Liverpool suffered a demoralising defeat away at Wigan after an abysmal lack of fight from the red men. Liverpool showed very little fight or quality in what should have been an important game as the reds began their 10 game countdown to the Premier League season.
Before the game the reds received a boost with Johnson named on the bench, but Agger still hadn’t recovered sufficiently and was replaced in the side with the returning Kyrgiakos (arguably one of the only players who looked to care about the result of this fixture).
Steven Gerrard kept his place in the middle of the park, and Carragher also was preferred at centre-back.
The reds opened brightly, Torres hitting the post in one of his four chances that he would usually get something from.
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However N’Zogbia’s pace was far too much for Insua, a player who after a promising start to his Liverpool career, is now looking like a major weakness in the reds side.
Gerrard and Lucas offered some dismal passing, on numerous occasions handing possession away far too cheaply.
Dirk Kuyt decided to join in the party games, which eventually led to Rodallega putting Wigan 1 up.
Liverpool dominated possession in the second half, the two former Atletico men – Rodriguez and Torres behind the reds better chances. However N’Zogbia continued to be a thorn in the reds side and could have made it two.
Aquilani, Johnson and Babel were all sent on to try to change the direction of the game, but Wigan got the three points they deserved.
Liverpool’s European hopes took a severe dent today. At the end of the storm – it looks like there is another one on the way.
Post Match Comments
Rafa Benitez
“I have to be really disappointed and I can’t be happy after losing a game like that.
“In the first half we didn’t do anything and we kept giving the ball away. We didn’t win any first or second balls and it was difficult to explain.
“We talked about our first-half performance during the break and in the second half our attitude was much better, but it still wasn’t enough.
“We had some chances but we didn’t play well enough. Everybody is really low after the game.
“It was a question of our attitude in the first half. The players showed their character in the second half. Sometimes we were in too much of a hurry with our play in the second half, but at least we showed character.
“Wigan worked very hard from the beginning until the end but we expected this.
“You have some good games and bad games, but especially at this time, at a crucial moment, we could have done better.
“It’s a question of analysing why we didn’t show the character we had to show in the first half.
“It was good to have Glen back, but it’s no good getting players back if you don’t win games.”