In the world of professional sports, momentum is a strange mistress.
For Liverpool FC, using momentum to its advantage has been more than a struggle this season and its inability to harness that edge seems to be one of the reasons why Champions League qualification has been nothing more than a pipe dream.
Liverpool headed into Saturday’s match against Southampton at St. Mary’s riding its first three-game winning streak of the campaign. The Reds scored 12 goals in that run, including an emotional 3-2 win against Tottenham last weekend, which left Brendan Rodgers’ men sixth in the table and within striking distance of the final Champions League berth.
Captain Steven Gerrard demanded perfection going forward from his side after last week’s victory.
“We will need to produce the perfect finish to sneak in the back door," Gerrard said. "The top five places are the target. Let’s see what happens in other big games that are not in our control."
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This match with Southampton provided the perfect opportunity for Liverpool to walk the walk and prove that it had, in fact, turned the corner. But like what happened already this season in matches against the likes of Aston Villa, Swansea City and West Brom, the Reds were beaten soundly 3-1 by supposedly inferior competition.
What went wrong on Saturday for Liverpool?
To start, Rodgers didn’t do his club any favours with his starting line-up. Midfielder Joe Allen has already been told by Liverpool’s medical staff that he requires surgery on his injured shoulder, yet there he was starting at St. Mary’s. Allen looked slow and tentative and clearly had no business being on the pitch and was taken off to start the second half in favour of Lucas Leiva, who should have started the match in the first place. How a player who needs surgery can be in anybody’s starting 11, let alone a side that harbours European ambitions, is unfathomable.
Rodgers will get somewhat of a free pass on the inclusion of Martin Skrtel in the centre of defence with the soon-to-be-retired Jamie Carragher out with a shin injury. Based on Skrtel’s performance against Southampton, many Reds supporters are wondering if the Slovakian can retire instead of Carragher.
With reports of a falling out with Rodgers last month, Skrtel’s decline in play has been pronounced and the writing on the wall says that this will be his last campaign with the Reds, with Russian giants Zenit St. Petersburg and Anzhi Makhachkala likely suitors.
Skrtel’s biggest obstacle this season seems to be his inability to control bigger-bodied forwards and this was on display on the Saints’ first goal in the sixth minute. Though the Slovakian received no help from Glen Johnson in preventing Jay Rodriguez from getting a head on a speculative cross in the area, Skrtel did nothing to prevent Morgan Schneiderlin’s run into the box to meet the Rodriguez ball for an easy redirect past Brad Jones.
After Rickie Lambert beat Jones on a deflected free kick, January signing Philippe Coutinho handed Liverpool a first-half stoppage lifeline when he slotted home after a mad scramble in the Saints’ area to make it 2-1, Rodriguez put the match to bed in the 80th minute with Skrtel once again victimized.
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Picking up the ball at midfield, the former England under-21 ran straight at goal. Skrtel, with his back to the ball, appeared to be tracking Rodriguez’s run from the start, but failed to read his cut inside, allowing the Southampton striker a free shot on Jones. When Jones parried the first shot, Skrtel failed to reach the ball before Rodriguez, who kicked home his rebound to restore Southampton’s two-goal advantage. While Jones could have done better on the initial strike, everything was still all too easy for Rodriguez, feeling absolutely no pressure from Skrtel whatsoever.
If Liverpool couldn’t properly harness forward momentum, it will be interesting to see how the Reds bounce back from their most disheartening defeat this season. Looking at the remaining eight matches on the schedule, only two are against teams that Liverpool is chasing, in a match against Chelsea and another Merseyside derby at Anfield versus Everton.
Already too late for Champions League qualification, Liverpool will need to work if it plans to play in Europe at all next season. Five points behind Arsenal (who has a game in hand) for fifth and a Europa League spot, the Reds can’t afford any more slip-ups. On paper, outside of the Chelsea and Everton matches, the remaining fixture list is a favourable one, featuring contests against two teams currently in the relegation zone (Reading and QPR) and three with teams still not safe (Aston Villa, Newcastle and West Ham).
While Liverpool is a more skilled side than these clubs, each will approach their remaining matches with a wounded animal mentality and playing against teams anxious for their Premier League survival is never predictable, as witnessed by the performance turned in on Saturday by a Southampton team only four points up on the drop.
Simply put, Liverpool needs to match the desperation level of its opponents, whether it be those looking for European play next season or those trying to avoid the Championship. They can’t do that when the manager is beaten by his counterpart tactically or when Reds players seemingly self-sabotage.
The season isn’t over yet for Liverpool, but if they decide to turn in just one more performance like Saturday’s, from Brendan Rodgers on down, it might as well be.
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