Liverpool Fail To Attack Wolves

Liverpool were held to a very frustrating and disappointing 0-0 stalemate last night at Molineux. For my first ever experience of seeing the lads play, there weren't too many positives.

After meeting Kenny Dalglish moments before i sat down to watch the match, i was beginning to think nothing could top that now, and it didn't. I also met that Farley bloke after he came into the boardroom to do some of his now famous Liverpool impressions, however, the match that followed would not provide much to smile about.

So the first shock of the night came when i was handed the team sheet in the boardroom, i could not believe Gerrard was starting, i knew it was now highly likely that he would be on the bench, but i would never of guessed he would of started let alone play the full 90minutes.

I was glad to see the likes of Kyrgiakos, Riera, Carragher and Reina on too, all for different reasons. One thing that did puzzle me slighlty was the option of Kuyt on his own. Although i know it has worked in the past, against a Wolves side i would have rather started the skillful David N'Gog.

Despite this, i was generally happy with the team Rafa had fielded and i couldn't wait to get outside to actually see them all for the first time. Unfortunately, due to my job i did miss the first 10minutes (ish) as i have to cash up and fill out sheets, but i can't moan at a free ticket!

After glancing over towards the away end and noting that it was rammed, i settled for sitting in the Billy Quiet with me fella and the rest of the Wolves lot. I was on the end of a row though so my mumbled frustrations were not heard by many. As always i had my trusty This Is Anfield badge on my bag and another on my coat, which was looked at confusingly by a few fans at half time, i didn't opt for getting my scarf out of my bag though and putting that on... Although i was soddin' freezin!

So Liverpool appeared to have started the first half in a very relaxed manner, no real urgency, we appeared quite happy to be passing the ball from defence to midfield, maintaining possession and instead of enforcing the chances, we waited until they arose... Which they didn't.

Passing wise, we were excellent, players like Kyrgiakos and Mascherano were very effective in getting the ball around the field but what appeared to be missing was that last bit of je ne sais quoi.

Albert Riera was our best supply attacking wise and when you look at the stats, it makes quite pitiful reading...

by Guardian Chalkboards

Whichever way you look at it, our set up did not work, whilst it was very effective defensively and allowed us freedom of the pitch, we were easily being cancelled out by the Wolves defence.

Wolves to be fair to them played very well, in all honesty, i have to say, they played much better than ourselves, mainly because, even though their attacking options were also sparse, for once, when the opportunities arose they took them a lot better than we did. Although they did not manage to punish, they did trouble Reina more so than we troubled Hahnemann.

Matthew Jarvis, who i highlighted in my preview, appeared to be causing some problems for Jamie Carragher, who again started as right back. Kevin Doyle by far though, was the man to point out for Wolves, he is quite simply in a totally different class to the rest of the team, whilst others are ball watching and in no rush to change the game, the young Irishman was constantly chasing down lost causes, battling through our tight defence and showing sheer determination.

Our defence was the key, many people have been complaining, some even saying that this result and our performance was an abomination, in many ways, yes it was, the lack of chances was simply terrible, but as i said in my preview, i had a feeling the on form Marcus Hahnemann would be hard to beat without the ingenuity and skill of Fernando Torres on the pitch.

Looking at it with a clear head though, we must be thankful that we managed to come away with a clean sheet and a point, because we were lucky not to have conceded and this was down to a good stint from the back four.

Despite Carragher having a few problems with Jarvis and Skrtel having a few of his own dodgy moments, they worked very well as a unit. None more so than the ever improving Sotirios Kyrgiakos.

I couldn't see much of the Greek in the first half due to him being down the other end and me stupidly forgetting to take my glasses, however, by the second half he was in clear view. He was fantastic. Again, he won almost every aerial battle. His passing again was perfect and it is clear he has passion and fight in him. Very impressed.

So really, in all honesty, i can't see how we can complain, yes we should be very disappointed, especially after Spurs managed to beat Fulham too, but the fact of the matter is, it just didn't work.

Even with the reemergence of the skipper, Gerrard's magic was again missing, we shouldn't have to rely on the captain all the time for that spark, but that is what a lot of people were doing. Perhaps we went into the game taking Wolves too easily, with the wrong mindset? I don't know, but whatever it was the 0-0 directly reflected our efforts, a strong defence and a weak attack is what saw us gain just the one point and not 3.