In a season filled with disappointments and missed opportunities, Liverpool flagged into their final match with their worst performance of the season, and arguably decades. Never a welcome venue for the Reds, Britannia Stadium proved an absolute house of horrors with Liverpool being positively embarrassed 6-1 by Stoke City to end their campaign. Apart from a farewell goal from Captain Fantastic, it could have been an even more woeful scoreline as Stoke coasted for most of the second half, after shredding the visitors for five in the first. So Steven Gerrard played his last match for Liverpool that showed his side yield six goals for the first time in 52 years – far from a fond farewell.
Here are four findings from today’s match.
Gaffer’s gaffs
For someone 150% confident of returning, Brendan Rodgers managed this match like a dead man walking. Restricting Raheem Sterling to the bench after one of the worst weeks for the club this term might be understandable to some, despite being a terrible decision. Yet to run a starting eleven onto the pitch without a striker, let alone a proper forward, even with the handful of disappointments available, cannot be excused. His mentor Jose Mourinho might try something like that, but Mourinho Rodgers is not. In fact, today revealed just how wide a gulf there is between master and pupil, yet again. Today, Rodgers even made another maligned Mourinho acolyte, Andreas Villas Boas, not look too bad. After all, Villas Boas has at least won something. Speculation swirled about Rodgers’ return in the last couple of weeks, but Liverpool played like a team that knew that is not going to happen. It is nigh impossible to see how Rodgers recovers now.
Stupid sitting Sterling
Granted, Raheem Sterling entered this match a clear target for abuse, but he should have played. Regardless of the media furore he and his agent created during the last week, he has been Liverpool’s only real threat from open play all year. His pace alone puts pressure on teams to account for him. Plus, to not play him and “protect” him only served to sharpen the teeth that are biting the hands of the manager and club that feed. He could hardly have afforded to put in a pitiful performance, given his desire to leave. Certainly, he could not have made matters worse. What’s more, if he wants to conduct his attempts at an exit in such a disgraceful fashion, then it is time to grow up and face the consequences. Whether he is sold or stays remains an open question, but the manger did him a huge favour by benching him on Sunday, one he doesn’t at all deserve. The whole affair serves to highlight just how much things have come undone for the club this season.
Can chewed and chucked
It has to be acknowledged that Emre Can is the brightest of all this season’s signings and at times has played with poise and skill that belie his years. Yet, cracks were showing in the German’s sustainability out of position even before Louis van Gaal exposed them for the rest of the league to learn. Stoke was no doubt his worst performance since becoming a regular starter. He was clearly targeted and skinned repeatedly in the first half, should have been hooked after 30, and did not return after the break. As a third centre half, he has been admirable. As a fullback, he has been exposed. Can is young and he will recover, but he cannot feel as though his manager did him any favours today. No tactical adjustments were made to control the damage and neither Lucas Leiva nor Joe Allen offered any cover. It is unfortunate that the summer offers no immediate opportunity for redemption.
Gerrard’s goal
The only positive taken from one of the worst performances in the club’s history is that Stevie G scored in his last match as a Red. So much has been written and said about the Liverpool legend, and last week’s final Anfield appearance featured most of the emotion and sentiment. Still, to see Gerrard maraud forward, albeit past a defender who pulled up lame, and slip one past the ‘keeper endured as a treat, despite being part of the disaster. For all Gerrard’s fading, he leaves the club’s highest scorer for the season. And there is a symmetry to him scoring 120 league goals. In a strange way, the fact that the team was so terrible may have offered some emotional cover for the captain. The disgust supporters feel about a result like this tempers the finality of the loss and true end of an era.
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