Liverpool FC: Outplayed, Outclassed, Outmanaged in Boring Draw To Utrecht FC

It has now become unsurprising to see Liverpool settle for draws in Europe.

Not only are they no longer in the Champions League, but they also cannot win, even at home, against the worst team in their group.

No, even against Utrecht FC, a team currently ninth in the Holland First Division, Liverpool could not muster a goal for the home crowd, 18,000 of which had arrived for free.

They probably won't want to spend money for any more tickets after what happened tonight.

You can say all you like about the rather weak, young, and inexperienced starting 11, but the fact remains that Liverpool could have, and should have, played better.

Utrecht maintained much better possession all round, creating more open spaces and forward movement. The fact that they maintained 56 percent possession in an away fixture is dreadful.

But the main problem tonight was Liverpool's form and class. Liverpool, the same team that had thrashed Real Madrid 4-0 just a few years ago and been a consistent force in Europe, now struggles in Europa League—"Mickey Mouse League"—competitions.

Perhaps, because it was a dead rubber match, the players wanted to save themselves from injury. But to say the least, they should have played with some passion, stringing together at least a few passes together. There was none to be seen all night.

Liverpool looked below the class of Utrecht, because whereas the latter were able to continually move the ball around and maintain possession, Liverpool constantly passed backwards and sideways, avoiding the final third.

Roy Hodgson will be very disappointed with the results and already excused himself during the post match interview by saying that "we had a very tough opponent." I'm sorry. Utrecht FC is not a tough opponent. Especially not for Liverpool FC.

As the lights dimmed, so it seems that Roy Hodgson's future continues to wallow in mediocrity. The owners of Liverpool have recently held a live call-in talk with fans, citing that they are not happy with the terrible run of "unacceptable" results, but the fact remains that they will likely keep Hodgson for at least a year.

And Liverpool will have to be content for at least a year that the best they can manage in Europe, and the Premiership, is mediocrity.