Commitment crumbles in Eastern Europe

There was a point in the match in St Petersburg last night where the ball was pulled back to Stewart Downing after Jordan Henderson was unable to get his shot away. The likelihood is that the shot would have probably not gone in or blocked by a Zenit player near his goal. Downing actually got to the shot and it would be fair to say got about 40-50% of the desirable contact when a ball comes out to you 6 yards from goal.

It wasn’t this that bothered me, the weak contact bit. It was the feeble attempt he made at trying to get to the ball. It was the jump he made after half striking the ball that any girl playing hopscotch or jumping over their skipping rope in the playground would be proud of.

Liverpool were 2-0 down at this point, about 85 minutes into the match on a pitch my local referee’s would deem have deemed ‘shocking’ even for a Sunday morning game. They needed that away goal to give them a chance at Anfield in the return fixture. As you may well know now, that scoreline stayed at 2-0, and now Liverpool are left with a bit of a mountain to climb, and it feels like Mount Everest with the way they played the rest of that second half after going 1-0 down.

What I’m doing in this article is something I rarely do as a fan, as I believe in trying to take the positives from any game, I believe in not letting the frustration of losing or drawing get the better of me. I often say to myself that there’s time to improve, that the team will come back the next game fighting harder than ever before to make whatever it is they’ve done wrong previously. Not today.

What I’m doing Mr Enrique, Mr Henderson, Mr Sterling, Mr Allen, Mr Johnson and Miss Downing is calling you out. I’m asking in what realm of footballing performance was that. At what point in that last half an hour warrants those 300 fans not to turn up to Melwood at some point today and ask you personally for their money back in what I imagine was a £1500 trip to a country that is essentially a freezer. A freezer they had to stand in for 2 hours, singing their hearts out about players, matches and stories of days gone by, and watch you crawl to a 2-0 defeat without even making a quarter of the effort us as Liverpool fans expect from you. Tell me, does what you earn weekly warrant the percentage of effort you put in? If that’s the case then you all need a serious reality check.



You will be wondering why I’m not calling out Gerrard or Carragher or Suarez (although he missed some INEXCUSABLE chances last night). It’s because next week, when once again our 12th man will attempt to come to your rescue and literally push you towards that Zenit goalmouth, those are the 3 players who will more likely than not be the players who make the important tackle, pass the decisive ball or clinch the goal that matters. And lets face it, Gerrard and Carragher have done enough already, you haven’t.

If by some miracle somebody sends this on to your twitter account or posts it through your door, this isn’t just I telling you this, this is thousands of frustrated fans sick of believing that Liverpool are the ‘team very much starting and growing again’, a phrase I’m frankly sick of hearing. This may well be the case, and I’m very aware we have fallen by the wayside recently, but that doesn’t mean to say when you go 2-0 down in Russia you suddenly drop your commitment levels.

I’m by no means claiming I’m an expert in all fields of football here, I don’t see you all in training, I don’t work with you everyday and see the camaraderie between you all and I most certainly don’t possess the footballing ability you have, but I am someone who, as young as I am, have supported this club for longer than you ever will and will continue to long after you’ve got your final pay check and jetted off into the sunshine.

And I, along with all the other reds, young and old, expect more. I didn’t grow up listening to all the tales of Emlyn Hughes and Graeme Souness flying into tackles and throwing everything including the kitchen sink into every single minute of every single game. And I imagine our modern Souness, Jamie Carragher, doesn’t want his career and what will be his 100th European appearance to dwindle out with a mere puff of smoke. Someone of that calibre doesn’t deserve that and I’m very anxious that this will happen.



So read your books, watch your videos, stay behind for an extra hour after training, stop talking to the media about how you’ve worked so incredibly hard to break into the team and how you’ve always loved Liverpool and its fans and actually go and do something about it. The stage is all there for you, ready and waiting. Anfield, the Kop, 45000 people, millions watching around the world, 2-0 down with 3 to get, a couple of tricky Brazilians and a hefty goal bonus. Walk on that pitch and stick your foot, head, elbow and neck into anything that tries to get past you. Sweat buckets till your 6 stone piss wet through and maybe you’ll get the adulation these fans want to give you, and maybe you’ll walk off that pitch to a standing ovation.