The Reds were fortunate to beat QPR at Loftus Road and the
likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale will be licking their
lips ahead of Wednesday's Champions League clash
For many, it was a finish that highlighted all that is best
about the Premier League. When the tapes are reviewed at
Real Madrid’s training complex in Valdebebas, however, it will
likely be received as further evidence that Wednesday’s trip to
Anfield should hold few fears.
Liverpool head back to Merseyside having secured back-to-
back wins for the first time in this troubled season, but no one
who watched Sunday’s frantic finale at Loftus Road was
under any illusions. QPR struck the crossbar twice and scored
four of the games five goals, yet came away with nothing.
“I’m still in shock to be honest,” Steven Gerrard told Sky
Sports after the match. “We were very lucky. We could have
had no complaints if we’d come away with nothing. Our
performance needs to be better.
“It was very bitty, stop-start. The only thing you can say is
we kept going. We got our reward but we need to improve.”
The truth was that QPR, for all their limitations, had exposed
every problem that has blighted life after Luis Suarez for
Liverpool.
Bobby Zamora and Charlie Austin bullied Martin Skrtel and
Dejan Lovren, while Simon Mignolet once again failed to
command his area in the manner of an elite goalkeeper. All
three conspired to give Leroy Fer two excellent chances to
open the scoring before half-time.
Further forward, Gerrard looked utterly uncomfortable with the
kind of advanced midfield role in which he used to dominate,
quickly opting to drift into deeper areas and attempt typically
ambitious long-range diagonal passes.
And at the head of Brendan Rodgers’ turgid system, Mario
Balotelli’s personal nightmare continues. With aborted runs,
lazy shots and frequent glaring gesticulations, it is a hell
largely of his own making, but confidence has clearly become
a chronic issue. One goal in nine games tells its own story
and one blazing open-goal miss in the second half was
Fernando Torres-esque.
“It’ll drop for the boy,” Rodgers insisted after the match. “The
most important thing to me is his work rate. He’s working
really hard. It’ll drop for him.
“I’ve said before, Luis [Suarez] is irreplaceable, a real world-
class talent. That’s not what’s being asked of Mario. He’s a
great boy, I’ve enjoyed working with him. He wants to be
better. He’s a completely different player to Luis.”
With Daniel Sturridge sidelined for at least another fortnight
and Madrid on the horizon, Rodgers needs it to drop for
Balotelli, mainly because dropping him doesn’t appear to be
an option. Yet perhaps his words of support would carry
more weight without the public admission earlier this month
that the troubled Italian was not his top target in the summer
transfer market.
The most avoidable aspect of Liverpool’s crisis at both ends
of the pitch is an ongoing ineptitude at defensive set-pieces.
Eduardo Vargas’ second goal from the QPR bench – a routine
unmarked near-post header from Leroy Fer’s injury-time
corner – was their fifth conceded from dead-ball situations in
eight matches.
On a day of few positives, there were at least flashes in the
final moments of the counter-attacking prowess that made
Liverpool so thrilling and deadly last season, with a visibly
refreshed Raheem Sterling and decisive Coutinho at the heart
of much of their best work. This enduring ability alone may
give Rodgers hope of fending off wave after wave of pressure
from a star-studded Madrid attack that has racked up 40
goals in its first 13 matches this term.
But unless Liverpool can tighten up defensively and garner
their threat on the transition with goals of their own, being
part of a ‘great advert for the Premier League’ will be scant
consolation amid a world of pain on Wednesday.