Liverpool (0) West Bromwich Albion (0): It’s Not a Point Gained if it’s an Opportunity Wasted
The hits just keep on coming; under normal circumstances you may call that a point gained, but considering how we controlled such a large portion of the match, Saturday’s goalless draw with West Bromwich Albion turned out to be very much an opportunity wasted.
Jordon Ibe smacked a shot off the crossbar after good interplay with Mario Balotelli saw the youngster’s turn of pace bamboozle the Baggies back-line and Steven Gerrard’s tame effort was tipped on by an advancing Emre Can as the Reds looked for a winner in a second half that was almost as short on quality as the first, but a respite from their woes in front of the net wouldn’t be found against their adventureless hosts.
It’s not like a side managed by Tony Pulis to hang back and let the opposition play; that being said, it’s not like a team managed by Brendan Rodgers to offer little to no threat in front of goal. Despite having 74% of the ball and managing an impressive 22-shots, the visitors were able to only put five shots on net — though they were particularly unlucky when their first real opportunity of the match saw West Brom ‘keeper Boaz Myhill at full stretch to deny Philippe Coutinho’s low strike after Balotelli saw his turn-and-shot blocked.
Jordan Henderson, who just earlier in the week committed his long-term future to Liverpool by putting pen to paper on a five-year deal, couldn’t bury the rebound as the Baggies hung on to their clean sheet. That this came in the second half was of little surprise to most of the Reds faithful with easy parallels being drawn with their performance at Wembley the weekend before. Still, where Aston Villa were brave, their hosts were tentative and the mere fact that they allowed their visitors so much of the ball speaks volumes.
We just don’t look to be a threat, do we? Ibe, a player with quite possibly the least top flight experience on the pitch, came closest as the young winger tried to spark proceedings to life and he succeeded if only for a brief moment when James Morrison, on a rare foray forward for the Baggies, saw a header cleared off the line by Dejan Lovren after an error from Martin Skrtel allowed the midfielder sight of goal.
The Croatian, who looks to finally be finding his feet after a disastrous first season at Anfield, sent a header just wide in injury time as something resembling a football match threatened to break out, but it was far too little and much too late from the men in red.
With only a handful of matches left to play and sitting seven points behind fourth placed Manchester United, pipping their rivals to a spot in next season’s Champions League is looking more and more like a jig that’s just about up. If we can’t find the net in a match where we were allowed 3/4 of the possession and the defense daring you to have a go, we never will. Earlier in the season, one point at the Hawthorns would have been welcome, but at this late stage and chasing the top four, it’s hardly helpful — especially when you leave the other two begging to be taken.
–Steven