steven Gerrard in the squad, an old hand who has played these games many times. Liverpool's current top scorer in Europe prior to this campaign? Lucas Leiva. That says a lot about how low Liverpool have fallen lately.
What also says a lot about Liverpool's current situation is the recurring sight of visiting teams celebrating with their travelling fans at full-time.
Anfield used to be a fortress, but teams no longer fear coming to th stadium. Instead, visiting players are thriving and the home side are cowering.
Liverpool supporters have long debated the reasons for the decreasing atmosphere at Anfield, the truth of the matter is, like Gary McAllister said last week, the fans aren't seeing enough on the pitch to inspire them.
"It’s up to the players to get the fans going, it’s not up to the fans to get the players going," said the Scot last week, per This Is Anfield.
Attendance
The attendance at Anfield on Thursday was 37,252—7,000 short of capacity, with large sections of empty seats in the Main Stand, but most of the rest of the stadium full.
It was a far cry from the 22,577 that turned out for the Reds' League Cup game against Northampton in 2010, but it does show how disillusioned supporters are becoming.
When you consider that a large number of season-ticket holders are enrolled into the auto-cup ticket scheme, perhaps the 7,000 empty seats is further indicative of the discontent on Merseyside.
It's often said that falling attendances are what ultimately get a manager sacked. Roy Hodgson's last three home games in charge of Liverpool saw attendances of 37,800, 41,614, and 35,400.
Mind, even that didn't get owners Fenway Sports Group to pull the proverbial trigger, it was an away defeat to Blackburn Rovers that did the trick and put the fans out of their misery.
FSG look to be repeating that mistake by taking far too long to do what now seems inevitable and finally sack Rodgers.
Apathy
Perhaps the most telling part of a draw against a team who have finished in the bottom half of the Swiss league nine times out of the last 10 years is that nobody left Anfield overly surprised by it.
There's a feeling of apathy among the supporters, and that's a dangerous thing.
* Quotes obtained firsthand, unless otherwise stated.
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